Even with caterers, the celebrations for our younger son’s 30th were exhausting (but enormously enjoyable) – with no swim doctor session, I took the Bank Holiday Monday off too.
I was still tired on a cool Tuesday but ran before I got too comfortable with the habit of not-running. After a 3 day break it felt like I’d gone 3 months backwards – heavy legs, short of breath and no rhythm but I pushed on for an unremarkable 16km (10 miles).
I planned to run on Wednesday morning but my wife was out so I waited for a parcel delivery. To earn some brownie points I did the ironing. I almost flirted with adequacy on the pillow cases, duvet covers and innumerable cotton napkins from the weekend but was utterly defeated by the impossibility of ironing a fitted bottom sheet.
After the parcel arrived I had to decide whether to do the run. I can’t remember the last time I felt less like running but the attraction of breaking the back of the week’s target distance proved too strong. I managed to get just beyond the half marathon (21.2km – 13.2 miles) but it wasn’t a great run – it feels like I’m getting worse (and I wasn’t very good in the first place).
I was expecting to be a bit shattered on Thursday morning – and was. Things improved during the day and I considered doing the week’s hill reps in the afternoon but decided on a more gentle spin on the turbo instead, after an orgy of paperwork and gardening. The turbo was a good decision as my legs had very little to offer. I knocked the bike down a gear or two and had a fairly gentle spin for 40 minutes (16.35km, 10.1 miles).
Gym and my regular stint in the bike shop on Friday, followed by yet more mowing. Saturday was bright and warm so I headed out for a run which turned out a bit better than the last two (admittedly, that wasn’t hard). Just over 11km (7 miles), finishing in a pool of sweat – classy.
I completed and filled the third raised vegetable bed in the afternoon – only about 2 cubic yards of soil and compost to be shovelled and wheel-barrowed but it felt like much more. We now have lettuce, beetroot, leeks, cabbage, rhubarb and tomatoes, with more to come.
I ran with my wife on a warm Sunday morning – nearly 8km (5.9 miles) and, thankfully, it felt better than the runs early in the week.
100k corner (an occasional place for ultra news, worries and plans)
| Week (of 20) | Event’s training plan (km) | My actual (km) |
| 11 | 45 | 56 |
| Cumulative total | 349 | 506 |
Interesting stuff this week
1. African wise words: Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it
2. BBC News website: How often should you wash and change your bed sheets?
According to a survey of 2,250 UK adults, single women changed most often, 62% cleaning their bedding every two weeks, with couples claiming to do theirs every three weeks.
Almost half of single men said they don’t wash their bed sheets for up to four months at a time, with 12% admitting they wash them when they remember – which could be even longer.
3. Daily Telegraph: Climate change adds to risk of viruses caught from animals
A study suggests that there are at least 10,000 viruses with the capacity to cross to humans ‘circulating silently’ among wild animals.
As rising temperatures force mammals to abandon habitats, they will meet other species for the first time, creating at least 15,000 new instances of viruses jumping between animals by 2070, and increasing the risk of new viruses infecting humans.
That’s OK then
4. BBC News website: Unexploded artillery shell presented at airport security
A US family caused a bomb scare at Israel’s main international airport after presenting an unexploded artillery shell at a security check. They had picked up the ordnance on a visit to the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, site of wars between Israel and Syria, according to authorities.
The family was allowed to board their flight after being interrogated by security.
Some people are just not content with a fridge magnet
5. BBC News website: Cancer survivor beats record for consecutive marathons
Jacky Hunt-Broersma, 46, took up running after she lost her left leg to cancer and has run 26.2-miles every day since mid-January, normally taking around five hours.
On 30 April, she completed her 104th consecutive marathon in as many days – an achievement she expects to be certified by Guinness World Records.
Chapeau
6. BBC News website: MP caught watching porn in the House of Commons
An MP resigned after being caught watching porn on his mobile phone, in the House of Commons. He said the first time was an accident as he was trying to look at a tractor website – but he admitted that the second occasion was deliberate.
… but did he watch the whole thing, or just the trailer?
(an Old Man in Lycra) 
Boom boom! Good tractor joke!!
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