Run (x3 – obstacle race), turbo, gym (x2), mow (plus H&S, a w/c, Covid, PR and spin)

I got out for a run in London on the Bank Holiday Monday morning – a favourite route to Hammersmith Bridge and along the Thames Path to Fulham FC’s ground at Craven Cottage and back. Nearly 7.5km. The Garmin said 5min 26s/km but my guess is just a bit under 6m/km, thanks to a possible loss of signal by the Hammersmith flyover.

Later, we took our two sons and their girlfriends for lunch at a Hammersmith pub overlooking the river, to celebrate the younger son’s birthday (and his girlfriend’s the previous day) and then all back to the flat. My wife drove home while I returned via Harrow to drop off younger son and his girlfriend. A lovely weekend.

My wife was heading back to London for lunch with some old school friends on Wednesday but rail strikes meant I took her to the station on Tuesday afternoon. Later, apart from a running nose and continuing to bring up muck with the cough, I was feeling better (although, of course, nobody truly gets over anything as severe as a bout of man-flu on this scale) so I got on the turbo – Just 45 minutes @27.4kph but hard work.

Gym on Wednesday morning and then mowed the lawns. After that, some gardening – why do I only get the gardening gloves after I have stung both hands on the nettles?

On a warm and sunny Thursday, I ran before collecting my wife from the station. I’m not at all sure whether (or how) to prepare for Saturday’s ‘Nuclear Race’ – a 12km course with over 70 obstacles – but getting in a bit of exercise early in the week seemed like a decent idea. Just 7.5km and a heart rate of 116bpm. Later, I mowed the paddock.

I planned to go to the gym on Friday for a reduced session but decided I could do that at home. I didn’t enjoy it much – it’s probably better to keep the gym stuff for the gym itself. Bike shop volunteering later. In the afternoon I drove to London, our younger son joined me in the evening and our older son came early on Saturday morning.

Unreasonably early, the three of us set off for Saturday’s obstacle race on the North Eastern edge of London. I’ll admit to some nervousness because of the element of the unknown – a 12k run is fine but I wasn’t so sure about the obstacles. We arrived in plenty of time (thanks to the early start) and had an absolutely great day. It was a very large event (over 3,000 runners on the day) but extremely well organised and marshalled and it had a really quite scenic course.

It was hard – probably the hardest 12k I’ll ever run – I didn’t count the obstacles but there were many – lots of water and mud including slides and zip wires into lakes, about 100m wading (upstream) through fast flowing water, a wide mud pit at least 2 feet deep with liquid mud, any number of things to climb over or under or through, heavy stuff to carry or drag and a ‘travelator’ (think the end of the Gladiators final event). I managed to do everything except a few ‘hanging underneath stuff’ obstacles – either my grip is insufficient or the holds were slippery with mud from previous hands (or both).

We went round together and had a great time in pleasantly warm weather – there are elements of ‘race’ but the whole feel of the thing was very inclusive and social. We didn’t try to push hard but I am top of the day’s ‘over 60s’ category times (admittedly out of only 8 as most folks of my age are too sensible to be doing 12k obstacle races).

The return journey wasn’t as easy as the outward one but we found an excellent pub for lunch. I dropped off our younger son in Harrow, back to the flat to drop off older son, then back home. I’d certainly do the event again, were it not for the (for us) slightly inaccessible venue – I spent many hours in the car and did well over 260 miles. At least there is some great compensation in the form of a vest and a very chunky medal.

It’s the Eurovision Song Contest this week. The relentless marketing hype on the BBC would suggest I should be in a frenzy of excitement and anticipation. I’m not.

On Sunday, my arms and shoulders explained to me the difference between obstacle racing and running. They weren’t actually painful but had certainly been worked differently compared to usual. I forecast a gentle day, washing linen from the flat and some very dirty stuff from Saturday’s race. Still coughing a bit of muck.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: Where there are many, nothing goes wrong

I wonder if Africa has a version of ‘Many cooks …’

2. BBC News website: ‘elf ‘n safety gorn mad, it is

Residents in a market town that has awards for its floral displays have been told to complete a £165 safety course or hire a contractor to hang baskets on streetlights. The council said that, because the streetlights were connected to the power grid, it needed to “ensure everyone’s safety”.

About 20 lampposts are used for the group’s award-winning displays and flowers are put up at the end of May and judged in July.

On the basis they were just hanging stuff on the outside of streetlights, will a course be needed to walk past a lamppost in case it is touched?

3. BBC News website: Battle of the sexes continues in Tasmania

A museum is fighting to keep an exhibit women-only after a court ordered that men should be allowed entry under anti-discrimination laws. The Tasmanian Museum has appealed to reverse the ruling, arguing it took “too narrow a view on women’s historical and ongoing societal disadvantage”.

The lounge, which contains some of the museum’s most-acclaimed works has been closed to the public since the court’s order. Now, the artist has said she will challenge the ruling by making the space “compliant” with regulations. Her plans involve transforming the velvet-clad lounge into a women’s toilet and a church which, she hopes, will use exemptions to allow it to continue operating as a women-only space.

On Sundays, men would be allowed into the space – to learn ironing and laundry folding.

Original story covered in post of 24 March

4. BBC News website: and so we move on – Covid? Yes I think I remember that

After more than three billion doses, the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine is being withdrawn. AstraZeneca said it was “incredibly proud” of the vaccine, but it had made a commercial decision and that the rise of new coronavirus variants meant demand had shifted to the newer updated vaccines.

The vaccine was estimated to have saved millions of lives during the pandemic, but also caused rare, and sometimes fatal, blood clots. In the race to lift the world out of pandemic lockdowns, it was developed by scientists at the University of Oxford in about 10 months – a process that normally takes 10 years.

5. BBC News website: When PR turns nasty

The head of public relations at China’s biggest search engine, Baidu, has apologised after her comments glorifying a work-till-you-drop culture sparked public outcry.

In a series of videos posted on the Chinese version of TikTok, Qu Jing, said she had no responsibility for employees’ well-being “as I’m not your mother”. She also threatened retaliation against subordinates who complained about her management. “I can make it impossible for you to find a job in this industry with just a short essay,” she wrote.

On Wednesday, Ms Qu acknowledged that her posts – which have since been taken down – drew “very pertinent” criticism.

6. BBC News website: Spin bowler in a spin

Former England cricketer Monty Panesar has quit the Workers Party of Britain – just one week after being unveiled as one of its prospective General Election candidates. He said he wanted to “represent the working class people of this country” at Westminster but, writing on social media, he now says he needs more time to “find my political home”.

Speaking last week, he admitted he’d never voted before but said he’d been impressed by Workers Party policies, such as a wealth tax to boost the NHS, and had been encouraged to become a candidate by a friend.

