November 2011

[Sweder]

Ladyrunner popped round to drag me out for a gentle leg-loosener this morning. We took the pack with us, careful to avoid canine collisions as we ran into a real old-fashioned pea-souper. Visibility up on the downs was 30 feet at best, the muddy, flattened grass trail heading into apparent oblivion.

I had rather hoped to be feeling charged up, raring to go, holding myself back against an irrepresable surge of energy. Sadly the opposite was true. I ran on tired, weary legs, breathing laboured, panting like the oldest dog in the pack trying to keep up with the bounding pups. Ah well. In a shade over 24 hours I'll be strapping an unfeasibly large, heavy aircraft to my ample arse, kicking back for 24 hours on the long haul to Oz. I'm packing running books a-plenty, will saddle up my laptop loaded with RC race reports and there's always Virgin's reliable collection of fillums and television shows to keep me entertained.

On a recent flight I was lucky enough to catch up with the first series of Rev, Tom Hollander's gentle satire the life of an inner city vicar. The final episode, where Hollander's inebriated clergyman attempts (unsuccessfully) to get off with the (very) hot local headmistress at a Vicars and Tarts party - 'I do hope you'll be coming as a tart' - is worth watching even if you've never seen the series. Thirty minutes of comedy gold.

Generous thanks go to MLCMan for meticulous planning of our forthcoming trip. My life seems blessed by people prepared to make my journeys as pleasing and trouble-free as possible. El Gordo worked miracles on our Connemarathon quest, Antonio frequently goes above and beyond to make each Almerian adventure better than the last, and now this; a beautifully crafted itinerary that even takes into account our need to indulge in that old black Irish beverage. Brilliant.

A traveller's tales to follow.
All aboard!