Turbo, run (hill reps), run, run, gym, run (plus false alarms and robots on the loose)

Bournemouth seafront, looking towards Hengistbury Head (left) and the Isle of Wight (right)

I started the week with a turbo session. Strangely, after not being able to muster the enthusiasm to use it on Saturday, I was fairly happy to mount up for 45 minutes @28.7kph (17.8mph).

It was the usual 8 hill reps on Tuesday – and this time I logged nearly 9km with 292m of ascent (5.5 miles and 960 feet). I love the way the same run records differently every time. I managed to make the last rep the fastest again but I’m now wondering if that just shows that I’m not working hard enough with the others – it feels like I’m working plenty hard enough.

I’d decided to be tough and not wear the soft shell jacket – but it hadn’t got above freezing so yet again the cold weather wimp in me won the day and the jacket got an outing as usual. I did wear my less-than-warmest running tights – what a man.

I ran, properly (and fully) attired, with my wife on Wednesday – 7.4km (4.6 miles) – still cold but the sun came out. It feels like we haven’t seen it for a while. I had thought about going for a swim in the evening but couldn’t muster the energy – I’ve decided that not swimming this month will be my version of ‘dry January’.

More running with my wife on Thursday on tired legs, it being the third run on successive days, following a turbo session. It was one of our usual routes but it measured 7.45km (4.6 miles) which is longer than normal – the world must be expanding.

Gym and bike shop, as ever, on Friday. I’m still lifting the increased weights in the gym and trying to remember to do fewer reps and more sets – it’s hard.

Later we drove down to Bournemouth. Our older son and his girlfriend have been spending some time in the house down there so we joined them for a weekend break. I’m not sure if it constituted being invited for a weekend away in your own house but it was great to get down there and see them.

We arrived late afternoon but within a couple of hours we got an intruder alert for the house back in Oxfordshire. Unfortunately, the friends who have keys and know how to operate the alarm were away so I drove nearly 2 hours back to check on it. Of course, no sign of intruders but the door to the attic was open and I’m wondering if that was moving enough to set off the movement detector as a result of a bit of a draught coming down the attic stairs.

It’s given a false alarm once before when we’ve been in Bournemouth – why can’t it go wrong when we are running within a mile from home?

I stayed overnight and drove back to Bournemouth on Saturday morning. All that put paid to a morning run but we went for a walk and then walked to a restaurant for an excellent lunch – so that was about 2.5 hours on our feet.

I wasn’t going to run on Sunday but it was a lovely day – chilly but a bright blue sky and some sunshine. It was too good to miss so I ran along the seafront to Boscombe Pier and back – 8.5km (5.3 miles) – it was delightful and despite the extra, unnecessary, driving it was a very fine weekend.

100k corner (an occasional place for ultra worries and plans)

I’ve started looking at training plans for July’s ultra. The organisers have a 20 week programme on the website – that would mean starting around the second week of February. However, the weekly distances for the first 9 weeks of the plan aren’t any bigger than I’d expect to be running anyway – although in the later weeks the longest runs are a bit further than I’d usually go.

I think 20 weeks is too long to be in a training plan so I’m ignoring it for now – I’ll pick it up in late March to make sure that I’m doing slightly longer runs by then.

Interesting stuff this week

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

2. BBC News website: Robot vacuum cleaner makes a break for freedom

The automated cleaner failed to stop at the front door of the hotel in Cambridge on Thursday, and was still on the loose the following day. Well-wishers on social media hoped the vacuum enjoyed its travels, as “it has no natural predators” in the wild.

It was found under a hedge in the grounds of the hotel on Friday.

3. BBC News website: Arnold Schwarzenegger involved in a car accident

The four-vehicle crash on Friday afternoon left one person with injuries, Los Angeles Police said. Images from the scene show Schwarzenegger’s large SUV on top of at least two vehicles. The actor can be seen standing nearby.

This is news? – didn’t they see his driving in The Terminator films?

4. BBC News website: Egan Bernal in intensive care

Bernal, who rides for the Ineos Grenadiers, had a crash while training in Colombia. He suffered a fractured vertebrae, a fractured right femur, a fractured right patella [knee-cap], chest trauma, a punctured lung and several fractured ribs in the crash. Doctors were able to pin his right leg and stabilise the vertebrae. He is now in intensive care where other potential injuries are being managed, as well as the body’s response to the trauma.

