We got back late on Monday, arriving to weather every bit as cold as the alps had been, but no snow. That was followed by domestic stuff on Tuesday, loads of washing, my passport renewal application, car booked for a service and that sort of thing.
I took the car in for the service on a very cold and frosty Wednesday – I thought it was for an oil service but it turned out to need a full service … and front discs and pads …. ouch. Too risky for a run back but I did get to the gym a little later.
My first attempt at some ‘proper’ training for the chin-up challenge involved all the exercises I’ve identified as likely to be helpful, but was a bit random and as horrible as I’d feared. There is every possibility that the only way I can do this is by cutting off my legs to reduce the weight being pulled up – but I’m keeping that option in reserve for now.
It is a significant birthday year for my wife and that, apparently, requires a lot of celebrating. On Wednesday afternoon we booked the first big event – a holiday to Mauritius.
There have been some signs of progress from Wednesday’s gym session – it’s not that I seem closer to doing a chin-up, more that I didn’t ache much on Thursday … small gains are still gains. Another hard frost so no running. I couldn’t muster the enthusiasm to get on the turbo in the evening but I have continued a pretty much daily regime of push-ups and bicep curls.
To the gym again on another very cold Friday morning – and the gym was cold too. A hard session as I’m now fitting in the usual regime plus the chin-up exercises. However, another sign that progress is possible as I’ve gone straight from 45kg to 55kg on the chest press machine thanks, I’m sure, to the recently completed 100 push-up challenge.
Bike shop for 3 hours after the gym.
Domestic stuff on Saturday but I (the self-proclaimed cold weather wimp) got out for a run on a sub-freezing Sunday. I doubt I’ve ever run with more clothing on. My fingers were a bit chilly until I realised that I could tuck them into the sleeves of my soft-shell jacket but I even took off my hat half way round and (partially) unzipped the top two of my four upper layers. Fairly gentle but just over 11km – 7 miles.
A short week because of coming back form France, and a relatively easy week for exercise – were it not for a few hundred push-ups and a lot of bicep curls.
Our pipes are threatening to freeze again – running a post-run bath produced a trickle of hot water – but it looks like there is enough flow through the frozen part of the system (a cold water feed from the header tank into the hot water system) that running some water through will clear it … as the much needed bath did materialise!
RIP David Crosby – for me, 4 Way Street has to be up there with Live at Budokan and The Concert in Central Park as three of the great live double albums.
Interesting stuff this week
1. African wise words: A fish and bird may fall in love but the two cannot build a home together
2. BBC News website: The dog ate my iPhone?
Consumers are being warned to film themselves opening Amazon deliveries after a Salisbury man’s £1,300 iPhone was switched for a packet of dog food.
Amazon initially refused to refund his money because he had signed for the delivery, telling him that because he had accepted the parcel and given the courier a passcode, and the fact the dog food in the package weighed the same as an iPhone, then he must have received the iPhone.
3. BBC News website: Having survived the 100 push-up challenge, I feel the pain
High school football players in Texas needed medical attention because of a gruelling team workout after the students were forced to do nearly 400 push-ups without a water break.
It is said that more than a dozen players had to go to the hospital after the drill at the school.
4. BBC News website: The biter bit
Using a glitch in a trading website, a £21m Bitcoin fraud netted a UK gang so much money they struggled to spend it, said police.
The plot fell apart when one of those involved rang police to report that her daughter had stolen 15 Bitcoin from her, which at the time was worth about £75,000. That call made the police wonder how the lady, who was living in modest circumstances in a very small rented home in Blackpool, could possess such hidden wealth.
You have to wonder at the gall (and stupidity) of a thief going to the police about the theft of the proceeds of crime
5. BBC News website: Let them (not) eat cake
People should not bring cake into the office for the sake of their colleagues’ health, the head of a food watchdog has suggested. She compared cake to passive smoking and argued that, while eating a piece of cake is a choice, colleagues can help each other by providing “a supportive environment”.
She said it was not enough to rely on “extraordinary efforts” of willpower to avoid overeating in a society plying people with food.
6. BBC News website: He shoots, he scores!
The BBC has apologised to those who were offended when noises from a porn clip could be heard by viewers during the pre-match build-up before live coverage of the Wolves v Liverpool football fixture.
A frenzied studio hunt uncovered a mobile phone taped to the back of the set – a YouTube prankster has claimed he was behind the stunt.
(an Old Man in Lycra) 
Are you still a hundred a day man? Are you building up your arms because you don’t have a running challenge to distract you?
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I might have got to 100 on a few days but certainly not in one go! For the chin-ups, I hadn’t really thought about it but I reckon your insight is spot on – I need a challenge and this isn’t the time of year for an outdoor one.
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