Turbo (x2), gym, run (x2), (plus football, the metaverse and, sadly, it’s terminal)

A quiet start to the week with a painful right foot (again). That ruled out a run and the Monday swim doctor session but I got on the turbo – just 30 minutes for 13.5km (8.4 miles)

Having hurt my foot recently through an ill-advised long walk in ‘work shoes’, I blistered it again on Saturday after nothing more than a day wearing a pair of trainers that have caused no problems whatsoever in about 450km of running. The foot became a bit red and puffy – a low level infection?

On Tuesday we went for our Covid seasonal booster jabs, having waited as required after we had Covid itself. My foot was improving but was now feeling more like I’d dropped something heavy on it (which I hadn’t). I remembered that, to bodge the fence in Bournemouth last week, I had my foot under the gate to lift it so I could latch and bolt it to the broken fence post. I think that probably bruised my foot – and the blister on Saturday was a random and unconnected bit of bad luck.

So, no great dramas on this occasion but it’s always the small toe on my right foot that causes the problems (it was the site of the only blister after the summer’s 100k ultra) so it needs watching.

Nothing for it but another session on the turbo on in the evening – 45 mins @27.2kph (16.9mph). Not that long, not that fast but the third day in a row and plenty tough enough – possibly not helped by the Covid jab?

I didn’t feel any obvious bad reaction to the jab but I didn’t sleep that well and felt shattered on Wednesday, so I did very little (one of the luxuries of retirement). I slept nearly 11 hours Wednesday night (another luxury of retirement) and felt a lot better.

The sport recently has been spectacular with World Cups going on in the women’s and men’s rugby league, the women’s rugby union and the men’s T20 cricket. A phenomenal performance on Thursday saw England’s cricketers into Sunday’s final (fingers crossed for the weather in Melbourne), with the women’s rugby union team in their final on Saturday (in New Zealand, against New Zealand – we are favourites but I’m very nervous as they are improving all the time and we seem to have hit a plateau).

Off to the gym later on Thursday for a good hour – I can still feel where the jab went in on Tuesday, but even the arm machines were fine.

With the foot problems and no run for a week, I expect Friday’s should have been ‘shorter and slower’. I scored one out of two with my ‘longer and slower’ decision but I had an enjoyable run along the farm tracks to Eaton Hastings and back – just over 11km (short of 7 miles) but well outside 6m/km. I hadn’t intended to go fast – but nor had I expected to go that slow.

Disappointment at the women’s rugby as England lost the final to New Zealand by just 3 points having played three quarters of the match a player down after an early sending off. Thus ends a 30 game winning streak – what a time to lose it!

I thought about a turbo session on Saturday but couldn’t find the motivation so had a day off. With low expectations for exercise next week, on Sunday I did the same run as Friday – just over 11km (nearly 7 miles), but this time at under 6m/km.

A funny old week in many ways – a bit of injury, a bit of illness (and/or reaction to the Covid booster), decent gym sessions, OK on the turbo, poor with the first run and not great with the second. All part of life’s rich tapestry …

… and just time to confirm that England won the T20 Cricket World Cup. Of course, we didn’t make victory over an excellent Pakistan side at all easy, but we got there.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: When one is in love, a cliff becomes a meadow

2. BBC News website: Sporting commitment or just the football red mist?

Ten players were sent off as Racing Club won an Argentinian Champions Trophy final that ended early because Boca Juniors had only six players on the pitch.

Each team had a player sent off in the 95th minute after an argument, while another Boca player was dismissed for a second yellow card five minutes later. However, Carlos Alcaraz’s 118th-minute winner was the flash point for the major incident when he celebrated in front of the Boca fans. The Boca players surrounded him, grabbing him by the ear and throwing the ball at him.

The referee sent off Alcaraz along with five Boca players, including one of their unused substitutes, and a player who had been replaced earlier. An unused Racing substitute was also shown a red card.

3. BBC News website: Billions being spent in metaverse land grab

Nearly $2bn (£1.75bn) has been spent on virtual land in the past 12 months, as people and companies race to get a foothold in ‘the metaverse’. It is confusing but there are actually many metaverses and until one platform starts to dominate, or these disparate worlds join together, companies are selling land and experiences in their own versions.

In Sandbox, one of the crypto metaverses, Adidas, Atari, Ubisoft, Binance, Warner Music and Gucci are just some of the multinationals buying land, and building experiences to sell and promote their products and services.

Gucci has also built in Roblox which is seen as one of the most mainstream of the fledgling metaverses. Gucci Town has had more than 36 million visits in the year since it was launched, while Nike Land has recorded more than 25 million in 11 months. In Gucci Town, players can buy clothing for their avatars with real money. In Nike Land they can get T-shirts and shoes for avatars with points earned by playing games.

The thing I agree with most in all this (and perhaps the only thing I really understand) is the statement “It is confusing“

4. BBC News website: Football World Cup approaches

This week the disgraced former head of world football said that awarding the World Cup to Qatar was a mistake. Really? The bidding was for a (N. hemisphere) summer world cup but after its award they suddenly discovered Qatar is hot in the summer so it was moved to winter.

More importantly, there are concerns about human rights, the treatment of foreign workers building the competition infrastructure and Qatar’s treatment of LGBTQ+ people, as same-sex relationships and their promotion are criminalised, with punishments ranging from fines to the death sentence.

A Qatar World Cup ambassador has just told a German broadcaster “[Homosexuality] is haram. You know what haram [forbidden] means? I am not a strict Muslim but why is it haram? Because it is damage in the mind”.

The world football governing body (FIFA) recently wrote to the World Cup teams urging that football should not be “dragged” into ideological or political “battles”, conveniently ignoring the fact that it was them who created exactly those circumstances.

Qatar’s World Cup organisers have said “everyone is welcome” and no-one will be discriminated against, but the Qatar 2022 chief executive has also said the government would not change its laws on homosexuality, requesting visitors “respect our culture”.

Everyone is welcome … but some are more welcome than others?

5. BBC News website: Sadly, it’s terminal at the terminal

Born in 1945 in Iran, Mehran Karimi Nasseri flew to Europe in search of his mother in the late 1980s. Expelled from countries including the UK, the Netherlands and Germany for not having the correct immigration documents, he ended up making the airport’s 2F Terminal his home in 1988, inspiring the 2004 Tom Hanks film, The Terminal.

He was given the right to live in France in 1999, but stayed at the airport until 2006. He ended up returning to the airport a few weeks ago, where he died of natural causes, an airport official told AFP.

