What an Epic Weekend!

| Richard

Well then.

Saturday morning and after a little lie-in I was up to try to have a quick clean, change of bed linen and then off to GT’s. We then walked into Epsom where I got my hair cut whilst GT was having hers done. A quick snack lunch and then we headed back to London. And the pub near mine on the Thames for a couple of drinks and some snazzy chilli chips as a snack.

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Then it was a quick change before grabbing a cab to take us to Le Pont de la Tour near Tower Bridge for dinner. As I mentioned in my last blog entry, I had decided to raise a glass to my old friend Mark, so I ordered a good bottle of champagne and regaled GT with some of Mark’s tales of derring-do before we toasted his memory.

The food was excellent again, as were the glasses of wine and the port we had with a tasty cheeseboard before heading home to mine.

This morning, we surfaced at a halfway decent time to head over to Frizzante Café at Surrey Docks Farm for a big breakfast as we had a busy day ahead. Yes. We were off to Greenwich’s Bunker 51 to save the world from a zombie apocalypse for my birthday treat. Oh yes! ZOMBIES! And great fun it was! Very hot and sweaty and a bit stinky with the added bonus of blue bogies afterwards :0

On our way to take GT over to Waterloo afterwards, we happened to be in London Bridge and we had both said what a lovely afternoon it had turned into … which gave me the idea to take GT up the Shard (oo-er, Missus!). A great view all around the capital, if expensive.

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Phew!

| Richard

Well it’s been a hectic couple of weeks.

After the Superhero Fun Run I got home and that evening checked my work iPhone to find a panicky e-mail asking if I could make a black tie dinner on the Tuesday. So I got my DJ and dress shirt and headed into the office the next morning.

The occasion was the Harlequins’ End of Season Dinner at the Hurlingham Club; we had a table with one of the players, Tom Casson, who shares my birthday. A great bunch of guys as always and a fab evening. By the end of the evening – or well into the following morning, as it transpired – I was challenged by Seb Stegmann to run headlong at Tom. I declined… 🙂

Harlequins RFC End of Season Dinner at The Hurlingham Club

I had decided earlier that my DJ was dated and is now ill-fitting as I’ve slimmed down since I bought it, so I ordered a new one together with a couple of dress shirts and yet another new suit the following day.

Thursday was a far more sombre day as I was attending the Memorial Service of a friend of many years, Mark Cato. It was good to see his widow and his ‘children’, though the circumstances were hardly the best, and to receive a lovely letter from Alice. Farewell Mark! I will raise a glass of champagne in his memory over a nice Dinner this weekend.

On Friday it was off to the Guoman hotel at Tower Bridge for an afternoon company senior management meeting followed by an early Indian meal at Mala Restaurant, so we could all leave at a reasonable time. Why?

Saturday and an early start to drive down to the Albury Estate for a day’s fly fishing. Yes, I know what you’re thinking and so did I. But I had to confess that I really enjoyed being taught how to cast and I caught two medium-sized trout which I then took up to Norfolk to give to my ex-wife (who promptly and with my blessing gave them to a neighbour who we knew would love them).

Sunday morning saw a well-deserved and much-needed lie-in before picking up Jack and heading back into Norwich to watch the Norwich City v West Bromwich Albion match; a must-win game for Norwich. And win they did, which kept the team in the Premier League for next season.

A fairly late return to London that night and straight into another hectic week this week, with a breakfast seminar in London on the Tuesday – despite food poisoning on the Monday that meant I lost 3lbs in one day! – a flight to Belfast on Wednesday evening for a day training a JV client and an evening flight back before driving to Kent last night for another day training another client on another form of building contract.

So this weekend is going to involve a haircut, retail therapy, Dinner out on the Thames and … Zombies! Oh yes!

The Trouble With Marathon Runners…

| Richard

…is that they’re utterly barking mad!

It was the first of two Bank Holiday weekends in May. Saturday morning saw me driving up to Norfolk to collect Jack and take him to Nando’s Riverside before the Norwich City match against Aston Villa … which we lost, helping Chris Hughton’s masterplan to dominate the Championship next season rather than staying up in the Premier League.

A tasty post-match Chinese and then on to my hotel in Norwich for a late night.

Sunday morning should have seen me running a medium distance – 6-8 miles around Norwich – but I’d managed to pull my calf muscle yet again earlier in the week. Damnit! Less than 150 days until the Berlin Marathon as well. So I had a little lie-in instead and a light breakfast before heading off in the glorious sunshine to fetch Jack to head back into Norwich for more shopping and eating (Wagamama) before I headed back down to London to change and grab my running gear before heading off to GT’s for the evening and a lovely veggie meal.

No doubt reeking of garlic, we headed off early on Bank Holiday Monday up to Milton Keynes for GT to run in the MK Marathon; her tenth.

Yes, after the Paris Marathon when GT had got so close – again! – to her 4:00:00 barrier, one of her running mates had suggested she should get paced around in a sub-4 hour run and he happened to know the guy who’d be doing just that at Milton Keynes. So the die was cast. I’d suggested that I would drive GT there and back as usual, but with nothing to do otherwise, I entered the Superhero Fun Run and bought a Batman costume from eBay.

And so it was that on a very warm, sunny day, GT lined up for the marathon in her running gear and I lined up for mine dressed as Batman and dosed up on Ibuprofen for the extremely painful calf muscle. They held us on the start line for a while in the sun so as you can imagine it was a tad sweaty inside a black rubberised hood, bodysuit and cape! Plus my Garmin kept switching out of training mode, so when we finally got away, it took me a while to be able to start logging the run.

There’s something wonderful about running along making bat signs and having crowds cheering you on as well as high-fiving other Batmen on the return loop! And so it was that I became first Superhero back despite the muscle going again. I was so pleased to cross the finish line that I forgot to switch the Garmin off until after I’d received my medal. Ah well.

So some photos, then…

Milton Keynes Superhero Fun Run

MK Superhero Fun Run

| Garmin Connect - captainblue
Ah… Batman forgot to turn on the Garmin until under way and then left it on after I’d collected my medal and water. First Superhero home! Bing Map
Owner: CaptainBlue
Location: —
Activity Type: Running
Event Type: Special Event
Distance: 1.28 Mile
Time: 00:11:56
Elevation Gain: 20 Feet

Not Again!

| Garmin Connect - captainblue
Walked 2.4M home, changed and out. Run was going well until the left calf muscle ‘popped’ again! Grr! Bing Map
Owner: CaptainBlue
Location: —
Activity Type: Running
Event Type: Fitness
Distance: 1.63 Mile
Time: 00:16:57
Elevation Gain: 29 Feet

Kawasaki Day at the Ace Café London, 2013

| Richard

Well it was a beautiful but chilly day in London today and so I left GT’s to ride in to the Ace, arriving before 10am after a cobweb-blowing ride across town.

We counted them in and we counted them out again!

And talking of chilly, the Ace chilli cheesy chips went down really well with GT and I and you couldn’t tell they were veggie either.

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