Monday, September 29, 2008
Sumptious September Sun Days
The weekend didn't go to plan, but was enjoyable all the same, in no small part because the weather was splendiferous. We didn't make it to the cinema at all on Friday night, since the neighbour's recital went on for much longer than we anticipated, but it was an enjoyable enough evening with plenty of eccentric people to make it entertaining. And certainly no shortage of fine booze, since the neighbour is as much a buff of wine and champagne as she is of piano. I'm not a huge fan of piano music, but it was certainly impressive to be in a sitting room along with some worldwide prize-winning talent. How fingers move that quickly is anybody's guess.
Sadly on Saturday morning - though I set my alarm to make it to the Legs of Steel cyclo-sportive - my resting pulse was still more than 5 above normal and I felt it would be foolish to embark on the ride. I knew I was going to find it difficult to hold back the tempo if I made it to the start line, and I've been told to take it easy so I switched my alarm off and pined for good health. I should have appreciated the resultant lie-in (til just before 7am) but Friday night was disrupted every couple of hours and those last two were no different. I awoke feeling unrefreshed, lethargic, and probably hungover; unwilling to face the day.
But Roj reckoned we should take Jody out to Hillingdon for another morning with the Slipstreamers, and as it was promising to be beautiful weather, it seemed a good idea. Only they were running a club championship time-trial event on the circuit which Jody and a handful of others were not part of, and so she spent the entire 2.5 hours doing drills in an area the size of a swimming pool, instead of doing circuit races of the 1-mile course as we expected. She had fun enough (excepting a few moments of zero confidence), but Roj and I found it a bit boring hanging around. Miles did a few reps of the footpath on his Islabike, practicing his pedal skills, but I think the 20 minutes in the playground before we left was probably the highlight for everyone.
In the afternoon I took advantage of the unexpected free time to visit my favourite hair stylist Gary Ingham who moved last year from Trevor Sorbie to set up his own salon in Hampstead, and who I drag myself to about once every 10 months.
And then I tried and failed to stay awake in front of Be Kind Rewind, but it turns out I didn't miss much and benefited much more from 9+ hours of sleep.
Sunday we spent meandering around Hyde Park with kids on bikes - one of our favourite weekend activities. It was amazing to be out in t-shirts at the end of September but also obvious that leaves are starting to turn and that it won't be long before autumn sets in for good. Miles took a big tumble off his bike and had to be carried and snuggled for 20 minutes before he got the confidence to get back on the saddle; the Cornetto probably helped! Magnanimous Jody wanted to give money to the guy chilling out with his acoustic guitar in the middle of Hyde Park and didn't really understand that he might have been there for fun, not profit.
I'm feeling a bit better now. The cold hasn't gone but it's not as noticeable and I don't seem to be suffering too much from my return to the training schedule this morning. A bit spooky running around the back of Regent's Park at 06:15 today though, in total darkness with no street lights; I think they've got the dawn synchronisation a bit off kilter. I'm determined that my resting pulse is going to be back to normal tonight so I can continue; I've got a really cool 100-mile sportive (the Autumn Epic) coming up in mid-Wales next Sunday and I want to be able to give it my all. Looking forward to heading up to Shropshire - albeit without Roj who is playing the dedicated father (a role he does very well) and taking Jody to a friend's party in London on Sunday while I take Miles to my parents' for a bit of TLC. Also looking forward to see a bit of Milly on Saturday morning for our first catch-up for a while. Should be a lovely weekend providing it stays dryish and my cold vanishes properly.
Ooooh and, before that, the dishwasher engineer is due out tomorrow (disrupting my training programme - grr) to finally fix the damn machine that's been out of action for the past 6 weeks. Just as I thought it was going into competition with Dave's car!
Sadly on Saturday morning - though I set my alarm to make it to the Legs of Steel cyclo-sportive - my resting pulse was still more than 5 above normal and I felt it would be foolish to embark on the ride. I knew I was going to find it difficult to hold back the tempo if I made it to the start line, and I've been told to take it easy so I switched my alarm off and pined for good health. I should have appreciated the resultant lie-in (til just before 7am) but Friday night was disrupted every couple of hours and those last two were no different. I awoke feeling unrefreshed, lethargic, and probably hungover; unwilling to face the day.
But Roj reckoned we should take Jody out to Hillingdon for another morning with the Slipstreamers, and as it was promising to be beautiful weather, it seemed a good idea. Only they were running a club championship time-trial event on the circuit which Jody and a handful of others were not part of, and so she spent the entire 2.5 hours doing drills in an area the size of a swimming pool, instead of doing circuit races of the 1-mile course as we expected. She had fun enough (excepting a few moments of zero confidence), but Roj and I found it a bit boring hanging around. Miles did a few reps of the footpath on his Islabike, practicing his pedal skills, but I think the 20 minutes in the playground before we left was probably the highlight for everyone.
In the afternoon I took advantage of the unexpected free time to visit my favourite hair stylist Gary Ingham who moved last year from Trevor Sorbie to set up his own salon in Hampstead, and who I drag myself to about once every 10 months.
And then I tried and failed to stay awake in front of Be Kind Rewind, but it turns out I didn't miss much and benefited much more from 9+ hours of sleep.
Sunday we spent meandering around Hyde Park with kids on bikes - one of our favourite weekend activities. It was amazing to be out in t-shirts at the end of September but also obvious that leaves are starting to turn and that it won't be long before autumn sets in for good. Miles took a big tumble off his bike and had to be carried and snuggled for 20 minutes before he got the confidence to get back on the saddle; the Cornetto probably helped! Magnanimous Jody wanted to give money to the guy chilling out with his acoustic guitar in the middle of Hyde Park and didn't really understand that he might have been there for fun, not profit.
I'm feeling a bit better now. The cold hasn't gone but it's not as noticeable and I don't seem to be suffering too much from my return to the training schedule this morning. A bit spooky running around the back of Regent's Park at 06:15 today though, in total darkness with no street lights; I think they've got the dawn synchronisation a bit off kilter. I'm determined that my resting pulse is going to be back to normal tonight so I can continue; I've got a really cool 100-mile sportive (the Autumn Epic) coming up in mid-Wales next Sunday and I want to be able to give it my all. Looking forward to heading up to Shropshire - albeit without Roj who is playing the dedicated father (a role he does very well) and taking Jody to a friend's party in London on Sunday while I take Miles to my parents' for a bit of TLC. Also looking forward to see a bit of Milly on Saturday morning for our first catch-up for a while. Should be a lovely weekend providing it stays dryish and my cold vanishes properly.
Ooooh and, before that, the dishwasher engineer is due out tomorrow (disrupting my training programme - grr) to finally fix the damn machine that's been out of action for the past 6 weeks. Just as I thought it was going into competition with Dave's car!
lara : 16:33
0 Comments:
[top]
