type through the desert on a post with no name

Remember when I said

...next I could start blogging more regularly #justsaying

No? I can't say I blame you, it was quite a long time ago. So where to start? There is, of course, the running that I still do or the beard I do not. The old Audi that now lives with me and the girls or the wife who does not...Right here right now I am not sure where this will go. I just want to start writing...tapping...and see where I end up. So strap in or doze off, it could be a wild ride but will almost certainly peter out, depress me when I re-read and self edit...and put me off writing for another six months.

This is neither the time nor place to go into detail, but I'd best start with mention of the big ticket item. My wife moved out, made it clear there is no chance of us getting back together and I now live with my two girls in a family home we will probably sell in the middle future. I'm mostly OK with it all. We had twenty years together and that's considered a good innings these days. 

It happened - Sal called it upon return from a solo holiday in Thailand - nigh on six months ago and we're pretty much into our new norm. At time of typing the girls are with me 13 nights per fortnight. Mum pops over two evenings each week and typically has the girls most of one day per weekend. 

Soon after it happened I went to see a psychologist that I've seen in the past...because I did not feel devastated. Was I supposed to? It was a weird visit, there because I felt OK. I wanted to get an opinion on if I should feel OK or if I was kidding myself and was about to fall in a heap. I got the you're-alright-jack, which was nice, and life moved on.

I told the girls' teachers and coaches and educators about our home situation early on. I asked if any had noticed a change in either girl. They all said no. The resilience of my little ladies is remarkable.

Anyway, moving swiftly along...

My knees ache. I guess I'm getting old, just one away from my half century, and I still don't do any of that stretching stuff. And even if I finish with an ache I rarely RICE. It certainly doesn't feel terminal even if it does feel more-than-a-bit like something I should do something about. And maybe I will. But I can still knock out a 30k so I think I'll put it off until after the Gold Coast Marathon this July. I mean, I don't want to run the risk of being told I need to not run. That sounds super-sensible!

...so I just took the girls to school and we stopped in a cafe on the way and a little lad was punching his sister in the arm and the back; not hard but not light, and closed-fist punches. H, who is about to turn eight, was standing nearby and I told her she should never let anyone treat her like that. "Oh they're brother and sister" says a nearby adult woman. OK, they're brother and sister! Got it. And so that means..? Maybe a parent could - at the very least - say that punching a girl is wrong? I'm not overly #woke and don't expect or really want kids to not punch on; that's all part of growing up. But for fucks sake do not - at any age - let a lad punch a girl without admonishment. They can then punch on again, but make sure they know it's wrong. I do wish the little girl had turned around and smacked him back. OK, down from the soapbox Melv...

To finish up on that, a good friend did point out that no one should be hitting anyone. True dat.

Where was I? That's right, on the Gold Coast. So as I clocked up my first and only DNF on the GC last year I decided that I needed to go back this year and finish it. So I entered and then looked at the date and found that it is run on the first weekend of school vacation in July. And then I pinged my brother to see when he was planning to come for his annual visit and he said early July. So given all of the above, this year we will be having a Foreman Family Holiday on the Gold Coast. The girls and my bro and I have an apartment in a block just back from the beach at Burleigh Heads. It is a lovely spot, and if I blow up at 15k this year it is only a short walk to the accomodation. I would like to have the longer schlep back from the finish line though...I'm really looking forward to it, which feels a bit odd because (...lowers voice...) I don't really like the Gold Coast.

I am not expecting to break the land speed record this year. Being effectively a single parent of kids aged ten and almost eight has put a bit of a damper on training. Given the wonky knees my mileage drop probably isn't such a bad thing. Unless you're marathon training. So as things stand I try to knock out three runs per week in the 8-15km range and then sneak in a long run every or every other weekend. I've got a couple of halves in the run up, one is a Sri Chinmoy event in Canberra and the Great Nosh 22km option - which has got to be the equivalent knackeredness of a mid-30s. And finishes just up the road.

But probably the best bit of running news this year is that both the girls now do Parkrun most Saturdays. AJ will run wiht a friend and is better than the just under 30min PB she has had for a while and H has around 32min as her PB. I run with H. It won't be long before she is chasing down her big sister.

I suppose I should explain the facial hair (hair that is now in a bin downstairs in the laundry.) So I got a bit lazy around Easter last year. The wiht my brother's visit approaching I decided to push the beard until he got here to make sure I'd smash him in the Annual Beard Off. He folded early and was clean shaven on arrival. But by that time I'd made around six months. Not wanting to throw away all that (complete lack of) effort I decided I'd push on through for 12months. If I'm honest about it I didn't think I'd make it through Summer, but I did. And then on time I got the hump with it and off it came.

Right, this has been sitting on my desktop for about 4 days now, I'm hitting publish and be damned.