Skip to main content

The tribe

Happy days - I love the weekend, particularly in the moments (sometimes it feels like it's a glimpse, other times it's hours) where everyone is in equilibrium. This week has been massively busy but also full of privilege. On Friday my role at Oxford University resulted in a day where we were shown round some of the oldest and newest libraries, both stunningly different in their architecture and history. We were also given a talk on some of the University's oldest governance records, including the earliest report of the University's inception dating from the early 1200s. What was funny was the realisation that some of the subjects being discussed in the 1930s are still up for debate today in the audit committee - life at Oxford doesn't move that fast!

This morning Glenn is out in his new enduro bike - apparently the last one (sold about 6 months ago) was 'never right' and this one is much better. I'm not sure whether he was disappointed or reassured when he asked my opinion, to which I replied "good colour" - I think they're all orange aren't they? The good news is that this change of bike is due to a change of plan and no racing this year - hooray! Glenn decided that him being away 6-8 long weekends in the year was too much for all of us and so the race bike has gone and the enduro riding, a fort nightly Sunday morning local ride is back and much more convenient. Can't say I'm at all sad about the new plan.

So what else is new - well, no silver bullet on my knee I'm afraid. After sport massage therapy (code for modern toture), gait analysis and many conversations we've concluded that it's ITBS that is causing the problems. The good news is that there is an immediate and total cure. The bad news is that this is not to run. I've 99.9% accepted this means no Barcelona marathon, although a very small part of me is harbouring hope of a final miracle. One suggestion has been to train like a triathlete and do 'brick' sessions where I do the required amount and effort of cardio work, but in a mix of a running session followed immediately by a bike session. So I tried this yesterday and did an hour of running with no knee problems (as expected, the pain kicks in after about 90 mins), then straight onto the spin bike. I managed a measly 30 mins before giving up through a mix of boredom and concern that the amount of sweat on the floor would be enough to allow me to swim at the end of this. It's certainly not for the faint hearted and I can see it would give me the fitness and stamina, if not the knee strength. I'm not sure I've enough time to rescue the situation anyway, but that 0.01% of me is clinging on for a week or so more if I'm honest.

On a final note we are beginning our plans for the new garden room which will become the official 'kids tat hosting centre' from here on. I can't wait, although I do worry I'll make all the effort to turn the playroom into a halfway decent space, only for it to immediately be turned back into a school / hospital / nursery before my eyes. At least if we've put the tat somewhere else it can't all make its way back into the house in one go... can it?!?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ypres

Walking around the lake in Ypres while waiting for the rugby to finish! A wet Monday evening after a lovely long weekend away in Ypres - just the two of us and just what I needed after what has been a relatively stressful few months of decision making. The decision is now made however and on Monday I resigned my job in order to join a new company in January. This will be the same role, but a company that hopefully offers more long term stability than my current one. It's been hard going through the initial round of telling people.Despite only being there for 7 months I've made some good friends and very quickly become established and everybody who I've told has been happy for me but very sad that I'm going - it hasn't made it easy. I do feel like I've been through the mill a bit this year - what with leaving EY, ramping up to a big new role, finding out it probably didn't have the longevity I was looking for and then going through the process of finding ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cough, cough

Izzy - can't do a photo without rude finger gestures It's fair to say that the last couple of weeks have been rough. I managed to get the cough Mum had a while back and it has been horrible! Both Dad and Glenn seemed to get a very mild version of it but Mum and I got the full dose and I can safely say that it has been a stark reminder of just how bad a viral infection can be. It also illustrates the whole Covid experience - some get it worse than others. For me it has meant that for over 2 weeks I have had the worst cough which has left me unable to sleep properly. I still can't sleep lying down fully, and have to be propped up on pillows on my back which is not my favoured sleeping position! It has also meant that Glenn has spent the last 10 days in the spare room because I have been coughing so badly he is unable to sleep in the same room. Thank goodness we didn't all have it - we'd have shaken the house to its foundations! It has also meant that I have been exhau...
Post a Comment
Read more

Welcome Albert James!

So this week has been full of new things - Jess and Chris have welcomed Albert James Wilkinson Rayner to the family, a tad early but all doing well apparently (and so cute!!), I started my new job, Abi has her new shed and Dad got sorted on a phone that wasn't invented before the kids were born!! I always knew this week was going to be full on and it certainly has been. The first thing I had to do was try and sort out my diary which had been filled from dawn to dusk by my predecessor with meetings. I decided to set out as I mean to go on and immediately took out those that started before 9am. While I can get into  the office for 8am , it's a pain and requires me to be on the 6:30am train which is just a bit much every day (stating the obvious). I then made it clear that we don't need to be joined at the hip for the next 4 weeks which is a sensitive process - even though he is retiring it's hard to let go and he is understandably keen that the team are looked after. ...
Post a Comment
Read more