September 11th - Aikido Seminar – Day 2

Miles traveled by train today: 60

Miles travelled by bike: 6(1 pushing up stupid steep hill)

Got the train in from Bristol this morning, went up the slightly less steep approach to the University and still had to push all the way. A good day of training with four sessions. There’s about 150 people on the course, including all the usual suspects:

- Dan grades (black belt and above) who don’t want to train with Kyu grades (below black me)

- Kyu grades who want to train with Dan Grades

- People with big scratchy toenails

- People who prove how hard they are by being really rough and throwing their partners really hard

- People who think they know better than the Sensei and insist on correcting their partner all the way through.

- Clock watchers

This last one includes me. I’m struggling and my body protests so much that I have to keep telling it – 33 minutes now, now only 32 and so on until the last 10 minutes when it usually starts working and I can step the pace up a bit. This isn’t happening in the last session. I’m finding it harder to get off the mat every time I’m thrown even though I’m training with a very nice woman from Swansea who is nearly as tired as I am and so being quite gentle. Then with five minutes to go my knee suddenly goes for no reason. I bend it a few times without problem then put my weight on it and gasp as a sharp pain shoots through it. I retire to the edge of the mat and watch the last few minutes anxiously feeling around the kneecap for anything bulging or tender. It seems OK if I keep it straight so cycling down to Bath is not a problem but I put it on the ground gingerly and it seizes up when I sit on the platform for a few minutes.

There are around 25 cyclists on the platform and the first train to Bristol takes less than half of them. One tells me the next train has a guard’s van but I fold up the newbike anyway and get it in it’s bag. I’m glad I do as eight of them are left behind. After forking out for and struggling with the ‘quick release’ pannier rack it seems it goes in the bag no problem even with it on. I don’t know if I’ll be training tomorrow. The implications of a bust knee for my trip would be bad indeed but I think how it is I could get away with strapping it up. I’m such a wimp – it will probably be fine tomorrow.