"I thought I just needed a night's sleep, but it’s more than that."

Apologies in advance for the blog cross-pollination; I won't write about LEJOG here again until it's over, I promise.

I really haven't been writing much on here of late. Posts that have surfaced have been mostly one-liners to accompany an embed of some sort, be it a photograph or a YouTube video. At least the latter has kept some of blog themes ticking over but, really, they're going to attract or even retain readers for long, are they?

So why the (relative) silence?

Well, I've just been ... busy. And running myself into the ground. Yes, I'm still working from home, and that undoubtedly has its perks ... but it also means you're surrounded, non-stop, by all the home/life stuff that you're supposed to be doing. I can't look out of my current "office" window without a continual reminder of the unholy mess the garden is in. I can't get a cup of tea without walking past the room that is permanently in a state of redecoration, or without walking up and down the stairs that mock me with their squeaks, creeks and that one loose board. Every weekend I write myself a list of things I must do in that precious 48 hour window, and every Monday I look back the list and see that only half of it has been ticked off. And all of this is on top of being a father and a partner, two roles that I place far, far above work and the house/garden.

And then, of course, the elephant in the room. In less than twenty weeks, I shall be setting off on my bike to cycle from Land's End to John O'Groats, in just nine days. So any and every spare moment I have right now, I should be on a bike, either for real, outside, or virtually, on my turbo trainer. It's continual, and it's draining. I'm at the point of not really seeing how I could be cycling more than I currently am, what with, you know, life being in the way ... and I am still not doing anything like enough to be properly ready for the physical onslaught of 980 miles, of more than 52,500ft of elevation. But short of taking a sabbatical from work, I genuinely don't know how I can do more.

Look, it's all for a good cause. I'm trying to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society, and any sponsorship, big or small, is so very welcome, thank you. So very motivating too, and that's what I need most because, until September, I might not be posting much here of any merit... until September, like Llewyn Davis, I'm just going to be tired...