Category Archives: Tat

On Target For Goal Number One – Almost

Yesterday I got the Good News that I’ve been selected in the ballot to run in the Great Manchester Run in May. That’ll be my first 10k in about 5 years.

However, my other half didn’t get selected: Bad News.  So, do any of you have a spare ticket already?  If you know anyone who’s planning to pick up an injury or bottle out, let me know.  We’ll both continue training so hopefully we’ll both do the run on the 16th of May.

So, this morning I’ve done another 15 minutes easy running on Week 3 of my training plan and I feel good.  I had been starting to get bored whilst running though, so a little eBay shopping last week delivered a new charging cable for my Samsung mp3 player from the land of the rising sun (£1.99 delivered, woohoo) and now I have Tunage On The Treadmill.

Don’t forget: if you know anyone who has a spare registration for the Great Manchester Run, let me know, please 🙂 Thanks!

Personal Goal Setting

Goals, Not Resolutions

As a marketing manager at Utility Masters, I’m quite used to setting business goals.  I don’t subscribe to the notion of New Year’s Resolutions because they seem to be used most commonly to rationalise failure later in the year.  They are also so woolly as to be useless – how exactly do you define sucess against your “be a better person” or “get fitter” resolutions?

Instead, I decided to set myself some personal goals instead this morning, using good old-fashioned business cliches.  Objectives have to be SMART:

  • Specific – stating exactly what you intend to achieve
  • Measurable – so you know what defines achieving it
  • Achieveable – so you actually have a chance
  • Realistic – make sure you can do it – it can be hard, but you’ve got to get there
  • Timed – when will you aim to do it by?

So, the box that’s been published in my sidebar this lunchtime is my own measurement of how I’m doing this year.  My main goals are two events I intend to complete this year, plus a fundraising target for the Hospice where my Mum was so wonderfully cared for.

I’ll also be tracking my cycling and running this year, for you all to poke fun at by way of encouragement.

Please let me know what you think, and offer any additions that you think will help me in 2010. Thanks! 🙂

Sodding Diabetes

I don’t blog about my diabetes much. It’s as much part of my daily routine as brushing my teeth; washing my hair; making bad jokes.

This morning, however, before trudging into the snow to defrost the car and get to work I failed to notice that my phial of daytime insulin (Novorapid) was almost empty.

As a result, I’ve just had 4 units of Novorapid instead of the usual 14 I take to counteract the sugars my body will make from my lunch. I’m only a little bloke but I metabolise fast so I’m lucky enough to be able to eat like it’s going out of fashion.

But … today, I’ll be getting through to teatime with only one slice of bread, some (carbohydrate-free) cheese and ham and nowt else inside me. The rest of my scrummy goodies will be going back home uneaten.

Within an hour my stomach will feel like my throat’s been cut.

Bloody Diabetes, grrrrr.

On 4 Units Of Insulin? Nope!

Curse you, diabetes! 🙁

Knypersley Pool Walk

On New Year’s Eve 2009 (is that really only 7 days ago?) we drove down to my brother’s and spent the afternoon walking around Knypersley Pool.

The Pool was designed by Thomas Telford and opened in 1827. Now it’s owned by British Waterways and used as an angling lake.  It’s also a haven for people from South Cheshire and North Staffordshire in need of a stroll.  My brother and I both consider angling to be a way of wasting an afternoon, so we took the families for a walk on the paths that surround the reservoir.

It was a very frosty day so we wrapped up well before setting off.  The cold weather made for some excellent photo-opportunities and I’d recommend taking a camera of you’re thinking of spending some time there.  I’d also implore you to take a flask and something to nibble on: there was no evidence of any refreshments available when we went, although I’m told that on better days it’s possible to find something to eat and drink.

As you can see, I attempted to make my own piece of Land Art in the style of Richard Shilling – do you think it worked?

If you fancy a pleasant afternoon strolling around a beautiful reservoir that’s less than an hour’s drive from Manchester, I can highly recommend this place.  But cyclists beware, bikes aren’t allowed on the paths.  I found the cycling ban baffling at first, but thinking about it: I assume that it’s at the behest of the anglers who have made it possible to keep this place open to the public.

Tell ‘em Phill sent you.  I’ve attached the map so you can zoom out and find it.


View Knypersley Pool in a larger map

Book Review: This Mitchell & Webb Book

This Christmas I was on the Good List again (don’t ask me how) and one of the gifts Santa Brought me was This Mitchell & Webb Book.

This Mitchell & Webb Book

This Mitchell & Webb Book

It’s a heavy tome and I was expecting it to provide accompaniment to my private times (ahem, I keep my books in the en-suite smallest room) for a few weeks. Here’s my first and biggest problem with the book… after a few interesting and funny pages, the book descends into an over-designed, overly-padded comedy book.

Now don’t get me wrong. I love comedy. I also love pictures and appreciate good design. I even love comic strip-type work and in my younger days I dabbled with it myself.  If anyone has a copy of my old student mag, it’s probably worth … oooh, several pennies now.

 But… when I’m presented with a hardcover book I expect it to last me more than 6 days of visits to the loo.  This book has some really funny comedy moments including the poster above, which made me chuckle for hours – I’m thinking of putting it on the notice board at work.  However, the last book I found so disjointed was something to do with The Young Ones when I was about 14.

Mitchell & Webb are funny. I love their radio stuff; their TV work’s entertaining and even their appearances on umpteen panel shows are amusing enough – I just feel that this book was thrown together under a contractual agreement involving a decent advance payment and a tight deadline to make sure it was ready in time for the pre-Christmas market.

Saying that, it’s not bad. Borrow a copy from a friend. Borrow mine if you want. It’s good enough for me to tell you that I want it back, but not so good that I’d demand that you buy your own. You can though, here:

Tell ‘em Phill sent you.

p.s. you can follow David Mitchell on twitter: @RealDMitchell – and read more from both of the chaps on MySpace.

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