Full time Dad...

Fiona's been away for a few days. In Spain with her sisters. Which has left me here to hold the fort with my best mates, my girls Erin and Alice.

It's been great.

Suddenly, it seems, my little girls have turned into walking, talking adults (or mini adults at least) and I'm reminded of how precious my time with them is. As someone once said "you don't own them, you just rent them"... meaning, of course, that in no time at all the children you have created and loved and nurtured like nothing you ever have before or will ever again... those children grow up and leave you and it's time - in no time at all - for them to do the same with their children.

And so the cycle continues.

It's been a commitment of mine to myself to maximise the time I'm able to spend with my children. I've restructured the way I work and have been fortunate enough that my business has allowed me to build offices in my garden. That way I can enjoy their company in the mornings over breakfast and be here when they're back home from school. I can help with their homework and take them to swimming and... well, just do all the dad things that so many miss out on.

Naturally, the office at home means I can train a little too. Not that I've been doing much of that recently. I'm still in 'end of season' mode and doing what I please, when I please. The blog for instance - didn't fancy it yesterday. So I'm doing it Tuesday. Big deal. It's the off season.

Monday - 5km recovery run
Tuesday - 10km run
Wednesday - rest day
Thursday - 70 mins bike, 60 mins Team MK swim session
Friday - rest day
Saturday - 8 mile off road run
Sunday - no training but setting up my new mountain bike

Highlights this week have been getting my mountain bike sorted out. I bought a heavy duty Kona Hoss from a Team MK mate who was getting rid of it. It's pretty much ready to go now and I'm looking forward to getting out in Brickhill Woods with the Team MK guys over the winter. Erin and Alice came with me to the Team MK swim session on Thursday nights. Erin is in the lane next to me with some of my training mates who were very complimentary about her abilities. Thursday saw us doing 90 lengths as pyramid sprints...

Last week's film quote was from JAWS and was spoken by MATT HOOPER (Richard Dreyfus) on board the ORCA.

Any ideas here?

"OK, so we got a trooper pulls someone over, we got a shooting, these folks drive by, there's a high-speed pursuit, ends here and then this execution-type deal."

Come on folk... you can do it... think... who said it... what film?

Moscow... I'm Russian... :-)