Highly Visible

Juliet (my wife) and Hannah (my daughter, age 11) returned from Bluewater yesterday with, amongst other things, this rather swanky set of scales. I salute their bravery in visiting the quarry at this time of year. It's not for the faint hearted - that's why I stayed at home.

So, it was time for my post-Christmas weigh-in, and I was somewhat alarmed (although shouldn't have been really after the truck load of chocolate themed items I've consumed over the festive season) to discover that I had put back on 4 of the 14 pounds I had so painstakingly shed since first conceiving Project Five O back at the beginning of October. Consequently, still some way off my optimum running weight of 11 and a half stone I decided it was necessary to go for my second run in two days.

Now there are some people who think I need to put on weight rather than lose it. Hi Mum! However, the difference being 11 and a half stone makes to the stress on my knees will be crucial if I am to have any chance of reaching my goals for the year. It is reckoned that every stride puts pressure equivalent to three times one's body weight on the knees, and as I will recount at some point over the coming weeks, my knees have let me down in the past.

The fact that dusk had long since passed by the time I made my decision to hit the streets also gave me the ideal opportunity to model my new hi viz running gear - a Christmas present from Juliet.

As the photo shows, the kit makes me look like a cross between a banana and Eddie the Eagle but more importantly it will help keep me safe. I completed a steady but satisfying three and a third mile run around the "Elvis Circuit", so named because it passes a bungalow in Smallford with a life-size cardboard cutout of the King resident in the porch. Whenever Juliet or I run past St Alban's very own Gracelands it has become customary to offer a smart salute to Elvis - one of those silly foibles that most people develop over time (I think!), but it always makes me smile, especially when it elicits a look of puzzlement from a passing motorist.

That's all I have time for today as I have promised to finish painting Hannah's bedroom before she goes back to school tomorrow, and we need to set off for the Valley by 3:00 pm for Charlton Athletic's game against Swindon at the Valley at the Sky determined time of 5:05 pm.

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Come on you Addicks!