Legs still not 100%

Ran a reverse loop last night. It was slow and painful. The sides of my lower legs (kinda beside the shin bones) are still giving me grief and I don’t know why. It feels like they’re bruised. WTF?! I thought I was being nice to them.

It pisses me off that the longer I run the more pain I have to endure and the slower I seem to get. I can’t frickin’ wait to get into regular bike commuting again!! The new job has showers (insert collective: “ahhh ooooh” here).

It appears that the only way to get faster running is to run once and then rest for a month, then run again. Total poo! Grrr…

The local gym (of which I am a member) is shutting down too, so I don’t know if I should get another month out of them or if that will just leave me pissed off when they finally close? Double grrrr..

Did I mention I get to ride into the city soon? 😀

Oh, I spotted FixieChick(tm) riding outbound through Ealing again last night. When I say “again” I’ve seen her ride towards the city in the mornings but not outbound before. She looks like a courier (bag, stripey leggings, cut denim, etc) but that could just mean that she wants to look like a courier?

The way she veered around a car last night while apparently slowing with legs only made me wonder if she is indeed riding brakeless? Further investigation a must.. *jumps out bellowing “STOOOOOOPP!!!!”* (Gawd, I’m evil! 😉 :-D).

In gastro-news: I cooked Lucy’s (Peregrine’s night receptionist) Thai Red Chicken Curry and my flatties (doss hosts?) are still alive!

They did a really good job of faking approval too.. 😉 I have an interesting pasta sauce recipe from her as well.. Has the cooking mojo returned?

Time for EARL (Reversed): 41:02. Summary: “Blah!”

Posted in Run

Blue Skies + Free Time = Ride

I still remember how to pedal.. even if it is pretty damn slow. My planned Pommie crit domination will have to wait 😉

I decided to go in summer kit for the simple reason that I could do with the extra Vitamin D(aylight).

Also, I don’t have any winter kit!

Ripped out a (cough) massive (cough) 40k ride yesterday, exploring to the west of Ealing. Didn’t get killed, even when trying.

Helped a guy with a flat tyre because I happened to be carrying a pump – I’m planning on saving up karma points from kind gestures like this and redeeming them for freaky scx later on. Just need to find the right 7 or 8 women..

Found the Richer Sounds hi-fi store I’ve been looking for, which should come in handy when I can afford to build up the “Killer Stereo from Depths of Hell #2“. Gotta have something to entertain the neighbors with..

Nearby, “London Joggers” might be able to sort me out with some new runners – mine are getting old and apparently it’s a good idea to have multiple pairs in different styles (run type, not colour and sh1t!) to choose from.

Further west and it was like Little India or something! If the Bhangra was any louder and the pedestrians any more unpredictable I might’ve been forced to walk!! 😉

One more day in Siebel hell and I get to experience a new kind of employment hell.. at least it will pay more.. yippee!

“New bike for me! Yeah! New bike for me! Yeah! New bike for me! Yeah!”

Happy Australia Day!

I’m sitting here at work in jeans and short sleeves. Such a rebel! *groan*

Next to me: an iced coffee and a 235g jar of Vegemite (the biggest size I’ve seen for sale in Europe – seen bigger? let me know!).

Looks like tonight will involve a pub crawl through central-London’s Aussie pubs with as many fellow convicts as I can muster. I’m officially ending my Walkabout ban.

What else? What else?

Well, I got the job I wanted. Both of them. I knocked back the one in Wandsworth and from the 1st of Feb I’ll be working alongside Dan.. again! Small world eh?!

I have been running but it’s been very dodgy recently with my shins giving me plenty of grief. I hate that running causes so much damage! On a bike you ride as fast as possible and all that happens is you run out of breath or your muscles go down in a fiery ball of lactic acid.. running.. grrr.. running is hazardous to your leg’s health! Dark times folks, dark times.

More rest, slower running, more dedicated stretching and self-massage (ooh yeah! rub harder baby!) seem to have sorted most of that out now and last night I finally felt good again.