6. BBC News website: KFC (Kindly Forgive Catastrophe?)

In Germany, the fast food chain sent an app alert, saying: “It’s memorial day for Kristallnacht! Treat yourself with more tender cheese on your crispy chicken. Now at KFCheese!”

‘Kristallnacht’ was a Nazi-led series of attacks in the country in 1938 which left more than 90 people dead and destroyed Jewish-owned businesses and places of worship. It is widely seen as the beginning of the Holocaust.

The message, heavily criticised for its insensitivity, was later blamed by KFC on “an error in our system”.

It beggars belief

7. BBC News website: Just as we thought it was safe to back in (on) the water …

A cruise ship carrying 4,600 passengers and crew has docked in Sydney, Australia, having sailed from New Zealand. About 800 passengers had tested positive for Covid-19 by halfway through the 12 day cruise.

Final week of the ultra training plan and then the small matter of the run itself

The Ridgeway – part of the Race to the Stones

You can look at this week in two ways: either the final 7km of training – which feels very easy … alternatively, there are 107km to be run this week – which feels a bit harder.

I got a run in on Monday – just 5.7km (3.5 miles) with a couple of hills – and both legs felt OK. I appreciate that many different parts of me will hurt on Saturday but the scare with the quads and the ITBs a couple of weeks ago was a real concern and I don’t feel any great need to get to the start line injured.

Monday evening was the usual swim doctor session (850m but including some leg only drills so it was tough) and I swam with my friend at the lake on Tuesday afternoon and managed 2150m. I still don’t love swimming but at least I have hope for the 1500m in the Olympic triathlon in September. Interestingly, it was the first time the collar of my wetsuit rubbed my neck – was I doing something different or was I just in it for longer?

My wife and I had brunch with our younger son on the way to Wimbledon on Wednesday. We were on Centre Court and had a ladies quarter final and Nadal v Fritz in the men’s quarter finals. Nadal is a great player and how he won through in 5 sets carrying an early injury was phenomenal – but, my word, his obsessive routines are annoying and if I never hear another ‘Come on Rafa’ I’ll be delighted.

After an overnight stay we drove back home on Thursday and I had final run of 3.6km (2.2 miles) to complete the ultra training. I got a nasty reminder that heat could be an issue – it was probably only about 20℃ (68℉) but I was hot. Friday saw the usual trip to the gym followed by the bike shop.

I never really followed the event’s 20 week training plan – in the early weeks I was ahead of the plan just with normal running. I’ve run further than the plan required but haven’t been up on the Ridgeway since February and haven’t really tried eating and drinking on the go, so those are gaps in the training.

The biggest failure has been not doing the two longest runs towards the end of the plan – I was on holiday for one and had the leg issues during the course of the other.

Week (of 20)	Event’s training plan (km)	My actual (km)
20	7	9
Cumulative total	716	751

Final week of the training plan completed, the ultra itself not included

Have I done enough? Who knows, but I’ll find out soon enough. At least the weather looks like being reasonable – about 16℃ (61℉) at the start, a little higher at the finish (as if I know when that’s going to be), with a maximum of 24℃ (75℉). There should be a gentle breeze, mainly at 90° to the route. I’m hoping that the breeze might help with the temperature. (If only I’d known what was actually going to happen when I wrote that).

For the umpteemth time, I went through the kit I would be wearing and carrying and packed and repacked the box I later delivered to my friend and his wife who, being incredibly kind, are going to meet me with supplies and encouragement a few times on the run (and he’s going to collect me at the end).

The ultra – 100km of fun, fun, fun

Saturday morning arrived and my wife was kind enough to drive me the 50 minutes to the start, just outside Lewknor (Oxfordshire) – and away I went at 8:10 ….

I’m writing this bit on Sunday, my 67th birthday – so here’s a bit of a spoiler alert … I did not kill myself and am not still out there lost on the Ridgeway.

I had fully expected to spend today lying in bed, immobile and groaning – as it turns out I’m up but moving around very slowly. Another spoiler alert, I finished.

The big story was the heat – once the early morning cloud disappeared it was hotter than predicted (probably 26℃ – 79℉) and I found it impossible to get enough liquids in – the result was cramping from 27km. Every time I broke into a run the cramp returned but I found I could run through it, with effort. I don’t know if it was that, or the heat, or the distance, but while the first half was OK, my legs were shredded for the second.

My friend and training partner and his lovely wife were magnificent. They took turns to run (more accurately, ‘walk’ for much of it) with me for the whole of the second half and made all the difference – I doubt I’d have done it without them. What terrific friends!

I was wondering if I’d finally taken on a challenge I couldn’t do. I think the answer is ‘No’, I could do it (and better in kinder weather) … but it was close.

I’ll do a report later.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: Love is a painkiller

The Omil’s less wise words: … Paracetamol probably works better for an ultra marathon

2. BBC News website: Quarks and exotic matter

Scientists have found new ways in which quarks, the tiniest particles known to humankind, group together making new structures that exist for just a hundred thousandth of a billionth of a billionth of a second but may explain how our Universe is formed.

Atoms contain smaller particles called neutrons and protons, which are made up of three quarks each. “Exotic” matter discovered in recent years is made up of four and five quarks – tetraquarks and pentaquarks.

Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider have discovered one new pentaquark and two tetraquarks taking the total number discovered there to 21. Each is unique, but researchers are excited about the qualities of the three new finds.

Confused? You will be

3. BBC News website: Two football matches with 187 goals investigated

The two second-tier Sierra Leone games saw Kahunla Rangers and Gulf FC of Kono defeat their city rivals in Premier League qualifiers on Sunday. Kahunla won 95-0, and Gulf FC won 91-1 – after the half-time scores were just 2-0 and 7-1 respectively. Both results have been annulled on suspicion of match manipulation.

Things took a dramatic turn over the course of the second halves when it became clear that the team with the better goal difference would go through – with Kahunla netting 93 goals and Gulf scoring 84 times.

93 goals in 45 second half minutes hardly gives time to get the ball back to the centre circle to kick off again

4. BBC News website: Sugary cereal special offers restricted

In-store promotions on food and drink high in fat, salt or sugar will be restricted in England, from October. This includes ‘location promotions’ at checkouts, ‘end of isle’ and entrances.

Kellogg’s had taken the government to court arguing the rules did not take into account the nutritional value of added milk to cereals, but the Royal Courts of Justice ruled in favour of the government.

5. BBC News website: Woman took driving theory and practical tests for others

Inderjeet Kaur, 29, was jailed for 8 months after admitted taking about 150 tests between 2018 and 2020. Police said she was taking tests for people who had difficulty with English.

