Around and around, up and down.

Next weekend I’m embarking on the single most inadvisable sports-related thing I have ever attempted. In the space of three days a team of us will cycle from Whitehaven to Tynemouth in aid of Kids UK.

I am to cycling what Bradley Wiggins is to eating pizza and drinking ale. Yes, I like to do it, but it distracts me from my life’s primary calling.

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A week of achievements

In the last ten days, I’ve had a run of extremely positive moments. Since this blog exists partly to document my ego, I thought I’d pull them together and see what they all looked like in order. It started on Saturday July 4th…

tl:dr I did lots of brilliant stuff. Aren’t I epic?

Slowly around Shenstone

This Sunday, following last week’s hard slog around Aldridge 10K, I’d already lined up further torture in the shape of Shenstone Fun Run.

Pushing my Luck

I tackled the Aldridge 10K again this weekend, and much to my disappointment I was actually slower than last year. This must be because I was pushing my luck all the way round.

3 hours 51 minutes 11 seconds

3 hours 51 minutes 11 seconds

Today I completed my first half marathon.

tl:dr I did sports. Equal parts exhausted; astonished; smug as.

Giving it a Tri

Walsall’s Slowest Triathlete is back in the saddle. After the wonderful fun of last year’s Walsall Triathlon they’re back this July 12th, and entries are now open.

I should imagine those who are most interested already know, but if it’s something you fancy you can apply here.

And for the record, here’s what I’ll be trying to beat:

Snow Champions Needed

I’m a Snow Champion. Walsall Council have funding in place to support 250 local people who will undertake to clear sections of pavement outside their house for the general benefit of the local community.

I'm not being funny about this, but I live in Aldridge. There are an awful lot of people who are a bit older than me and shouldn't be expected to be out and about if conditions are poor underfoot. I live very close to a senior school with hundreds of pupils walking past my front door daily. I live close to a convenience store with a high footfall. It appears I need to do my bit.

Many thanks to Paul Leighton for organising and equipping me. I'm only sorry there appears to be a shortage of volunteers.

This is your chance to get involved. Follow the link at the top of the page to find out more and volunteer to serve.

With snow forecast, it’ll be my pleasure to clear it as fast as snow off a council-issue shovel.

Gamification of Fitness

The people at Strava really know their target audience. I’m not even that athletic, and I’m already getting out on the road trying to set myself some records.

Fifteen words for Fifteen

As previously noted, I tend not to value New Year’s Resolutions as a viable move forward. They are somewhat arbitrary and can be both vague and tragically optimistic. So instead I am focussing this coming year on simple things I can do to improve my life and livelihood which don’t have a fixed outcome but a continuous benefit. Five points, each only three words long. That’s not a lot of words. It’s shorter than most psalms, and will most certainly fit on a T-shirt. Or as I like to think of it, aimed right at my attention span. Here are mine:

• More family time
• Enjoy more exercise
• Play more music
• Read more books
• Remember the highs

…and that’s it. May 2015 bring all you want, or failing that at least provide more than you need.

Now you see them, but they’re not there.

When you look at this optical illusion, you should see grey-black spots appearing at the places where white lines cross.

Let me tell you now, in case you had any doubt, that those dots aren’t really there. I know this to be true. I can’t show you what it looks like without the dots though, because your eyes will always add the dots in.