The 20th & 21st; I miss having everywhere.
The 20th of June. Back in London. Awoke about half nine, spent my morning writing a blog post which I then lost and had to rewrite in its entirety, which was frustrating. Read the paper, did the sudoku well and the crossword poorly, then had cheese on toast for lunch.
Our train wasn't until ten past four, but I was pleased to be there early as I'd forgotten my lipbalm so got a spare from Boots and a coffee, then hung about, waiting for the train. Our assistance man put us right in front of where our train door stopped, which was rather fortuitous, and it meant we got on the train before the rest of the rabble (it was a very busy train).
The assistance chap was waiting for us at Euston (unusual), and having paid 30p for a wee, we got a taxi to the hotel in Shoreditch and arrived about half six. It's all very fine, comfy beds, nice bathroom, so I'm quite happy. I'd booked a table at a place called Mr. Buckley's which is five minutes up the road, having found it on Google maps yesterday and thinking the menu looked good. It was! Frozen pineapple and passionfruit daiquiris, then I had barbecue pork chops with sweet potato puree and a side of heritage carrots and peas, then chocolate cake. Extremely full.
Now we're back at the hotel, slightly damp from rain and watching Harry Potter before bed.
The 21st of June.
What a very sleepy bear I am. I didn't sleep well, being hot, noisy Street, not my pillow. Never mind. We got up, dressed and packed early and went out to get breakfast in the Pavilion Café in Victoria Park where we met Christine, Kim and Will. I had a really good bacon sandwich, then we had to trek quite far into the park to find where Christine needed to be. Once she'd gone to get start funnel, we found a place near the start to cheer from, sufficiently embarrassing/encouraging her. She'd said she normally gets bored at about 7km, so we chose a spot near there where we'd see her on both laps, and we managed to spot her both times and Kim and Will held up their banner. We also saw her at the finish (near the biggest pile of bananas I've ever seen) but she was sprinting so she didn't see us.
We met back up with her in the Runners' Village, where Kim and Will took their leave, and after going through Christine's bag of freebies, we went for her to get some food, she and Mommy sat down and we rang Daddy to say Happy Daddy Day. After finishing, we wandered back towards central London, stopping near Bethnal Green where Christine got the tube home, and Mommy and I got a taxi to St Pancras to get lunch (they have better food places than Euston) before going to get our train.
Watching everyone run was strange. I've completely forgotten how it feels to run. I haven't tried in so long. I watch people get out of breath and they can somehow carry on, even when their muscles hurt. I can't even get to that stage. My muscles don't burn because my lungs give up first. I miss being able to run with the wind in my hair, feeling free. Go where I want, do what I want, get away. The new wheelchair will help with that, to a degree, but it doesn't give me new lungs. I miss having everywhere.
Back at home now, very tired and with a swollen right leg. More furosemide for me!