The report had no pass rate details but I bet she knows the theory and drives pretty well

Pre-Ultra thoughts

I’ve done the final runs of the training plan – it requires just 7km this week (or 107km if you include the ultra itself). The first 7km has gone OK – the remaining 100km is in the lap of the Gods.

I’ve (unwisely) been thinking about Saturday’s 100km. It’s rather daunting – not least because a young chap I know (a vastly superior runner – in the sense of ‘I am not fit to tie the laces to his trainers’) – took over 17 hours for one last month.

I hope you’ll forgive me if I get a bit technical here, but my experience tells me that a marathon is ‘a very long way’ to run. Similarly, last year I discovered that a 50km ultra marathon is ‘even further’. That means that Saturday’s 100km ultra is, officially, ‘twice as far as even further than a very long way’.

I hope that I haven’t lost anyone in the detail.

I’ve (sort of) done the training. I front-end loaded it because I was already running further than the plan required in the early weeks – but I’ve missed out on some of the more recent very long runs (yes, the really important bits of the training). That means that, although my mileage over the 20 weeks is above the plan, I’ve probably not done enough really long stuff.

Coupled with the recent major hiccup with ITB issues, that leaves me unsure of what to expect. I doubt that the training plan was written with old folks like me in mind – but I like to think that age is an advantage because of the added maturity it brings (what’s that I can hear – is it whistling in the dark?).

I fear that running on maturity might not be as useful as running on young legs, at the 75km point.

My wife is driving me the 40 miles to the start, before going to see Bananarama in concert in London. No, it’s not true that I’m only doing the ultra to avoid that concert but that is a side benefit, I’ll admit.

My friend and training companion (who would have been running with me, had it not been for a ligament problem in his ankle that’s only just improved) has (way beyond kindly) volunteered to be my support crew on the day. I feel bad that my start time of 8:10am means that my friend will be collecting me from the finish rather late … assuming I make it to the finish … and assuming I don’t take so long that collection turns out to be mid-morning on Sunday.

This doubt is rather familiar territory – I thought I probably was going to be able to do the Cinglés du Mont Ventoux back in 2015 but I was very worried about the everesting in 2017, the solo, unsupported, ride out to the alps in 2018 and the 50km ultra last year.

As it turned out, I completed those challenges, but those worries are going to turn out to be well founded at some point as I age and push myself physically. This could be the step (or several thousand steps) too far.

On Saturday, I suppose I’m going to find out if this challenge is the straw that breaks the camel’s back – is this the challenge that proves that determination and bloody-mindedness are not always enough?

Two apposite African wise words for this post:

• A feeble effort will not fulfill the self
• To try and to fail is not laziness

Run (x3), swim (x2), gym (plus a worldwide party ban and dry pumps)

Week 2 of the taper – just 15km. I ran on Monday (7.2 km – 4.5 miles) in between the showers to get ahead of the schedule. Yes, the left knee hurt a bit – but not as much as previously.

The evening’s swim doctor session was very good – we used fins for several drills and they were great fun (obviously I now realise that I could do with much bigger feet) – in all 900m.

That was followed on Tuesday by a trip to the lake for an open water swim. In my absence on holiday, running, my wife’s birthday and generally wimping out, my friend and training partner has been making strides (figuratively) in the water so I have a good deal of catching up to do.

It didn’t feel too encouraging at the start – chilly and choppy – but it improved and I ended up with a very decent 1750m (while my friend did a rather more impressive 2600m). Not a lot of catching up done by me but, for a fourth open water swim of the year (including the triathlon), I’m happy. It does feel as though I still need to get more comfortable in the open water before I can swim my best (although, still, that’s not particularly good).

Off for my follow-up massage in the afternoon, which went well as Kimmo eased out the remaining tightness in my left thigh – I hope that the remaining training runs won’t change that. Who knows if that’s sorted it but I’ve done what I can (I’m also stretching the ITB and everything else I can think of, other than the truth) so there’s little point worrying about it (but that won’t stop me).

Wednesday and Thursday were rest days but I laboured in the garden. On Friday I went to the gym – I’d planned to run a gentle 4km but overshot (how is it possible to overshoot on a treadmill?) and finished with 5km in 28:18. More importantly, the knee behaved itself well. The massages and stretching just might be doing the trick but I’m not getting too excited as, so often, it’s the hope that kills you.

The run was followed by some weights and then the stint in the bike shop. A short run (5.6km – 3.5 miles) with my wife on Saturday got me past the week’s 15km – legs still OK. Out to friends for an excellent supper on Saturday and to lunchtime drinks followed by an ‘open garden’ charity fund raiser in the village on Sunday.

A week of ups and downs for the legs – but more ups than last week so that must be some sort of progress.

… and Le Tour started with an individual time trial on Friday – great to have it back even if Geraint Thomas forgot to take off his gilet at the start of the ITT (what happened to the days of the ‘marginal gains’?).

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

Race day has now appeared in the normal weather forecasts. On Tuesday, the forecast was for it to be dry, with sunny intervals, a moderate breeze (for which, read ‘headwind’) and temperatures of about 15℃ (59℉) for my 8:10am start, rising to 21℃ (70℉) before falling back to the starting temperature by midnight.

That would be pretty good but I’d prefer less wind or, even better, a 180° about turn. There’s plenty of time for it to change – for better or worse. On Wednesday the forecast maximum temperature was up to 25℃ (77℉) and the wind direction had moved through 90°. Perhaps I’ll ignore forecasts for another week.

With just one week to go and I have my race pack and can start to prepare kit and really begin to worry about how I am going to consume the 6.000 calories (or so) that I’m going to need. I have heard ultras described as eating and drinking competitions with a little bit of running thrown in.

I have no strategy beyond ‘one foot in front of the other’. I was more confident of finishing a couple of weeks ago, before the knee issues, but I’m going to give it my best shot and if that’s not good enough, I’ll live with it.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: One falsehood spoils a thousand truths

2. BBC News website: Woman suing rape crisis charity

The woman, who says she was raped in her 20s, stopped going to the charity’s support group sessions, shaving become uncomfortable sharing details of her past with the group after a transgender woman began attending the same meeting.

Her lawyers claim that by adopting a trans-inclusive approach – and not providing a session for women who were born female – the charity failed to meet the needs of all sexual violence victims.

She is bringing the case under the Equality Act, claiming indirect discrimination as well as victimisation and harassment. She said: “I think women have sex-based rights and protections and these are under threat at the moment from trans activism.”

