Coffee Stains and Coastlines

It’s never a good sign to notice a brown patch on your bed at 10 in the morning…

But before you jump to conclusions, it was coffee. I promise.

Unbeknown to me, my coffee flask (which was sitting in my bag on the bed) had been slowly dripping. Through the bag. Through the duvet cover. Through the duvet. Through the bedsheet. Through the mattress protector.

A cracking start to the day.

I was well overdue some new bedding anyway and this turned out to be the Nescafé-fuelled catalyst I probably needed. Pressing checkout on the John Lewis website for everything short of a new mattress stung a little but a few days on, it’s felt like an important reminder.

Investing in your health, and as part of that, investing in good sleep, should never be overlooked.

A decent set of pillows, a genuinely comfy duvet and Egyptian cotton sheets have meant the last few nights’ sleep has been excellent. I’m a big believer that today starts the night before. We all know it but a good night’s sleep really does make the next day easier and often more enjoyable. A bad one, on the other hand, and everything feels just that little bit harder.

I could have bought the cheapest bedding I could find online. But spending a bit more felt like an investment in my sleep and therefore, in my health. If it’s viable for us to do so, we should absolutely be investing in our health regularly. It pays dividends.

Jojo, the cat, is to thank for the wake-ups…

After a cracking night’s sleep on Saturday (thanks, John Lewis), Sunday morning’s bike ride was called off (thanks, British weather). Instead, I finished the new BBC series Small Prophets. If you were a fan of Detectorists, you’ll enjoy it. There are some familiar faces and it carries that same gentle, melancholic thread throughout. If you haven’t given it a go yet, I’d recommend it.

I’m about three weeks into the new PT role now and feel like I’ve found my feet. The balance is working well work wise. I’ve even got a couple of clients who are therapists, so I’ve been picking their brains about different theories and approaches. On my next college weekend, attention turns to placements, so it’s reassuring to know I’ve got a good network of people I can lean on when it comes to sorting that out.

A reminder of how small a world we live in came last Thursday at work. Most of my sessions are small group training, four people at a time. In one session, two of the guys discovered they were both originally from Doncaster and had moved south years ago. By the end of the session, they realised they’d grown up about 200 yards apart nearly 40 years ago and now live roughly 500 yards apart again, 170 miles from where they started. They knew each other’s families, went to the same school, drank in the same pub… but had never actually known each other.

Funny how life works.

Driving to and from work, I’ve noticed the days are getting noticeably longer. I’m 100% a summer person. One of my favourite weekends of the year, the clocks going forward, is only five weeks away. More daylight makes such a difference to energy levels and mood.

I think a lot of people have felt the winter months more this year, especially with the relentless rain and how much time we’ve all spent indoors. I didn’t realise quite how much light we’re gaining each week at the moment. Someone at work mentioned it’s around 25 minutes. No wonder things already feel slightly brighter.

I’m hoping the M25 is kind to me tonight. You might remember from a previous blog that I had the chance to meet the Watford manager, Javi Gracia, a few months ago. Well… he’s now gone. And the next manager is in the building. Every few months, fans can enter a ballot, and those selected get to tour the training ground and take part in an informal Q&A with members of the management team. I was fortunate to get selected again for this evening. Tonight, it’s the turn of Ed Still, the next man through the Watford revolving door.

Talking of Eds, I’ve been rewatching Ed Pratt’s unicycling tour on YouTube. You might be familiar with his Source to Sea adventure that blew up on socials recently but before that he spent four years circumnavigating the globe on a unicycle starting in 2015. It’s a brilliant watch.

I’ve got my own bike touring plans brewing for the next few years. Not on a unicycle (and not around the world!) but something that’s been quietly sitting in the back of my mind.

Behind my desk, I’ve got a framed map of my Land’s End to John O’Groats ride from 2016. Next to it is a framed map from my Chase the Sun ride in 2023, cycling coast to coast in a day. Just to the left of those is a gap.

I’ve gone bottom to top. I’ve gone side to side. It only feels right to go round.

Once I’ve finished my counselling qualification, I’d love to take a few months off and cycle the UK coastline. Depending on how closely you stick to it, it’s somewhere between 4,000 and 6,000 miles. I’m thinking three months should do it.

Maybe it’s something that should be saved for retirement but I’m a millennial. By the time we get there, retirement age will probably be 80! I’m not doing it then!

So, summer 2028: a UK coastal ride. That’s the idea. Watch this space… It’ll make for a fun blog!

Enjoy the pancakes tonight. I’ll be having dinner at the M25 services.

See you next week.