Johnny Hall's Travels and Travails

We're down at the outlaws again for a busy few days. We drove down on Wednesday through a lot of rain and poor driving (the motorways in this country grind to a halt at the first sign of adverse weather - I swear that most drivers would fail their driving test if they had to do it over again). I had my second swimming lesson at Swimshack. I've been working hard (even getting up before seven am to get to the pool before breakfast, which is unheard of for me) on my drills and I seem to be making good progress. I'm reasonably close to being able to string each of the drill movements together to make a complete swimming stroke. I'm going to keep working hard over the next 6 weeks before my third lesson and then hopefully I'll be ready to swim 400m in the Edinburgh New Years Day Triathlon. I had a meeting with a designer on Friday and then another meeting with a client to discuss a big IT upgrade. Then, on Friday night, we had our first night out without Emily as we went to Becky's friend Katherine's wedding at Rookery Hall in Nantwich. It was very swish. Becky's mum looked after Emily but to be honest (and not trying to downplay her contribution) it didn't (luckily) involve too much effort. Emily is getting pretty good at going to sleep at night. We've got her into a routine now which, by and large, she follows - breast feed, nap, bath, bottle, bed (by 8 o'clock). She has a little cry when she is put to bed but that's because she's tired. It seems to be getting shorter and shorter before she stops. She normally wakes up in the middle of the night for a quick feed but there doesn't seem to be a particular pattern to the timing. I'm avoiding doing too much today since I'm running another marathon tomorrow. I'm not not aiming for a fast time since it's the Snowdonia Marathon and it's pretty hilly which is a deterrent for fast running (especially for me). If I do (very) well I'll be under 4 hours but it's more likely to be a bit slower than that, which is fine. I'm running for the experience more than anything. After Snowdonia, my training will be focused on improving my swimming and working in the gym on improving my strength (particularly for cycling). I'll keep my cycling and running pretty easy and relatively short - I'll really just be trying to establish a bit of a routine through the winter, when it's so easy to pack it in. My intention is to run and cycle in all weather (within reason). No such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing! Before we head back to Scotland, I'll be attending the funeral of a former teaching colleague, who died a few days ago, from complications after an operation to relieve the symptoms of colitis. I didn't know him particularly well and it's been a few years since we worked together but he was a genuinely nice chap who has passed away far too soon and with a young family. I met him in Leek a few months ago and we had a short chat after not seeing each other for years. I had no idea that he was ill. I'm never too sure about whether to attend funerals when I wasn't particularly close to the deceased but on reflection, it may be some comfort to my friend's family that many people attend.