Almost excited...

I missed a call last night from Pete. I’d decided to go out for a run and continued to blank the concept of a taper week. I always seem to miss Pete on the phone, I’m not ignoring you, honestly. The brief message was “Call me back immediately when you get this.” Now that’s quite an indication of intent.
Calling him back, the first words I heard were “Jeremy, pack your trunks, we’re going”. Catching myself, I asked him to confirm when we were leaving and what time we needed to be at Dover. “Now and tomorrow morning” was the response. Crikey, that’s pretty short notice, maybe we’ve been bumped into some unexpectedly good weather and are taking our shot while we have it.

Unfortunately he was just joking with me, we’re not ready to go just yet.

Having said that, the signs are good: two people out this week, we could be looking at Saturday 26, Sunday 27, Monday 28 September. The weather pattern is holding a stable high (if that means anything, I heard it from two independent people this morning and they said it with such authority that I took it to be a good thing) which would (I therefore infer) mean calm winds and a steady sea. Looks like we could be ready, but then again I temper this with my usual dose of realism. Or is that professional skepticism? I can't tell any more.
Donations and continued sponsorship will be gratefully received. I am over 1,100 quid!
http://justgiving.com/Jeremy-Lovell-Davis
Alternatively, you can contact my Dad if you wish to donate to the Australian RVCP in Ulladulla. My Dad tells me that you can pay by bank transfer directly to Coastal Patrol if you do not have a cheque book. He has all the information. Barrie Lovell-Davis barrield@bigpond.com

After training this morning (which went very well, a short sharp interval session) things went from bad to worse in a domino effect of delays. First up, I realised I’d forgotten to pack my under-crackers and socks to my kit bag which meant I had to return home to dress myself appropriately for my double-cuff professional job (stop laughing!). On returning home, I found Lisa was still in bed, suffering from a bad headache. After checking she was ok first (and dressing myself second) she decided to head into work and I drove her to the station. As we got there, the train pulled out, one minute early. Darn it with the British Rail schedules!!! As a fall-back, I drove her to Maidenhead station but we were stuck in a traffic-jam on account of a broken-down car in the fast lane. Double darn-it with the black Vauxhall Astra. Arriving in Maidenhead we encountered the usual town-centre constipation of commuter traffic and the same was said for my drive to work; workers and school-runners; triple darn-it with the rush hour idiots. All in all, one slow round-about way to get myself to work.

My friend Rich sent me through a swimming website today that might set out a new challenge. http://www.swimtrek.com/special-swims Escape from Alcatraz, anyone? I may stretch to a wettie for this one.

Fingers crossed for continued good weather and a good journey home to all of you!
Happy trails!