Thought it was about time I started blogging again, just to keep my mind active and give myself a creative output from the regular churn of work. Unlike many, I have continued to work all through the recent Covid-19 crisis. In fact, as a direct result I have found my workload actually increasing massively, which when combined with working from home has led to a blur between work time and private time. As such, I made an active effort to define clear boundaries, both in terms of how I organised my work space and also how I organised my day, ensuring I scheduled in time away from the computer and also finished at an agreed time each evening.
Part of the process has seen me also trying to get back into my fitness, although sadly any level of fitness I had historically was long gone from years of eating crap, doing very little, and drinking too much. Still, I've embraced the challenge, and with the steps taken above to ensure time for myself, have ensured I've got out in the fresh air daily either walking or on my bike. Although we are still early in the process I am already starting to see and feel the benefits. Clothes are fitting slightly better, but more importantly I have noticed a lift in my mental health since embracing this new regime. I know recent times have tested many people mentally, so hopefully others have managed to find an outlet that helps.
Away from work, I've been spending downtime in the evening catching up on the old Tour De France highlights from yesteryear (I'm hoping Le Tour will happen as planned later this year, but only if it's safe to do so), starting with 1996 which was the first year I remember watching religiously each day (often the full day's stage). Obviously every memory is now tarnished with stories of what actually happened in terms of doping in cycling, although based on the facts of how many were "juiced" during those years, it clearly has some merit in terms of a competition as to who could dope the best, a crown which is undoubtedly worn by Lance Armstrong, who managed to fool and deceive so many before finally coming clean about not being clean.
Watching coverage of his early years of dominance, there is a clear underlying narrative within the media, with the French continually suggesting something is amiss (they were of course to be proved right), while others (UK media included) seemed to wholly believe the miracle was real. Sad to think it turned out not to be, although the one positive is that millions still benefited and were helped both from the charity work he did with Livestrong, but also with the face he gave cancer, a subject which touches nearly everyone but many are afraid or unwilling to speak about. I'm currently watching the 2000 Tour this evening, about half way through now, with the first wearer of the yellow jersey, David Millar, another who was eventually outed for cheating the system, although he later admitted his errors and raced clean while trying to speak out about the perils of the sport for younger riders.
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