There is more to life than athletics this weekend - as I haven't got a race. It's probably just as well as I hurt my finger when I almost fell off my bike on the way home on Friday, and it gets really cold when I'm running at the moment.

...but when you're addicted running never stops, there's TV coverage of Robbie and Kate tomorrow, and rumours that Helen F. finished ahead of Mick O'D in a fell race - that'll be interesting conversation the next time the Masters get together.

....so today I went into Broadmead, but I couldn't find anything to do apart from get my hair cut. Luckily I had a voucher to use in Doug Hillard, the sports shop across the road from Morrisons  in Fishponds. I found a pair of Brooks shoes, in mint green (very tasteful), that were reduced to 45. The shop was packed full of ball players,  a proudly worn Cleve  RFC shirt and a cricketer buying a Kookaburra kit bag big enough for his pads (I guess that could be hockey), but there is a small range of running shoes, that I guess don't sell as well as the rugby stuff - so they're in a discrete sale. I think the shopkeeper expected a strapping services type to come along with the voucher given to the MOD - not an old skinny runner.

...if you've strayed across this page from a freak Google search, and you're sitting at home watching Factor X without a race today or tomorrow, why not give athletics a go - it's a great way to live.