Survival of the Fittest

L seems surprised and hopefully thrilled to find me still beside her when she wakes up this morning. There is no distant dog show for me and the boys to hare off to this morning.

Instead, we rise at a reasonable time and go down to the Embankment to recce the Survival of the Fittest 10K race. For once, we're both watching, neither of us are competing. The distance actually turns out to be 12k plus there are 10 obstacles on the course. The first is in sight of the start line and is a three-metre high stack of hay bales. Other obstacles, that we didn't see, included an Army assault course and a tightrope over the lake at Holme Pierrepont. We did have a look at the competitors climbing the terraces at the City Ground before heading back to the Embankment for an archery shoot and then finally the Men's Health Wall of Fame. Which is a solid and grip-free seven foot high block which they have to go over.

The whole thing is kind of tempting, even L looks interested, although I think trying to get over that wall at the end sends shudders down her spine.

No football today because England are playing. I catch the first half and almost fall asleep. England score early in the second and it looks like they'll scrape a win. I get bored and go off and cook a nice high carb meal to get us ready for tomorrow's race. Without me keeping an eye on them, England go on to win 5-1.

We stay in and keep off the alcohol, which has more to do with the amount we drank last night rather than being good pre-race.

A Sexy Bunch?

I wake up to the sound of heavy rain. Good intentions are quickly consigned to the bin, along with MD who has his head in it, chewing the wickerwork.

So no biking. I pick up a paper and it's all the more galling to see the headline 'Survival of the fittest'.

It's another article about the fact that running on a regular basis slows the effects of ageing. People who run are half as likely to die prematurely or develop disabilities. On average, if disabilities do occur they usually appear 16 years later. 16 years! That's a massive difference, well worth running for.

There is also no evidence that runners are more likely to suffer osteoarthritis or need more knee replacements than non-runners. It doesn't however say anything about cyclists...

I love the Olympics. At work, we're positively gripped to the canoeing, yes the canoeing. This is the white water stuff around the weaves poles, which must be a lot easier without a dog. A collie-less David Florence grabs a silver in the C1.



Later, the horsies get a couple of bronzes in the three-day eventing. L describes them as a sexy bunch. That's the men, not the horses, she points out. Although not sure if she means the Brits or not. Has she got the hots for William 'Foxy' Pitt, he's the only man in our team.

None of this, though, is as gripping as the badminton, where there isn't even a medal on offer yet. Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson overturn a 17-12 deficit in the third and deciding game against the Chinese second seeds. They bounce back to win 21-19. Fantastic stuff. So un-Andy Murray. I'm sat in Sainsbury's car park listening to the conclusion of it. Bizarrely, I was the only one high-fiving the shop assistants once I got inside.



Enthused by Derby only conceding one goal on Saturday, I finally bite the bullet and get a ticket for the cup game against Lincoln tonight. To be fair, Derby are much much better and play some good football. They dominate the first half and have countless chances but in true Derby style cannot score. Straight after half time, in true Derby style, they concede a soft goal and morale collapses. The game drifts until Derby somehow scrape an equaliser eight minutes from time. This buoys them up and although they don't manage the winner in normal time, they prevail 3-1 after extra time, thanks to a hat-trick from our new hero Nathan 'Duke' Ellington.

We hope that this a turning point.