While not, for a moment, detracting from the horror of rape, the importance of the support group or the difficulties posed by trans-gender issues, I do feel sorry for the charity apparently being caught between a rock and a hard place – and making the charity use its funds to defend her action could deprive others of the services she has valued so highly

3. BBC News website: … and we think we have it bad over petrol and diesel

On Monday, the Sri Lankan government said it will ban buying petrol and diesel for private vehicles until 10 July. Only buses, trains, and vehicles used for medical services and transporting food will be allowed to fill up. Schools in urban areas have shut and the country’s 22 million residents will work from home.

Sri Lanka is facing an economic crisis and is in talks over a bailout deal as it struggles to pay for imports such as fuel and food.

4. BBC News website: Airbnb permanently bans parties and events around the world

It struck me that this was a bit high-handed of Airbnb but it appears only to apply to homes let on its platform so your BBQ this weekend is OK

5. BBC News website: Covid infections are rising again across the UK

An estimated 2.3 million people or one in 30 has the virus – a rise of 32% on the week before, the rise is being driven by two new fast-spreading sub-variants of Omicron – called BA.4 and BA.5.

People can be infected even if they’ve had Covid before, but jabs are helping to protect against serious illness.

Just when I thought that my knee was the biggest threat to running the ultra …

6. The people of Oman don’t like The Flintstones but the people of Abu Dhabi do.

Swim, turbo, run x3 (1000km for 2022), gym, ride (plus pigeons, sloths and someone else’s wheels falling off)

It’s the first week of the taper to the ultra on 9 July – just 30km this week. After last Saturday’s bad run, my quads were still sore on Monday so I gave running a miss and booked a massage.

The swim doctor session on Monday evening was very good – 950m in a mixture of strokes and drills. It felt like the sea swimming in Corfu had helped a bit although it was, as ever, hard work.

Tuesday was my wife’s birthday but I managed to fit the massage in between a very good lunch in the garden of a riverside pub and chauffeuring her to and from a friend’s for drinks in the early evening.

The massage (my second ever) went well. ‘Kimmo’ is a very pleasant and interesting chap, originally from Finland but he spend 40 years in Canada. His diagnosis confirmed my guess that my quads were very tight/knotted and it was that which caused the hip and knee pain, by virtue of interaction with the iliotibial bands.

It’s exactly what I had 24 years ago when training for the 1998 London Marathon (my first). I suppose that if I go another 24 years before the problem arises again, I’ll have done well (but at 90, how will I know?).

I was trying to work out what might have caused the problem now, having done 17 weeks of training without any big hitches. His guess was that the muscles were getting tight and while the three treadmill runs in Corfu weren’t likely to have actually caused the problem, they probably did finish the job off.

Kimmo suggested not running on Wednesday but to give it a go on Thursday. With luck I still might be able to fit in this week’s 30km – but it won’t matter if I don’t. There isn’t too much running to be done over the next three weeks leading up to the ultra so I suppose I’ll only know for sure if it’s worked when I try the real thing.

As long as the issue can be sorted, I’ll be relieved that it happened now and not on the day of the ultra – I would have been a dnf if the race had been on last Saturday.

I fixed the puncture on the turbo trainer and had a (sweltering) spin on Wednesday (30 minutes @ 29.4kph – 18.3mph). I went for a run on Thursday. I was apprehensive but took it gently and the 13.5km (8.4 miles) took me through 1,000km for the year.

Everything had improved hugely since Saturday’s horror show but the left knee isn’t 100% right so it will need one more massage session – which I’ve arranged for next Tuesday. From despair on Saturday after the run, to optimism on Tuesday after the massage, to doubt now – this is getting very wearing.

My second run of the week was a hot 5km on Friday in the gym – left knee still protesting but if last week was 6/10 for pain, this was down to 4/10. There are five treadmills and only after I finished did I realise that I’d chosen one of the two not in the path of the breeze from the air conditioning unit. I did some weights (and stretching) before the usual stint in the bike shop.

On Saturday I took a turn leading the blue group for the cycle club. We have friends who have taken in two Ukrainian families and Lyn appeared with three 12 year old Ukrainian lads so I rode with them – 34.2km (21.2m). With stops for one puncture (good job I was there to fix it), a phantom puncture, two dropped chains, water, snacks, regrouping, undone shoe laces and rain, it didn’t exactly flow but it was still the most worthwhile ride I’ve done for years.

Final run of the week on Sunday – 13km (8 miles) to complete the week’s 30km. Right thigh, hip and knee all fine, left knee became unhappy after 6 km but down to 3/10 on the pain front. Once started, it didn’t get any worse so fingers crossed for Tuesday’s second massage.

Well, that was better than last week, with success for treatment for the right leg but the need to try again with the left. Until that’s sorted, I’m not really going to be able to relax about the ultra. I am, of course, a reformed character and will diligently stretch as if it’s going out of fashion (as long as I remember to do it).

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: Only a wise person can solve a difficult problem

2. BBC News website: Pigeon fanciers say red tape having a devastating effect

Before Brexit, enthusiasts could release their birds in France to race back to the UK, but now Britain is outside the EU birds must now have an export health certificate before they can take part in trans-Channel races.

The certificate has to be signed by an approved vet after completing various tests like an examination of the birds and a check on transportation conditions.

Coo

3. BBC News website: Life in the slow lane

Sloths sleep for about 15 hours a day and move so slowly that algae grows on their fur, acting as a natural camouflage to hide them from potential predators. They move as little as 40m (130ft) a day and can spend up to a month digesting a meal.

They are most at risk on the ground, where they can take more than a minute to move two metres (6.5ft). As they need to leave the trees to go to the toilet, they have developed high-capacity bladders and rectums, which mean they can go for up to a week without having to answer the call of nature. Sloths are extremely good swimmers, their slow metabolism also means they can hold their breath for up to 40 minutes.

I may be part man, part sloth (apart from the bladder and the swimming)

4. BBC News website: 2,700 electric vehicles recalled

The recall comes less than two months after the car was launched in Japan. Toyota told the BBC that bolts on the bZ4X’s wheels “can loosen to the point where the wheel can detach from the vehicle” after “low-mileage use”.

A spokesperson added “If a wheel detaches from the vehicle while driving, it could result in a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash”.

Those spokespersons certainly know a thing or two about the importance of car wheels

5. BBC News website: Strava tracks security personnel at secret bases in Israel

A disinformation watchdog has found that by uploading fake running “Strava segments” inside secret facilities, a user could learn the identities and past routes of people active in the area, even if they had the strongest privacy settings. Information about 100 individuals who exercised at six bases was viewable.

