Feeling the Benefits...

Played squash last night for the first time in 3 weeks, and I really noticed the benefit of my training with an apparent improvement in fitness and strength in my legs. It still didn't give me any advantage in the score line though - I had to come back from 0-3 down to 4-3 then finished 4-4. I reckon Simon's been taking lessons whilst on his "Business Trip"!

I also went for a run this morning. I was determined to run the whole 5km route. I need those new running shoes!

However, it looks like I'm stuck with my old shoes for a little while longer. I just couldn't get up the last 300m. So close but yet so far! Maybe I need to pace myself a bit better. I did the 4.7km in something under 25 minutes, so that's about the right overall pace for the time being - although I'll hope to get my 5km time down closer to 20 minutes over the next few months.

Or maybe I just need to adjust my route so that the last 500m is flat or downhill! I'll check my map.

Nothing on the Cubby House last night - apart from another scope increase. Shirl's decided she wants to put shutters on the side window - to stop creepy crawlies and the rain from coming in. A good idea but that means more time and another trip to the hardware shop for some hinges and some kind of mechanism to hold the shutters closed.

I hope to get the door finished tonight and maybe the slide support too.

Until tomorrow...

Good to be Back...

Phew, 6 days have passed since I last "Blogged"...

So where do I begin? How about at the beginning...

Good Friday allowed a break from the running but some serious Cross-Training in the back garden on the Cubby House. I got the floor onto the base with the assistance of my neighbour and occasional drinking buddy, George. I managed to twist it back to square and get it fixed down. Then the wall frames went up - with only the assistance of some strategically placed clamps to hold the pieces upright and in position while I screwed them down and together. Most of the cladding was fixed too.

Saturday saw the cladding finished and the veranda frame installed. We went over to George and Jenny's place on Saturday night for some tucker, beers and port! Yum!!

Sunday (hangover free!) progressed the roof beams, the window trims and the door started to be assembled. The clocks went back today. We didn't realise until Shirl and Lian arrived at church at the wrong time! Doh!!

Monday had the roof sheets fixed and I started to assemble the steps.

A lot of thought and discussion went into how to fix the slide off the veranda. I think we now have a solution.

Yesterday was first day back at work. I went for a run - my usual 4+km route in about 20 minutes. The new long sleeved Helly Hansen top proved useful as it is getting colder in the mornings. I was on site all day (real site - a poo / pee treatment plant in South West Sydney) so I was knackered by the time I got home. But I still managed to finish off the steps assembly.

I need to borrow my neighbour's ladder to finish off the ridge capping and eave beams. The door needs finishing, the slide assembly carried out, the steps fixed and the whole thing stained. Then Shirl's got a few items I need to make for the inside.

That's it for now. Squash tonight (hope I remember how to play after so long off).

Hot Cross Buns and a Long Weekend...

Wow, they treat us well here at work. Hot Cross Buns this morning. Yum!

I'm looking forward to getting my long-sleeved running top. It was a bit parky this morning! Another 4+km paid into the account. It's feeling easier too. I really should hit the full 5km route regularly now. That's the target I set myself to get some new running shoes. So that's next week's plan.

I keep watching the weather forecast so I can be ready for the big push on the Cubby House. I reckon this long weekend will see the walls up, cladded & stained and the roof installed. Then there's the slide, the steps and the trims to fix - that should be next week.

If the weather's going to be clear first thing in the morning, I won't go for a run - I'll get stuck into the DIY instead. Plenty of cross-training points to be scored over the weekend though.

Have a good Easter. See you next week!

Feeling Great at 38...

Yesterday was full of treats:

Birthday cake at work - apparently an Australian tradition, I've certainly never had that before. It's amazing how a bit of free cake brings new colleagues out of the woodwork!

Then I got home to find the dining table set for a crowd. The in-laws all came for dinner - 13 in total, including the 3 kids. Roast ham, spuds and veggies with a tiramisu birthday cake for afters.

A couple of little pressies and I've also asked for a long sleeve running top which we'll get this weekend (it is getting colder here).

So aren't I lucky?

