God, I am absolutely battered today. A combination of our loud cat Mini screaming at 4am (she wants attention as soon as it’s light) and a little stress before my first PT exam this morning had me not getting back to sleep.
Did I use the time wisely? Well I answered some emails and did a bit of work but I didn’t do any last minute cramming, I have a theory that if you’ve not learnt it on the day of the exam, you’re hardly going to learn it in the last few hours before you pick up a pen.
At just after 6am, I went out for my run, heading down into grimey, industrial West Croydon and scaring a couple of blokes I passed on their way to work (“bloody hell, where did he come from”).
While showering, I caught a glimpse of myself side on in the mirror and cursed for the 1,00oth time that I did not start my fitness kick five, 10 or 15 years ago. Despite all the running, cycling and gym work, there’s still that last bit of tummy fat that I find impossible to shift.
I was working at The Express today on the travel desk and had booked my test for 9am, the earliest slot possible, and had hoped when booking that I would be quick enough to get in, get out and get to work for just after 10am.
A 35 minute, 7.5mile cycle later and I was sitting my first test bar driving since the distant days of Uni, almost 20 years ago.
I’d half expected other people sitting to be yoof but there seemed an even spread, though I was the only one with grey hairs doing an exam (they have different courses all sitting in the same room being examined at the same time). I think some of them must have wondered who the old bloke in the cycling gear with the salt-and-pepper beard was but I did get talking to one lad a little closer to my age before the exam started. He was doing his last module and had only high praise for the course so, hopefully, the fees have not gone to waste.
Thumbing your nose: the answer is saddle
I ended up finishing early – it took me about 30 minutes to go through the 50 multiple choice questions and re-read them twice and I think I did okay. There were a couple of questions I was kicking myself over, I’m finding characterising some of the joint movements a bit complicated but feel this will right itself when I can see what the difference is between some of them when I start my practical sessions tomorrow.
Oh, and for the life of me, I could not remember whether the thumb is a saddle joint or a condyloid joint and I spent ages umming and ahing and changing my mind before finally getting it wrong!
Anyway, I think (I hope) I did enough to pass…
The Express is a long day on Fridays. Press day for both papers and we spend hours checking and re-checking facts and re-writing little bits to get things just right. It’s interesting work and I’d rather us get it right than not of course, but it does mean we don’t tend to leave the office until almost 8pm and then I had another 7.5 mile cycle home….
In the midst of all this, I forgot to mention I went out at lunchtime and bought a new pair of Brookes Adrenaline GTS 10 stabilising trainers. Readers who’ve been coming for a while will remember that before the Brighton Marathon, changing to these trainers saved me from a really bad bout of shin splints. Sadly I’ve passed 500 miles in them now and the wear makes them less effective at supporting my ankle when I run… they are the fourth pair of trainers I’ve been through since I started the challenge…
Anyway, must go… I’ve reading to do before the practical course over the weekend and I can hardly keep my eyes open.
Click here for a link to Garmin Connect for a route map and details of the run
Miles today: 5
Target: 858
Miles to date: 1,128.61
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