Bernal won Le Tour two years ago at his first attempt and won last year’s Giro. He was widely expected to contest the Tour de France this year but it is not yet clear if he will be able to take part in the Tour which begins in Copenhagen on 1 July.

Dutch cyclist Amy Pieters was injured in training with the national track team on December 23 – there seems to be a dearth of information online after she had surgery to relieve pressure on her brain and was placed in a medically-induced coma.

My very best wishes for their speedy and full recoveries. Take care out there.

5. BBC News website: China rewrites the ending to cult 1999 film Fight Club

The original ending saw Edward Norton’s narrator killing his imaginary alter-ego Tyler Durden, played by Brad Pitt, before bombs destroyed buildings in the climax to a subversive plot to reorder society, dubbed Project Mayhem.

For Chinese audiences, the authorities win. Before the explosions, a message now says “Through the clue provided by Tyler, the police rapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all criminals, successfully preventing the bomb from exploding. After the trial, Tyler was sent to lunatic asylum receiving psychological treatment. He was discharged from the hospital in 2012.”

Turbo, run (hill reps), run (trail), gym, run – plus doomed hamsters and a ‘dead man walking’?

Daisy, a big girl even after losing 6kg – my brother-in-law says she’s big boned

One thing I didn’t mention in my last post was that one of my brothers-in-law came on Sunday to leave his two Basset hounds with us while he went to his daughter’s graduation ceremony.

I like animals (we had dogs and cats for years as our sons grew up) but other people’s dogs are harder work. They come with pre-conceived ideas of what is allowed and it isn’t right to try to impose our own views on them in just a few days. For example, we subscribe to the ‘dogs keep 4 feet on the ground’ principle – no jumping up at people and no getting up on sofas and chairs uninvited. By no means were Daisy and Otto bad dogs, they were just behaving as they were brought up (he got them as rescue dogs so has had little chance of breaking their sofa habit).

Sunday passed by safely and on Monday we were still in ‘dog monitor mode’ as they settled in unfamiliar surroundings. I was up before 7 on Tuesday – early for someone who wouldn’t usually rise much before 8 – to see to them, and they were collected later in the day. They were very well-natured and a reason for some very good walks – and we were really pleased to help my brother-in-law out. I hope they write.

Turbo on Tuesday – 45 minutes @ 28.3kph (17.6mph) and back to the hill reps on Wednesday – 8 reps and this time it measured 8.5km with 286m of ascent (5.3 miles and 938 feet).

I’ve been fairly pleased how the exercise has been going – I don’t want to be too badly off the pace for a run I have scheduled with my friend and running partner for next week … or so I thought. He appeared at the door on Thursday which exposed the fact that I had the run in the diary for the right day – but the wrong week.

After I quickly donned running kit we went back up on the Ridgeway and ran a bit more of July’s ultra course – it was a hard 10km with just under 200m of ascent. His ill fortune in hurting ribs in a recent fall has been my good fortune in it slowing him down a little.

We must have looked like we were running in different continents – me in compression top, long sleeve running top, soft shell jacket, hat, gloves, buff and warmer running tights (it was hovering just above freezing) and him in a short sleeved shirt and shorts.

The usual Friday morning routine saw me in the gym and then bike shop. Later I planted some hedging and we went for a slightly early and ‘alternative’ Burns Night supper with friends (cue another negative lateral flow test each) – it was excellent.

I had planned to get on the turbo on Saturday but couldn’t work up the enthusiasm. I did get out on Sunday for 8 laps of the site of the old hill fort and two hill reps added on just for good measure – 10.5km and 174m of ascent (6.5 miles and 570 feet).

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: Seeing is different than being told

2. BBC News website: Czech folk singer dies after deliberately catching Covid

Hana Horka got infected on purpose when her husband and son had the virus, so she could have a recovery pass to get access to certain venues.

Although she was unvaccinated, her son stressed that she did not believe in some of the more bizarre conspiracy theories about Covid vaccines, “Her philosophy was that she was more OK with the idea of catching Covid than getting vaccinated. Not that we would get microchipped or anything like that,” he said.

3. BBC News website: Anticipated ‘Most expensive property ever’ attracts no bids

The Roman villa had a starting price of €471m (£394m – $535m) – another attempt to sell it is expected in April, with the price cut by 20%.