Used by more than 95 million people, Strava has a bit of previous – in 2018, the company published a global “heatmap” that revealed the exercise routes of people at military bases around the world, including US facilities in Syria and Afghanistan.

6. My uncle always said ‘Laughter is the best medicine’. He was a great guy – but not a very successful doctor.

Wheels falling off? – Gym and a bad run (plus burkinis, and Happy the unhappy elephant)

After getting back to the UK late on Monday, I drove back to Oxfordshire on Tuesday morning and started doing the washing, while my wife took on the burden of watching the tennis at Queens.

We seem to have brought the sun back with us from Corfu – the temperature was due to rise over the next few days to a fairly rare 30℃ (86℉) on Friday. With the heat, the bruised toe, the washing, gardening (and mowing) and some work being done on the house, I decided not to run until the weekend but that needs to be a long one – the last long run before the ultra on 9th July.

Last week’s long run (which I missed because of the holiday) should have been 45km and this week’s is scheduled at 55km – but I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen. When I decided to sign up the 100km I thought it would be my second ultra – and now I see that, if I had followed the training plan properly, it would have actually been my 4th because of two training runs of ultra distance. Madness!

I went to the gym and did my slot at the bike shop on a very hot Friday. Saturday lived up to the forecast of a cooler day so I ran. I had inspected my tri belt and realised it’s falling apart so I bought a (cheap) running hydration vest in the week and gave it a go.

I had no real idea of how far I was going to run but decided to practice the ‘walk up the hills’ approach recommended for ultras. That’s fine but accepting that walking is OK is, to me, a slippery slope – I’ve run all the way in my three marathons but now I found myself walking a bit on a run that was only 32.5km (just over 20 miles).

A horrible run in just about every way – a real slog with three dumps of pretty cold rain and lots of hip, knee and thigh aches and pains that I’ve not had during the training. Most worrying were pains on the outside of both knees. It was a bit reminiscent of the ITB issue I had more than 20 years ago. I hate the idea of a ‘scented candle’ massage but a sports massage put that right back then so I may be in line for my 2nd ever.

Just the run I didn’t want to go badly …

On Sunday we drove up to London to be treated to lunch by our sons for Father’s Day. Lovely – but the legs are still a bit cranky.

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

Week (of 20)	Event’s training plan (km)	My actual (km)
17	70	32
Cumulative total	664	692

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: Those who accomplish great things pay attention to little ones

2. BBC News website: Grenoble fights to allow “burkini” swimsuits in public pools

Grenoble’s recent decision to authorise all swimwear, including burkinis (which are full body swimsuits covering everything but the hands, feet and face largely worn by Muslim women), in its public pools has sparked a legal battle with the government.

Last month, a local court suspended the council’s policy on the grounds that it seriously undermined the principle of neutrality in public services. France’s Interior Minister called the Grenoble city council’s policy an “unacceptable provocation” that was contrary to French secular values.

No doubt someone thought themselves very clever to mix “burka” and “bikini” to come up with burkini but the burkini is rather the antithesis of the bikini

3. BBC News website: Lynch mob after messaging group rumours

A Mexican political advisor was attacked and beaten by a crowd of around 200 people in the central state of Puebla where he was visiting his grandfather’s house. Rumours began to spread on local WhatsApp group that he had been involved in the kidnapping of a child.

According to local media, the mob then cornered and attacked the man and his two companions, before dragging him to a local field. Police attempted to intervene and placed him in a patrol car, but were quickly overwhelmed by villagers, who doused him in petrol before setting him alight.

The city council said it “strongly disapproves this act and reiterates that criminal behaviour must be judged under the procedures of our rule of law”.

Wow, strong disapproval

4. BBC News website: Happy, the elephant, doesn’t pack her trunk

On Tuesday, New York’s highest court voted 5-2 to reject an animal rights group’s argument that Happy was being illegally confined at the Bronx zoo.

While elephants are “impressive”, the court said, the majority decided that they are not entitled to the same liberty rights as humans and that the legal principle of habeas corpus – which guards against illegal detention – should not be extended to emotionally complex and intelligent animals.

5. Congratulations to Geraint Thomas who won the Tour de Suisse on Sunday.

6. BBC News website: Diamond League, Paris 18 June

I apologise, I’ve mentioned this before but I love it. Competing for the UK in the 100m hurdles at this meeting (finishing 3rd) was Cindy Sember – the international athlete and the answer to the question ‘When is Christmas?’

Run (x4), swim, gym, plus forest living and the perfect hat-trick (nearly)

No bluebells yet although there were loads of snowdrops this week – Spring must be on its way?

Recently, Monday exercise has been just an evening ‘swim doctor’ session. This week my wife, back from an injury, decided on a morning run so I went with her in a cold and very strong wind.

We set out to do hill reps thinking it would be more sheltered from the wind that was gusting to 50mph (80kph) – but we cut them short (I’d done 6) after a sizeable branch fell from the trees overhead. I did a loop to add some mileage and recorded 9.3km (5.8 miles) with 215m of ascent (705 feet).

All the others at the evening swim session were beginners so they were doing drills width-wise. That stopped me swimming lengths so I joined in with their drills. At the end of the session, lengths became possible and, to my surprise, I was swimming them in a much improved (but still relatively poor) 24 strokes compared to my previous (completely pathetic) rate of nearer 30 strokes. Some progress, at last.

After a bit of research, I had found a spray that looked likely to help with my sinus’ sensitivity to the pool’s chlorine. I tried a dose before I went and one when I got back – no sneezing fits during the night and relatively clear sinuses which is encouraging.

My running partner still hors de combat thanks to his dodgy ankle – sadly, a bit dodgier than it initially appeared – and will be off running for a little while yet. He runs and cycles well (ankles permitting) but, like me, finds the swimming harder. Replacing running with swimming for a couple of weeks won’t exactly be fun but might pay off for him in triathlon terms?

The 20-week ultra marathon training programme started on Monday but I’m ignoring that for now as I’ll be doing more mileage anyway in the early weeks. I didn’t fancy going up to run on the Ridgeway in the current bitingly cold winds so, in my friend’s absence, I’ve decided to see if I can do 40+km each week, with one longer run. The first week that the training plan gets beyond 40km is week 11.

I took Tuesday off exercise but ran with my wife on Wednesday – just over 7km (4.4 miles). I swapped days at the gym and went with my training partner on Thursday for what turned out to be a good session. With more running, I’m cutting back a bit on the leg exercises and doing more on the core and upper body to help my swimming. Struggling with technique? Go for brute force.

