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We had a good day out with Rob yesterday – a nice walk to Ironbridge, during which we got a bit wet, and of course some stops at pubs along the way.

We rounded off the evening with a curry and a taxi back to Oddies.

This morning we’re up early and off to Telford town park for the parkrun. This is a timed 5km run which takes place every Saturday morning at 9am. Over 500 people turned up.

We’ve not done this before, so Val and I went to the beginner’s briefing just before the start.

After all that it’s a nice run around the lake. Our times were: me, 36:14 and Val, an astonishing 48:10 – walking! It was good fun, and we’ll do it again.

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We had a nice evening out last night with Robert and Jeanne, just a few beers and a curry and it was nice to catch up.

This morning my running programme wants me to run 3 kilometres. This is a relatively short distance, and the unwritten rule with these is that you are expected to push as hard as you can. I was really pleased with the outcome – all 3 splits were comfortably under 7.30 which is pretty quick for me.

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Unfortunately it’s not so green at the moment. We had a nice walk to the Mason’s Arms at Kemberton for lunch.

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It’s still blazing hot, but it’s Monday so off I go. Starting a new running programme today with the aim of getting to 10 kilometres. It wasn’t bad considering the heat, in fact it was a new distance record for me.

By the time I got home the postman had been, and he had delivered my Couch to 5k running top. Very nice.

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Went to Oddies last night for a few beers and was complimented on my weight loss. Yay! Today it’s Friday so it’s time to hit the road again. I had assumed that our local lanes would be easier than running in the Alps. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The humidity is just crazy.

Anyhow I completed my 5km, but as you can see I didn’t exactly break any speed records. Heart rate was much better though.

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Swiss National day ended well yesterday with a curry and a big firework display.

As I write we’re sitting in Zurich departures waiting for our delayed aeroplane. Hopefully it won’t be long, I’m looking forward to a pint in Oddies.

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In 1291, the first 3 cantons concluded an alliance. This alliance grew over the following 500 years and eventually became the Switzerland of today. Geneva was the last canton to join in 1815, having previously been annexed by France during the Napoleonic wars. There are now 26 cantons in the Swiss confederation.

Each year on August 1st the Swiss celebrate the confederation with music, dancing and feasting. So here we go.

Lots of food. I could ruin my diet in about 5 minutes in here.

And of course the dancers.

Later on we’ll have fireworks and the party will continue well into the night.