The highlight of the six-storey villa’s many treasures is the world’s only surviving mural by Caravaggio. Painted in 1597, itself estimated to be worth €310m (£259m – $421m).

4. BBC News website: Hong Kong hamster cull

A Covid outbreak has been linked to hamsters at a pet shop. Negative results were received for other animals there such as rabbits and chinchillas but as a “preventative measure”, 2,000 hamsters and other small mammals in the city will be killed. Families who bought a hamster from the store since 22 December have been told to hand over their pet for euthanasia.

A telephone hamster hotline is being set up and the advice to hamster owners in particular is “keep them at home”.

… but a) how do the hamsters use the hotline and b) think of all those poor hamsters being deprived of their daily walks

5. BBC News website: Inquiry after ‘dead man’ taken into post office

On Friday, a man called in to the post office in Carlow, Ireland, and asked to collect a pension on behalf of an elderly man. That request was refused as staff told him the pensioner had to be present in order to release the money.

A short time later, two men arrived, propping up a third man between them. When a member of staff enquired as to the health of the man they were propping up, they fled, dropping the body at the scene. When staff went to check on the elderly man they were shocked to discover he was dead. Detectives are now investigating if the man was already dead when he was brought in.

Run, turbo, run (hill reps), gym, run, run plus bees, mobiles and honours gone

Longer runs mean a bit of different scenery

The big world news on Monday was that I was tired after Sunday’s hill reps. Interestingly, somewhere towards my right hip felt sore – and that’s a new injury. Sensibly, I took a rest day.

In other (minor) news, Monday saw the overturning of the Australian decision to bar Djovokic from entering the country. An excellent tennis player, but this episode isn’t likely to help in his struggle to be ‘loved’ in the same way as Federer and Nadal.

I appreciate that different societies have different accepted norms, but I’m surprised we haven’t seen more made of the way he, apparently, got the positive PCR result on 16th December, but disregarded Serbian regulations that require self-isolation for 14 days.

Catching Covid when he did was incredibly lucky. There he was with the Australian Open approaching and no way of getting into the country (I assume). Then he’s fortunate enough to catch Covid at just the right time – that’s championship form.

The other sporting news was that the Raiders made it to the playoffs for just the second time in 19 years. I’ve followed them since I watched Marcus Allen run 74 yards for a TD in Super Bowl XVIII (1984). Nervy stuff I wonder how many teams with a 10-7 record post a -65 points difference over the regular season. I don’t expect them to go further.

Tuesday was dreary – grey and with a light but relentless drizzle. I went for a slightly longer, uninspired, run – 10.3km (6.4 miles) in 1h 01m. I’m not sure if the niggle around the right hip is muscular or the joint itself – one to watch.

On Wednesday, more was being made of Djokovic’s isolation breaches and whole affair seemed to be murkier all the time. What a mess – rather sad all round. Out to lunch with friends in the village, then a lacklustre 45 minutes on the turbo – @28kph (17.4 mph).

Hill reps on a brighter Thursday. I did 9 of the usual hill – 9.5km and 314m of ascent (nearly 6 miles and 1,030 feet). When will it get easier?

As normal on Friday, a stint manning the charity bike shop after a trip to the gym. I put up the weights on almost everything, reduced the reps, increased the sets and went for ‘explosive’. All very interesting but I’m less of a firecracker and more of a damp squib.

Oh yes, Djokovic had his visa revoked. By my reading of the figures, the previous three days had accounted for about 30% of all Australia’s Covid cases.

I ran on a cold Saturday – including two pairs of socks, shorts, warmer running tights, compression top, warmer running shirt, soft shell jacket, gloves, buff and hat. My wife usually does the 7km loop but joined me for the 10.4km run (6.5 miles) so bravo to her.

Sunday I woke to the confirmation of Raiders’ expected exit from the race to the Super Bowl and Djokovic’s defeat in Court that means he won’t play on court. He says he accepts the Court’s decision, which is good of him.

I ran for just over 12km (7.5 miles).

