This week started with a bang thanks to half-term and a Monday off work. Productivity was the order of the day: a Zwift workout, a spot of gardening to prep for the new bike shed, and a trek over the Uppy-Downey with Ernie—proving that even rest days are best spent in motion. Tuesday brought me back to work, but the evening was saved by the Phantom, who helped me install four new fence panels. After that, we swapped hammers for handlebars and joined forces on Zwift, exploring the latest virtual roads in New York as if we were proper city slickers (minus the pigeons and yellow taxi's).
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| Can you spot the 'new' panel? |
Wednesday saw another meet-up with the Phantom on Zwift, this time attempting a VO2 workout that quickly turned into a game of cat and mouse. As is often the way, Zwift crashed mid-effort—some things really do keep you on your toes. Undeterred, we reconvened for another session, this time united by the elastic band feature, trying to outpace each other before the next inevitable software hiccup. Thursday, however, was a tale of tech woe: Zwift crashed twice, and I finally gave up. The crashes have been relentless lately, so I’m wondering if it’s my PC or the program itself. Either way, I’ve taken the plunge and ordered a new Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 on the never never (Intel Core i5, 16GB RAM, 512 GB SSD) hoping the weekend delivery will cure more crashes than a Formula 1 pit stop.
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| Rachel, Doo and Jon |
Friday was a masterclass in minimalism—did nowt, save work which wasn't overly heavy. Saturday, though, was a proper celebration. I met up with Rachel Jannaway, her husband Jon, and their dogs Pip and Minnie for our 100th ParkRun at Jersey Farm Woodland Park in St Albans. One of the said 2 dogs was clocking their 40th run, but spirits were high regardless.
I finished in 24:24, placing 52nd out of 330 runners, and finally managed to scratch off the letter J from my Alphabeteer challenge. Just the letter Z to go now—so close I can almost taste the celebratory toast. The morning wrapped up with a big, fancy fry-up, because no milestone should pass without a solid cholesterol kick.
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| All smiles after the event |
Sunday was a great day also. I kicked things off with a brisk walk with Ernie—which almost certainly left him ready for a nap.
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| Ernie the napster |
My new laptop, arriving Saturday night, transformed Zwift: a crash-free ride, zippier graphics, and a bigger screen.
Even my Garmin VO2max score edged up, now at 53, so all systems are go.
Not quite flawless, mind—the builder didn’t show up to put down the concrete base, declaring the ground was too wet for his liking. Some weeks you can’t win them all, but you can at least enjoy better pixels while losing.
