Still it was an interesting week, mainly due to some interesting changes in facial hair. The moral of the story is that if you are trying to clean your house of alcohol don't watch any George Harrison, Beatlemania and/or any 60s/70s nostalgia documentaries as you might think that one of the beards is cool and end up looking like this...
Still, in typical Deano fashion I turned a negative into a positive and seized an opportunity to increase awareness of the MDS at work and raise some extra money next year. Over the course of the week I decided to change my facial hair such that my prototypes for the Marathon Des Sables are set. The plan is that next year I will 'auction off' each facial hair style such that the one that raises the most money will be the one that I have for the race. I might regret this but if I raise more than a, to be determined, threshold I will have a Mohawk for the race too. Besides I could even follow B.A. Baracus' lead and combine the two to make a unique look for 2013:
The styles will be
1) The full beard (ironically the do nothing in all business cases)
I am sure by now people can visualise me with a beard...
2) What I am referring to as the George Harrison, above.
3) The 'Alexi Lalas' Goatee:
I will grow it longer :-)
4) The 'Morgan Spurlock' Handle Bar
5) The 'Magnum P.I.' tash
6) The 'Errol Flynn': To be done after the Paris Marathon,as West Ham lost the bet for me, or unless Becs attacks me in the night with a razor...
To keep it fun I decided not to do it hiding away in my bathroom but actual modelled each style each successive days at work. If looks were worth a thousand words I think my boss, and many others at work, slightly, approved of the goatee and Magnum P.I. looks but was shocked by the George Harrison and Handle Bar. Besides I felt I was definitely on the shop shelf on the '70s porn handlebar' day as I got a lot of looks from men in tight trousers...
I even managed to convince a Reading mate to have a sportsman bet that whichever team lost on Saturday, he gets the draw as the away team, would have to keep the moustache for a further two weeks...
Fee free to propose alternative beard/taches...
Training summary:
- Monday: Recovery day
- Tuesday: 874 metres swimming
- Wednesday: 45 minutes spin class
- Thursday: Rest Day
- Friday 19 mile run in 4 hours.
- Saturday: Recovery Day
- Sunday: 3k swim
Week total: Running, 19 miles; cycling, 45 minutes; and Swimming, 3,874 metres
The run on Friday was great. Not only was it my last long run before the Paris Marathon but it was also very rewarding to see Carol complete the last 19 miles of the London Marathon route, from Greenwich, so she knows the landmarks. It also made me witness Carol taking out a man at Canada Water station. I suppose it was Carol's fault as he was looking the traffic flow in the opposite direction but it was funny to see how high he jumped as she screamed down in ear and embedded her nails in his chest.
It also provided Carol the opportunity to run in warm conditions for the first time so she will be prepared if Marathon day is a hot one. She really struggled during the middle section but had the endurance and mental toughness to knock out the miles after this picture as we crossed Tower Bridge.
It also meant I saw one of the best road signs yet as we were heading east on Narrow Street:
Carol won't thank me for saying this, but she was quite emotional at the end of the run when we got to Mall. I think it was a mixture of doubt, relief of finishing a tough run and realising the next time she's at that point she will have a finished the journey to completing the marathon.
I always say that one of the best bit of a challenge is standing on the start line, not knowing whether you have what it takes to complete the event, as you find out more about yourself at that point than years in your normal environment. It is human nature to doubt and requires mental toughness to pull through. Carol is a tough cookie and us Deane's have a stubborn streak that runs through our veins such that she will pull through the tough miles that everyone has during a Marathon.
Saturday was the regular disappointment that I am getting used to. West Ham played extremely well for 40 minutes had Reading on the run but progressive got deeper and more nervous before they played on it and scored goals at precisely the right times. They even managed to give me the glint of a chance of a comeback before snuffing that out with a fourth goal a few minutes later. Just means I have to keep the tache for a while...
I suppose I am going to have to go to HK safe in the knowledge that we have completely cocked it up and thrown away all the hard work over Christmas getting pole position. Still, as the club song says, if dreams fade like bubbles reaching the sky all you can is blow another bubble and see how high your next dream gets. Barnsley away next Friday and Birmingham at home on Easter Monday after I get home from HK. IF we could just get 6 points, IF Southampton could drop points and IF Reading could drop some points things could still turn out for the best. Still, I don't want it to sound like sour grapes but part of me wants Reading to go up simply for the odious unsporting manner they celebrated their win. I have never seen a team ignore their fans and come up our end to celebrate the win. For that I really hope they get promoted so that I can see them get smashed every weekend next year on Match of the Day. I also didn't touch any of the non-alcoholic beers on Saturday evening either...
Sunday was at the Lido. I know I said I wouldn't be going there again but the lake in Essex that I was planning to go to isn't open for another four weeks.
Next week will be spent tapering in Hong Kong; carbo loading on Noodles, topping up with Sushi and having a few liquid lunches of the non-sport shake variety. It will also mark a year to go to the Marathon Des Sables.
TTFN...
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