Near Death By 'Forced Air'

It's been totally manic since Mini Doggo joined the household and L's been taking dog number one on early morning walks, hence many pre-6am alarm calls. So there's no time for us cyclists/runners to get properly warmed up. This morning she's up early for her Cardio Tennis session whilst I take Doggo out for a run, then home for a bit of a play with the little one.

We've both out of the house by 7am and consequently the kids oversleep. They don't get to the paper shop for their rounds until 9am. Although they can’t really penalise Daughter because without her doing multiple rounds their delivery service would collapse.

I only just catch the R4, as it was three minutes early, naturally. Again, it was the driver who likes a long fag break in Sandiacre. I reckon he tries to get as far ahead of himself as possible, so he can enjoy a leisurely smoke.

Then I get my second run of the day, as I run the rest of the way to work and all before 8.30am. Very pleasant it was too, plugged into my Ipod. I just need to devise some way of stopping the headphones slipping out of my ears when they get sweaty.

It's in the news that eating watermelon has a similar effect on the body as Viagra. That is according to Texas Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Centre, catchy name eh? They of course do not have a vested interest in putting about such rumours. Don't know how much you'd need to eat because the vast majority of a watermelon is made up of water.

I risk a dark lager from Amber Ales in the pub at lunchtime. It isn't very dark and certainly doesn't taste like a lager but is still very good.

We play squash in the evening but during the third game, with the match at 1-1, my opponent claims it's just too hot on court to continue, so after I wrap up that game, we cut the match short and adjourn to the pub. Hmmm, just worried about being beaten, me thinks. Personally, I didn't think it was too bad. It was hot but not unbearable. Naturally, the leisure centre is unsympathetic.

The courts are only half the story, the changing rooms are worse. They are unbearably hot even in winter. You can easily get a sweat on simply getting changed. The centre says this is due to the 'forced air' system, whatever that is. Seems more like a method of torture to me and must be great for incubating germs.

We decide to go outdoors next week, and play Tennis. Now that's going to be interesting, it's a long time since I picked up a tennis racquet and I think that was a wooden one!