Sneeze, cough, mow, turbo, gym, run, (plus cats, ballots, lost weapons and a support alligator)

I am sure I’m an annoying person in many ways, but one of them is that I’m rarely ill. On Sunday night I knew it wasn’t going swimmingly as I started to get through handkerchiefs at an alarming rate, my throat was adopting the ‘bottom of the parrot’s cage’ feel, I was short of breath and I was aching. Sleep was notable by its absence Sunday night but the first tablet I’ve taken this year helped, eventually.

That left a dilemma on Monday as we were going to attend the funeral of a friend’s father – we didn’t know him but were going to support her and I didn’t want to spread my germs. As it was, we went to the funeral at the village church, keeping a good distance from everyone.

The service went well but opted out of the bun fight afterwards as that was more likely to result in me sharing the germs. I was struggling to get warm so I also missed out on the swim session in the early evening and was not up to the turbo either. Another poor night with some vigorous coughing. Not a great start to the week.

I got tired of sitting around feeling sorry for myself on Tuesday and I could hear the grass growing in the garden so I mowed – it involved more coughing than fun but at least the lawns are under a bit of control for now (and the cuttings picked up from the ‘best lawn’). Still feeling pretty rubbish. A bit better on Wednesday morning although, thanks to the coughing, sore ribs were now keeping my sore throat company. Still improving, I mowed the paddock.

I feel I should apologise to my vast following (!) of environmentalists but I am not going to embrace ‘no mow May’. I tried it on the paddock last year and had to get a tractor and topper in to bring the grass down to a height that my ride-on could deal with (but, even then, that was something of a torture). This year I have gone for a ‘3 for the price of 1’ approach and adopted ‘no mow December, January and February’.

It rained after I mowed, increasing the virtuous feeling for having done it. We had a terrific storm during Wednesday night with some of the loudest and longest peals of thunder I’ve heard for a long time. We lost our electricity supply in the early hours but it turned out to be the trip switch rather than a proper power cut.

Better on Thursday, other than for a continuing blocked nose and a residual cough. We voted in the local Police Commissioner election and I got on the turbo in the early evening. I took it fairly gently not knowing how the lungs would react – 30 minutes @28.8kph. The lungs were reasonably OK but the legs felt they belonged to someone else (who just used them to get between the sofa and the fridge).

I decided to go to the gym on Friday if I woke without an alarm being set. I did – and although I’d expected the performance of a new-born kitten, surprisingly, I managed the usual programme with the usual weights. After that it was 3 hours in the bike shop.

As we slid serenely towards the weekend, the power went off just before 4pm – no obvious reason, it was mild and windless. It didn’t return until 1.30am Saturday. Before the light went I managed to finished reading ‘The Satsuma Complex’ by Bob Mortimer – enjoyable but perhaps primarily a man’s book?

Still coughing up muck, but I was encouraged by the gym session and so I went for a short run on Saturday – just 6.3km but it was good to be back to the running again.

I took it easy on Sunday but went up to London in the late afternoon so we could take our younger son and his girlfriend out for lunch on Monday to mark his birthday on the day (and her’s the day before).

My wife had spent the previous couple of days at the flat, helping a friend to run a stand at the Windsor Horse Show. We had an infallible approach to the fact that she had our set of keys – she would let me know when she was heading for her car and I would then leave home so she would be back at the flat an hour before me – what could go wrong? Sadly, what could go wrong was a medical emergency in her car park and grid lock all around Windsor. She was still in the car park as I arrived (locked out) at the flat, an hour before her.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: A woman is a flower in a garden; her husband is the fence around it

Not the most enlightened of the wise words

2. BBC News website: Catalogue returns?

A family in the US has been reunited with their pet cat which was accidentally mailed hundreds of miles to California after jumping into one of the family’s packages that was being returned.

Once it was found and identified, the owners flew more than 1,000 miles to California to retrieve their pet which was in good health despite having had no food or water for days. Luckily, one of the box’s seams had been open so there was air to breathe and the weather conditions were kind so the cat had not frozen or overheated.

3. BBC News website: Ah, I’ll not hold my breath for a London Marathon place

Event organisers say more than 840,000 applications have been received for the 2025 London Marathon, smashing the previous record of 578,000 set by the 2024 ballot. The organizers don’t give the exact number of places that are allocated by the ballot, but it’s believed to be around 17,000-20,000.

There were 672,631 UK applications for the event, with 50.33% from men, 49.03% from women and 0.64% from non-binary applicants. A total of 167,687 non-UK residents applied in the international ballot.

More than 53,000 people finished this year’s race through the capital, with 44 Guinness World Records broken and £67m raised for charity so far.

4. BBC News website: Teaching – a mix of education, social work and parenting?

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has sent an alert to teachers urging them to warn pupils against the dangers of sextortion. Victims are sent a nude picture before being invited to send their own in return – only to then receive threats that the image will be shared publicly unless they meet blackmail demands.

Cases doubled worldwide in the last year. All age groups and genders are being targeted, the NCA said, but male victims aged between 14 and 18 make up a large proportion of cases.

Everything should be done to stop this – but how much is the responsibility of teachers?

5. BBC News website: Grenades, missiles, bullets? I know we put them somewhere

Colombia’s military has lost millions of bullets, thousands of grenades and several missiles, the nation’s president has said.

The disappearance of the items was revealed in recent inspections of military bases. It is blamed on military personnel corruptly selling weapons to arms traders.

At one military base, there was a shortfall of more than 808,000 bullets and nearly 10,000 grenades compared to the official records. Another base was short of nearly 4.2 million bullets and more than 9,300 grenades. The base had also lost two Spike missiles, 37 Nimrod missiles and 550 rocket-propelled grenades.

6. BBC News website: See you later …?

An ’emotional support’ alligator called Wally has been helping his owner relieve his depression for almost ten years. It was taken by pranksters while the owner was on holiday in the US state of Georgia and was then dropped into another person’s yard, probably to scare them.

When the alligator was discovered, alarmed residents contacted Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources who sent a trapper, who caught Wally and released him into a swamp with 20 other alligators.

The trapper rated the owner’s chances of finding Wally as “slim to none” but he is planning to search the swamp regardless.

Seville! Walk (lots), dip (x2), run, turbo, plus power, hippos, printing and bags

We stayed in London on Sunday night after watching our younger son run the Marathon. On Monday we drove to Gatwick to fly out to Seville for a few days – somewhere neither of us had been (Seville that is, not Gatwick).

It was early evening when we got to the hotel, we had time to unpack and have a look at the local area – and find a very good tapas bar. We’d booked a city walking tour for Tuesday morning and that was very good indeed, taking in places like the Alcazar, the Cathedral, the University, old tobacco factory and Plaza de Espana.

