A Juggling Convention

I swim this morning while L opts for Pilates. I could barely get in the car park at Harvey Hadden though, even at 6.30am, as they had a Juggling Convention going on in the sports hall and they were all obviously early birds. Afterwards it was a really easy trip to work due to the Easter holidays.

L has resorted to one of those couch to 5k programmes in an attempt to get herself back in to running, gently. 5k is her distance of choice at the moment although I’m sure she longs for something longer even if it came with a dayglow t-shirt and a crap goodie bag.

She also asks if I mind if she has a quick blast at the gym... I think I would mind more if she didn’t go to the gym. You shouldn’t shirk on a workout.

Outdoor dogging tonight, in the sun.

(Monday 10^th April)

Unseasonal Yorkshire Weather

I do like the Sheffield Half Marathon and I did like the old course but there is something rather beautifully masochistic about the course change they introduced three years ago when Run For All, the legacy organisation for the late Jane Tomlinson, got involved and decided to embrace Sheffield’s inner hilliness.

It’s possibly the way they quietly ratchet up the intensity as they take you out of the city along Arundel Gate and onto the long stretch that is Ecclesall Road, which all takes place on a slight incline. Then the slight gets less slight and much more significant as the road rises skywards, getting gradually steeper and steeper. Until by mile four you are on your hands and knees crawling up the one mile stretch that they call the 'King\Queen of the Hill' before eventually you can kiss the tarmac at the top of Ringinglow. From where you look forward to plummeting down... the scenic flat bit.

Allegedly, after the scenic flat bit, it’s all downhill to the finish, only it isn’t. It remains frustrating undulating and deliciously painful right up to the finish line.

Plus there is an additional nuisance factor this year, a dose of very unseasonal Yorkshire weather. Obviously in Sheffield in April you expect wind, rain and maybe hail or possibly snow, or all four at once but this year Sheffield is struck by a heat wave which really wasn’t that welcome.

I survive though and cross the finish line where I am bested by last year’s time by a three mere seconds but you still can’t beat it as a location for your Sunday morning jog and they’ve even given us a wearable t-shirt this year.

My only wish is that they would put as much effort into the mile markers as they do the km markers that map out the last 10k, for which there is an additional prize. These are all nice sail banners whereas the thirteen mile markers appear to be an assorted collection of whatever was lying around at the back of the race director’s garage.

Once I have been reunited with my legs, I head off to track down L who is now touring the country by Puregym as well as by Parkrun and has been checking out the Sheffield branch.

Unfortunately there’s no time for a rehydrating beer in Sheffield, that will come later, as I have my White Van Man booked for 2.30pm to move Daughter’s big stuff and anyway, I will need my wits about me to put her bed back together.

I suppose I do have a rehydrating beer because they are handing out the Erdinger AF. Do they ever actually sell any of that? It’s an acquired taste anyway as you can see from how much of the stuff gets donated to the local tramps.

After we’ve moved Daughter’s stuff, L and I crash out (well I do) for the evening in the Horse & Jockey in Stapleford.

(Sunday 9^th April)

Lots To Work On

Today it’s our first outdoor dog show of the season which we trek up to Scunthorpe for where they are holding a Championship level show. This means there will be some stiff competition as we move up into Grade 6.

MD and I remain on speaking terms after our first run despite demolishing the second jump (my fault) and aborting the weaves (his fault) because everything else including all his contacts were very good.

Then I walk our three remaining courses one after the other, which means that those runs now become a bit of a memory test. We then rattle through these runs all before lunch. We have no clear rounds but I still feel we have done well on some very tough courses. Although we have lots to work on but it’s so good to be back in the challenge that is Grade 6, I’ve really missed it since Doggo retired.

The bonus is the early finish, this is my sort of show, which leaves me plenty of time for a spot of puppy shopping. I’m just casting my eye over the smaller dogs, should we need one at some point in future. Then I rush home to see if I can catch L off guard and on her own.

She has spent her morning tail running at parkrun. Far too much of her morning it seems as she ended up pushing a pushchair for someone and taking 15 minutes longer than last week. It must have been a good workout though.

AF tonight, Sheffield Half tomorrow. 

(Saturday 8^th April)

Everyone's A Winner

L wins a swimming bag full of accessories (floats, paddles, googles etc) from the City Council. This was through a prize draw where you got an entry each time you completed one of their points cards, which got stamped after each visit to the Leisure Centre. Considering how often she’s there, it would have been hard for her not to win. I’m still on my first card but now it appears I may be too late to submit it.

The bag is actually bigger than her existing one which may not be a good thing if she can cram even more into it considering her back trouble.

A cosy night in for five tonight with a homemade Lamb Saag.

(Friday 7^th April)

Being 'Fine'

I’m the bike again, which is good, whilst L’s in the pool, which is 'fine'. Oh no, the f work. This means her injury is sore today.

I’m still cycling on my best bike as my new wheel sits in the spare room waiting to be put on. This is actually one of L’s Christmas presents to me as I bought it with the Wiggle vouchers she gave me. Such a romantic treat.

It's squash tonight to which L power walks with boyo aka MD. Hope it was better than ‘fine’. Then it’s drinks afterwards in the Navigation.

