7, 10, 1 and a half

It's been an odd week....  after last week's non-cycling because of the broken spokes and lack of eating, I thought I'd be back to my 100-miles-a-week without any problem.  I still didn't feel right but decided that I was being a wimp, so hammered the turbo trainer for half an hour on Tuesday.  Bad idea....  Which has meant that for the rest of the week I haven't sat on any sort of bike at all, turbo or otherwise.  So, 7 weeks to go and I only managed 10 miles last week.  The good news is that I'm definitely feeling better now, I've only got a bit of a sore throat left and proper training should be able to resume soon. Which will help my nerves - this week I had a 'helpful training update' from Prudential, sponsors of RideLondon, which had professional cyclist Stephen Roche saying that 'by now you should be cycling 80-100 miles once a week, with shorter rides on 2 or 3 other days'. WHAT??  Does he not work?  Have a family?  Have cakes to make?  I thought I was doing quite well averaging 100 miles a week by now....  Gulp.

Besides, we have another distraction....  Meet Happy Running Dog!

You'll remember there was a very stressful phases of non-cycling about a month ago, which was when the Melodeon Master and I decided that we were no longer the right place for Freaky Running Dog because she was, well, freaky.  She had always been nervous, but had become increasingly distressed and agitated, probably since we lost Rubbish Running Dog last year.  We finally, and after much soul-searching, made the really tough decision to re-home her, and she's now living in Cumbria with her original foster-mother and a whole family of other dogs where, hopefully, she may find happiness.

Which left a very empty dog-bed.  We decided it would be sensible to wait a few months before bringing another dog home, just because we had lost our confidence too.  And then we met Mopsi, aka Happy Running Dog.  She is 1 year old and a complete delight - every day is The Best Day Ever!  And everything we do is So Much Fun!  And running?  OH BOY - THAT IS SO BRILLIANT!  She sort of bounces along beside me smiling.  She is absolutely adorable.

She would love to make friends with our two cats who are, not surprisingly, appalled at the idea.  So much so that one night Happy Running Dog was nuzzling Izzy too much - and being hissed at - so the Melodeon Master explained to her, very firmly, that that was too much.  He put a hand in front of her as a sort of 'stop' motion.

So she high-fived him.  Hilarious!  I was completely helpless with laughter, and the Melodeon Master wasn't much better.  We didn't even know she could do that....

She is utterly adorable, very beautiful, and a joy to have around.  Hooray!

Fitness training seems to have continued despite the lack of cycling - today we have hacked our way through 40 feet of untamed garden brambles and trees, hauled half a ton of logs out and lugged them up a flight of steps.

Who needs a gym, eh?