We walked about 10k, had lunch and then went to the river to round it up to about 15k. I think they could make more of the river – we weren’t tempted by a river cruise. Seville is lovely and walking is by far the best way to see it – its central area is a maze of narrow cobbled streets with a great mix of history and architectural styles.

We walked again on Wednesday – over 16k and visited the Museo de Bellas Artes – mostly 16th and 17th century art – and very enjoyable if you like your art predominantly religious and Spanish. Yet more excellent tapas and lovely cold beer.

I ran in the late afternoon – only a bit over 6k but it was great to have another run in a foreign city. It was still pretty hot (c26℃) and not that easy heading out to the river and back along narrow, busy and cobbled streets, dodging into the road and back to the pavement. Despite that I appear to have run faster than I have for some months.

Our hotel was right by the rather splendid Plaza de la Encarnación with the impressive huge wooden structure the Setas de Seville. It was a small hotel built around a moorish(?) atrium, in a tiny backstreet but with a plunge pool on the roof – perfect after the run or a day’s walking.

We walked again on Thursday before heading back home via an early evening flight. We arrived back and just had time to do some unpacking before getting to bed a bit after midnight. I did wake in time for the gym on Friday morning but took an executive decision, turned over and went back to sleep. I did make it to the bike shop.

We loved Madrid when we visited last month – but both loved Seville even more. It was really vibrant, buzzing with cafe culture, compact enough to walk around comfortably – and great weather. Such a shame to leave the air conditioning behind in Spain and return to the central heating at home.

I planned to run on Saturday but it was cold and wet. I wimped out, instead I watched some of the snooker from the turbo trainer – 30 minutes @30.1kph.

On Sunday I went up to the cycle park to take another children’s training session – chilly but not too wet and, as always, rewarding.

Congratulations to the England Women’s Rugby team for their sixth successive 6 Nations Championship and third successive Grand Slam. If only they can keep it going to next year’s World Cup.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: Love is like a baby: it needs to be treated tenderly

2. BBC News website: New to me – the offshore power ship

Residents of Sierra Leone have described their frustration at the blackouts which have plagued the country in recent weeks with power cuts hitting cities including the capital, Freetown.

Most of Freetown’s power comes from a Turkish ship floating off the country’s coast. It has massively reduced electricity supply to the city – from 60 megawatts to 6 megawatts – because of unpaid bills. Karpowership is one of the world’s biggest floating power plant operators, with several African states relying on it for electricity.

3. BBC News website: Even hippos are getting in on the gender confusion

A zoo in Japan has confirmed that a hippopotamus thought for seven years to be a he is, in fact, a she after a DNA test was carried out after zookeepers noticed that 12-year-old did not display typical male hippo behaviour.

Gen-chan arrived in Osaka from Mexico in 2017, and customs documents at the time said she was male.

4. BBC News website: Must take a lot of paper

A giant 3D printer, which is big enough to make a house, has been unveiled at the University of Maine. It beats the university’s own record for the world’s largest polymer 3D printer – the new printer four times bigger than the previous machine.

The Factory of the Future 1.0 (FoF 1.0) can print objects 96ft (29m) long – approximately the length of a blue whale.

5. BBC News website: Handbags and glad rags?

The US competition watchdog is taking action to block fashion accessory giant Tapestry’s $8.5bn (£6.9bn) takeover of rival Capri. Tapestry owns handbag makers including Coach and Kate Spade, while Capri’s brands include Michael Kors.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said if allowed, “the deal would eliminate direct head-to-head competition between Tapestry’s and Capri’s brands”.

Together, the firms employ about 33,000 staff globally but the FTC argued the deal could reduce wages and their benefits. Coach and Kate Spade are known for what their parent firm calls “accessible luxury” handbags – quality leather and craftsmanship products at affordable prices.

I appreciate that this is a very male comment, but how can a handbag firm be worth £6.9bn?

6. BBC News website: While most of the world moves in the opposite direction …

Iraq’s parliament has passed a bill criminalising same-sex relationships with jail terms of between 10 and 15 years. Transgender people could also be sent to prison for between one and three years under the new law.

Supporters of the changes say they will help to uphold religious values in the country while rights groups say they are a further black mark on Iraq’s record of violations against LGBT people.

Those who promote homosexuality or prostitution, doctors who perform gender reassignment surgery, men who “intentionally” act like women and those who engage in “wife swapping” will also face prison terms under the new legislation.

Swim, turbo (x2), gym, London Marathon (spectating) plus athletic courtesy, fake news and accidental divorce

The exercise week started on Monday with the usual swim doctor session in the early evening. There weren’t many people there so I had a lane to myself – that was great apart from the fact that it’s not possible to take a rest by pretending that you’re waiting for others to get out of the way. 1100m swum.

I got on the turbo on Tuesday. Feeling a bit guilty that I hadn’t got out for a run earlier, I pushed on for an hour @27.5kph.

On Wednesday I drove to London to let people doing a gas safety check and an energy efficiency assessment into our sons’ flat. Both visits went well but it took about 7 hours worth of driving and waiting around so no enthusiasm for any exercise when I got back in the evening.

With slightly warmer weather arriving, I mowed for a couple of hours on Thursday. I managed to reduce the cut height which is a sign that I’m just about getting on top of the task – but I’d welcome a dry spell to slow the grass’ growth rate.

Turbo again in the early evening – a surprisingly hard 30 minutes @29.7kph.

As ever, Friday saw an hour in the gym and then three in the bike shop. It rained, saving me from the plan to run the mower over some of the grass again, lowering the cut and collecting the cuttings – thank goodness I did it all yesterday.

I was going to run with my wife on Saturday. She’s had two massages on her dodgy knee which has responded well but she decided not to risk the run in view of the likely walking when we go to watch our younger son run the London Marathon on Sunday. I was going to run but decided against it as my knees were a bit sore from the gym. I wonder if I need to think about changing my gym day to have a day off after it, before the weekend run?

The London Marathon is a great event – I ran it in 1998 and 1999 but have failed to get a place in the ballot despite entering almost every year since.

Our son had picked up a couple of bugs since February (the curse of being a teacher?) with resulting lost training but he went into it, not to chase any particular time but to enjoy the experience. Thank goodness he got the sub-4 hour monkey off his back when we ran the Rotterdam Marathon in 2019.

We drove up to London later on Saturday and managed to see him twice during the run – once along The Highway (just after half-way) and then near the end. As part of his Christmas present we had got him some running kit – and, as a surprise, I gave him the running vest (washed and still in perfect condition!) I wore in the London Marathon in 1999. It was great to see him run it in the vest I’d worn 25 year previously.

