When I was growing up, there were three days which our family would fight tooth and nail to get home for: Christmas Day, Easter Sunday, and Grand National Day. Never has there been a more family-binding (well, our family!) sporting event than that which takes place in Liverpool in April. For the uninitiated, the Grand National is a race for forty horses, run over four and a half miles, over the most famous fences ever seen; Valentines Brook, Canal Turn, Foinavon, Becher's Brook, and The (mighty) Chair (I had the privilege of seeing those fences up close and personal, and they are incredible). The stories that have come from this race truly are the stuff of legend. I urge you to look at footage of races such as 'Crisp' (1973), 'Foinavon' (1967) and the fairytale story of Bob Champion beating cancer, and then with Aldaniti, beating the other 39 horses in 1981 (they made film out of it, and the music will always bring a lump to my throat). They are just a handful of tales, and could each be a sporting moment in their own right........
Friday, 28 October 2011
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Weigh in (19)
I cannot quite believe that this thing has been kicking on for 19 weeks now; blimey!
Sorry about the later-than-usual posting, but you were warned! I am afraid I really wasn't hugely surprised when I popped on the scales; the negatives far outweighed (literally) the positives this week. On the credit side of the weight-loss balance sheet were a couple of hours of social badminton last Friday, and the usual no-excessive-booze, no-fast-food pledge; the debit side was quite a bit too much bread (it's amazing what you can make into a sandwich when you really put your mind to it!), no additional exercise (zero badminton matches), and I went a bit fast and loose on the business trip to London......
Sorry about the later-than-usual posting, but you were warned! I am afraid I really wasn't hugely surprised when I popped on the scales; the negatives far outweighed (literally) the positives this week. On the credit side of the weight-loss balance sheet were a couple of hours of social badminton last Friday, and the usual no-excessive-booze, no-fast-food pledge; the debit side was quite a bit too much bread (it's amazing what you can make into a sandwich when you really put your mind to it!), no additional exercise (zero badminton matches), and I went a bit fast and loose on the business trip to London......
Monday, 24 October 2011
ALERT ALERT ALERT!!!
Might have a bit of a problem this week, upsetting the weigh-in Status Quo (that Rick Parfitt has a lot to answer for). Work is taking me down to London tomorrow night for a 9am meeting the morning after. the options therefore are.....
a. weigh in tonight
b. weigh in on foreign scales down in London
c. wait until I get home on Wednesday and do the do then
rationalising.......
a. weigh in tonight
b. weigh in on foreign scales down in London
c. wait until I get home on Wednesday and do the do then
rationalising.......