The rest of the day was for doing chores and being gravely sad about the Russian invasion of Ukraine – I didn’t think I’d live to see any such military action in Europe. There were reports of more than 1700 arrests at anti-war protests across Russia on Thursday – brave people. Everything seems horribly trivial in comparison to what’s going on there.

On Friday, I resisted another visit to the gym but after my stint at the charity bike shop the weather was so much better than the recent muck we’ve been having that I decided to go for the week’s long slow run. With no hat, gloves, buff or jacket, but with a plan for about 18km, I pushed on to complete the half marathon – 21.3km (13.2 miles), very slowly.

Having doubled up on Monday, I took a second rest day on Saturday but on Sunday I made up for the two missed hill reps from Monday (by running three of them) and finished off with six laps around the old hill fort – 10.9km (6.8 miles). It was sunny but chilly – hat, buff, gloves and jacket all made a return.

A decent week for the exercise with some swimming progress and 48.5km (just over 30 miles) of running – but still the saddest week I can remember for a long time.

Running shoes

On Monday a second pair of Puma Speed 500 Ignites (how do they come up with the names?) went through 800km and have been retired from active service. The soles confirm that I still under-pronate and run heavier on my left foot than my right. Pair 3 are at 230km and pair 4 are waiting in their box.

One pair of Puma ‘Netfits’ are well used with a second new pair also in a box. My trail shoes and two pairs of Asics have about 300km between them and my minimalist shoes have 50km and are waiting for better weather.

Even with over 1000km of ultra training to be run by July, it feels like I have plenty enough – but what if any of them split, or rip, or start to hurt, or leave home to join the circus …. and does anyone really have enough in the way of running shoes?

Two new pairs of Puma Velocity Nitro running shoes have arrived!

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: A fish that keeps its mouth closed never gets hooked

2. BBC News website: Disney appoints executive to lead metaverse strategy

Technology giants, including Facebook owner Meta and Microsoft, are pouring billions of dollars into the metaverse which Disney chief executive Bob Chapek said is “the next great storytelling frontier”.

He describes the metaverse as a “perfect place to pursue our strategic pillars of storytelling excellence, innovation, and audience focus” giving “an opportunity to connect those universes and create an entirely new paradigm for how audiences experience and engage with our stories.

I thought we had enough problems with the current universe (or perhaps that’s why we have to invent another?). I don’t intend to apply for a passport to any metaverse

3. BBC News website: in Man lives, unnoticed, in forest for 30 years

The 79 year old grew up in a village which was knocked down in the 1980s to make way for new high-rise buildings in Singapore, one of the world’s most highly urbanised countries. Unable to secure new government accommodation and not wanting to impose on his family he went to a forest close to his old home and started to spend nights in a makeshift shelter before making the move permenant.

He grew his own food and sold flowers and vegetables in the markets. He even managed weekly trip to an Indonesian island where, in his 60s, he had a child with a local woman.

The now shares a small one bedroom flat with another man and works as a driver, and sometimes a gardener. He says he prefers living in a flat but misses the freedom of life in the forest. “I return to the forest every single day. I wake up at 3 AM, get dressed and head out to check on my vegetables, all before my workday begins.”

Good for him. I’ll bet he’s excited at the prospect of the metaverse.

4. BBC News website: Man dies after allegedly having leg sawn off

A man has been charged with murder after allegedly sawing another man’s leg off in north-eastern Australia. Police believe the man and the suspect had some sort of arrangement in which the younger man would amputate the older man’s leg.

Police said the men drove to the park together before the 36-year-old allegedly cut the other’s leg off under the knee with a circular saw. The suspect assisted the injured man back to the car before leaving on foot. A passer-by found the injured man and called the emergency services, but the 66-year-old died shortly afterwards.

5. BBC News website: New Zealand defender Meikayla Moore hits hat-trick

In fact, in the match against the USA, she scored the ‘perfect’ hat-trick – one goal with with her left foot, one with her right foot and one with a header. Sadly, they were all in her own net.

Swim, run (x4), gym, plus Big Jim and Chinese Friends having a chat(!)

Rather inconsequential local storm damage

Monday was Valentine’s Day. I went for broke in the cooking this year with lobster thermidor – a good choice as it just about made up for me going to the swim doctor session in the early evening.

The session was based on the breaststroke, which is of little interest to me as I really only want to swim front crawl for the purpose of triathlons. However, no matter how bad I was at the drills (and I was really bad), I enjoyed the session (I don’t know why). It’s all valuable learning – I now know that while the medial collateral ligament I hurt a couple of years ago is happy with running, cycling and crawl leg kick, it doesn’t like the sideways pressure of a breast stroke leg kick.

The lobster thermidor was a great success, despite the fact that I’d never tackled a lobster before (I bought whole lobsters and had to ‘dismantle’ them) and had little idea of what a thermidor sauce was before making one.

Last week, my usual reaction to the pool (the chlorine?) had been mild, this week, I started sneezing at 3am. Half an hour and three handkerchiefs later that stopped but I couldn’t breathe through my nose for the rest of the night – rather miserable. I’m not sure what to do about it – I could try a nose clip but I have tried one before and wasn’t keen. Perhaps there is a sinus spray I can try – I’ll research it.

The plan had been to do hill reps on Tuesday but I was tired and still unable to breathe freely – and it was cold and very wet. It didn’t take much to decide not to run but I did get out to pick up our younger son who came home for a ‘reading week’ during his PGCE (teacher training) course. He and I did a very enjoyable 10.4km (6.4 miles) in much milder – but still windy – conditions on Wednesday morning.

My running partner is, sensibly, protecting a less-than-100% ankle so our planned Ridgeway run for Thursday was postponed. With enthusiasm, I embraced the concept of a cut-back week (for long, or trail, runs at least) but that didn’t mean I was excused 8 hill reps on Thursday – which logged 8.6km with 293m of ascent (5.5 miles and 960 feet). I creaked for the rest of the day and the gym on Friday was quite difficult too but the stint in the bike shop was therapeutic.

Europe, including the UK, has been hit by a couple of storms this week with very dangerous winds which, sadly, caused some fatalities. In Oxfordshire, we have been lucky to be only on the edge of the worst affected areas – we suffered little more than a short power failure, but we spent the rest of the day hunkered down in the house.

If you want a good example of how having a running companion can be a benefit and a curse, Saturday is a case in point.