We saw him along the Highway (just after Tower Bridge) and then on the Embankment at about 25 miles, before meeting up after the finish and getting something to eat and drink at the Zedal Brasserie just off Piccadilly Circus. With limited training behind him he did a great job in running it in 4 hours 33. A fine performance and a fine day.

Yes, my entry to the ballot for a place in 2025 is already submitted.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: We desire to bequeath two things to our children; the first one is roots, the other one is wings

2. BBC News website: No, I insist, after you

Organisers of the Beijing half marathon are investigating allegations that three African athletes deliberately allowed China’s star runner He Jie to win Sunday’s race.

Camera footage appears to show the two Kenyas and one Ethiopian pointing to the line, slowing down and waving He Jie past – he (or ‘He’) finished one second ahead of the trio, who tied for second place. World Athletics said that they were aware of the investigation being conducted and that the integrity of the sport is their highest priority.

Update: The top three (ed – sounds like top 4 to me) finishers of the Beijing half marathon have been stripped of their medals. It was claimed that the three Africans were running as pacemakers but none had been registered as such, so their actions breached the rules.

3. BBC News website: China shuts down influencer’s accounts over fake story

Ms Xu, a top Chinese influencer, claimed that while on holiday in Paris, coffee shop staff handed her two empty homework books that belonged to a Grade 1 student named Qin Lang. She promised to take the books back to the boy in China.

The story went viral and sparked a search for the boy across the country and gained millions of views. Ms Xu’s videos were so widely shared even state-affiliated media reported on the topic.

In a video posted Friday night, she has apologised for “polluting the internet”. Chinese authorities have taken down the accounts and Police said she and her company face administrative punishment, which could range from a warning to detention.

As fake news goes, this seems pretty mild (and a bit weird)

4. BBC News website: Ahhh – back to important things – an animal story

A Queensland couple rescued ‘Molly’ the magpie when it was a chick in 2020 and amassed more than 800,000 Instagram followers with whimsical pictures and videos of the magpie interacting with their Staffordshire terrier.

The ethics of keeping a magpie as a domestic pet were questioned and the relevant government department said the magpie had been “taken from the wild unlawfully with no permit, licence or authority”. Molly was surrendered to the authorities.

This sparked a public outcry in Australia, with more than 150,000 people signing a petition to secure Molly’s return. Now the couple have been granted a special licence to care for the magpie which was held by wildlife authorities for six weeks.

5. BBC News website: ‘Til administrative error do us part

A couple were divorced in error after a staff member at a law firm accidentally opened the file relating to the couple, when applying for a divorce order for a different client.

Three days later the firm applied three to rescind the order but the judge dismissed the application. He rejected the wife’s arguments that the order should be set aside, as her solicitors were “generally authorised to act for her and the court was entitled to accept the application for the final order made by them as being validly made on her behalf”.

Sounds like a bad decision to me

6. BBC News website: Yet more AI issues

The creation of sexually explicit “deepfake” images is to be made a criminal offence in England and Wales under a new law. Under the legislation, anyone making explicit images of an adult without their consent will face a criminal record and unlimited fine.

It will apply regardless of whether the creator of an image intended to share it, but if the image is shared more widely, the creator could face jail.

Swim, turbo (x2), gym, run, plus climate, presidential respect, faint praise, art and tourism

We were heading into a gentle evening last Sunday when the village Whatsapp group started to glow red hot at about 17.30 with people reporting the strange behaviour of their power – not outages as such but reduced voltage so that some things would not work and others only worked badly.

We were still OK (which was odd as we are ‘downstream’ in terms of the route of the supply) but that ended promptly when it cut out entirely a couple of hours later. Another 3 hours before it was restored – thank goodness I’d sent my WordPress post earlier. Who knows what global chaos might have been caused if I’d been late.

The swim doctor session on Monday evening was good, another 1000m of front crawl. There are times when I think that if I could get motivated to swim more than once a week, I might improve – and there are other times when I come to my senses.

I washed a couple of the cars on Tuesday – a futile job for someone living in the country but both were showing a certain tinge of green … and neither is a green car. The day continued the wet and very windy theme so it was the turbo in the evening – 30 minutes @ 30.5kph. More elbow room than the last few months as Alex and I cleared three olive trees, a lemon tree and many geraniums out of the conservatory last week.

Yet another pretty horrible day on Wednesday so it was back to the turbo in the early evening. A slightly easier 30 minutes @28.4kph.

On Thursday we went to the funeral of the former partner of my brother-in-law’s brother-in-law, in Surrey. She was a lovely lady, still in her 40s, who had battled cancer for many years. A mixture of horribly sad and very uplifting.

A pretty good gym session on Friday morning, then the bike shop. Later, a mowathon – the lawns, paddock and verges got a timely cut as the very wet weather, and the current warmer days, have combined to give the grass an unwelcome growing spurt.

On Saturday you could almost feel that Spring is coming. I ran just over 13km – I don’t think I’ve got it right with the run the day after the gym session. Across the various machines, I think I lift over 17 tonnes in a session at the gym, (plus sit-ups and planks) most of it with my legs which don’t recover that quickly.

I went to the cycle park on Sunday to run a children’s training session. I was on the team looking after the children who could already balance and pedal. A very disparate group which made it quite tough but they all progressed which is great.

This evening we have a meeting up with good friends for supper and to continue watching the first series of ‘Vigil’. It will be a good evening.

Interesting stuff this week

1 African wise words: He who does not know one thing knows another

2. BBC News website: Musk gets a Brazilian?

A Brazilian Supreme Court judge has opened an inquiry into Elon Musk after the multi-billionaire said he would reactivate accounts on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that the judge had ordered to be blocked. If X fails to comply with the order, it will be fined 100,000 reais ($19,774; £15,670) a day.

In his decision, Justice Moraes wrote that Mr Musk had launched a disinformation campaign against the Supreme Court. Mr Musk posted that the restrictions had been lifted because the court order was unconstitutional and called for Justice Alexandre de Moraes to “resign or be impeached”.

3. BBC News website: First climate warrior victory in court

A group of older Swiss women have won the first ever climate case victory in the European Court of Human Rights. The women, mostly in their 70s, said that their age and gender made them particularly vulnerable to the effects of heatwaves linked to climate change.

The court said Switzerland’s efforts to meet its emission reduction targets had been woefully inadequate. The ruling is binding and can trickle down to influence the law in 46 countries in Europe including the UK.

4. BBC News website: We’re listening, Mr President

Eight members of a Ugandan music band have been arrested for complaining that the president’s speech at the weekend was too long, local media report.

The complaint by one of the band members was seen as an insult to President Yoweri Museveni, who was speaking during the 50th wedding anniversary celebrations of former the Prime Minister and his wife on Saturday night.

The band members are alleged to have said “Rutabandana Waturusya Rugahamuzindaro”, which loosely translates as “over speaker, we are tired, leave the microphone”, the report added.

