Training Log Archive: BrandNewMe

Running around and to the start. Feeling very much like a sack of potatoes - heavy, lumpen, prone to falling over a lot, beige, a bit muddy, moving downhill ok, moving uphill barely at all, blah, blah, blah.

CSC Blue women

I dragged my sack of potatoes body around quite accurately, which was just as well as I was going really slowly. It was painful. It was pretty easy nav, except going to 7. The big hill 3/4 of the way along the leg looked v craggy on top, but with no crags on the map. This put me off quite a bit. I seemed to find loads of brambles to 15 too. 5/5 so far this year for coming back bloody.

Fun. 3rd. Pleased not to be further behind!

White course with Lucy. Not all that much running on the early (uphill) sections, but she is v frightening indeed on the descents. Fun. Tiring tho.

I am a total misery guts today, mainly due to Lucy waking us up at ridiculous-o'clock. Ran up blackford hill, feeling horrific and the run was cut short there when I slipped on the way down and whacked my back badly. My calf hurt too.

Home from work.

Up to the crags and back for Lucy's dance lesson. Kids on bikes and I had to push her a bit.

Queen's drive with Lozza.

Tonight I was flicking through the Guinness Book of Records with the kids. The record for 15 Ferrero Rochers is 2mins 22 secs. This sounds weak to me. The British Squad should do a sponsored record attempt fundraiser?

Cycle to work.

I walked the kids up the road to breakfast club first. Laurence started talking about 'Aerial Atoms'. Trying desperately to dredge up my knowledge from my (A in!!!) higher chemistry from 20 years ago, I started to panic. I was just about to say all I could remember about atoms ('I think they are fairly small things, aren't they') when he added that Aerial Atoms are a type of car. Phew!

He announced that he has arrived at the conclusion that he wasn't going to have any kids, as people that have kids are less likely to be able to afford a super-fast car, cause you have to buy a bigger house, with more bedrooms, and more beds etc. I tried to persuade him that kids were a joy, but having spent the hour or so beforehand on my knees pleading with them both to get ready for school tears in my eyes, praying etc, its no wonder he didn't agree. Lucy then announced that she was going to have 155,000 kids all at the same time. So I cycled to work trying to decide which of my children I should be more concerned about.

C • your children 2

Run home. Garmin not working. Blisters from my waveriders.

To work via rheumatology at the Western General. The rhematologist repeated the blood tests, and did a whole lot more as she couldn't decide what was causing the flu like symptoms.

Got to work at 11:30 and shivered for ages, then was exhausted all afternoon, perked up on the ride home. My body really doesn't like cycling. It mucks up my internal thermostat. I hope to be able to cycle more often though as the exercise felt good.

Weary. Managed to stave off the temptation of a lunchtime nap. Had a nice mooch around town in the evening ending up in the west end for dinner with Fran and Rache, then walking home again.

Mike Hamilton really should be a politician. I don't know Selwyn Wright of LOC but his focus letter raised many vital questions for the future of our sport, all of which Mike failed to address in his v patronising reply published in Focus. Selwyn raised the likes of the failure of Xplorer to get people doing actual orienteering. The disillusionment of lots of juniors with the perplexing junior selection process. The employment of staff that have no experience of the sport at all, and certainly no interest in it. The divergence of the priorities of BOF and the priorities of its membership. Lots of staff that are employed doing...what? (Don't worry Mike tells us, very few of them are funded my membership, the rest by the government - which is funded by... oh, people such as BOF members). Staff couldn't go to WOC as there wasn't the budget he tells us. The budget must have been blown by all of those bof members that were there then - wait a minute, maybe they went cause they were interested in the sport and thought it might be fun, and looked forward to getting out in the terrain themselves - Xplorer, or no Xplorer!

I think bof is diverging from the orienteering membership at such an angle right now that they will soon have disappeared from sight completely, and we can all get back to going orienteering! I really must bin focus immediately on receipt in future, just to prevent myself from getting so pissed off.

Laurence was off sick today. To those without kids, having a kid off sick is like lobbing a hand grenade into the carefully constructed logistics that allow you to run and work and parent. So I was looking after him until Ray got home at 8:30, and at 9 I went to sleep.

C • Parallel Universe Merry-go-round 10