Day 2

Last night we agreed to meet some of the lads from Preston at 10am outside the supermarket for our morning run. Wednesday usually means a medium to long run and today was no different, just in the much more pleasant Portuguese climate. Myself, Mariani and Emery met with Pete Street, Nathan Bibby, Stephen Bennett and a few more the Preston gang and set out on our way to the cross country course at Alfamar. I believe this was used for the World Cross in the 90’s?! Anyway we met another large group from Loughborough and Liverpool on route and so a huge group of around 40 of us made our way along the trails to the cross country course. The run was very pleasant and I ended up doing 55mins with just mild discomfort in the heel area when I stopped. When I got back, Bennett showed me where to sign up for a massage with Leslie (the OCWK masseuse) and then we stretched by the pool, before icing our legs. I then went back to villa, showered and had brunch consisting of museli, a banana and two marmalade rolls. I am trying really hard when I am out here to lose some weight, as I am currently close to half a stone over racing weight. The weight should come off naturally in the heat, but I am being careful to eat enough but not too much in order to help this process along. So far I think I have found a nice balance.

Last night I labelled today as a key tanning day, but unfortunately the weather was a bit overcast, and so sun-bathing wasn’t a great option... So instead Fairbourn and I went down to the bar and used the internet for a couple of hours. We then spent the rest of the afternoon playing Chinese Poker and Fifa. In Seb’s case he spent most of the afternoon playing Championship Manager on his Ipod Touch, presumably trying to broaden his football knowledge! At 5pm most of us trained again, with Shane doing another 60mins, Fairbourn 45 and Emery 20 whilst Seb and Mariani did nothing. When Emery got back, Griff and I joined him to do some core and stretching out on the grass. Shane cooked for us tonight, and came up with a little surprise. For everyone else the chocolate cake he made for desert was a pleasant surprise, but not so much for me! I have given up basically all nice things for lent, Chocolate, Cake, Sweets and Biscuits..... All I can say is I cannot wait for Sunday! Anyway he made a tuna, pasta and sweet corn dish in a creamy onion sauce, which went down a treat. I finished it off with a coconut yoghurt, whilst everyone else smashed the chocolate cake! We then went back to the bar to watch the Arsenal game, which wasn’t actually on (it was the Inter game instead) so we just used the internet and debated over whether Phil Hinch should have been picked for the World Cross. Whilst we were there I had a chat with Heather (my girlfriend) on Skype and she seemed pleased to hear from me!

Sensible Emery 'ladding' it up!

We got back to catch the last 5 minutes of the Arsenal game and then played a little more Chinese Poker. During the game, when discussing the hierarchy of Queen’s, Seb came out with the quote of the day; “That’s like saying the Queen of England is more important than the Queen of Scotland”. On that note we all hit the sack, in anticipation of tomorrow morning’s 8am run. I am hopeful we can run on the golf course, whilst Emery insists he will not be out of bed to join us! We shall see....