Hammered away at the start without warming up, of course, because I am a dickhead. I know it’s bad but it was so frickin’ cold last night, I didn’t want to piss about with any slow jogging.

I was feeling great, like really great, like a mad-man that’s just won the ?85-million lottery. I was all set for a new EARL record but 3/4’s done, the starting pace got to me, my knee started feeling “odd” and I slowed it right down. Once I realised there would be no chance of a PB, I slowed RIGHT down and cruised in at 39:00.

It was Wednesday, which means TNT magazine comes out. For those that don’t know, it’s a mag for antipodeans, or Aussies, Kiwis and Saffas living in London.

So, I ran back to Northfields Tube station and picked up a copy. The run there and back added another 2.5k onto the EARL circuit, according to www.gmap-pedometer.com.

Now.. Where’s my beer?!

Tour de France.. in LONDON!

Big Ben Cyclists

If I can’t make it to le tour, le tour comes to me! Ha! 😀

Statement from the Mayor of London, Ken Livingston:

I am proud to announce that following a successful bid, London has won the right to host the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in July 2007.

The first part of the legendary French cycle race will visit London as part of our efforts to excite people in London about cycling and to promote the capital both to visitors and as a venue for international sporting events.

from: www.britishcycling.org.uk – tour de france confirms london start in 2007

In other news:

Man is the animal that intends to shoot himself out into interplanetary space, after having given up on the problem of an efficient way to get himself five miles to work and back each day.” – Bill Vaughn

Do "beer goggles" really exist?

Yes.

The reasons behind this phenomenon have to do with alcohol stimulating the nucleus accumbens, aka “the part of the brain which is used to determine facial attractiveness.” In the 2002 study, male and female students were shown pictures of members of the opposite sex and asked to rate them on a scale of 1-7 (sounds cruel, we know). The more students drank, the higher they rated the photographs.” from: ask.yahoo.com – do “beer goggles” really exist?

At least it works for both sexes 😉

Australia Day – What to do? What to do?

Australian Flag

Hear what Sam Kekovich has to say here.

I’ve so far avoided entering an Aussie pub whilst in Europe. You see, other than the friends and family I left behind, Milo, Cherry Ripes, Pascal Licorice All-sorts and a bit more sun, Oz doesn’t hold that much appeal any more. Guess it’s easier to be patriotic before travelling? Maybe I should head to Africa for a dose of perspective?

BUT! I think for one day of the year I can show a smidge of clever-country patriotism and at least try and find an Aussie beer to skull (no beer bongs this time.. well.. unless my arm is twisted ;-)).

Perhaps I’ll even sink so low as to talk about the cricket and relive some crushing English defeats for the locals? 😉

F_sters and VB are most definately still on my banned list – I’d rather drink from the Thames – so Coopers it is!! 🙂

The choice then becomes: a BBQ or meat pies?

Any other Aussies going out on Thursday 26th can help me decide an appropriate course of action. Some options below:

guide to the best pubs & bars in London for Australia day

www.viewlondon.co.uk – Australia day pubs and bars

www.citypublife.co.uk – Australia day

Hatchback update..

Hatchy meows like mad each morning when I feed him. He wants me to brush him!!! He loves it. He doesn’t even finish his food, he just wants to be brushed. So we have some bonding time as he rubs against me and purrrrrrrs and is very happy.

Couple of runs, couple of jobs

Reverse loop that went to hell stressing over upcoming job interviews.

Wednesday, after a good interview and test, my legs self-destruct after 10 minutes running and I have to walk home swearing.

Had another interview this morning which went beautifully. Then..

Job offer #1 comes in.

Job offer #2 comes in.

Fsck.

Can’t find a job, now I can’t choose one.

Can’t run a lap, time to get the booze on.

Update:

After speaking to someone who actually has a clue (thanks Dan!) I now know the true path. All is good again. Now, I wait..