A brief catch-up

Hello again! It's been ages since I've blogged and stuff's happened. Most importantly,  congratulations to Mike and Pete, Mrs HF's brothers, who completed the Tour d'Etape (from Modane/ValFrejus to Alp d'Huez). A brilliant effort over an incredibly tough course under the blazing sun.

Since we've been back, I've been ticking over nicely, doing some before-breakfast runs, and some interval and hill sessions. Annoyingly though I've just kn*ck***d my right calf again (always a weak point), so I'm going to have to ease off for a bit. To try and get it sorted, I've booked myself in to Body Rehab, a sports clinic of high renown which is just down the road. One of their 'supported athletes' is Rob Jebb - fell-runner and cycling God - so they must be pretty good!

Because the calf's effectively kiboshed my running, I'm going to have to turn to the bike a bit more. Mind you, I went out on it on Saturday morning for the first time in ages and, rather embarrasingly (though also, it must be said, very comically), fell off.  I was trying to climb much too steep a lane when I ground to a halt and couldn't get my foot out of the pedal in time. I was abruptly deposited with my elbow in a brambly stone wall and my left calf and hip scraping the road. Ouch! I bear the scars of classic road rash with the added pleasure of picking bramble prickles out of my elbow.  I'll choose a different route next time.

Some great news to finish:

The man is Roger. Earlier this year his wonderful Mountain Rescue Search Dog, Beinn, died unexpectedly.  This little chap is Ted, his new dog.It hardly seems possible that this cute bundle could well be, in 2-3 years, charging up and down the fells finding people and saving lives.
But for now, it's hard to say who looks happier.