Thanks to those who sent cards, photos, notes etc.

No run this morning - Wednesday is my rest / cross-training day, although tonight's usual squash will no doubt be replaced by Cubby House work.

And the Cubby House base is still in place, despite torrential rain last night attempting to wash away the concrete footings. Hopefully the rain will start to ease now ready for a big push at the long weekend.

Another Year Older, Another 4km...

Yes, today's my birthday!

It would have been easy to have a lie-in this morning, using the excuse that it was a birthday treat, but no, I got up and did another 4+km.

Yesterday's excuses and whinges were just that. Today, I felt good - at least after the first 1km - when I got into a rhythm. I think the suspicion of cruciate ligament damage was unfounded. Now that I know what the cruciate does, I suspect it was just a bit of soreness from this new action called running!

So hopefully today will pass quietly. There's surely no reason to fanfare one step closer to 40, is there?

I keep watching the weather forecast for the required dry days so the next stage of the Cubby House can proceed.

No run tomorrow. It should be squash but Simon's in UK. So I'll take the rest day anyway.

In Need of a Boost...

I think this morning was the hardest I've found so far to drag myself out of bed!

It seems like every Monday is a tough day. I'm so busy at weekends that by the time Monday comes around - I'm knackered.

The weekend did see a lot achieved on the Cubby House - the elevation kit is concreted into the ground. Bloody hell, you can tell I have a desk job - mixing 120kg of concrete by hand is such hard work. I used Quick Set concrete, so I separately prepared just enough for each hole, but as it starts to go off in 15 minutes, I had to mix it quickly and get it in the hole sharpish!

I also finished off building the veranda picket fence. This involved lots of kneeling, measuring, screwing, standing, sawing - and I think that's exacerbated the niggle I was feeling last week in my knee!

I also finished the decking oil for the floor.

The good news is that I did go for a run. The first 1km was very difficult. I was very conscious of my knee, but as it turned out - it didn't give me a problem. So after that first 1km the run got easier. By the time I finished, I felt good enough to carry on for another few kms.

The bad news is, as well as the knee, I seem to be getting a bit of a cold. I realise that I may have to take a week off, but my concern is that any break I have to take as a result of these afflictions may be the death of the training programme. I'm not confident of my ability to restart the routine!

It's now that I need any encouragement / abuse that you can give. Anybody with experience of Anterior / Posterior Cruciate Ligament injuries also may assist too!

Perhaps some Cold & Flu tablets with anti-inflammatory will do the trick!

149 days to go...

I told you this would be the default title when I couldn't think of anything else!

The training is still on track. I was awakened early this morning by the rain and I remember briefly thinking I may not venture out, but by the time the alarm properly woke me up, the rain had slowed to a drizzle and thankfully didn't disrupt the schedule.

So another 4km under the belt. I have to start doing a longer run on Sundays soon, but not until the Cubby House is out of the way (no progress on that last night - we were out for dinner for Shirl's dad's birthday).

I also saw the lovely Zarni yesterday too. Remember her? Actually she's not Indonesian-Chinese, she's Burmese-Chinese. I was in the chair for 2 hours and had 5 fillings done, 2 large and 3 small. Very tense while she was grinding out the old fillings and preparing the teeth for the filling, but not painful at all. I think I'm well and truly over my dentist phobia.

So as I said, we were out for Shirl's dad's birthday dinner, although my numb gob prevented me from eating much - just the dry-fried shredded beef, my favourite!

We bought some decking oil yesterday for the Cubby House floor, so that'll be one job I can do undercover. But I'm hoping that the rain will ease off enough for me to advance the rest of the job too.

So that's enough for this week. 21 weeks to go until City to Surf, 3 weeks until Lian's birthday.

Rain Stopped Play...

The first test of my commitment to the training programme occurred this morning.

It was raining last night when we went to bed and I was feeling a bit of a twinge in the back of my right knee. So it certainly crossed my mind that I may not make it out for the run this morning.