I woke still feeling creaky and decided that, at most, I might get on the turbo later in the day. Then our son came down in running kit and I immediately decided to go with him. By the time I got ready, it was raining heavily – I would have canned the run but the rain was set in for the day so we went anyway. Within 2km, the rain was colder and heavier, interspersed with sleet for light relief.

The best decision we made was at the point where we either turn back to make it 10km or carry on home for 7km. In all, 7.2km @ 5.48/km, completely soaked. It was strangely enjoyable, perhaps because normally it wouldn’t have happened and perhaps because it was properly daft to have done it.

My wife has been struggling with an injury but had improved enough to try a run on Sunday so we had a gentle outing for 7.88km (4.9 miles) to finish off the week.

Interesting stuff this week

1. The big news of the week was Big Jim over at Fit Recovery smashing through the 1 million views on his website where he tackles recovery from addiction, cycling, bowling, family, life and all that sort of stuff with humour and good sense. If you don’t know the site, why not have a look (after all, we’ve got to get him to 2 million).

By tradition, the African wise words are always first in this section – but not this week

2. African wise words: Don’t think there are no crocodiles just because the water is calm

3. BBC News website: Chinese streaming platforms accused of censoring Friends

Friends has a massive following in China, with many crediting the show with teaching them English and introducing them to US culture but Chinese fans have complained of scenes being deleted, including those that refer to a lesbian character, and another featuring a same-sex kiss.

Incorrect subtitles were also used to downplay sexual references. In one scene, the phrase “multiple orgasms” was translated to the Chinese phrase for “women have endless gossips”.

4. BBC News website: One-word gaffe invalidates thousands of baptisms

At the centre of the controversy is a pastor’s use of the word “we” instead of “I” in the phrase “I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. Catholic teaching is that only Jesus Christ has the power to baptise – not the wider community or the Church.

According to the Catholic Diocese, the Pastor was reciting the words incorrectly until 17 June 2021. The Church has declared all baptisms he conducted up to that date invalid – local media has put the number of baptisms affected in the thousands.

I wonder if God is as concerned about this as the church is?

5. BBC News website: Saudi Arabia: 28,000 women apply for 30 train driver jobs

For decades, Saudi Arabia had one of the world’s lowest female workforce participation rates and this is the first time such roles have been advertised for women.

In recent years the government has made efforts to increase the number of women in work as part of a plan to diversify the oil-dependent economy. As a result of such changes, the participation of women in the workforce has almost doubled over the past five years to 33%, and more women than men entered the workforce in the first half of last year.

6. BBC News website: American ultra runner breaks 100-mile world record

Camille Herron broke her own women’s world record in winning the USA Track and Field 100-mile Championships. The 40-year-old beat her previous mark by almost a minute and a half, winning in 12 hours 41 minutes 11 seconds – averaging around 7:37 minutes per mile. She finished almost half an hour ahead of first male athlete who came home in 13:10:25.

Bravo!

7. With the storms in the news this week, I’ve decided to write a book about the high winds – I’ve started the first draft.

Sorry

Turbo, run (hill reps), run, gym and Happy Christmas

An earlier post this week – exercise finished, family all back home and I now expect to devote myself to eating my body weight in chocolate. I wish everyone a very happy Christmas.

Back home on Sunday night after the Covid-tested get-together with my wife’s brothers and (some of their) families. It was a cold Monday but I managed 45 minutes on the turbo for 22.35km @30kph.

Very high volumes of new UK Covid cases continue – for now no tighter restrictions are being put in place, but nor have they been ruled out. I wasn’t exactly feeling the joy of running on a cold Tuesday morning but managed to haul myself out for 8 reps of the usual hill – this time Strava made it 8.5km with 286m of ascent (5.3 miles and 938 feet).

Later I got in the car and drove to London to pick up our younger son. He’s been very careful and fortunate (and long may he stay so) and has stayed clear of the virus, despite being in a shared London flat where one flatmate recently had it, and working on placement in a London school for the last few months.

Wednesday was cold and frosty so our younger son and I canned the intended run but in the evening I drove to pick up our older son who had come out of Covid quarantine having tested negative for a few days. He was not able to join us last year because of last minute Covid restrictions so it’s great to all be here this year.

I drove to Bournemouth on Thursday to check on the house and an internet provider change – all is well. It was supposed to be mild and dry but it rained all the way down there. Happily, it cleared long enough for me to get a run down the seafront to Boscombe Pier and back – just over 8.5km (5.3 miles) and a negative split thanks to the headwind on the way out.

Gym on Friday morning for an hour, sticking with the increased weights.

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

I hate to tempt fate but (at a fairly low level of intensity) so far so good. The knee and Achilles tendons that have been problems for a couple of years are behaving reasonably well (right hip slightly less so) and the hill reps that they stopped me doing for all that time seem to be working well. I can do three or four runs a week for 30+km (20+ miles) but the true test will be when it all ramps up as proper training starts in a couple of months.

The frustrating thing is that I’d give a lot to be in this sort of shape in the early Spring rather than in December. I think the sensible approach is to keep doing as much as I feel able to without (I hope) risking injury. Easy, eh? With the triathlon in May, what I should be doing is improving my swimming – but it’s dark and cold so that will have to wait.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: The axe forgets but the tree remembers

2. BBC News website: ‘Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim’rous beastie’*

An ambitious plan to eradicate mice from an island in the South Atlantic appears to have failed as a camera trap on Gough Island (roughly halfway between Africa and South America and home to one of the world’s largest seabird colonies) showed that at least one mouse had survived. The presumption is that where there is one mouse there are likely to be more.

Mice are thought to have been introduced to the island by sailors in the 19th century and have been feeding on the chicks and eggs of seabirds. The entire project costed more than £9million (about $12m) and the aim was that it would be a “one off”, to turn the clock back and eliminate the mice once and for all.

*’To a mouse’ by Robert Burns

3. BBC News website: South Korean dairy giant, Seoul Milk, apologises for advert

The clip starts with a man with a camera wandering through the countryside who then, hidden in bushes, films a group of women drinking from a stream and doing yoga. When he steps on a twig it startles the women who suddenly turn into cows.

The advert has sparked a national debate over sexism and gender sensitivity issues but some also voiced concerns about the man surreptitiously filming the group of women, with spy cam crimes in South Korea having risen over the past few years.

OK marketing department, who thought that could possibly be a good idea?

4. BBC News website: Brazil wildfires killed an estimated 17 million animals

Wildfires burned in the Brazilian Pantanal wetlands between January and November 2020. Scientists attempted to count the animals killed by huge wildfires and estimate that as many as 17 million vertebrates – including reptiles, birds and primates – died.

