Motivation

The council are now generously leaving our park gate unlocked until 6pm, so I opt to drive in today, so hopefully I'll be back in time to give Doggo a brief run. The drive in is fine. No problems, I'm getting to work really early, it’s just getting home that’s a problem. It's very windy, so in a way I'm glad I didn't bike. Daughter is off school today with a cold, she tells us that we're already a fence panel down.

My squash colleague is on email, asking me to motivate him to run. It’s not easy trying to motivate someone to run on a treadmill, when I wouldn't dream of running on one myself. Whenever I invite him out for an outdoor run he says he’s washing his hair.

He reckons he was too knackered to do his planned 2.4K last night. Too knackered from getting up at 7am to go to work and two 1am nights over the weekend. Must be his age. 7am isn’t early, and 1am isn’t Looks like it’s either get fit or start saving for that zimmer frame. Isn't that motivation enough?

He tell him he needs to enter an event, so that he has a target to train for. Once I’ve physically been parted from my money for something, it guarantees that I’ll do the event. Doubt this will work for him.

So I have recommended the Nottingham Jog on 18th April to him, although I didn't mention the 'jog' word. I have even written him a training plan. Just hope there’s no t-shirt, I wouldn't want one with the J word on it.

I also explain that once L and I have completed an event we have a whole range of treats with which we indulge ourselves. I mention that we have a night out on the beer in town and a posh meal. Although again I doubt that this will work for him as he doesn’t do pubs or restaurants. I omit the fact that before the night out we usually share a hot bath and then follow that with equally hot sex. I doubt he does hot sex either! They say physical activity makes you more rampant. Well it certainly works for me but then L will say that most things do.

He says he prefers champagne as a reward. Now we’re getting somewhere. I tell him that Champagne is banned, until he's done his first event. If he gets his race distance up to five miles I’ll even buy the champagne.

Get home and take Doggo for his joint run/football session. L tags along with us and as usual extends the route.

After that we go for a swim. L wants to do a gym session first. I can't join her as I haven't been induced yet and I can't find an induction session at a time of the day that I can make. So I swim while she pumps iron. I do a lot of lengths although I have to keep lane hopping to avoid the psychos. Two particularly annoying ones, keep swimming two length at breakneck pace but then stopping which is really annoying as it totally breaks up my rhythm. Generally though my swimming goes well. I feel more confident about managing 20 lengths in the pool, all I have to do now it to work out a way to count them. By the time L makes it to the pool I'm shattered and suffering from leg cramps, so I leave her to it and go for a coffee.

Get home and we finish off Mansfield Park or more correctly it finishes us off. It didn't get any better, apart from the chests (e.g. Hayley Atwell below).



I've started playing internet chess again which is actually as dull as it sounds but I like the challenge. Chess of course is never very exciting, unless you're Steve McQueen, who managed to seduce Faye Dunaway out of her knickers just by playing chess in The Thomas Crown Affair.



We retire to bed and it's got nothing to do with the heaving bosoms in Mansfield Park or seduction by internet chess but tonight I get to seduce my girl anyway. Tomorrow's pre-cycling warm-up session arrives early. Scrumptious.