Being sensible

As those that know me, it's not something that i necessarily do well. However, over the weekend I was still suffering from a stupid cold so apart from going to sort out new rings (see: loss at bank hol) and popping in on the olds i didn't actually do anything much at the weekend apart from sleep lots! Mind you the work do thursday was slightly messy and i did end up sleeping at the office. Ok,, so perhaps i'm still not that sensible then? Still penthouse suite, views to Windsor castle, 2 showers, concierge, on site chef and restaurant... sounds pretty good doesn't it?

 

More rehearsal monday night, which with a slightly sore throat was harder work, but still enjoyable. Since the contest is over it's onto a few new pieces. Then a gentle 5km run wed with wifey in prep for her charity affair this weekend (poppy run in oxford). I then followed that up with a lunchtime thursday 6km+ in 29mins.. which, looking back, considering the past 6 runs were pacing for wifey and not at my pace was pretty darned good!

 

Weekend will be sorting out various car related stuff sat, then halloween party in the evening to which I am not driving! Sunday i'll be doing the whole support team effort for wifey so she can concentrate on her first 5km ever! I'm seriously impressed...

No mountains

or much activity for that matter.

Had two 30th birthdays at the weekend, one in reading and one in london. Oddly I drove to/from both so was vaguely sober come the next morning (there's always a whiskey at home ;-)). Friends stayed round ours sat night for further natterage post party. So it was a bit of a lazy day sunday, but still managed a run and pancakes and huevos racheros and cake....



which probably looked a bit like these..

 

This plus band on monday proved to be a bit too much so have been feeling under par for the rest of the week. However, it's probably not helped by central heating pending engineer to come fix. Which means evenings have been spent stoking the wood stove. I did get out for a quick blast last thursday with wifey so her 5k training is coming along ok. She was even talking about a 10k next year..

Anyway beer and bowling with some work folk tonight. Possibly the only chance i'll get to use my summer sleeping bag for a while.

The weekend is looking fairly quiet so if i perk up and the weather plays ball i'll try to get out for something!

Oh and to continue the food theme i was munching on this the other day. As has been suggested, perhaps I need to change my blog title to 'band and cake' as i seem to talk a lot about these!

hmmm, chocolatey goodness!

Busy Banding

So this weekend was a hectic one filled with Brass, Friday was the sole evening at home which was spent chilled out and with fire lit.

 

Saturday, an early-ish start to return trophies for section 3 in Folkestone and the loiter round for the rest of the band to arrive. With all of us there and just enough time to spare we all went down to dress, prepare and relax as much as possible. Chivving people to get band cards, be in the right place at right time, fell to me, which oddly meant we were all where we needed to be. The piece was 'Music for a Festival' by Philip Sparke and it was over in a flash. It all sounded good from my perspective. However, I had to dash back to Thame for a 5pm so couldn't stick round for the results. These would have been worthwhile, as not only did we win (our first time in the 2nd section), but we picked up several other awards. Best percussion, best conductor, best soloist (horn) and best tenor horn section. All in all, a very good day.. the band trophy shelf has once again swelled!

 

What with the evening though it meant I wasn't home till gone 11pm.. A long day, with a fair bit of driving involved.

 

Sunday woke later still, went for a very gentle jog for 5km, food shop and lunch out. The afternoon was helping with setting up the stage. As it wasn't just a contest weekend, but a concert one too. It was locally at the Elgiva in Chesham after a afternoon rehearsal, with our soloist, choir backing (finale). It was all too soon that we cleared out, the 250 audience shimmyed in and we, plus choirs got on with showing our best. It was a fantastic night, the soloist, Andy Greenwood (principal trumpet, Wicked, west end) really showed his stuff and helped us to give a fantastic performance. Well worth the effort and certainly one to be repeated if at all possible.

 

I on the other hand was shattered and stumbled home for a well deserved beer and some much needed sleep.. and on to another week!

Pirate day

Last week was pretty quiet in and outside of work. But I did manage a very good run for me on Thursday, with a 6km run in 29mins. I was doing some interval stuff 2min fast, 4 slow - repeat. This made for a good outward time but my legs died for the return. It's still in the sub 30mins for this particular work run which i'm very pleased about. However, it was super hot out there ~25c so i took a good 30 mins to cool back down, even after a shower. Which is never good fun in the office!

 

Friday was going to be different as i needed to head for a small eye op to stoke mandeville. However, it left enough time for a morning run with wifey. She's in training for her first 5k at the end of this month (poppy run, Oxford) and has been working hard at it, considering it's not normally her thing. So I gave her some company and helped her to pace a bit better, plus have a feel for what it's like to have other people running beside you. She was mega appreciative, and wants to do it again (a good sign).

 

The eye op was a stupidly simple job, cyst removal, but still amazingly painful at the time. I'd say eye watering, but it was hard to tell amongst the local anaesthetic and other stuff.. I then got a patch for the rest of the day and a stinking headache. I holed up in bed as the bright sunlight wasn't helping, nor were the wearing off anaesthetics. Unfortunately i missed this by a few weeks:

 

Yaarrr!

 

The rest of the weekend was filled with some gardening work, cleaning, seeing my parents and another band rehearsal (this time in watford). The upcoming contest is Sat 8th down in Folkstone. We're up a section, having won in ours last year and want to do well. Plus we've then got a concert sunday in a theatre for 300. All in all, it'll be a busy one next weekend.