Practise, practise, practise*

“Oh shit! It’s 20 past 7!”

With those cheery words, I greeted the day. I was supposed to be up at 6.30am, although somehow my alarm was switched off…

Y’see, I drew the short straw to transport a couple of kids to an inter-school triathlon, I had the swimmer & runner for a team event, the rider was arriving under her own stream. All had to be at Scorching Bay from around 8.45.

I showered, dressed, woke up the swimmer & got her moving, waved bye bye to the dog & wife heading out for a walk, then received stern instructions to the effect that I should still be there when she got back so that good luck wishes could be conveyed… I busied myself putting the recycling out.

Then, 15 minutes late, having greeted dog & wife home, checked the list of things the swimmer needed… we were off! First it was round to the runner’s place, where we also picked up an extra & drove her to her pickup point up the road. And then we entered the borderline gridlock that constitutes traffic crossing from one side of the city to the other… and we listened to borderline music suitable only for teenagers…

And that reminds me to set off on a quick tangent & tell you what one of the 3 van drivers to a rowing regatta in Cambridge told us:

“The drive is OK, the girls are all really nice, no problem there… it’s their music that is the problem… it turns a tedious drive into an insufferable life sentence. You don’t want to listen to their music.”

And back on topic…

The girls talked about the upcoming event, and both expressed nervousness because they haven’t practised in the slightest for months, although both have been kept fit by other sports.

The cyclist also hadn’t practised in the slightest in living memory, but hey, it’s all about competing right?

They came third. Next year, they’ll train.

* I have no idea if I have used the right form of "practise". Never have known which is which, or if I ever have, I forgot it 5 minutes later... Just as well it wasn't covered when I did this test.