Author: Buck

I went in to arrange the next step on my scheme to get me driving at my works today. I finally tracked down Claire, the manager who set up the arrangement. She confirmed where I was up to; I’d been out with the drivers on my days off, now I was going for another assessment.

Which in itself was a change of plan. I have done an assessment, been out with the drivers, the next step was supposed to be some reversing practice in the yard with the assessor and going out with a driver with him doing the delivery and me driving the truck back.

I’m not in a position to argue the toss so I said ‘yes, assessment it is’.

I have identified my weakest of weaknesses when it comes to this triathlon lark; the swimming. The last two sessions I’ve taken my Ironman watch so I could use the lap timer to keep track of how many lengths I’ve done.

For the half Ironman distance triathlon the swim is ‘only’ 1.2 miles, but being such a piffling distance they knock twenty minutes off what would be half the time of the full one. So it’s 2.4 miles in 2 hours 20 minutes for full distance, 1.2 miles in 1 hour for the half. Bastards.

The last two or three times I’ve timed it and I’ve been about three or four minutes outside the time. And it is really knackering. I don’t seem to have the strength to go faster or longer.

I took the Megane in for an MOT last week, expecting to fail on a bald tyre and tracking. Given that when our Lisa gave it to me it came via the coppers, who in turn had it inspected by an official Renault garage, and they couldn’t find anything majorly wrong with it. That was only a few months ago, so I was quite optimistic.

I booked it in to the garage for the morning of my day off, then work decided I was to go in in the morning, even though it was my 2-10 week, to go out with a driver. Ball ache, but with the push bike in the boot I managed to drop it off and get to work.

I rang them later and they said that I needed a wheel bearing replaced, and a few bulbs (which, in retrospect, I know I don’t need. Hmmm.) £49. I said ‘get on it’. And the ABS fault light is on.

Since my last post I’ve been out with a driver. Quite an eye-opener it was too. Some masterfully reversing! I’m nowhere near up to that standard. It’s not just the being able to do it, which I probably could, eventually, it’s being able to so it in one attempt. The stores are on main roads, the access being down little side streets with parked cars which have to be negotiated in reverse. So that was intimidating. On the bright side I got the impression off the driver that Claire, the transport manger, was serious about getting me trained up for the job. Also, I got to have an on-the-job induction to how you are supposed to do it, and how you do it when there is not an assessor about.

I got to run through all the stuff I’ll need to know (using the tacho card, tail lift, swearing at car drivers, eating a huge breakfast from a greasy spoon, etc).

The bit I wasn’t too keen on was getting in for 5.30 (half an hour earlier than a real, paid, shift) the when we’d done the first runs Claire asking if I was going out for the second run, which would have made it a 13 hour day, unpaid!

Yesterday I took all of my new toys and gave them a work-out.

I’ve been wanting to test my level of fitness (mental as much as physical) in the only way that’s relevant; by doing a half Ironman. That is; swim 1.2 miles, (in under an hour) ride 56 miles (under 4:30) and run 13.1 miles/ half marathon (under 4 hours).

I have had a multitude of excuses why I haven’t done so to date. The snow and ice being a rather good one, then getting a day off when it was above zero degrees and when the swimming pool was open in the morning, etc etc.