So when the alarm went off at 6.45am, I listened for the tell-tale pitter-patter on the roof. Yes, it was there - but hardly a downpour. So I gingerly got out of bed and felt the knee. Yes, there was still a slight twinge - but I thought it'd subside when I got moving. So I got ready, picked out some rain mood music for the MD player (The Smiths) and went outside.

Walking up the hill, I was happy to realise that the rain wasn't that bad and the knee didn't feel too sore. So away I went.

Starting slowly, I was feeling OK. I remembered my plan to try for the full 5km today. So I managed to hold the pace where I normally get carried away. It got to the stage where my breathing was fine, my rhythm was easy and it felt like I could run all day (well I was going downhill at the time)!

But then, the last 500m or so is on a bit of a rise. It's also a very uneven surface, lots of kerbs to watch out for. So very tiring.

But I did it! I finished the whole 5km, in the drizzly rain, in about 27 minutes. Slow, I know, but as Confucius said: "The Longest Journey Starts with a Small Step".

So, despite you jumping to conclusions, the "Play" that "Rain Stopped" was actually my toying with my post hole spade last night. I managed to dig three of the six holes, before the rain started, the light dimmed and my belly started to rumble. So inside for a bit of tea with the girls. Then back downstairs to start cladding the walls.

All in all, a good day.

Oh, did I mention Shirl pranged the car, again!? Exactly the same damage as last time. That event was hitting a high curb going up a carpark ramp. We just got he car back 2 weeks ago! This time, she hit a bollard next to a petrol pump!

Oh, and today's the day that I return to the dentist for those fillings!

Contractual Dispute...

Well last night, my Client well and truly stepped over the mark! How dare she tell me how to build a Cubby House? What experience has she got? How long does she know how long it's going to take me and in what order I should complete the individual tasks?

Unfortunately, my Client deals with Contractual disputes of this nature by locking the Project Manager out of the amenities building (i.e. my house!). Bloody cheek.

I admit that I should be shot. I get paid by my full-time employer to protect them against Contractual arguments, particularly those associated with Time! So I've learnt my lesson. I've sketched out a schedule, identifying all the remaining tasks and how long and in what order I propose to complete them. Forecast Completion is Easter Sunday!

I haven't got the Client to sign-off to it yet - but on the basis that it's been issued (it's on the fridge door) and my Client hasn't come up with anything better - that's what I'm working to.

Good job she doesn't advise me on my training!

A well deserved rest was taken this morning, on the basis that it should be squash tonight. However, I've since been informed that Simon is off to the UK on business, so no squash for the next 2 weeks.

All the more chance to work on the Cubby House!

Measure, drill, screw, bugger...!

Well first the good news: another 4.5km on the road to the City to Surf. It's now getting easier. I'm firmly into the routine of the early rise and the half hour or so of exercise, and the 4.5km route is now consistently being achieved without a break.

Tomorrow morning will be a lie-in as there's squash on in the evening. But Thursday I aim to step up to the full 5km route and see if I can finish that last 500m up the hill. I have to remember though that I shouldn't be pushing it too hard at the moment, so perhaps I shouldn't pick up the pace too soon.

And now the bad news: the Cubby House. Having made the effort to measure the floor frame, measure each floor board width, allow for a gap between each board for expansion / movement; to make sure that I could complete the floor with whole boards, i.e. no cuts... I used nails to space the boards and measured every-so-often to make sure I was still on course. I've ended up with the last board needing to be cut! Bugger!! And it's not even as easy as a straight cut. There's about 3cm at one end, 5mm in the middle and 2cm at the other end!

There are two reasons for this: the boards are not straight (must be banana tree wood) and I only made my check measures in the middle (the 5mm gap was created when I realised that I was going to end up with a cut board and I didn't want two wedges with nothing in the middle); the gap I calculated at 3.42567mm was difficult to gauge so I used a combination of 3.0mm and 3.75mm nails (damned inconvenient that one can't buy 3.42567mm nails).

However, all is not lost. With a little improvisation (and a huge stroke of luck), I can cut the width I need to fill in that end board. The thin slice will not be seen as the wall will cover most of it and the slide will be on that side of the veranda too (I intend to put in a solid piece from the floor to support the slide). If I'd have finished on the opposite wall, that thin piece would have been painfully obvious.