Six sessions of exercise in each of the last two weeks but last week felt tough and most sessions left me wrecked. This week was better with 42km running (26 miles) with hills, plus the gym and a turbo session … and an improvement in terms of how I felt after the sessions – some progress, perhaps.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: Once you carry your own water, you’ll remember every drop

2. BBC News website: Evergrande suspends shares in Hong Kong

Chinese real estate giant Evergrande has suspended trade in its shares in Hong Kong as investors await news on its restructuring plan. Evergrande is said to have more than $300bn (£222bn) of debt and is working to raise cash by selling assets and shares to repay suppliers and creditors.

I know nothing of Evergrande or its assets, but the sheer scale of the debt is eye-watering

3. BBC News website: Police stung as beekeepers protest in Chile

Four beekeepers have been detained in Chile following a protest outside the presidential palace, calling for government support for their industry.

To highlight their cause, the beekeepers set up some 60 hives containing around 10,000 bees in front of the palace. Seven police officers were stung as they tried to remove the beehives.

4. BBC News website: People devote third of waking time to mobile apps

People are spending an average of 4.8 hours a day on their mobile phones, according to an app monitoring firm. The calculation was made across ten markets, including India, Turkey, the US, Japan, Mexico, Singapore and Canada. Users in Brazil, Indonesia and South Korea surpassed five hours per day.

The research indicates that apps were downloaded 230 billion times in 2021, with $170bn (£125bn) being spent. TikTok was the most downloaded app worldwide, with users spending 90% more time there compared to 2020.

One thing that I struggle to understand is 4 people sitting at a cafe or restaurant table, all going through social media on their phones

5. BBC News website: Prince Andrew loses military titles and use of HRH

Prince Andrew will stop using the title ‘His Royal Highness’ in any official capacity and loses several military titles as he faces a civil case in the US over claims (which he denies) that he sexually assaulted a woman when she was 17.

The UK military titles he loses are: Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, Honorary air commodore of RAF Lossiemouth, Colonel-in-chief of the Royal Irish Regiment, Colonel-in-chief of the Small Arms School Corps, Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm, Royal colonel of the Royal Highland Fusiliers, Deputy colonel-in-chief of The Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeths’ Own), Royal colonel of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Of course, I’m sure he richly deserved them all.

I guess if you are a Prince – but not the son who will inherit ‘the big one’ (ie you are the ‘spare’ and not the ‘heir’) you might feel hard done by (no matter how privileged you are). That could make you attracted to the mega-rich with them being attracted to you for the reflected kudos of having a Prince in tow.

Says Prince Omil, Colonel-in-Chief of nothing at all, but looking for a rich patron.

Turbo (x3, one with random jeopardy), run, gym, run (hill reps) and when lawnmowers attack

Three turbo session in a week – the weather must have been bad

After having our sons back for the week over Christmas, followed by an excellent New Year dinner party with 6 good friends, the first few days of January felt a bit flat (and a little bit fat).

I decided to go with the flow and didn’t exercise, instead we did a difficult jigsaw and took down the decorations and stored them back in the attic (it’s a rock and roll lifestyle). I accompanied my wife to an informal school reunion (more negative lateral flow testing), proof-read some college work for our younger son and took the minutes for a cycling club directors’ meeting.

By Tuesday I knew I should get back to some sort of exercise (if only to address just over 2 kgs – 5 pounds – of excess ballast acquired over the holiday) but it was cold, wet and windy. Rather short of motivation, I turned to the turbo trainer – at least the extra weight was going to be less of a penalty.

I planned to go (even) slower than usual but for an hour. As it was, youthful exuberance took over and I went faster than intended so I gave myself 15 minutes off for good behaviour – 45 minutes @ 30.3kph (18.8mph).

I ran with my wife on a cold Wednesday – one of those days when you know you can’t get the clothing right but I was grateful – as ever – for my D2T buff/neck warmer. We ran one of our usual routes for 7.2km (4.5 miles).

Cold and wet again on Thursday but I did manage a slower session on the turbo – I’d like to say it was all self-restraint but, in truth, I’m not sure I had any more speed in me. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to do the full hour but discovered that the best technique is to cycle for 45 minutes and then push the pedals round for another 15.

I went to the gym, before the usual bike shop stint, on Friday morning – it was cold (not quite ‘see your breath cold’ but close) and hard. I appreciate that a ‘proper’ gym session is not supposed to be easy but I am only doing all this for pleasure – I need to manage the difficulty to make sure it doesn’t put me off going. I researched it and the advice seems to be: heavy weights; fewer reps; more sets; explosive lifting. Oh dear.

