18. Looking good while running

Mile 15 – Even ground.

All runners look good in hi-viz lycra.

The sun has got his hat on this week, and, therefore, with my heightened sensitivity to sunlight, so have I. Since my ridiculously huge hat (featured in post 13) attracts some ridicule (perhaps because it doesn’t have corks hanging from the brim), I have invested in a new fishing cap, complete with a neck flap. With that, and factor 50 sunscreen, I should be safe from the sun, if not from more unkind comments.

The nurse spotted some new spots on my stomach while giving me my injections this week. They are also on my back and down my legs, but by the weekend they weren’t any worse, so I won’t worry about that too much.

I’m taking it very easy with the exercise regime at the moment. I had a call with the physio and she emphasised that at the moment I should be concentrating on movement rather than straining with heavy weights or strong exercise bands, so I am paying attention to that and finding that my shoulder and back are improving. Walking is becoming easier as my core strength improves. I have also been on my bike in the garage, watching ‘Tour de France: Unchained’ on Netflix in preparation for this year’s event in July. I find myself speeding up when there is a sprint finish and grabbing the brakes at the nasty crashes.

Going back to my discount dilemma of post 16, I have decided to opt for the NHS route at UCLH, taking the money that Vitality offered for opting out of private care. It hasn’t been easy to find information; there is a gap in the market for a trip advisor for hospitals. The only differences that I can identify are the better room and possibly a better menu with private health care, but the standard of care will be the same, with the same consultants. It’s not as if they have two medical teams there, one private and one NHS. My thoughts are that if they had offered me NHS by default and asked whether I wanted to pay an extra £7,500 for the better accommodation, I would have said no thanks.

I’m sure the NHS room will be better than some of the places I have stayed when travelling for work. A couple that spring to mind are the pub in Llandrindod Wells where I arrived late, having driven the last 50 miles with dipped lights through a blizzard, to find my room was unheated and I slept wearing all of my clothes, and the B&B in the same area where the foot of the bed was a few inches higher than the head, giving me the weirdest dreams. My friend Mike might want to add his story of the man smashing a window in a bar there, too. It is actually a lovely spa town in the middle of Wales, but it has its moments. (Sue and the boys joined me on a trip once and, on asking where to find the spa, were told it was next to the chip shop on the main road.)

Otherwise it was a routine week; day 22 of cycle 4 of induction treatment involved just a quick visit to the hospital on Wednesday. There should be five more visits to round off this phase of the treatment. I continue to feel a little light-headed most of the time, and especially tired on Saturdays, but nothing too bad.

We managed a trip to The Ivy restaurant in Chichester for lunch on Tuesday, using my birthday gift voucher. It was nice to go somewhere different and what a lovely place to go. If any of you know the chain, I can confirm the gents’ restrooms don’t have the flamingos that Sue found in the ladies.

I took a picture from our seat, and found a use for the new generative fill feature in Photoshop, which allowed me to remove the man scratching his nose, using AI to work out what might be behind him, and it seemed to do a very good job. 

The projector is now mended and the last of the super 8 films has been recorded. One of the best reels must have been of my friend’s father building a plywood sailing boat and using it with the children. I’ll be looking for my next project shortly.

It was another good week for socialising. My first job as a teenager was working at Littlewoods cafe in Crawley with Richard. We would spend our pay packets in Claire Records buying prog rock albums, or going to concerts in London. I particularly remember seeing The Who in around 1975, the first laser show I remember, and not being able to hear anything for the next few days. Well, he lives in Poland now with beautiful views over the Tatra mountains (which he showed me during our call) and his invitation to visit is now top of the to do list when I can travel again.

I had plenty of coffee and cake on Friday with running friends, discussing ponds in the morning and cycling in the afternoon, but the weekend has been a bit too hot to do much. Still, it’s nearly midsummer and the nights will be drawing in soon. And it’s only 197 days until Christmas.

Thanks for reading and take care.