So all is not lost.

I'll try and cut that piece tonight (better dose up on beta-blockers so the saw doesn't waver along the 2.1m length) and that'll be the floor finished (with the exception of decking oil).

I still have to dig the post holes - which should be easy / fun with my brand-spanking-new post hole spade! Then we should be in a position to set the elevation kit in position this weekend.

My Client (Shirl the Girl) is now starting to issue Variations to the original Scope. Those of us in the Construction industry know that this is the Clients opportunity to be a pain in the arse. Normally the Contractor (me) will have a decent Schedule of Rates in to price these variations (but no advantage for me here seeing as I am also the project Sponsor) and also will try to gain an Extension of Time (again no advantage for me seeing as I also have an interest in getting the thing finished in time for Lian's birthday).

So it's not getting any easier. As long as I can keep doing a bit when I can, then we should be right.

Now, where did I put my Power Tools?

22 or 4 Weeks to go...

Depending on which event is being focused on; it's either 22 weeks to go until City to Surf (entries open on 5th June so I intend to get mine in straight away in order to increase my chances of starting in Group B and therefore having less chance of being held up by 3 wheeled prams and blokes dressed as Santa / Dinosaurs etc), or it's 4 weeks to go until Lian's birthday and the deadline for the Cubby House to be completed.

Both projects are on programme.

Now that we've finally figured out what all the pieces of wood are for, and we've identified a few additional pieces to increase strength / improve aesthetics - progress is going very well. All wall and veranda frames are complete with gable sections fitted, the elevation kit is assembled, the floor frame is assembled and 40% of floor boards are installed.

This week I intend to dig the post holes (I've procured a fancy new post hole spade) and complete the floor boards (need to buy some more screws) so that we can get the elevation kit with stirrups attached, cast into anchoring concrete this weekend.

As for the training, well the above provided good strength / stretching cross-training over the weekend and I was back into a run this morning. 4km in 20 minutes, with warm-up / cool-down and some stretching.

Should be on for squash on Wednesday, so a busy week ahead.

All's well on Planet Parkes!

4km of Distraction...

Still on programme... another 4+ km this morning, all running - in about 25 minutes and I experienced another advantage that I'm getting from the running...

It took my mind off this bloody cubby house project! It's proving to be a bit of a nightmare getting going. The instructions and materials don't appear to make the structure particularly strong. A few added corner braces for the walls will sort that bit out but it's the elevation kit (we're building it raised 500mm off the floor) that's proving to be much more difficult!

There are no instructions at all for this part and the suggestion we have from various emails is that it just sits on the ground. Well, I'm sorry but that's just not good enough!

We're contemplating fixing galvanised steel stirrups to the bottom of the posts and concreting the stirrup rod into the ground. The posts are treated for insect and water resistance but this way we'll be able to keep the post completely out of the ground and away from standing moisture whilst still anchoring the thing!

So that's the posts, but then there's the bearers. All we've been sent are bolts for front to back bearers to go across the top of the posts. Nothing to fix the bearers across the structure! So I think a visit to the Ye Olde Hardware Shoppe to purchase the stirrups, some more bolts, some joist hangers and galvanised nails. Oooh, and a spade bit for my drill to put the bolt holes through the wood. Don't you just love power tools!!!?

That should just about sort us out. Nothing, including Tropical Cyclone Ingrid's brothers and sisters,will shift this bloody thing when it's done! I hope we never have to move house!

I think I may have pushed a bit too hard on the run because I experienced a side-stitch half way round this morning. No lasting damage, so after a weekend of cubby house building, I'll be back on the training programme next week.

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Hold the Ritalin…

So far through life, I've never really had any serious illnesses. I've never had any broken bones (my nose has been this shape as long as I can remember). Apart from being converted from a Cavalier into a Roundhead, I've never had to stay in hospital; I've still got my appendix, my tonsils and my wisdom teeth. I've only had a few patch-up jobs done as a result of minor motorbike incidents. I don't even show any scars from when my big brother poured a fresh pot of tea over me when I was about 5 years old.

