Why the madness? Well, I committed to a sponsorship entry for WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals), and because I don’t really want to welch on that commitment. Besides, considering the pain that so many innocent animals are put through, what’s the discomfort I’ll feel?
Obviously, sponsorship is necessary, so if you’d like to “chuck a fivver” my way I’d appreciate it and you can do this by using the link on the right or just click here: http://www.justgiving.com/aussierunner
Right, now down to what I’ve been up to this last few weeks...
Mostly just the gym and running on treadmills, cycling on stationary (exercise) bikes or swimming. Oh, and a few leg exercises to help re-build my leg.
The football season has kicked off and while I’m not intending to go to as many games as last season, I’ve still been at it. It’s been some good fun catching up with the folks I met last season as well as a couple of bods over from home.
The good part about this time of the year is that we’ve been able to take advantage of the beer gardens at the pubs in just the way they’re supposed to be used - in the sunshine! That said, there have been a few evenings after the games that have gone on well into the night, which tends to happen when the team win their first four matches of the season.Also on the social front there’s been a couple of nights out with the folks from work where we’ve ended up in a nearby Indian restaurant for the obligatory curry. While Aussies all go for ‘kebabs’ or ‘yiros’ after a session out drinking, the English go for curries. It’s not that strange if you know the reasons it began, which has more to do with the early closing of pubs and the ‘curry houses’ still being open and licenced...
There was one afternoon where we had a team bonding session, which was done by going to the London Dungeons. No Dragons, but plenty of medieval England and the like as you go through the entire complex. Not particularly scarey although you do cop a fright or few from the actors and going’s on. We then headed down to a restaurant on the banks of the Thames that overlooked both Tower Bridge and the Tower of London...
There was also a good night out at a fantastic Spanish restaurant in Fulham. Shar, Juliana and myself soaked up the atmosphere as well as some cerveza and excellent tapas. Daylight savings really is good while it lasts.
As I mentioned in an early post, Row n Mark are now officially engaged, and last weekend we celebrated this with a bbq at their place. The weather behaved itself despite the forecast of rain and made for a very pleasant day and evening.
This was the second bbq at their place in the last few weeks as Marty, Karyn and I helped Mark n Row ‘roadtest’ their new bbq after the last one went up in flames. Yet another pleasant day despite the constant visits from some European wasps...
The following day, we headed out to TopGolf to settle what had been a rather foolhardy challenge. TopGolf is a driving range, but one that contains giant holes all over it. Each hole has a central flag is is divided up into many quadrants. The simple gig is that your golf balls are “chipped” and they register when they go into these holes. Depending on which hole, and how close to the flag you get, the more points you can score. So not only can you go for the further holes, you can also practice your shorter game with the nearer holes. This made for some interest as while Marty has played much golf, Karyn (a golfing beginner) spent a fair amount of time either even on points or just a few more!
The challenge I mentioned was between Mark n Row. Simply, Mark stated that anyone can get a ball into one of the holes, which Row had vouched for her complete lack of golfing ability by stating that she wouldn’t. On the night the challenge was made, we had been enjoying quite a few wines...
When we all saw the setup for the first time, we were pretty sure Mark was going to win. The entertaining part was that from Row’s bucket of 20 balls, the first seven didn’t even make the distance of the first row of holes. Mark was getting a bit worried. Finally Row got a proper hit on a ball, yet even that one missed. Another miss-hit and after ricocheting off of the side barrier of our stall Row finally had a ball go in for 3 points (and £100 less).
A fun day out and it was even warm n sunny!!
