Four-OH!!!

It was my 40th birthday (yikes!!!) on Friday - so it's been a pretty full week...

Training wise I managed to do a run on Tuesday to make up for the missed Monday run. Then Wednesday and Thursday were back on track - as per the training plan, but what I will say is that Wednesday's run was damn hard. It's this bloody weather. Wednesday was so windy - 30mph winds and gusts that I reckon were in the 60mph range - we were being thrown around by the wind, which never seemed to be behind us :( The weather makes a huge difference to you enjoyment factor - I don't mind the rain....in fact sometime when you run in heavy rain it's even better than a nice sunny run. The key for me is to be warm - I hate running when I'm cold, almost as much as I hate the wind. All I will say about Thursday's run is that Jo and I are a little too reliant upon our gadgets - I'm wondering whether we should do one run a week without our iPod (with it's Nike+ system) and without our Polar heart rate monitors, so that we are happy running without the technology so that if it fails during the TransRockies Run then we aren't affected by it and we don't throw a tantrum (not mentioning any names). Sometimes you need to learn to switch off - completely ;)

My birthday really kicked off on Thursday night when my sister (Am), from Cardiff, arrived at our doorstep - mega (pleasant) surprise. Jo and Am had a good laugh at my speechless state. Friday morning started with me opening lots of presents (mainly from Jo) and cards. Jo and Am then left for most of the day to leave me free play on my Xbox 360 - perfect day so far :)

I knew we were going out for a meal on Friday night, to a great Italian restaurant, Il Bordello, on Wapping High Street, but began to worry when enough booze to last me a further 40 years arrived on our doorstep. I might be a bit dim sometimes but even I sussed that something was afoot. Jo assured me that nothing was happening....tonight!!!

Saturday is a bit of a blur....basically the whole day was a surprise party. The day started slowly but then gathered pace as the surprise birthday party kicked into gear. The house was soon full of family, friends (some that I hadn't seen in over a year), cakes, lots and lots of presents and even more champagne. As you can gather I didn't want to disappoint so I did my duty and consumed plenty of champagne. My brother, Satpal, put together a DVD with a collection of photos of my life through the years - wow, that really was a (very happy) trip down memory late....I didn't need reminding of what a wonderful life I have had so far, or that (thankfully) my dress sense has improved drastically over the years!!! To cut a very long story short it was definitely my best birthday ever - so maybe life really does begin at forty :)

Mid-life crisis now that I'm forty? I can safely say that there's isn't even a little whisper of a mid-life crisis in my life. I'm pretty happy with my lot....I have a great wife, a brilliant family, weird and wonderful friends, a decent job and a healthy life. I wouldn't say no to a lottery (jackpot) win - but to be honest (a lack of) money doesn't stop us doing what we want with our lives....I am very fortunate....and I know it :)

We didn't do our Sunday run - a little worn out from the night before....but I'm not too worried as it's Easter weekend next weekend, hence I'm sure we'll add some mileage to our weekly total somewhere along the way. Anyway - on Saturday I had taken a trip down memory lane....all forty years of it....guess that's enough distance for one weekend ;)