Olympic fever and a Scottish love

Hello folks. Just to start, I would like to brag a little that I have managed to be ill (it was verging on man flu, very bad!) and not had to be admitted to the hospital! Very pleased with that result, especially as it means I did not have to miss coming to beautiful Scotland and even more importantly didn't have to miss my amazing friend Lindsay have her moment in the spotlight and carry the Olympic flame. This was a very special day and I am so happy I was able to be a part of it. It was a great occasion, well organised, good spirited and it didn't even rain.... Amazing!

I am still in Scotland now, spending a few days in my 2nd home of Dunoon and remembering all the reasons why I love to come here. I always tend to fight the Scottish thing, my Mum is so proud of her Sottish blood that she tends to dismiss the English part, I tend to rebel against this by embracing my Irish blood but I have to say when I do come here I feel at home and can understand the pride that she and so many others feel to be a part of the place. Perhaps I should work on embracing my Scottish side a little more, maybe I could buy a kilt or something!

It has crossed my mind more than once that I should move up here and if it wasn't for Evie that would be a no brainer however I just don't think I can be that far away from her while she is so young I love being a part of her life and think it could be a sacrifice too far, no matter how beautiful the air and the mountains and the lochs :)

It has been lovely spending time with Lindsay and family and having a catch up and the whole trip has been great. I got to explore some areas I have never been to before in the far north of the country and finally made it all the way to John O'Groats. It was there I met a fantastically inspirational lady who had just completed the cycle ride from Lands End, she has been fighting cancer for the past 3 years and this has been the driving force behind her desire to complete the bike ride along with several members of her family. What brought this group of riders to our attention in the 1st place was the sight of one of them sat having his photo taken holding the Horncastle news, our local paper! Turns out they were from just a few miles from where we live, its a small world! Anyway, I came away from this chance encounter feeling inspired and with a renewed will to keep on going, so thanks to that very special lady and good luck to her in all her future ventures.

So, home tomorrow on an epic 8hr train journey with 4 changes! Yuk. Then Thursday is prep day for colonoscopy so won't be moving very far from the bathroom! Then Friday the procedure and I would imagine very soon after that I will be getting another blood transfusion as I have been losing blood at an alarming rate for the past 10 days. So there it is, an amazing trip away but time to head back to reality.

On the plus side, I actually managed to make it back into the gym yesterday, good job as it is less than 3 weeks until mudrunner now :-o