have new strides! I finally succumbed to the fact that the first ever pair of running strides were worn, wonked and bruised and needed to be replaced. It was a sad day. Boo hoo. Haha. Right, on Tuesday after work I went to the local running shop and bought a new pair of running shoes and some new socks, and Wednesday was my first ever run with them in the big bad smelly world. Weds: for the first time in 18 months I stode out in a new pair of running shoes, there was a huge difference between these Nike Air Pegassus and the ones that have travelled through Europe (i took them on holiday with me last summer!) and run many hundreds if not thousand+ miles. There was more cushioning, more bounce and I felt higher above the earth that I strode on. For the first 3/4 of "River" route I kept pace with Luc but then I slowed slowed and crawled along, energy and capacity for further fastness had evaporated, replaced with chaffing and slowness. Bright day, quite warm, breezy. Good run all in all. Have spent the last 2 days installing and streamlining M$ Vista (the latest version of Windows). I love it so far. It looks a hell of a lot better, it feels cool. There have been teething problems, for sure, but these have been surpassed and now I am very happy. Huzzah!!!