Our local side were televised live in the FA Cup (and lost 4-1) on Friday. No disgrace in a 4th tier side losing to the team well clear at the top of the Premier League. Saturday was wet so I did an hour’s turbo session watching another match – 28.5km (17.7 miles). For added jeopardy I did 100 revs sprinting per goal and 30 per corner (3 goals, 10 corners). For the last 15 minutes I watched a quiz – 15 revs sprint per right answer.

Cold but brighter on Sunday and I did not really want to run but, happily, my wife and I encouraged each other to get out and I did hill reps – 8 of the usual hill but horribly hard. This time it measured 8.9km with 282m of ascent (5.5 miles and 925 feet).

That is me (very) finished for the week.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: However long the night, the dawn will break

2. BBC News website: Antarctic outpost hit by Covid-19 outbreak

Since 14 December, at least 16 of the 25 workers at the Belgian Polar Station have caught the virus. The first positive test was in a team that arrived seven days earlier.

Last year, a number of Chilean military personnel at an Antarctic research station were infected after sailors on a supply ship tested positive for the virus.

It’s official, nowhere is safe!

3. BBC News website: French car-burning returns for New Year’s Eve

A total of 874 cars were set alight during New Year’s Eve celebrations in France. The interior ministry said the number was much lower than in 2019. Car burning has effectively become an annual event in French suburbs since riots in 2005 in several cities.

The local “I live in Faringdon” Facebook page was ablaze with outrage at fireworks being set off to celebrate New Year – thank goodness the town hasn’t yet turned its attention to cars …

4. BBC News website: Thousands injured in household accidents

The 2020/21 figures for England showed that accidents fell in many categories as people spent more time indoors, however:

• more than 5,300 people were admitted to hospital after falls from playground equipment such as swings and slides, including eight people over the age of 90
• more than 5,600 required hospital attention after coming into contact with an electric hand tool and another 2,700 people sought medical attention after an accident with a non-powered hand tool
• 349 were admitted to hospital with injuries inflicted by lawnmowers
• 2,243 people needed attention after hot drink, food, fats and cooking oil injuries
• 7,386 people were admitted to English hospitals after being bitten or struck by a dog, while 60 others sought assistance after encounters with venomous spiders
• the number of people needing assistance after being struck by lightning rose from three cases in 2019/20 to 18 in 2020/21.

It’s a miracle that the human race survives

5. BBC News website: Taiwan buys 20,000 bottles of rum destined for China

Taiwan is sharing tips with the public on how to drink and cook with rum after the state-run media said Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp purchased the rum after learning that it could be blocked from entering China.

It comes after Lithuania established a de facto embassy in Taiwan, a potential sign of growing ties between them, after which, just days later, China downgraded its diplomatic relations with Lithuania.

Locals were urged to buy rum at the end of January, when the shipment would be on sale and the National Development Council shared recipes for a Dark ‘n’ Stormy cocktail, and rum-infused French toast, steak and hot chocolate.

A state sponsoring drinking alcohol is not the typical way things go

6. BBC News website: Teacher locks son in car boot as he tests positive for Covid

A US teacher has been arrested after allegedly locking her Covid-positive son in a car boot (trunk) to protect herself from exposure to the virus as she drove him to a testing site. She is reported to have been charged with endangering a child.

Run, run (hill reps), gym and a Happy New Year to everyone

A sign off to 2021 at the gym – and not a piece of tinsel in sight

I’m not clear if the Chinese ‘may you live in interesting times’ is a blessing or a curse. 2021 qualified as ‘interesting’ – but may your 2022 be less interesting in some respects and much better in all respects.

I ran on Monday – 7.1km (4.4miles) – enjoyable but gentle and wet. I had a sore calf muscle – while exercising it in the gym on Friday someone started speaking to me about cycling and I lost count of the left leg calf raises but just kept doing them. As I get older, the dividing line between good exercise and overdoing it is getting ever more thin.

Christmas itself was great, the boys were back with us and we used most of the house – with just the two of us here normally we shrink our occupation of it but with champagne and stocking opening (at 9.30am) in the drawing room (pretentious, moi?), presents in the breakfast room, lunch in the dining room and a film in the snug, it felt like we got the best out of it.

