Back in the Saddle Again ...

Oh yes, indeedy. Now that we're back in grey, cold, rainy Scotland, having missed the only day of good weather in months by being in grey and rainy Madrid, it's back to triathlon training for me. I managed 45 minutes on the gym bike today, set on cross country. I then did arm weights for a while before calling it a day.

I have to say, the only thing that's hard about the gym bike is just how uncomfortable it is on the nethers. It really, really chafes - much more so than an outdoor bike.

That aside, I was a little concerned with how little effort it was to do the 45 minute programme. Actually, it was a 30 minute programme followed by another 15 minutes, as the stupid machine won't do more than 30 minutes at a time. I wonder why. Perhaps normal people die trying to do more than 30 minutes and it is as I've always suspected. I am a superhero. Or perhaps the bike machines are cheap and crap. Hmm. Tough call.

Anyway, I have a feeling I wasn't working out nearly hard enough. The toughest it got was about 4 minutes on level 17, and while I wouldn't exactly say it was easy, it certainly fell well within my comfort zone. Dang it. I'm really going to have to start biking outside more - and it's sooooo cooooold.

After the gym, Fisher and I were starving so we went to a new deli in Pitscottie called Harvey McGuires. They'd stopped serving food in the café, but were still making filled rolls - so we grabbed a couple. That was, ostensibly, all we were there to do, but the sight of all the deli goodies proved our downfall, and a swift £20 exchanged hands before we departed. £20!! That's as much as we spend on a week's shop in Tesco!

In la la land, where the pigs are blue and I have a waist the size of Helena thingmebob the model.

Other than that, all I've done today is receive an invitation from Brave Bird to have dinner at their house on Saturday night, organise Arrow's Whisky Tour for the weekend after, and play rather a lot of Timesplitter 2. I defeated Atom Smasher at last!! God, I hated that level. But now Fisher wants me to play the new Tomb Raider, and I have to put up with her sighs every time Lara does a handstand. It started to piss me off so I threw her off a cliff.

Lara, not Fisher.

Bridie is also being very annoying at the moment. I think she's too hot. Every time she comes inside she starts panting and asking for 'out' again. Then, when she's out, she remember the weather is horrid and begs for 'in'. It's driving me mad. Also driving me mad is Baffie. We bought them both rawhide chews as treats, and Bridie chowed down on hers at once. Baffie, on the other hand, dropped hers and just sat staring at Bridie, whining. Only when I took Bridie's away and gave it to Baffie in exchange for her own, untouched chew, did Baffie shut up and start munching. Bridie couldn't have cared less which one she had. She knows she'll end up with both, buried somewhere disgusting, in the end. Come Christmastime she'll remember where she left them and bring them in, all slimy and maggot-ridden, to deposit at my feet with Yule-tide generosity.

Why do we buy them those things again?

So, this has been a bit of a pointless exercise - but I couldn't just write "biked in the gym for 45 minutes."

Well, I could have done, but it wouldn't have been nearly as wildly entertaining as all this guff. Now if you'll excuuuuse me, I have to go and eat a baked potato and mini pizza.