Just a Quiet Weekend

I was working yesterday and it was a tough day. I was assessing a whole lot of cycle coaches and was glad it was a warm and sunny day. Unfortunately, I didn't have the sun block on and ended up looking a bit like a tomato. There were a few difficult decisions to make too and one wasn't very pleasant.

It took real discipline to get the running kit on when I got home. A long one was planned. It was a beautiful night and certainly not one for sitting watching Jessie J. That's what i player is for. The valley was beautiful, but when in it only means one thing.....up....up...up. Firstly through a dark wooded avenue, a bit slippery from yesterdays rain. Yowwww, a sharp branch ripped into my bald pate but no real damage done. Then out onto a sheep infested hillside and across the golf course just as the sun was starting to set.

I then descended into Etherow Country park and into the trees again. A wrong turn had me heading round The Keg lake. First I saw some mandarin ducks, resplendent in the quickly disappearing light at dusk. Less nice was a kamikaze Canada goose but unlike a Pearl Harbour ship, I was able to take cover by running round a tree. Then I had to circumnavigate a very fierce looking swan who had decided to park it's arse in the middle of the path. I'm sure it picked the spot intentionally as the only way round was through a boggy bit.

I reached the end of the lake, but it was a dead end. All that vicious wildlife for nothing. Fortunately, the path on the other side was bird free. I soon found the right path and was now heading up towards Glossop Road. The path was steep and well over 1km to the main road. I didn't stop once, even when the gradient was around 15%. The plan was to head higher up beyond the main road but it was now nearly dark. Jelly like, my legs took me along the pavement through Chisworth and Charlesworth, with me really struggling on the up bits.

Then it was down the last big hill with me now doing the Ironman shuffle. The final steep bit up to my house was so tough with my legs now in a state of neuromuscular disactivation. The run was just over 14km and I'm guessing with around 400m of ascent. I think I deserved my dinner!

This morning, I stuck to my plan. Bed until 11am, catching up on some Radio 4 and stuff. The house got a quick tidy and then I did a quick gut-wrenching turbo bike session. Then I headed off into Manchester to do my shopping at Unicorn. Bah....it was warm and sunny in the village, but windy and wet in the city. Wearing shorts n a t-shirt was a bit of a faux pas. Unicorn isn't your typical supermarket so they rarely heat it.... I was cold. Back out into the rain and a quick pedal to North Tea. Even Kate's wonderfully warm and cheery welcome wasn't enough to warm me up.... Fortunately, a latte and a Danish did the job.

It had stopped raining as I headed off to the pool for my Sunday swim. I went in a faster lane tonight and struggled. The legs were close to cramping up on several turns, but I managed to get through the session without it getting too bad. Yay.... Back to work tomorrow after a relaxing weekend.