Le Pig Sportif

 An interesting couple of weeks for Big Fat Pig and his fitness drive. You may recall that the Pig was for several years plagued by calf injuries. The purchase of some expensive made-to-measure insoles for the running shoes seemed to have cured this blight. But a fortnight ago the Pig was twelve minutes and fifty seconds into his first plod of the week when the right calf pinged in protest. A regime of ice, compression and elevation thus followed and the Pig made his comeback this morning. Thirty-one minutes and no damage done. Le Pig est retourne.

Despite the troublesome calf the Pig has not been completely idle. The cross-trainer has been dusted off and the golf has continued. Monday nights with the lads at Pype Hayes and an additional outing last week at Hatchford Brook where the Pig had his best round of the year (of several years in fact) such that the handicap is inching back towards respectability. On a different golfing front the Pig backed Paul Casey at 80/1 for last week's PGA and the each-way pickup was a healthy return on investment. Le Pig - il est genius. 

I've just finished reading a real curiosity of a book. Caesar was the first published work of Patrick O'Brian - a seriously good author whose Aubrey/Maturin novel sequence everyone should try. Caesar was written when O'Brian was only twelve and published when he was fourteen. It is concise and elegant. Remarkable. 

The sun is shining, the garden is looking good and it is almost too tempting for the Pig to break his midweek alcohol ban. Almost. Le Pig est mentally fort. He's going to make a sandwich and eat it outside. Le Pig est faim.