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A productive hour or two spent at work today browsing MdS

forums

and contemplating the merits of various styles of sand gaiters (and the horrific consequences of choosing wrong and ending up with sand in your shoes for 150 miles...). [Nobody at my work knows I am doing the MdS nor about any of the things I enjoy doing with my life for the fun 16 hours of the day: I took a conscious decision to have a separate sliver of my life where I can relax knowing that nobody will ask me "what's your favourite country?"]

Then off to Clapham Common for our weekly circuit training session. I felt that it's time to really ramp up these sessions so today I concocted a really long circuit [NB: it is dangerous to concoct training sessions after lunch when the world is looking rosy and positive]. Suffice to say I am now very aching. My eyelids ache too but I can't go to bed as I've got to fill in my tax return form by Thursday. I know: very keen of me to do it so early. It's a singularly depressing experience to reflect on all those whose lives revolve around processing these reams of paperwork. My depression is increased by the total amount of my annual income up on my screen now: a rather feeble compensation for a year of hard graft. But of course I don't do it for the money and the vast majority of the world deserve far more reward for their daily labours than I do.
But, apart from the agony of paperwork, the guilt of procrastination, and the ache in my shoulders, things are going well. The training's still fun, Gary Mac's come back to Leeds and I've finally found myself a partner for the Easter Devizes to Westminster canoe marathon... (more on that later.)