So imagine my excitement when I showed some signs of an illness to call my own!

ADD (or ADHD): Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder. Heh, it even has a catchy acronym!

The symptoms appeared when the Cubby House arrived. You all know how my attention has recently been intently focused on my training. How much research have I done on training programs, 5km routes and new shoes to buy? For Cliff's sake, I've even set up a Blog!

So when the Cubby House arrived, my attention apparently switched completely. I've made a list of all the pieces that have arrived, I've organised that list into the major components: floor, walls, roof, veranda; I've researched the best cordless drill/driver to buy; when I got home from work last night, I changed into my handyman clothes (an old tee-shirt and a pair of shorts) and got stuck in and already have constructed the back wall frame. There have been questions fired back to the supplier, discussions over the email with my dad. A complete shift of attention.

So that was it! I had visions of being hooked up to machines to monitor my brain and heart, samples being taken of blood and urine, drug trials being performed to identify the one that best suits my condition, articles in Lancet discussing my unusual variant of the illness.

How exciting!

However, at 6.45am this morning, the alarm goes off, I ease out of bed, splash water on my face, brush my teeth, pull on the running gear, strap on the MD player (still loaded with Oasis) and head on out of the door, up the hill and put in a good 4.5km in 25 minutes (I should really review my current route because the last 1km is slightly uphill and it's proving to be a bugger to finish the whole 5km).

So, situation normal! There'll be no machines, no tests, no drug trials and no articles in medical journals! Apparently I can perform more than one task at a time.

Heh, perhaps I should see the doctor and get them to investigate my indestructibility. Perhaps I am: Universal Soldier.

So, as I said... Hold the Ritalin!

Last Night's Cross-Training...

I was supposed to be having a rest after yesterday morning's run. Wednesday is usually squash day but as Simon's away, I thought I'd drag Shirl and Lian out for a 'power-walk' tonight. But the arrival of the Cubby House changed that last night.

When I say 'Cubby House', I should more accurately describe it as 'Pile of Wood'. And it came on a pallet in the back of a truck, hence the cross-training involved man-handling 280kg of wood and metal sheets off the truck, round the back of the house.

I was encouraged to see a CD which I assumed would contain detailed instructions, perhaps even a video of how it's put together. However, there's no parts list, so I have no idea whether everything we ordered is there, and the instructions are fairly sketchy too. I'll try and decipher them today and see if I can identify all the bits and pieces. But there's surely to be some questions asked.

I just hope that everything is pre-cut - there's certainly no pre-drilling. There's a big bag of screws so there's definitley an excuse to buy a cordless drill/screw-driver! So it's not all bad.

Anyway, expect to see some frustrated comments posted here. Hope it doesn't interfere too much with the running!

Wish me luck!

PS I wonder if I can figure out how to post photos here...

Almost derailed, again...

Another 4am wake up by Lian! But this time I really struggled to get back to sleep!

She didn't make too much noise this morning but somehow I became aware of her in our room. I swapped places with her, putting her in our bed next to Shirley while I grabbed my running gear (which I'm in the habit of having ready each night) and headed into Lian's room to try to get back to sleep.

So when the alarm went off at 6.45am, I really struggled to get up. But I did, grabbed the MD player (loaded with Oasis today) and headed out up the hill.

I put a good 4.5km in this morning, but still took about 25 minutes. There was a short walk in there too. So still some way to go until I get into the next phase.

I stopped by the local running track on the way home from work last night. I just wanted to confirm where it was and whether it was open to the public (it is). Hopefully I'll get one day a week of laps in soon (run a lap hard then walk a lap to recover, repeat for about 20 minutes).

In other news... The cubby house has arrived - at least it's in Sydney. It sould be delivered to our place today. Apparently it weighs 280kg in a 2.1 x 0.9 x 0.6m crate. So it sounds like it comes with no pre-assembly! Hopefully I can find the instructions tonight and check out what's got to be done. I'm also hoping the delivery can be made down the driveway otherwise there'll be a job on tonight to uncrate it and shift it all round the back of the house.

