Desperate in December

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

I write this late on Sunday evening knowing already that my early morning run tomorrow before work is to be cancelled, post-poned; basically blown out of the water due to over-consumption this evening of my favourite beer of all, Cooper's Sparkling Ale.

Look, to be fair to myself, I did very well over Christmas. An 8km run Christmas morning was followed - surprisingly - by a short 15 min jog on Boxing day morning with MLCM Jr #3, who seems to have been bitten by the running bug at the most inappropriate time of year. Still, he's keen, and what choice did I have? Fortunately, the son of a friend agreed to take over running buddy duties from myself and I was exempt from future excursions. Just as well really, because he's very young, and consequently very fast, despite his inexperience. I coped with the post-Christmas 2.5km sprint he imposed on me, but he'll pretty soon be way too fast for me to even contemplate hitting the streets with him. Great to see him getting out there, though, really it is.

All in all, I've managed to get through the Christmas debauchery pretty well this year. Most of the food consumption was fish-based, except for the ham, which was consumed with salads, and pretty modest in bulk and super-healthy. Perhaps less impressive was the generous quantities of Cooper's Ale, Chimay Grande Reserve, plus Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache, not to mention of course the requisite seasonal methode champenois ... and all this in just two days.

No wonder the belly hasn't reduced... and I didn't even mention the ice cream cake, shortbread and raspberry/white chocolate cheesecake scoffed as well... together with Christmas cake and a few cocktails and liqueurs to wash it all down with.

Gulp.

Did I mention the Boxing Day breakfast special? No, and probably just as well. The quaint Aussie tradition of eggs, bacon and a dessert wine for breakfast is not something your doctor should hear about. Bloody nice though. Works amazingly well. If you don't believe me, try it*.

And then of course there's ... well, maybe we shouldn't go there. But damn this Cooper's is good.

The acid test comes in 7 days time - a 9km charity fun run. In itself not much of a race really, but it'll set the tone for the year ahead. Do I need to get serious about diet and (shudder) alcohol consumption, or am I cruising along just nicely, with the right healthy balance of exercise and dietary enthusiasm?

We shall see, dear viewers, we shall see.

Cheers!


*No, I didn't say that. It *is* nice though.