5. BBC News website: When the tribute goes wrong

Manchester United have confirmed the departure of football director John Murtough by mutual agreement after 11 years at Old Trafford.

Co-chairman Joel Glazer said: “After 11 years of tiresome work for the club, John has mutually agreed with us that now is the right time to step aside and allow the new football leadership structure to be put in place.

‘Tiresome’? Perhaps he meant ‘Tireless’?

6. BBC News website: But is it art?

A modern art gallery in Germany has fired an employee after discovering he had hung his own work in an exhibition.

The 51-year-old employee in the gallery’s technical services team described himself as a freelance artist and had drilled two holes in a wall in an empty passageway to mount his painting in the hope of achieving his artistic breakthrough. In addition to his employment being terminated, he has also been banned from the gallery.

7. BBC News website: Tourism, boon or curse?

Activists have begun a hunger strike on the island of Tenerife, in protest at what they see as the destructive growth of tourism on the Canary Islands. They are calling for a halt to the construction of a hotel and a beach resort in the south of the island and a moratorium on all tourism development projects.

The move is part of a wider protest movement across the islands, calling itself Canarias Se Agota, or ‘The Canaries Have Had Enough’.

Run (x3), gym, plus sporting clarity, lunar time, conservation and dirty money

I felt pretty good on Monday after Sunday’s long run – the stiffening of my back had come to nothing and all muscles reported for duty in relatively good shape. I could have run but was happy not to – and no swim doctor session in the evening either because of the Bank Holiday. We gardened before the inevitable rain set in.

Tuesday saw a slow 2.6k run with my wife, testing her troublesome knee – the question is whether it’s muscular and will need a second physio session. Our son (Alex) ran 10k. More gardening and diy later, followed by more rain.

Rest on Wednesday (it rained) before a trip to the local waste disposal site and then a run with Alex on Thursday. He wanted to do the run scheduled for next Sunday (the longest remaining run) to get it out of the way and maximise recovery time.

We were aiming for something close to 1h 45min and about 15k. By immaculate pace judgement (or complete fluke), we hit both targets within a minute of each other. Faster than Sunday but it felt much easier right from the start – average heart rate 118bpm. Remind me what happened in the afternoon … oh yes, it rained.

Short of time for the gym on Friday but I got through most of my usual routines much faster than usual – clearly, I don’t normally work hard enough in the gym. Bike shop volunteering after that and then a walk to the nearby woods where the bluebells are coming out, but are not yet in all their glory (above a reminder of how they do look).

I ordered a delivery of logs for the wood burner back in September. After 6 months, and a lot of being messed around, they arrived late Friday afternoon. Luckily, Alex was here to help stack them but the jury is out on what that might have done to my back.

The jury returned its verdict on Saturday morning and the logs were found not guilty of ABH to my back. I ran with Alex again – a bit over 11k at a very comfortable 6.45/km (117bpm average) on a very pleasant, but windy, morning. It was really enjoyable running with him. I clocked 52k in 7 days (the most since the 100k ultra in July 2022) while he ran 66k. With the second week of his Easter holiday coming up (he’s a teacher) he’s now in a good place to finish his preparation.

Later I drove him to catch a coach back to London (his preferred and secondary train routes not operating because of a strike). A treat to have him here for the week and help him with his marathon training.

Sunday was extremely windy so I stayed put. Very best wishes to Amy running the London Landmarks half and my friend and training partner running the Brighton Marathon – may their runs go wonderfully well.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: He who earns calamity, eats it with his family

2. BBC News website: Now, let’s be very clear and decisive on this …

Two Irish basketball teams have been ordered to replay the final 0.3 seconds of a quarter-final match. The second-tier game finished with the winning points coming from free throws awarded on the final buzzer. The losers appealed on the grounds the free throws should not have been allowed as the clock had expired at the same time the foul was called.

They were initially told by the National League Committee (NLC) that the result would stand as a referee’s decision cannot be retrospectively overturned but they were given the option to appeal to the National Appeals Committee (NAC).

The NAC ruled the match should be replayed in its entirety, but Basketball Ireland has since said the option to appeal was “granted in error”. The NLC then ruled the fixture would not be replayed in full, but that the remaining 0.3 seconds should be played.

3. BBC News website: I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon (but when?)

The White House wants US space agency Nasa to develop a new time zone for the Moon – Coordinated Lunar Time (CLT).

Because of the different gravitational field strength on the Moon, time moves quicker there relative to Earth – 58.7 microseconds every day and this can have a significant impact when trying to synchronise spacecraft.

The US government hopes the new time will help keep national and private efforts to reach the moon co-ordinated.

4. BBC News website: When conservation conserves too well?

The president of Botswana has threatened to send 20,000 elephants to Germany in a dispute over conservation.

Earlier this year, Germany’s environment ministry suggested there should be stricter limits on importing trophies from hunting animals but Botswana’s President told German media this would only impoverish people in his country. He said elephant numbers had exploded as a result of conservation efforts, and hunting helped keep them in check.

Botswana is home to about a third of the world’s elephant population – over 130,000 – more than it has space for. Herds are said to be causing damage to property, eating crops and trampling residents.

5. BBC News website: Filthy lucre

One of Nigeria’s best-known celebrities, a transgender woman known as Bobrisky, has been arrested on charges of abusing banknotes. She, allegedly, abused and mutilated banknotes by “spraying” them during a film premiere in Lagos.

“Spraying” (throwing them in the air in a sign of appreciation) is commonly done at Nigerian weddings and celebrations but it is technically an offence as the notes then fall to the ground where they can be trodden on. Prosecutions are rare.

6. BBC News website: At least cannabis is vegetarian

Sierra Leone’s president has declared a national emergency over rampant drug abuse. Kush, a psychoactive blend of addictive substances, has been prevalent in the country for years. One of the drug’s many ingredients is human bones and security has been tightened in cemeteries to stop addicts digging up skeletons from graves.

Mowing, swim, turbo, run (x3), gym, ride, plus jeans, free money, nappies and hedgehogs

When I posted last Sunday, I thought I’d finished doing anything much for the day – but it was dry and later I decided to do the first mow of the year. I did the lawns, the verges and a good deal of the paddock before the mower punctured, the wheel dug in, bent the track rod and a track rod arm and removed the tyre from its hub.

I straightened the track rod but my track pump couldn’t get enough air into the tyre quickly enough to reseat it on the hub. Then I remembered the CO2 cartridges I keep for bike punctures and that worked – at least I could drive the mower back to the house. Who’d have guessed the synergy between cycling and mowing?

Mowing was a good move as the grass was already (almost) unmanageably long and the current forecast has rain on 13 of the next 14 days. If there is one good thing about the winter it’s not having to mow.

