29th January: Everybody's free to wear sunscreen

Got a call from my dad this week, to tell me that he had been diagnosed with skin cancer... Thankfully early enough and of a type that can be easily cut away and cured with creams. My grandad, his dad, also had skin cancer. This was put-down to the years he spent out in the North African desert, Greece and Italy during WWII and the lack of knowledge at that time about keeping yourself protected from the sun's rays. My dad played cricket each summer up until around 10 years ago when injury forced him to retire, so he was always out in the summer under the sun's rays for hours at a time. When he played he always wore a hat to protect himself, but he believes it is all the hours of practice in the 'nets' he used to do without a hat, the hours of pottering around gardening and also the running he used to do during his lunch hours at work when younger and in the mornings before he left for work later on as his work changed.

Knowing that my dad has been diagnosed, as his dad was before him, puts me at a high potential hereditory risk of having the same occur to me, so it seems that I need to be extra careful about covering-up my head whilst running, although the damage may well have already been done ready to bite me on the arse in 30 years time!.. With all this it brought to mind the Baz Luhrmann's interpretation to music of the essay from the Chicago Tribune by Mary Schmich: Everybody's free to wear Sunscreen well worth a listen, and the lyrics and sentiment only seem to ring more true the older you get.

I think I need to sort out a running hat.

Training this week consisted of more swimming and a bit if cycling. I went on a new route that took me in to the countryside bordering the South Downs. It struggled to get much above freezing, but there were plenty of cyclists out and about. I gave up counting at 50! it was a mix of groups of friends out and about, serious club cyclists in speeding pelotons and the solo rider - all of them seeming to be out on very expensive road bikes. I think the roads I was on are popular for their remote quiet nature and the views around. For the first time in a long time I got a puncture whilst riding, which was not fun repairing in the numbing cold... A puncture that kept refusing to sort itself out, so it took far longer to complete the ride than I anticipated. Having said that I was very impressed with the cameraderie of my fellow cyclists. As I was there fixing the puncture both cyclists who passed me slowed down and stopped asking if all was ok and needed anything to help with the fix. Fortunately I cycle with the necessary repair gear so I was fine, but I must remember this unwritten rule of the cyclists code... Having said this when I was in the XT Duathlon last year, I did the same to someone who had a puncture - who declined my offer as he had already written his 'race' off.