As I was going to St. Pauls...

... I met a man with seven balls... sorry, that was my old 'rugby song' training getting the better of me for a moment.

I miss rugby and, for my sins, have taken to following England as some small substitute for no longer having the fix of playing. I've travelled to both their recent world cup finals, experiencing great joy in Sydney and disappointment in Paris. I think, though, after Saturday, that we could be in for a long old rebuilding process under Martin Johnson. We were out-thought and out manoueuvred by an average Australian side.

This doesn't bode well for my trip to Twickers on Saturday to see England v South Africa. Fortunately, a day at Twickers has other things to keep me busy if the rugby disappoints! I will report back in next week's blog.

A quiet week this week, due to Monday's run. I went out in the morning for a long run and the heavens opened, fast becoming the worst conditions I can ever remember having run in. Faced with the choice of coming in (I had to pass the house four times on my various laps) or toughing it out, I once again told myself to 'iron up' and get on with it. In the end I was pleased with just over twenty miles in 2 hrs 37 mins, especially as I must have weighed half a stone more than usual due to my clothes' water retention.

I continued to train and did a tough hill session on Wednesday night at Tring running club, which included a 5 mile run and 14 x 300m hill sprints. Come Friday, my intention of doing a staggered pace (slow, medium, fast) 10k was shot down in flames when I - and this isn't something I do often - had to stop due to leg fatigue. Ah well... I guess it was just a little overload is all. It's going to happen once in a while.

This week looked like this:

Monday - 20 mile run, 2 hrs 37 mins
Tuesday - 1 hour fixed wheel bike session
Wednesday - 2km swim, 1 hr 15 mins run and hill sprints (as detailed above)
Thursday - 1 hour Team MK swim session
Friday - 10km run (started hard but ended easy !!)
Saturday - 1 hr 30 mins easy spin bike
Sunday - Day off

Seems I'd underestimated how many of you enjoyed the movie STAND BY ME where last week's film quote was taken from, spoken by THE NARRATOR (played, of course, by Richard Dreyfuss).

This week:

"All right, Bub, your fuckin' head is coming right off."

Apologies for the profanity but there's a reason for it. So tell me where the quote came from and why it's important.

And remember... no IMDB allowed... and no private emails with the answer. Post on the blog.

Happy birthday this week to Fiona. Sunday saw us travel up to London for a 'family day' at St Paul's Cathedral followed by Sunday lunch at Shoreditch House. Erin and Alice loved it and were only disappointed they hadn't brought their swim costumes for the rooftop pool. Today's photo shows Erin and Alice outside St Paul's. We all loved the day and were reminded that the best things in life aren't complicated. But you know how I feel about all that stuff and, right now... I must go. I have films to write and miles to run...

Hugs and kisses to you all...