On Monday, I decided to put off the running (again) – my back was better but not quite right. Swim doctor session later – 1000m and, perhaps, some small improvement.

I picked up the repaired mower wheel on Tuesday and finished the mowing, just before an afternoon of rain. The grass had been too long to be collected so I hope the grass fairies are about over the course of the next few days to take the cut stuff away or it’s going to cog up the mower’s collection chute next time.

Turbo in the evening – a hard 45 minutes @28.8kph.

After much prevarication, Wednesday was run day. Almost as soon as I left the house, the temperature dropped, the wind got up and it started raining heavily. I stuck to it and ran for 6.3km – not fast but 30s/km faster than of late. New shoe day too – a second pair of the Pumas I’ve been using recently (the first pair have done 900km). I doubt they can have accounted for the speed – I didn’t really notice any difference.

No ill effects from the run, but Thursday was foul – cold, windy and wet (with thunder, lightning and hailstones, for good measure) so I took a rest day.

A longer gym session on Friday morning – 1h 15m – and back to the full set of exercises and weights. The bike shop was shut for the Bank Holiday but I drove my wife to the physio to see if he could sort out her troublesome knee.

I had an enjoyable run on a dry and bright Saturday, 7.5km, just 2s/km outside Wednesday’s pace. In view of the decent weather (before more rain next week) I mowed the paddock again. Either there were no grass fairies or I hadn’t given them enough time but the cut grass sitting on it did, continually, clog the grass collection chute.

With our older son and his girlfriend in Mexico (having had 4 month sabbatical a year ago and managing to fit in trips to Kenya and Japan since), we had just our younger son back for Easter, on Saturday afternoon. He caught a couple of the bugs going round recently and is a little behind in his training for the London Marathon. Happily, he got the sub-4 hour marathon monkey off his back when we ran in Rotterdam in 2019 so he’ll run steadily and enjoy the experience.

We ran together on Sunday. I had in mind about 12k – he had more like 28k in mind. If I’d known I probably wouldn’t have done the gym on Friday or the run Saturday.

We compromised (sort of) and I ran with him until my back started to get a bit stiff and discretion overcame valour so I stopped – that was just after 23k. He then ran the remaining 7k to make his 30k and I accompanied him on a bike. We had a good time. It felt like it was hard work but we ran gently – an average heart rate of just 113 bpm.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: Wood already touched by fire is not hard to set alight

2. BBC News website: The wrong trousers (‘More censorship, Gromit?’)

North Korea’s state television channel has censored a BBC gardening programme – by blurring out the jeans presenter Alan Titchmarsh was wearing.

North Korea’s rules prohibiting jeans have been in place since the 1990s when leader Kim Jong-il declared denim trousers to be a symbol of Western – and specifically American – imperialism, which had no place in a socialist state.

3. BBC News website: One way to fund university study

Ethiopia’s largest bank says it has recovered almost three-quarters of the $14m (£12m) it lost in a glitch that allowed customers to withdraw more money than they had in their accounts on 16th March. Thousands of customers have returned the cash voluntarily. Those who have not are threatened with criminal charges.

Most of the money was withdrawn by university students as news of the glitch spread and long lines were seen at campus cash machines. A total of 490,000 transactions were made before the bank realised there was a problem.

4. BBC News website: Another reason to look forward to old age?

A Japanese company has announced that it will stop producing nappies for babies in the country and, instead, focus on the market for adults.

It is the latest firm to make such a shift in a rapidly ageing Japan, where birth rates are at a record low. The number of babies born in Japan in 2023 – 758,631 – was down by 5.1% from the previous year.

Sales of adult nappies have outpaced those for infants in Japan for more than a decade.

5. BBC News website: Hedgehogs – why can’t they just share the hedge?*

Last week a well-meaning rescuer took what she thought was a baby hedgehog, nestled in a box beside a bowl of food, to a wildlife hospital. On inspection, the hospital found it was actually caring for the woollen bobble from a hat.

*Funniest joke of the Edinburgh Fringe, 2009

Walks, run, culture, turbo (x2), gym, Jasmin Paris, plus vinyl, sand, discrimination and ice

On Monday we walked down towards the old part of Madrid and visited the elegant Plaza Mayor and explored the surrounding area. In the afternoon we moved on to the Prado with it’s mainly 16th and 17th century paintings – it was fabulous. Another really lucky choice of restaurant in the evening after drinks on the hotel rooftop terrace, with snow-capped mountains far away to the north – the Sierra de Guadarrama, perhaps?

On Tuesday we were going to visit the Museo de Arte Reina Sophia but checked and found that it was closed, so we headed for the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza (which, to my taste, was possibly even better than the Prado) with paintings from the 13th to 20th centuries. That made for a wonderful few hours, although it re-broke my back which had been improving.

While we enjoyed the warm weather we did notice how many locals were in coats and jackets – interesting what you get used to.

In the afternoon I ran in the Retiro Park. Running abroad is always a real treat, even though – apart from the Rotterdam Marathon – I’ve only done it on holiday. Just under 6.5k, slow and with a creaky back – but a great opportunity to complain about running in the heat (about 23℃) after months of complaining about running in the cold.

On Wednesday we packed and took a last wander around the park – it’s a really interesting place which seems perpetually full of walkers, runners and cyclists. At one point we saw a large group of elderly people and went over to investigate. More than 60 were gathered doing a 30 minute exercise routine led by ‘official’ trainers. Not exactly Riverdance and grey hair was most certainly the order of the day (even I was well short of the average age of the participants) but there were at least 3 sessions, one after the other and all equally well attended – really quite inspiring.

By my reckoning, we walked about 30km in our 3 days in Madrid.

Back home later – a good journey to end a terrific few days seeing the sights and enjoying some warmth and sunshine. It’s an excellent city – if you go, I’d recommend staying somewhere close to the lovely Retiro Park – my only criticism of it is that there are actually too many thoroughfares and paths! Shame we were too early in the year to see the rose garden in bloom.

Thursday was spent catching up with stuff, washing and following the Barkley Marathons – one of the world’s most weird, wonderful and difficult races, sometimes referred to as: ‘The Race That Eats Its Young’. The aim is five loops of an extremely demanding off road course (which might be anywhere between 20 and 26 miles, at the whim of the organiser) and a total ascent of more than twice the height of Everest. Each loop needs to be completed within a rolling 12 hours.

I say ‘following’ but that’s not easy for an event with no website or social media, no live streaming, and no GPS. Spectators are only allowed at one point on the unmarked course – the link with the outside world is one chap with a ‘X’ feed. He doesn’t always bother with names and this year’s descriptions of runners included ‘guy with awesome glasses’, ‘guy with very daring shorts’, ‘the man in black’ and ‘guy with red hat’.

