May 2007 - It All Starts Here

[Sweder]

Funny choice of track du jour this morning.
For so long it seemed a nailed-on certainty that Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Live version) would walk off with the plaudits. This eased its way onto my iplod just as I crested stable rise on the homeward leg, a little after 6am. Languid clouds lay dormant in the Ouse valley, translucent leviathans sleeping in after a cool, damp night. As I watched the sun’'s warmth appeared to wake them. They drifted, one by one, misty zeppelins loosed from their moorings, rising gently towards the east.

The music flowed with the imagery; all was peace and tranquillity as I lumbered home, completing a painfully early four-miler before the ultimate contrast in travel; a scrambled dash across rush-hour London to meet my flight to Istanbul.

As I stretched, sweat splashing to mingle on the patio with the remains of the morning rain, an altogether different song popped up; Mystery Song by Status Quo. Those legendary chords, a bouncing, driving beat and some excellent lyrics ploughed new energy into my post-run ritual. I bopped my ligaments into shape, grinning madly as I cavorted around my front garden. God knows what the neighbours would have said if they'’d been mad enough to be up this early. Mercifully, the array of curtains overlooking this ugly spectacle remained closed.

Took my gym induction yesterday, followed by a modest circuit designed to generally ‘tighten up’ some of the more flabatious areas. No legwork, my calf not yet fully restored, but plenty of upper body reps and a series of ludicrous circus acts on a large polypropylene ball, allegedly designed to increase core strength. I fear a hidden camera; YouTube beckons.