Please sir, can I have some more?

Don't get me wrong I love 'Oliver'. The 1968 film that is. Don't know about the Dickens book or even the recent film but the 1968 version with Ron Moody, Oliver Reed et al. is in my opinion a classic with a very, very scary villain, loads of charm and some impressively big tunes which are show stoppers both visually and aurally.

That said, if I never hear 'Consider Yourself', 'Food, Glorious Food' or 'You've Gotta Pick a Pocket or Two' again, it'll be too soon.

Rosie, my 5-year-old daughter had seen a production at school and had fallen in love with it, or at least as much as a 5-year-old can. They're famed for their fickleness you know. Best friends change from one day to the next never mind musical tastes.

If you're lucky I may get to the point sometime soon.

We were about to drive from New York (actually New Jersey but let's not split hairs) to Cape Cod, a drive lasting anything between 4 and 8 hours depending on how many times you stop. We knew it would take nearer 8 as Jessie (3) is a very poor traveller, a fact borne out by her being sick (in my hand, since you ask) on the way home. We didn't pack any cds for our hire car. Something had to be done AND QUICK.

Oliver was bought in Borders in Manhattan and played again and again and again and again (possibly 10 times in total). Rosie's favourite track was 'I Shall Scream' - she wasn't alone.

The USA trip was excellent and any flight security fears were unfounded. The car hire was quick and easy and we were made most welcome by Helen and Hillie in Jersey City.

Reasons for doing no running at all in Jersey City:
Very bad at running in unknown places
Too many roads to cross (each 'block' lasts about 5 houses and knew the chances of me getting run over were high)
Wasn't organised enough - don't forget I prefer running in the evenings so it has to be after kids have gone to bed and before supper.

Cape Cod was very pleasant with a slightly artificial feel to it somehow. Beaches were varied but mainly good and food likewise. Food highlight for me was lobster. There are those who can be very happy picking at a crab/lobster for hours and hours and there are those who think the effort put in is in no way matched by the food they get out. I, and my father amongst others, belong to the former.

Reasons for doing no running at all in Cape Cod:
Very bad at running in unknown places
Wasn't organised enough - don't forget I prefer running in the evenings so it has to be after kids have gone to bed and before supper.

Should have run in Cape Cod. Looked like a perfect place to renew my fitness regime but basically was what people in the know call 'a bit rubbish'

Now I'm back and I've got this run in about a month. It's 8.2 miles in Kingston. To put it into perspective it's almost 1/3rd of a marathon and 1/3rd more than the greatest distance I've covered so far (10k). Eeek and double eeek. Now wish I hadn't entered it. I MUST stick to 10ks for the foreseeable future and then possibly progress next year (after I've done 6 or 7 of the little beauties) but I got a bit carried away web-wise after I had done the first 10k.

Training at the moment is basically along the lines of the plan I set out in my last posting. Couple of footballs, couple of runs and a body pump (weights) class somewhere in the middle. Last night's class can still be felt in my arms and shoulders so it must be doing some good.

Runs this week were 1.5 miles on Saturday and 3 miles on Monday with a possible 2 miles this Friday coming and 4 miles on Sunday. I know the distances are a bit sad but I'm trying to slowly work up to the run without pulling/straining/snapping anything.

One last thought. I've detailed the reasons for doing this run before many times but at the moment, even after the holidays, I feel pretty good. Stomach feels flatter and I have loads more energy both when racing the kids and playing my Thursday night indoor footy.

Which is nice.