22,000 separate fires recorded during the year destroyed about 30% of the world’s largest tropical wetland.

So sad. It’s hard to comprehend the scale of the destruction

5. BBC News website: Money manager disappears with $313m

A company that was once one of China’s biggest property developers says it has “lost contact” with a British Virgin Islands-registered wealth manager, that has $313m (£235m) of its money.

Fortune Land said it had expected the investment through China Create Capital to generate annual interest of 7% to 10% until the agreement was due to expire at the end of 2022 but it is now unable to contact the money manager.

I assume China Create Capital thinks it’s managed that money rather well

6. BBC News website: Chip shortage in Japan

For once it’s not a lack of semiconductors that is causing the problem but McDonald’s is suffering a potato shortage in Japan due to the global supply chain crisis. As a result it will only sell small portions of its French fries in Japan from Friday until 30 December.

McDonald’s said it usually imports the potatoes it uses from a port near Vancouver in Canada but ships have faced delays due to flood damage and the impact of the pandemic on the global supply chain. It will now turn to alternative measures, including flying supplies to Japan.

Forget Covid – this is the end of civilisation as we know it

Gym, run (trail), run (hill-reps), gym, turbo (plus poles and punctuality)

The Ridgeway – first training run completed on the route of next year’s 100km trail ultra marathon

A rather curious 4.30am sneezing fit on Monday morning confirmed that Sunday’s run hadn’t really helped to hasten the end of last week’s cold. The sore knee in the morning was equally unwelcome.

There had been no issue with it on the run, or during the rest of Sunday so it was a bit of a mystery. I spent some time raking about 10 million leaves from the lawn (I lost count just after 5 million but I was barely half way through so you’ll have to trust me on this) but otherwise put my feet up.

The knee had improved by Tuesday but was still not right. I was tempted to try the usual hill reps session but I had a more important run scheduled for Wednesday and it would have been foolish to have put that at risk. For once I followed the logic and went to the gym instead. I skipped the leg press, leg extension and leg curl machines and tried the upper body ones with a bit more weight. Cycling club AGM in the evening.

The run planned for Wednesday was with the friend I did the triathlon with this year (and with whom I’ll be doing next year’s triathlons and ultra marathon). It’s his birthday at the end of the week and, as he particularly loves his running, I’d suggested a birthday run instead of the more usual birthday ride.

We drove up above the village of Bishopstone and onto the Ridgeway, the scene of the ultra marathon I did this year and the one we will both do in 2022. We had a glorious run on a lovely morning – chilly enough for me to be wearing my warmer pair of running trousers and warm enough for my friend to be in shorts. Me, cold weather wimp? … guilty as charged. Still sneezing.

The Ridgeway has a very good surface along this section and we ran to the Uffington White Horse and back – 12.38km (7.7 miles) @6:04/km. It’s sobering to think that this pace is a much faster than we will be aiming for on the ultra itself – but even at this pace we’d have over 10 hours of solid running.

We’d parked by ‘The Flying Pig’ which is the mobile food trailer owned by a well-known local farmer who was an early adopter of organic methods – but in spite of what it said on their Facebook page it had not opened by the time we got back to the car. We drove down to the village to the pub owned by the farmer. They were apologetic about the error on the Facebook page and made us excellent bacon rolls, even though they hadn’t yet opened for food. A good example of how, once things go wrong, it’s the way you address the problem that makes all the difference.

My knee was good throughout the run, ached a little after, but was OK by Thursday morning. After the previous day’s trail run, I was probably unwise to do the week’s hill-reps but managed another 10 reps – just over 10km (6.2 miles) and 335m of ascent (1,100 feet). Still sneezing.

Autopilot took me to the gym and then the bike shop on Friday morning. I adopted the ‘legs lite’ version of the gym and am making some progress with the upper body exercises although it’s hard when the smallest weight increment on offer adds another 20% to what I’ve been lifting on my ‘worst’ machine.

The plan had been to run on Saturday morning before heading up to London for a friend’s birthday lunch, but I was tired. A good thing about being so far away from the next challenge is that taking an extra day’s rest is no big deal so I ditched the run.

With a second run planned to recce the Ridgeway on Monday, I decided not to risk my knee by running on a chilly Sunday morning. I took to the turbo in the afternoon while watching the first half of English women’s rugby team playing well against the USA (29-0 at half time – final score 89-0 … sorry USA). I managed 45minutes @ 31.6kph (19.6mph) – much faster than recent efforts – strange how much easier it is with a pumped-up rear tyre … doh.

Interesting stuff this week

1. African wise words: No shortcuts exist to the top of a palm tree

2. BBC News website: The importance of timekeeping on Japanese railways

A Japanese train driver was docked 85 yen (£0.55 – 75 US cents) for causing a one-minute delay to operations after he had gone to the wrong platform at Okayama station.

The rail company agreed to reduce the fine after the driver pointed out that there was no disruption to timetables or passengers, as the train was empty. The employee refused to accept the reduced fine and is suing for 56 yen in unpaid wages and 2.2 million yen (£14,347) in damages for mental anguish.

3. BBC News website: Santa is dead, long live Santa

The English town of Bury St Edmunds has launched its Christmas event under the title the “Bury Santa Experience”.

The town’s mayor said that, given the attention it had attracted, he was not sure whether it was a “faux pas or marketing genius”.

‘Visit Santa’s Grotto – bring your own shovel’

4. BBC News website: Library book returned 73 years late

The book Stately Timber by Rupert Hughes, an adventure story set in Boston, was returned to Dunfermline Library last week – it should have been returned by 6 November 1948.

Staff worked out that £2,847 could have been due in late fees but there has been an amnesty on fees throughout the pandemic to encourage members to return books.

Must have been a slow reader.

Quite impressive but the world record for the most overdue library book is held by one returned to Sidney Sussex College at Cambridge University. It was borrowed in 1668 and returned 288 years later.

5. BBC News website: Totem pole completes 5,500 mile voyage

A specially-commissioned totem pole has completed a 5,500 mile voyage from Mexico to southern Scotland. It has travelled throughout Britain – including a visit to Glasgow during COP26 – to highlight the climate change concerns of indigenous peoples.

“Everywhere it has been, Totem Latamat has been welcomed with songs and ceremonies, movingly showing the spirit of global solidarity between our own communities and the indigenous people who stand on the front line of climate change” said a representative of the Festival that commissioned it.

Now that it has delivered its message, it will be “returned to the Earth” – and allowed to naturally decompose – in Dumfries and Galloway where “Because it is made of natural materials, its decay will enrich the planet”.

I feel enriched already