I particularly liked the essential information that ‘nondescript guy’ was ‘somewhere between the fire tower and someplace else’.

My back improved during the day (having almost seized up driving home on Wednesday, such that I struggled to get the suitcase out of the car) so I got on the turbo in the early evening – 30 minutes @29.7kph.

A slightly reduced gym session on Friday morning to protect my back and then the bike shop. After that, I devoted more time to the Barkley, especially with Jasmin Paris (‘smalleuropeanwoman’) trending highly on ‘X’ as she started her fifth and final loop – the first woman ever to do that – and aiming to go on and be the first woman to finish in the 38 years the race has been run.

Seven runners went out on the 5th loop (a record) and, one by one, four men finished (another record) and two failed, leaving Jasmin the only person out on the course as the finish time approached.

Astonishingly, she made it, coming in 1m 39s ahead of the 60 hour cut-off. One of the greatest-ever woman’s athletic achievements (to my mind, possibly the greatest).

I thought of running on Saturday but, while there was a point in risking my back to run in Madrid, there was little point risking it to run in Oxfordshire so (although it was improving) I went for a turbo session instead. 30 minutes @30kph.

Rest day on Sunday, with a plan to get back running on Monday, all being well with my back.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: No man can outwit their ancestors

2. BBC News website: Back to the future, musically

After more than 30 years, vinyl records have returned to the basket of goods used by the UK’s Office for National Statistics to track prices and work out the rate of inflation.

Air fryers have also been added to the virtual basket in its annual review but hand sanitiser, a must-have of the Covid years, has been taken out.

3. BBC News website: Canutesville, Massachusetts

A group of wealthy US homeowners in Salisbury, Massachusetts, spent $565,000 (£441,000) to bring in about 14,000 tonnes of sand to build sand dunes in hopes of protecting up to 15 homes.

Those protections were largely washed away, however, when a large storm hit just three days later and residents now hope the state will help fund a more permanent solution to safeguard their seaside homes. “The sacrificial dunes did their job,” the group said. “The shock was it happened three days after the project was finished.”

4. BBC News website: Doesn’t he remember being in Dante’s Peak?

Ex-James Bond star Pierce Brosnan has pleaded guilty to hiking too close to sensitive geothermal pools in a closed part of Yellowstone National Park. Initially, he pleaded not guilty to trespassing in hot springs, where acid rising from the ground can reach boiling temperatures.

A judge in Wyoming accepted his plea and ordered him to pay a fine of over $1,500 (£1,175) for the offence.

5. BBC News website: … but is it art?

Inside Tasmania’s famous Museum of Old and New Art lies a large, emerald-draped cube. Women are ushered in and offered champagne by male butlers “who live to serve” them. But men are otherwise noticeably absent, turned away at the entrance.

This “Ladies Lounge” takes the concept of an old Australian pub and turns it on its head and the exhibit was designed as a piece of interactive art, intended to provide a safe place for women to enjoy each other’s company, while also highlighting the exclusion they faced for decades.

However, New South Wales resident Jason Lau has complained that the museum, known as Mona, is engaging in illegal discrimination. The museum agrees the exhibit does indeed discriminate but it argued that Mr Lau hasn’t missed out on anything – he experienced the artwork exactly as intended. “Part of the experience is being denied something that is desired,” said the Museum’s counsel.

6. BBC News website: … and I complain about running in less than 10℃

Josef Šálek, of Czechia, has just set a new Guinness World Record for the fastest half marathon completed barefoot, on ice/snow.

He ran 1:50:42 while clad in nothing but a pair of short running tights, smashing the previous record of 2:16:34, which was set by Dutch runner Wim ‘The Iceman’ Hof sixteen years ago.

Ouch, argh, gym, turbo, walk, plus rejection, headers, restful flying, an iron lung … and Madrid

I stayed in London after the Mother’s day lunch and went to our sons’ flat on Monday morning. They had carpenters fitting the five fire doors that are needed now that, soon, neither son will be living in the flat. The letting of the third room will make it a HMO (house of multiple occupation) which comes with a raft of additional requirements.

After they had gone, I carried the four doors that had been replaced down from the third floor and managed to get then in the car. Although they were heavy, it was probably more their awkwardness that was the real issue. I think I broke my back.

Same again to see the work finished on Tuesday, me still with a broken back. The 5th door was fitted (no door to the kitchen when our sons bought the flat) and they left.

Once they had gone, and as I was about to leave, it struck me that the new kitchen door meant that it was just about impossible to get access to the fridge or freezer. A couple of stressful hours followed, finding a hardware shop to buy tools, and swapping the way the fridge/freezer doors were hung. Then back to Oxfordshire.

By Wednesday my broken back was merely a nasty strain so I shifted the doors out of the car and into a shed … which really helped it. Still sore on Thursday – the typical ‘not too bad once moving, but standing up after sitting for a while is painful’ sort of thing.

I went to the gym on Friday but it was a sightly abbreviated session, avoiding exercises that wanted to pull uncomfortably on my back, and with a few lowered weights. Then the bike shop volunteering.

Saturday was a really pleasant day but I decided not to risk a run as my back was still sore – I don’t mind it being broken but it’s beyond the pale for it to interfere with the exercise.

Later, I had a short walk up the village and the back seemed better so I got on the turbo watching the Wales v Italy rugby. The idea was for a gentle effort but, foolishly, I decided I’d do 20 sprint revs per point scored – thank goodness it wasn’t more than 0-11. Just 30 minutes @ 29.4kph.

Congratulations to Ireland on a thoroughly well-deserved 6 Nations title.

On Sunday (17th) we left at silly o’clock and drove to Heathrow to fly to Madrid.

This was the short break we so nearly had in March 2020 when we got to the boarding gate just as the government advice changed to ‘essential travel only to Spain’ so we bailed out of the trip (concerned about insurance validity as Covid began to take a hold). We started by being disappointed that we hadn’t been just a few minutes earlier and would have been on the plane … but Madrid shut down later that day so what we thought was bad luck was actually quite the opposite.

Thanks to the early start, we were checked into the hotel by about 1pm, even after the lost hour on the time difference. The hotel was by the north east corner of the Retiro Park, we went for a walk after unpacking and it was delightful – loads of people enjoying a Sunday out in the sun but still not unpleasantly crowded.

In the evening we explored the local area and got lucky with an extremely good tapas.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: Just because the lizard nods his head, doesn’t mean he’s in agreement

2. BBC News website: Hello Prime Minister – and what is your business in Haiti?

Over the weekend, the violence in the capital Port-au-Prince ramped up once again. Heavily armed gangs attacked the National Palace and set part of the Interior Ministry on fire with petrol bombs.

