It's been a long time since my last blog - many metres posted and not much time in which to carry on my rambles and rants!
I have foolishly put my name in seven slots for the 24 x 7 Carole MacNally week of rowing. Four 6am slots, two 5am slots and a very late 9pm hour which will no doubt finish me off completely! All being well I hope to bash out a minimum 15k each session putting in a total of over 100k. Let's hope I don't disgrace myself completely and falter in any way. What a great idea and good luck to each and every participant.
Changing the subject completely - does anyone else suffer with the post-Christmas syndrome of gyms packed with lycra clad bodies chatting whilst leaning on the equipment or making calls on their mobile phone telling everyone how fit they are becoming since they joined the gym! It does my head in! The manager at my local gym loves it! Membership fees coming in and new members not cancelling subscriptions because they feel that they will "lose" their new found fitness if they cancel the membership - not that they are getting fit because they do nothing! Roll on the quieter times when I can have a selfish hours training without a queue or distraction.............or am I a "grumpy old man!
Referring back to a previous post on my blog - my daughter passed her driving test on her first attempt a few days ago and is now enjoying her new found freedom. Well done to her - soon it will be payback time as I need a lift home after a few drinks. I'm sure that the initial novelty will wear off and it will become a chore - welocome to the real world!

Gosh it's cold out there. Yesterday we were blessed with temperatures down to minus 6 Celcius (easier to write than Centigrade!) and our much awaited dump of snow has fizzled into a light dusting which makes the countryside look very pretty but makes the roads hell to drive on. All very well dear reader, what has this to do with erging? Simple, my beloved wife has issued an ultimatum - the trusty C2 has to leave the bedroom as it (after all this time!) is now an eyesore. How come it is now an eyesore? If anyone can help me with the female logic process I would be very grateful. Any insight into the workings of the female brain would be appreciated.
I momentarily toyed with the (daring) "well if you used it once in a while........" then decided discretion was the better part of valour and I decided to divert my energies into a stay of execution whilst it is quite so cold out there. I do not fancy rowing in the garage with only an iPod for company. At least in the bedroom I've got a TV to while away time; I could suggest an investment in a 42" plasma screen with full surround sound for the garage but that will no doubt be another waste of time too!
If I lose the battle (or maybe I should say WHEN I lose the battle) I too will join the queue for that welder. Have sympathy on me.

I guess it must be abstinance from alcohol which has left me with a severe dose of "the blues" because in February I've found it REALLY hard to motivate myself to exercise and I've been eating the most horrible cr&p which is really unlike me.
However, the metres have plugged away and I had a go at (what I mistakenly thought to be) the C2C Feb challenge. Easy - "it's only 250 metres" AND I get to rest in between. How wrong was I? A slow and steady warm up with a few fast bursts and away I went. Now I've never been a "fast boy" and sub 7 minute 2k's are now a mere memory (I have actually been there before now!) so I stuck in at that pace to start with - well it was "only" 250 metres after all. After number two the rest period seemed to be all too short and left me gasping for air. Who set this challenge and when could I get my hands around their neck? I finished up with a total time of 8:40:1 (1:44:1/500m) and spent a while recovering sufficiently to slowly cool down and think about my motivation going forward.
In future I will not pre-judge a challenge before trying it for real that's for sure. I have landed in Free Spirits V which is in need of more crew - so anyone else out there who hasn't given it a go.........