Abject Terror

Abject terror.

It's my birthday today. Quite the least remarkable one I've had. The best way to celebrate is to do things I love doing. I started the day early with watching the documentary about David Rudisha the 800m world record holder. He runs so beautifully and I enjoyed finding out a little about the environment that he lived and trained in. Talent best develops in challenging environments that build resilience and a sound work ethic. I've seen kids of 14 years old in the last few days riding £5000 bikes at the Nationals..... (Rudisha moved from bare-foot to 2nd hand spikes).This sends a message that says you can buy success and makes those with cheaper bikes feel disadvantaged. No one benefits as a result. It's screamingly obvious to those in the know.

Anyway, I was inspired by Rudisha for my morning run. Run tall, run relaxed I thought, relaxing my eyeballs (Christine the yoga teacher taught me that). It felt effortless even though it must have been over 90% humidity and covered 12km. After quite a challenging day, I ran again, over to Salford for an open water swim. This time my legs felt less free and easy but the day's tension was released. I was in a smiley mood, probably looking like I had just 'found Jesus'.

Admittedly, I am born again. I am a born again non-wetsuit wearer. Swimming in cool/cold open water is a revelation. It does take a bit time to get used to the feeling.....it's quite difficult to overcome the urge not to get. When you do, once the shock has dissipated, the ice-cream head has subsided and if core temperature doesn't drop unduly, it's the best feeling on earth. Saying that, it was 18C in the dock tonight so invigoration was muted.

Then abject terror descended. I only had my diddy rucksack so had attached my shorts to the bungee on the outside... They were nowhere to be seen. I searched amongst the pile of bags and still no sign. I asked the Uswim staff "no, no one has handed shorts in" they said. I was in wet trunks, minimal ones too.....how was I going to get home? I had one more look in the bags and yayyyy....they were there and blushes were spared.

It was then off to Booths, a brilliant supermarket....it's like Waitrose but just a wee bit cheaper. There's always reduced delights to be had at 7:30pm and I managed to get loads of posh bread for the freezer, nice cheese and a pile of other stuff for under £10. Bonus. I just missed a tram and was soon surrounded by BBC media types......men in checked shirts, bearded Hockston wankerstylee, pristine girls in pretty dresses, buckled shoes and bobbed hair. I think they were trying to be edgy and hip but failed miserable because of attention to detail. All their clothes seemed to be pristinely ironed.....life is just too short! Not one Manchester accent was at the BBC tram stop but there was a posh Scottish one. I suppose the people of Pendleton have benefitted through more cleaning jobs and better stuff to pinch.

I also thought about my life and what it's been like. Lucky isn't the word as I was born with the ginger gene into a slightly dysfunctional family. I've got no regrets....just stuff I would do differently. Highlights include:

Pure and too many years of hedonism in a groundbreaking club. I loved the music and the people more.
Completing my first Ironman 90 mins faster than most people believed I could.
Falling under the influence of people like Scott Balfour, Daz Smith and Heiko Salzwedal.
Opening my undergrad degree results and seeing 1st Class, and my battleaxe landlady Jacki bursting into tears saying "I'm fucking proud of you, you knob".
Hanging out with a monk in Bangkok for the day. Half his family had been killed in Burma! Learnt about humility that day.
Meeting Amy Taylor who introduced me to coffee, Buddhism and Yoga.
Swimming beside a turtle in Oz.
Crying at Edinburgh Zoo when seeing how sad one of the gorilla's was and him noticing. Sounds silly but we connected!
Meeting my girlfriend and best mate Rosemary. She ended up in hospital on our 'first date'! She's changed bits of me for the better and she's my hero too.

Things I'd still like to do:
Get a springer Spaniel.
Achieve a first in an art photography degree.
Write a book that sells well.
Learn as much in the next 5 years as I've learnt in the last.
Discover a shellfish that is suitable for a vegetarian to eat.