Any volunteers to give us a hand with that, or any advise on the training? Rewards will be provided in liquid form (redeemable only in NSW).

Wish me luck!

Thank God it's Monday...

Another busy weekend - but thankfully a good night's sleep and up for a run at 6.45am. About 4km in 20-25 minutes. Accompanied by the rest of the Stone Roses album.

I started looking at the next phase of my training routine earlier and it talks about having a day for 'cross-training'. It suggests swimming, cycling etc. Well I reckon my cross-training will be made up of mowing the lawns, cleaning the pool, shopping, running around after an almost 2-year old - because I am knackered and glad to be back at work for a rest.

I saw that entries for the Sydney Half-Marathon open today for the 22nd May event. I did contemplate entering for as long as it took to click the link and the web page opening. I really don't think this would help toward the grand-plan. Too much too soon. But maybe next year. As long as the City to Surf goes well and I can continue the training - the half marathon should be the next step.

I've contemplated the introduction of a small reward when I enter into the next phase of the training. A new pair of running shoes! This will be hopefully in a couple of weeks time. I need to be able to run the full 5km without walking. I figure that by then I'll have shown enough commitment to the task to ensure that a new pair of shoes won't go to waste. So wish me luck.

No squash this week. Simon's in Fiji. So I might try and drag Shirl the Girl out for a power-walk on Wednesday evening. Lian will offer me some resistance - I don't mean she'll try to dissuade us, rather that I'll have to push her 15kg plus the weight of the pram around.

No word on the cubby house yet. We'll have to give them a call to find out when it'll be available. We must get it ready by Lian's birthday (9th April), and I reckon there'll be at least a couple of weekends work there. Unfortunately I don't have any installation instructions yet so there's not much more preparation work I can do.

Righty-oh, time for a cuppa then a bit of work before lunch...

Thanks to Reni and Mani...

Anyone get that one? You'd have to have read yesterday's post and have some knowledge of my music taste / early 90's UK music!

This morning's run was accompanied by Stone Roses - The Stone Roses, or at least the first 6 tracks (mine's the UK re-release version so the 6th track isn't Elizabeth My Dear at 0:59 - it has Elephant Stone as the extra track). So that'll be 25+ minutes - with no walking, although still a slow jog! Quite an achievement I think...

Especially as the session was almost de-railed at about 4am - when we heard Lian crying. I jumped out of bed and found her stood at the bottom of her bed, clutching her 'blue-bag'. Perhaps just a bad dream (although I'm not convinced of this since I was under the impression that bad dreams are based on bad experiences and joking apart, I don't think she's had any 'bad experiences').

Anyway, we put her in our bed with Shirley and I went to sleep in her room, so despite that little interruption I still felt fresh enough at 6:45am.

So that's all good! Not only am I getting the exercise, I'm also getting the chance to revisit my music collection!

Watch this space!!

No sign of the cubby house yet, although it was put on a truck in Perth last Friday. Still plenty of jobs to do this weekend though.

164 days to go...

I think this'll be the default title in future if I can't think of anything original!

I don't know if it's too early days but I swear I experienced the benefit of my training in our game of Squash last night. Whereas I normally have a period where my legs don't seem to want to move and my lungs can't get in enough air - last night was a good hard session with plenty of bounce in the legs and the ball!

My squash partner is off to Fiji next week so that'll be another week off! Better make sure I put a full week of training in.

Having commented above regarding the positive benefits of the training, when my alarm went off this morning I really didn't feel like going for a run. I was so tired, I could hardly open my eyes. If I could have hit one button on the alarm to reset it in time to get up for work I would have and missed the morning run. But as it was, I'm pleased to report, I swung my legs out of bed and got through the routine to get me up and out the door on auto-pilot.

But by the time I'd done my warm-up walk to the top of the hill - I was glad I made the effort. It felt good to get into it and my jog : walk ratio was definitely in favour of the jog. I did about 30 mins, so slowly and surely I'm still on track.

I think I may bring the mini-disk player back into use and hopefully the music will take my mind off my breathing and rhythm - just let it happen naturally.

