psychosomatic...?

The last few weeks I've been feeling steadily more lethargic and run down - no real symptoms of illness, just a lot of 'bleugh'! On Tuesday I went to a circuits class - something I do regularly - and found it extremely hard going. I wasn't knackered, just unable to perform at my usual level, and reaching failure much earlier. On top of sleeping badly and lack of concentration I'm beginning to think that I'm suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). To compound this theory, yesterday and today were both quite clear and sunny for much of the days and I'm feeling generally 'better' :)
I decided to take that as a hint to go running - something I haven't done for a couple of weeks - and was pleasantly surprised at how easy I found it. Admittedly I only went for 5km, and took a couple of minutes longer than usual, but it was an extremely comfortable and almost nice experience! Now I just need to keep that positive frame of mind and get a lot more exercise in - I have another adventure race next weekend.
A run too far perhaps...

apples...

I was out veg shopping a couple of days back and spied the most delicious looking, deep red apples. Yesterday lunchtime I tucked into one of these apples - it was supremely crunchy and full of juice but with no flavour whatsoever. Sweet yes, but taste of apple? No. Such a disappointment; I was so close to finding the 'perfect' apple.
Actually, this seems to be a bit of a recurring theme with apples. Russets are another example - they smell fantastic and when fresh are beautifully tasty, but they just don't store - a month or so after they first hit the shops and they are floury and dull.
Thankfully Cox's are easy to come by and nearly always delicious...

favourite weekend...

It may be getting dark earlier, it may be colder and wetter, but the first weekend in November is my favourite of the year. Why?
Fireworks.
Pure and simple, I love them! The sounds, the colours, the physical thump as the blast hits you... it all excites the primitive caveman in me. Uggg!
Perhaps surprisingly then I have only been to two 'events' this year. The first was on Saturday at Ravenscourt Park, near Hammersmith. There was actually two displays - the kiddies one at 1900hrs which was a pretty impressive 10min display in it's own right followed by the lighting of the bonfire (an enormous affair with 100m high flames!) and then the main display of the evening at 2000hrs (well actually 2020hrs as they had to wait for the fire to burn down to a safe level!). This was set to a selection of tv and movie theme tunes which nearly worked.
Hunting for food afterwards I found myself in Mahdi - a Persian restaurant. It was very good food and excellent portions! The Iranian tea they serve is absolutely gorgeous.
The second fireworks party was organised by a friend's (Laurie) mum in Hackney, sorry, 'ackney. A great evening of food, wine and fireworks... although I would have to say that perhaps the fireworks should have happened before the food as I'm sure a level of inebriation may have been a contributing factor to a firework being buried upside down! Fortunately the soil it was buried in was soft and stone free, and the firework was a one-shot, not multiple, so the very small garden wasn't filled with exploding bomblets. I would just like to say now that I had nothing to do with the fireworks other than watching!

Happily everyone left with all their fingers and most of their eyebrows...