‘Death and the Penguin’ by Andrey Kurkov

This was a recommended by someone a while back, then it appeared on ‘Between the Covers’ on BBC2, so thought it was about time I gave it a read.

This story follows Viktor, an aspiring writer in Ukraine. He wants to write novels but ends up writing obituaries. He also has a penguin! He rescued it from a zoo when they couldn’t afford to feed it.

It takes a while, but he eventually realises he has been drawn into a world of politics and mafia. Viktor’s relationship with Misha, his penguin, is seemingly weird, but fascinating.

Good little novel – well worth a read.

Garden circuits.

5 stations:

• Triceps – Dips/Rows
• Abs/Core – Sit-ups/Bicycle Legs
• Biceps – Curls
• Legs – Squats/Lunges
• Shoulders – Shoulder Presses

45 secs on each exercise. 15 secs rest.

Done before 10am. Nice.

Now before everyone starts, I am counting a different Parkrun venue as a different activity this month. End of. No more discussion.

Today was Gorleston Cliffs Parkrun; my home Parkrun. Lovely morning, sunny, warm, the perfect start to the weekend.

Just about got there in time this morning – I had about 20secs to spare before the off. It was a bit of a late decision to attend.

Ran it pretty steady/fast – sub 8min/miles – getting a bit quicker every mile.

Coolio.

So, for today’s exercise I dragged the Gold’s Gym Exercise Bike circa 1980 out of the garage and onto the patio.

The actual readout doesn’t work, so have absolutely no idea how far I cycled. But I did 30min – probably around 5 miles – whilst listening to Frank Turner.

Nice.

The sun was shining when I got in so decided on a weights session in the garden in the late afternoon sun.

One minute of each followed with 30sec rest:

• Chest Press
• Lunges
• Curls
• Step-ups
• Rows

Repeated four times. 30min session in total.

I used to do these sessions quite regularly. I enjoy it. Note to self: do it more!

My month long quest of trying to do a different activity for each day of the week is bumbling along.

Tonight I ventured to the park opposite to have a go on the public exercise ‘machines’.

There are five different ‘machines’ so I decided on one minute on one followed by a lap of the park. Did this for each of the ‘machines’ and then repeated the process.

Ended up doing a 35min session which included a 2.5 mile run. It was ok.

So it’s been a pretty solid first week:

• Day 1 – Run (3.6 miles)
• Day 2 – Coastal Walk (7.3 miles)
• Day 3 – Holkham Parkrun
• Day 4 – Bike Ride (5 miles)
• Day 5 – Track Run (3 miles)
• Day 6 – Treadmill Run (3.4 miles)
• Day 7 – Park Exercise Machines/Run (2.6 miles)