Though a straight line appears to be the shortest distance between 2 points, life has a way of confounding geography. Often it is the dalliances and the detours that define us. There are no maps to guide our most important searches; we must rely on hope, chance, intuition and a willingness to be surprised.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Something afoot

Been resting since Tuesday. Had an appointment with the physio who had both good news and bad news. Good news is that despite having an odd way of walking, I've not done any serious damage, but the bad news is that he had to strap up my foot and advised me not to do any more walking until I've seen a sports Podiatrist. This is going to put me behind schedule, as the first appointment I can get is next week. I was hoping to do the West Highland Way this weekend but instead I'll be doing all i can to relieve the swelling and irritation in my feet - with ice buckets and strapping! Anyway, I have been doing a lot of planning and I am still very confident that I can get to 500 miles once I have sorted the foot problem next week.












that pesky foot!

With my feet out of action, I've been up to a few other things instead. I met two fellow CWW volunteers for lunch the other day. Jo and Laura both spent several months in Belize and were very enthusiastic about the experience, the work they did and the country itself. I'm now even more enthusiastic myself (if that was possible!) about getting away and this is helping me get through all the bits and bobs I have to sort out over the next 8 weeks - visas, flights, Spanish lessons, arranging mail and tax returns (yeuch).

So a big thanks to Jo and Laura (and Bob too!): the advice was great, and some very interesting stories!

BTW If you get the chance, check out David Walliams' cross-channel swim attempt. Really impressive stuff: www.sportrelief.com/superswim

stuck at 84 miles for now

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Sun, Sore Feet and a Few Days Rest


Ma feet are killin' me! I was at the Scotland v Pakistan one-day international (cricket) on Tuesday. Didn't understand what was going on except that the beer was nice and cold and the sun was hot. I got a bit burnt and a bit merry. Still managed to walk 7 miles to Edinburgh Park where I got the train home.

No sunburn next day but my right foot was very sore. Still, after work I took the train to Uphall on the M8 and walked over the hills to Linlithgow for another 7 miles. Next day I was hobbling and took the day off hoping it might ease off a bit. It was better on Friday and Saturday but still too sore to do any serious walking.

Instead I took a wee break and caught up with friends over the weekend. I went paintballing on Saturday with Nik and Debbie (happy belated b-day!) and loadsa really nice folks from through in Glasgow. Great crack, picked up several tasty bruises (one of which looks a bit like an extra kneecap below the 'normal' kneecap on my left leg) and just had a great day out. What a really really nice bunch of laidback folk, you couldn't pick anyone nicer to shoot you repeatedly at point-blank range.

Today I did 4 miles along the river Ayr but foot is still sore so I'm off to the podiatrist tomorrow! Tonight I'll be going to bed dreaming "please fix my foot Mr Foot Doctor!" so I can add to my total of

84 miles done and dusted.