It comes after a sustained attack on the international airport, which remains closed to all flights. The Prime Minister tried to fly back to Haiti from the United States last week, but his plane was refused permission to land.

A couple of days later, stranded in Puerto Rico, the Prime Minister agreed to resign immediately after the installation of a transition council.

3. BBC News website: Leave the headers to the players

Lecce have sacked their manager after he head-butted Verona striker Thomas Henry following Sunday’s 1-0 loss in Serie A.

D’Aversa, 48, and Henry both received red cards for their part in the incident which took place as tempers flared after the final whistle. When speaking after the game he admitted that his actions were ‘inexcusable’. He has been ‘relieved of his duties’.

4. BBC News website: Sit back, relax and enjoy the flight

Indonesia is investigating local carrier Batik Air after both pilots were found to have fallen asleep for 28 minutes mid-flight. The pilot had told his co-pilot to take control of the aircraft shortly after take off, saying he needed to rest. The co-pilot agreed, but then also fell asleep. According to the report, his wife had just given birth to twins and he was helping with childcare.

The Airbus A320 briefly veered off course but landed safely, with all 153 passengers and crew members unharmed.

5. BBC News website: The benefit of experience?

US President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump have both passed the delegate thresholds to clinch their parties’ nominations. They each won several states in primary elections on Tuesday to propel them over the finish line.

The two 2020 contenders will provide the US with its first rematch in a presidential election for 70 years. Polling suggests it will be a tight race that will come down to narrow margins in a few key states.

… and a combined age, at the time of the election, of only 15 days shy of 160 years?

6. BBC News website: Another life less ordinary

The polio survivor known as “the man in the iron lung” has died at the age of 78.

Paul Alexander contracted polio when he was six, leaving him paralysed from the neck down and unable to breathe independently. He was placed in the metal cylinder, where he would spend the rest of his life. After years, Alexander eventually learned to breathe by himself so that he was able to leave the lung for short periods of time.

He earned a law degree, practised law and published a memoir. Advances in medicine made iron lungs obsolete by the 1960s, when they were replaced by ventilators, but he kept living in the cylinder because, he said, he was used to it.

Swim, turbo, run, gym plus money, crime, fun and hard lessons

My wife’s knee wasn’t quite up to a run on Monday so I settled for the swim doctor session in the evening. To my shame, I ignored most of the drills and swam 1000m, mainly front crawl.

My wife’s knee is improving but still quite right by Tuesday so I resorted to the turbo in the evening. With my ‘set out to beat a previous session’ approach, I decided to go for last week’s benchmark of 28.54km in an hour.

There’s no science to it but I am at least pushing myself and having a change of diet on the turbo. I managed 28.55km in 57m 43s @29.7kph. I won’t say it was hard but I didn’t feel like doing the extra 2m 17s to complete the hour.

Cold, dank and unappealing on Wednesday – the sort of weather that seems to creep into your bones. I think my difficulty in getting out to run stems from having had enough of the bad weather. In due course I’ll be complaining about running in the heat but I’d settle for a bit of that now. I was doing stuff in the early evening so it ended up as a rest day.

I got out for a solo session of hill reps on Thursday, not having done them for some time. It’s even harder than normal to get the clothing right when running hills on a cold day – either freeze at the start or boil later on seems to be the choice.

I went for the ‘boil later’ option (hat, buff, gloves etc) but managed 6 reps in a run of 7.5km and 215m of ascent – still only averaging 117bpm. My recent purchase of a Higher State insulated running jacket looks like a winner – lightweight, really warm and cheap (£14.99).

Friday started – as usual – with an hour in the gym, followed by three in the bike shop.

Up to Kingston-upon-Thames on Saturday to spend a second day helping older son to put up the last of coving in their sitting room. It’s surprisingly hard to get really neat corners – happily, caulk will cover a multitude of sins now the coving itself is in place.

After that I drove into London to meet my wife at the flat – and watch the end of the England v Ireland rugby. I had expected us to lose (to probably the best team in the world) but England – I think deservedly – won something of a thriller, with the last kick of the match. It seems that the tactic of keeping 15 men on the field throughout the game is something of an advantage – we should use it more often. That spoiled Ireland’s grand slam hopes but they can still win the championship by beating Scotland next week – and good luck to them in that.

Sunday was Mother’s Day so we met up with our sons who took my wife out for lunch (with me as her ‘plus one’). A lovely family occasion but 2 days of no proper exercise – I missed a trick by not taking running kit and getting out on Sunday morning but an easier week is no bad thing every now and then.

My sporting calendar is starting to build. The obstacle race in May (12km, 70+ obstacles), The Race to the Stones in July (support runner for a friend – the wife of my training partner – as she tackles to 100km straight through on the Saturday and for another, more recent friend, on the Sunday). They are followed by the planned half ironman later in July and then the annual cycling trip to the alps in August.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: If relatives help each other, what evil can hurt them

2. BBC News website: Vote now if you would like more money

Swiss voters have given themselves an extra month’s pension each year – in a nationwide referendum focusing on living standards for the elderly.

The government had warned that the increased payments would be too expensive to afford but almost 60% of voters said ‘yes’ in Sunday’s poll. Separately, 75% rejected raising the pension age from 65 to 66.

3. BBC News website: Putting petty crime and antisocial behaviour into context

The government of Haiti declared a 72-hour state of emergency on Sunday after armed gangs stormed a major Port-au-Prince prison, leading to the killing of at least 12 people and the escape of around 4,000 inmates. Among those detained were gang members charged in connection with the 2021 killing of President Jovenel Moïse.

Violence in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has worsened in recent years. Gangs aiming to oust the Prime Minister control 80% of Port-au-Prince.

On Tuesday there were reports of soldiers being deployed to defend the airport of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, from an assault by armed gangs whose aim is to prevent the return to Haiti of the Prime Minister, who is believed to be abroad.

4. BBC News website: Girls just want to have fun (and who can say they can’t?)

A K-pop star has issued a grovelling apology after incensed fans accused her of “betrayal” – because she has a boyfriend.

The fans reportedly drove a truck to pop star Karina’s agency after finding out she was dating actor Lee Jae-wook. “Is the love given to you by your fans not enough?” an electronic billboard on the vehicle demanded.

In a letter shared on Instagram, she vowed “to heal the wounds” she had inflicted and promised to show a “more mature and hardworking side” in future. 

5. BBC News website: Think carefully about your next answer

A lecturer in a medical school in Bangladesh has been suspended, two days after allegedly shooting and injuring a student in a classroom. Local media report that a 23-year-old student at a medical college got into an argument with the lecturer while undertaking an oral exam.

The lecturer allegedly brought out a gun and shot the student in the right knee. The bullet reportedly hit the student’s mobile phone, in the pocket of his trousers, which spared him life-threatening injuries,