Walk on by!

I fell asleep early last night. Rosemary and I had gone out with the triathlon club on Sunday for a long ride, and ohhhh boy...it was long. Living in the stix means that it's 22km just to the start. Added to that, I've done no more than commuting miles all year so circa 6-hours in the saddle, including some brutish hills, battered me. I was meant to go swimming last night but that would have been stupid. I slept instead.

A roofer was coming to give me a quote this morning so I got a long sleep in. Goodness, I needed it. The roofer came at 11:45am and it took him literally 1 minute to see what needed done!
It was then on with my new(ish) trainers, a pair of Inov-8' Trailroc 255's. I've worn them to the shops but this would be my first hill run with them.

What a revelation. They've got a really wide toe box to let your feet work as they were designed to....and that's not squashed up. They also put your feet in a very neutral position, with minimal drop (height difference between heel and toe). Certainly not a shoe for someone that's used to wearing high heels! The planned route was simple. Up to the top of Monks Road, mainly on the road, then down the bridle way and back home. I smashed the 3.5km climb, helped by the STL Resident Advisor podcast on my iPod.....Jeff Mills-esque techno Awesomeness!

The off-road descent was great fun, with my trainers gripping like tractor tyres on the muddy trail. My feet were fast, skipping through the protruding rocks for a change. Back on the road, I saw a couple of runners around 200m ahead and I upped the pace, catching them before I reached the last bit of bridleway. Even the last hill felt easy.

A quick shower, coffee and I was off again, this time to meet Geoff at Youth Charter in Salford. How a big black dude ex-world champion at karate and a baldy white guy fi Stoneybank can have such shared mind-sets, I don't know! We talked strategy in which we could help deliver a youth offer to the kids of Manchester, especially disaffected ones. It's heart wrenching to comprehend the effects of the cuts on youth services. Kids who already think society has f**k all to offer them get even less. The resultant cost to society in benefits, crime, prison services etc is huge.....the kids are poorly equipped to become workers and get branded as shirkers. However, they and their parents tend not to be voters and they are fair game for Daily Mail readers. Geoff is hugely committed to the cause though. If I can help him help even a few kids, then the effort will be worth it.

I saw another side to Him though. He's got an intern from Nigeria working in the office who helped himself to Geoff's ginger nut biscuits! They don't have such biscuits over there but that was not an excuse to steal them! I changed the subject to Steve Biko and black consciousness. Geoff was surprised that I had this man as a hero. However, in my mid-teens I was a massive hip hop fan. This was at a time when it wasn't so much about the 'bitches and money'. Groups like Boogie Down Productions and Public Enemy didn't pander to the demands of major record corporations and I learnt about black politics as a result. My mates may have taken the piss about my ginger Afro, shell suit and the CD I wore round my neck but I think it was worth it.

I just missed the tram and decided to run to Moss Side for my swim. I just followed my nose, not really knowing what direction I was going in but got there in the end. Hmmm....the session was a challenge as the coaches' black marker was running out and no one could read the board! I nearly got stroppy and did mutter a little under my breath. But hey.....there are more important things in life.

After swimming, I ran back to Piccadilly and started writing this Blip on the train. Wow.....today I have ran nearly a half-marathon, washed two bikes thoroughly, disassembled a rear brake and put it together again, tried to change the world a little bit and swum 3.5km. I love days off!