On the home front: Shirl found a dead mouse in the pool yesterday. Completly freaked her out. She called me at work and got me to come home at lunchtime to get rid of it. I wouldn't be surprised if she (and Lian) doesn't use the pool again!

I saw a child bike seat on the www earlier which fixes in front of the rider, so the child sits between the rider's arms. I'll have to check it out for knee clearance, but that could be another exercise idea.

Keep it up!

How times have changed...

My recollection of dentists in Sutton in Ashfield between the mid '70s and mid '80s were two middle aged blokes with huge fingers and an aloof attitude. Dr Hunter-Spokes (the bloke who used to extract my poor teeth) had a picture of Raquel Welsh in a bikini on the ceiling above the chair and Dr Richardson (the bloke who identified which teeth needed extracting) drove a big green Jaguar and lived in what I presumed was the most expensive house in town. The receptionists were old biddies who slid open a window to check your name, sent you through to the waiting room and slid the window back again - no doubt to stick pins in little boy and girl voodoo dolls. A voice came over the tannoy to announce the next victim. Always too much time to wait and think about how many teeth were to be removed.

Cut to Sydney, 2005. I walk in and am greeted by a couple of Aussie chicks - big boobs, long legs. A good start. I fill out a form and take the opportunity to identify that I haven't had my teeth looked at for 20-odd years and that I suffer from 'Dental Anxiety'. Almost straight away, I'm introduced to 'Zarni', a late twenties Asian babe (Indonesian-Chinese), with a beautiful smile (obviously) and a flirty way of joking about what a challenge I was to present. How do you spell, 'grrrrrrr'?

So after an x-ray, a few tut-tuts, a good clean, a good flossing and a thorough examination - she concluded that; I need another big x-ray to look at my wisdom teeth (which may have to come out - aaaaarrrrggggghhhhh) and another visit in a couple of weeks to have two big fillings (redone) and two small fillings. But basically, considering the lack of professional attention, and apart from lots of old fillings which need to be monitored & possibly renewed when appropriate, my teeth are OK. A bit uneven and definitely a good method of forensic identification!

I'm now considering making up for the 40-odd visits I've missed and going once a week for a clean and floss! Shirley met me after the consultation and eyeballed my dentist. As we walked out, she said that she thought I should change and go to the dentist she visits, using some excuse that I could claim more on medical insurance from him. I later realised that Shirley is not happy for me to spend any more time in the company of Zarni. Ha!

So that's over with. All my anxieties have gone and logic has returned to rule my life.

No run this morning. Squash tonight. Must give Simon a call.

Until tomorrow...

An impatient patient...

Well, another 25 minute jog/walk this morning - and whilst the slow pace is very frustrating, I realise that this is the punishment I have to endure for all those years spent in the boozers of Hong Kong and Singapore rather than out cycling / swimming / running.

It's a small price to pay. I feel good after the exercise, I'm looking forward to the challenge of the City-to-Surf and I'm hoping that there'll be some improvement on the squash court too (I wonder if Simon Perry, my squash partner is reading. He may implement some kind of handicap system from now on!)

Never-the-less, I do hope I experience some gradual improvements otherwise I fear that I may quietly slip out of the routine.

The reference to 'patient' in the title is regarding an event that hasn't happened in approximately 22 years. Tonight I'm visiting the dentist!

Now most of you will know me as a very rational, logical sort of bloke, so you may be surprised to learn that I have some very irrational fears regarding dentists. And the longer I've put it off, the worse those fears are.

Basically I have a fear that as soon as the dentist starts to clean the plaque off my teeth - my teeth will fall out. There is, I believe, some logic there... after 22 years, the amount of plaque present must be providing some foundation for my teeth, so take away the foundation and...

Also, I have it in my memory that every time I went to the dentist as a kid I had at least one tooth out, so based on 22 years, 2 visits a year - that's 44 teeth that have got to come out!

So, as there's no training session tomorrow morning (hopefully squash tomorrow night though) there may be an entry here tomorrow purely related to the results of what the dentist finds!!!

Wish me luck!