Skip to main content

miles 0; Bike Miles 0; Units 26

Yes, dear reader, you read it right - zero miles. There are good reasons for this. Circuits on Monday, then a wine tasting on Tuesday (of which more later). After this, the running week and my general health took a distinctly downward turn. I was so 'cream-crackered' on Wednesday that I just came home and moped a bit (though I should point out  I finished off the Christmas cards as well, so none of these claims of man-flu please!). Thursday was taken up with the team Christmas 'do', which largely killed off any remaining voice that I had (having croaked my way through the day since Wednesday morning). Foolishly I tackled the gym on Friday - a pretty good session, though a few snuffles. Thought I was over it but how wrong I was! I somehow cricked my neck on Friday night - agony! - and woke up on Saturday all snuffles again, and no running today or Sunday. So, instead of being halfway through the Tytherley 20-miler I planned I am writing my blog instead.

With no running to talk about, I think I shall simply wax lyrical a bit about simple pleasures. As for many of you, I am sure, this past month has been a 'credit-card-basher' with Christmas on the way. I find myself having a love-hate relationship with purchases - I am both gadget-lover and materialism-hater at the same time. This inner tension exerts itself most noticeably when we've bought about 3 or 4 presents, and then are searching for 'a few extra bits'. I just come over all anti-materialistic, which of course is totally silly..the inner turmoil of 'Tom and Barbara' vs 'Jerry and Margo' I suppose.

So, this Saturday, it was a delight to remind myself of the simple pleasures of a cup of good coffee, the paper, a beer over lunch, and reflections on optimistic possibilities. Yes, these aren't free, but they are not pricey either! Life cannot be always just these things, but when it is, it's very good! And it helps when the weather is crisp, cold and dry.

Wine this week has to be a reflection on Tuesday's tasting event - 45 business folk in a hotel in Windsor. The selection (all from Majestic) was tailored to the festive feast, to go with salmon, turkey and beef. I was delighted at how well the Soave went down - a bit of a long shot for me, but I figured we've all tried enough New Zealand Sauvignon, so it's great to have something else dry and crisp, and also only 12% so you won't be under the table by mid-day. The Champagne was also very good at £15 - worth snapping up if you don't want to blow the bank this year. The winner, without a doubt, was the tawny port - most had tried a tawny before, but not one as good as this. I suspect there will be 45 households in the Berkshire area not buying Vintage Port but Tawny Port this year..!


Champagne Jacquart Brut NV (£15.00)
Soave Classico, Inama, 2009 (£11.99)
Macon Fuisse Viellies Vignes, Christophe Cordier 2009 (£11.99)
Ch. Grand Laurie Larose, St. Emilion Grand Cru 2006 (£14.99)
Roaring Meg Pinot Noir, Mt. Difficulty, Central Otago 2009 (£13.99)
Crozes-Hermitage, Yann Chave 2008 (£13.99)
Taylor’s 10 year old Tawny Port (£17.99)

And finally, a sorry excuse for this week's video! Also something odd is happening to my videos that I need to look into. However, no time to re-record - it's only 9 seconds, you'll get the point I was trying to make!

Normal service next week I hope.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

miles 30.46; Bike miles 0; Units 27

A good running week. I planned for 4 runs, however only 3 resulted as the Saturday run fell to the combined demons of ice, cold and shopping (!). I thought I might be able to nip in a cheeky 3 or 4 miles after we had returned from the delights of the first batch of Christmas shopping (oh, and buying a new telly...so it was not all bad) but it was not to be. And a rather nice bottle of La Tour du Mons 2000 (Cru Bourgeois Margaux) called too.. This week, I managed a hill session in the cold on Wednesday, which did not tax me too much, a steady 7 on Friday, and then a challenging and hilly 18 on Sunday. This was a great run in the cold air - just splendid to be out there when it is so quiet and cold. Just really wonderful. The temperature hovered between -1 and +1, no snow in sight, and a bit of occasional ice. Just really good. I was reflecting as I ran on one significant change in my attitude since running - and that is my approach to artificial fibres. Before running, it had to be c

miles 21.08; Bike Miles 1; Units 20 excluding Saturday which was far too many!

"a happy weekend is one with more miles on my shoes than my car tyres" Another week of just two runs - but both good quality, including some tough hills. So I am not unhappy with that - would have been good to crack 30 miles this week, though! The Sunday run was out with the running club, as before from St Catherine's in Winchester. It was crisp, dry, and everything that makes a wintry run truly great. You do just feel absolutely alive after that. It also included a rather random piece of pathway that was covered in cows, which needed shooing off the path..slightly worrying. It was along the water meadows at St. Cross - always feels very medieval at that spot, as if you could be seeing a scene that a monk would have encountered 500 years ago. There is something about these old towns that embody and then exude the years of history. I have included a photo of these meadows at St. Cross because I find it truly enigmatic, evocative...and frankly all a bit Cadfael, if you reme

miles 20.64; Bike Miles 0; Units probably too many!

A couple of runs this week, Tuesday and Sunday, the latter a great long run - just over 14 miles - really feeling back in the swing of things, and ready to book some races now. It was just glorious to be out in the cool but sunny weather - absolute joy! I am finally feeling like I am able to run again. It has also been a bit more of a relaxed week at work, with a couple of days on a training course, and the rest of the time in the office. Also, the throat was gently easing out by the weekend ( I did promise not to go on about it).... ....which is good when I tell you that we went to Hotel Terravina again, this time as a gift for my 40th Birthday from Carol and Huw, to take part in a 'sabrage' event, which means that you chop the top off a bottle of champagne with a sabre! All very extravagant and grand - see me brandishing said bottle in the attached photo. What a great experience that was, really very special. Thanks to C&H for that! Other than the Champagne we also had tw