(Thursday 6^th April)

Plastic Drawers

I’m back on the bike today and it’s incredibly hard work. I’ve no idea why. I even had yesterday off or perhaps that’s the problem. Days off can’t be good for you.

Then it’s dogging over at Hilton. On the way we pick up three sets of plastic drawers for Daughter. That is drawers as in furniture for her flat, not the other variety.

At the pub afterwards the Wainwrights is back. Whilst it’s good to have it back... its good to have the option of avoiding it as they also have Bradfield Farmers Brown Cow. 

(Wednesday 5^th April)

Message To Potential Burglars

This morning Doggo and I join L and MD on the park, then I drive to work. Where I get a place in the car park but then can’t get in the front door. The panel where we enter our door code has been malfunctioning for a while and now seems to have ceased working completely. Consequently, there is quite queue outside today.

Eventually we manage to break in by forcing the door as it’s only held on a strong magnet that clearly isn’t that strong. So the message to any potential burglars is that you don’t actually need the code...

I’m in the car today because there’s a match tonight where, oddly, Derby slaughter Fulham 4-2. Our new leader seems to think we can still reach the play offs but I have no idea what he's sniffing or why he’s even saying that. There are approximately zero supporters who want us to reach the play offs with the current team as we’d surely get hammered by any of the current top six. And if we did reach the play offs and went up with this team.... it doesn’t bear thinking about.

My mother who is struggling with her knee doesn't go after having had an injection in the troublesome joint earlier in the day.

(Tuesday 4^th April)

The Monday Routine

I head off for this morning’s 6am swim at Harvey Hadden on my own as L decides to swim at quiet 'n' cosy John Carroll instead. The dogs look very confused to have their Monday routine changed again but in the end they appear to embrace the return of their plain old fashioned Monday walk.

They've had a good weekend and they're out again tonight because Monday outdoor dogging restarts tonight. Well that’s the theory. Obviously, it will be cancelled more often than it’s on.

While we are there, in our absence, L goes dog-free wild and power walks the Forest Rec parkrun route in an attempt to get fit without actually running and therefore without pain. Daughter joins her in this slightly eccentric but noble idea. 

(Monday 3^rd April)

Above My Station

After last night’s Grapes disaster we certainly needed a long, recuperating lie-in this morning and thankfully there was one in the schedule.

Sadly also in the schedule was some gardening. Which unfortunately had to be done if we’re to not lose MD’s ball amongst the undergrowth. Although some might say this would be a good thing.

In the evening I have a track session booked which is good and hard, as usual, but totally do-able. That is until I am selected for the A-Team for the Team Pursuit. Well the other three were the A-Team whereas I was promoted well above my station from the C-Team. After trying and failing to keep up with the rest of my team for eight laps, although I do manage five, I deduce that the coach is trying to kill me.

The pint in the Exeter afterwards is very welcome. 

(Sunday 2^nd April)

Sour Grapes

MD and I run the Forest Rec parkrun this morning while L is a tail runner and Daughter makes her parkrun début. It’s quite a family affair. Naturally Daughter picks what is a fast week to do her first one but still does brilliantly.

Its also the day she get the keys to her new flat which is over in almost posh Mapperley Park. You could be pedantic and say it’s only just in Mapperley Park but in it is. We start moving some of her things in but we’ll need the man with the van again to move the big stuff.

Tonight we are at the Nottingham Playhouse for the first time in ages to see The Grapes of Wrath. This is a special request from L, who is struggling to get through the book along with the other 100+ novels on her book pile. It is a shame then that I have to keep nudging her awake throughout and her me.

The story concerns the Joad family who, in the 1930s, travel 2000 miles from poverty struck Oklahoma to hopefully find a better life in California. It is a journey that takes it toll on everyone, mentally and physically including a few deaths. So it’s quite a harrowing story or it’s supposed to be. However this production sees a bit of a rewrite of the story and is, I assume, intended to be a critique of the current migration situation.

This means that the dress code for the Great Depression era is relaxed and alongside characters in 1930s-esk dungarees we have others in tracksuits, jeans, Lycra leggings, a full superman outfit and (possibly the one good pun in the production) an ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ t-shirt.

This re-jigging of the story even included real jigs and there was a lot of unnecessary singing and dancing, including a very puzzling song about user car sales. All of which took time away from the actual story and some meaningful character development.

Those underdeveloped characters were large in number and extremely diverse. This included a multi-racial casting within the same family, which of course I understand the intent of but it really didn’t make things very easy to follow. Nor did the lack of attention to the ages of the family members who were meant to be siblings, parents and grandparents etc.

Then there was the sparse set which comprised of two large transparent containers which I think were supposed to signify their assorted means of transport and lodging but it was generally difficult to keep track of what they were supposed to be at any one time. For me it looked like the play was mostly set in a carriage on the London Underground. The real live river at the front of the stage was a nice touch though.

In the end, the production came over as neither contemporary nor true to the gritty realism of the original novel and I do like a bit of grit. I’m really not sure what John Steinbeck would have thought but he would most probably have hoped for something a little more coherent. It was just a bit of a mess that left you coming out of the theatre feeling neither entertained, educated nor inspired just confused.

I certainly needed the bottle Springhead’s Robin Hood ale they now sell there as well as the drinks afterwards in the Room With A Brew and the Blue Monkey.

(Saturday 1^st April)