We walked on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and probably clocked up something like 16km (10 miles) but on Wednesday the boys went back to their homes before the older son and his girlfriend decided (not unreasonably) that the house in Bournemouth would be a good place to see in the New Year. Here the house feels rather emptier but it was a great week we had with them.

We should be thinking about packing for skiing now but that is not going to happen with terrible Covid rates both here and in France – and we Brits are effectively banned from France anyway. The only thing that softens the loss of the holiday is the realisation that we are not missing out on skiing at its best – it would be a compromised holiday because of the restrictions we’d be operating under.

It was always going to be a light week for exercise so I ran hill reps on Thursday on the basis that they probably represent the biggest bang for the buck in exercise benefit (?) – 8 reps of the usual hill for 8.5km with 286m of ascent (5.3 miles and 938 feet).

Friday morning was the gym (the bike shop is still closed for the holidays). I calculate that before I increased the weights and reduced the reps, I was lifting nearly 19,000 kg in a session at the gym – about 18.5 imperial tons and nearer to 21 US tons. I have no idea if that’s good, bad, indifferent or just irrelevant.

Much of Thursday and Friday was taken up preparing for a dinner party for New Year’s Eve. I’m no big fan of New Year (to me it feels like the passage of just one more day rather than another year) but I do like a good dinner party and we had some excellent friends coming. We tested ourselves for Covid (thankfully, both negative) as did all our guests. We had a terrific evening – in a ventilated room – may that be a sign of good things to come in 2022.

2021 exercise round-up:

Runs: 130 Distance: 1,236km (768miles) – with nearly 14,000m of ascent it felt further

Rides: 68 Distance: 1,620km (1,006miles) – pretty poor, most on the turbo trainer

Swims: 30 Distance: 29km (18miles) – a mixture of open water and pool

Gym: 37 times – it was shut for some months

I didn’t set any targets for exercise in 2021 but that’s well over 240 hours in the year, my first ultra marathon completed and a triathlon done with a swim in the (previously) scary open water.

For next year it’s a 100km ultra, some sportives and two triathlons, one of which is over the Olympic distance. Exciting and daunting in equal measure. Dare I think about a return of the annual cycling holiday in the alps?

Interesting things this week

1. African wise words: Even the lion protects himself against flies

2. BBC News website: “Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea”*

Sri Lanka plans to send $5m (£3.8m) worth of tea to Iran each month to clear the $251m debt for past oil imports. Sri Lanka is experiencing a severe debt and foreign exchange crisis, which has been made worse by the loss of tourist income during the coronavirus pandemic.

*Lyrics, The Beverley Hillbillies theme tune (1962-71)

3. BBC News website: Ecuador to make Covid vaccination mandatory

The health ministry said there were enough doses to “immunise the entire population”. The under 5s and those with a medical justification will be exempt.

The ministry said vaccines were a “shield of protection” against the virus, helping to prevent serious illness, hospitalisations and deaths and the decision was based in the country’s constitution, in which the right to health must be guaranteed by the state.

Did you know that Ecuador is the original home of the Panama hat?

4. BBC News website: Netlicks? ‘The TV screen you can taste’

A prototype “lickable” TV screen which can mimic food flavours has been developed by a Japanese professor. Ten canisters spray flavour onto a “hygienic film” which is rolled over the screen for the viewer to lick.

It is suggested that it could be used to train cooks or sommeliers remotely. If made commercially, the TV would cost an estimated $875 (£735).

5. BBC News website: Alexa challenge

Amazon has updated its Alexa voice assistant after it “challenged” a 10-year-old girl to touch a coin to the prongs of a half-inserted plug.

The dangerous activity, known as “the penny challenge”, began circulating on TikTok and other social media websites about a year ago.

‘Alexa, self-destruct in 10 seconds’

6. BBC News website: Woman self-isolates in plane toilet mid-flight

A US schoolteacher spent five hours in voluntary self-isolation in a plane’s toilet after testing positive for Covid-19 mid-flight.

Her throat started to hurt while travelling from Chicago to Reykjavik and she performed a rapid test with a kit she had brought with her. She remained in the toilet for the rest of the trip with a flight attendant providing her with food and drinks.

If you’ve not been, think about putting Iceland on the list of places to visit (conventional travel advised)