The Silver Surfer is in the dog house!

Doc Chalmers:

I’m now officially worse than Osama Bin Laden in the eyes of my family. We have a Chocolate Labrador who eats sleeps and exercises only when the cattle prod comes out as well as goldfish, a tortoise and rabbits. We nearly added a family of mallard ducks to the list.

Doing some grouting my youngest shrieks that we have 8 baby ducks that have been abandoned and I must immediately do something to help (I thought about a roasting tin!) I told her they were not abandoned but likely to be left while the parents went feeding. Not to be fobbed off she kept a close eye on them and then forced me to do something as they waddled off towards the main road. Cue the farcical chase of 8 baby ducks, and, boy, can they shift!!

Having finally caught all 8 they needed to be loved, cared for, fed, watered etc! They couldn’t be left out as it was cold so had to come into the house. I was getting more “narked” by now as they were being treated better than me!

Additionally my helpful teenage daughter used them as an excuse to avoid revision claiming they needed round the clock 1 to 1 care! I spent early Sunday running hoping to arrive back to find the parents had returned and claimed their children - no such luck and my attitude hardened. I struggled to get them re homed but managed it although they did have to spend another 24 hours being pampered by the family. My vigorous waving and cheering as they left in the RSPCA van on Monday was not appreciated!

We need to encourage J Ross and his worries. I felt exactly the same on my first marathon, my first triathlon and my first ironman event: worries about training volumes, fluid, nutrition, psychology, blisters etc are normal. I’ve seen many training schedules and they are all different.

I’m so bored of the long steady runs currently than I tried to blag my way into a short triathlon. Lincoln was 'pulled' due to 'floater' in the pool so I’m off to Woodhall Spa this w/e. I may hold back on the cycle as a spirited ride and crash into the bushes is not plan A at the moment! He is not alone; I just hope, for me, all of the x training pays dividends on the day.

I’ve also gone with my local running club on some short sharp routes at 7 min/mile pace and as a consequence I feel inadequately compared with all those piling in the miles but know my knees wouldn’t stand a battering on roads day in and out. Remember DNF is not an option as pain is only transient, quitting is permanent!

Best wishes to you all