• England

    Dry January Just Gets Harder

    It’s more difficult for me to do dry January than it is for most people. I should explain. You see, as a younger adult, I spent many years dealing with the emotional trauma of being an Olympic athlete trapped in a beer drinker’s body. I overcame that burden with a new year resolution somewhere around 2002 to never again visit a gym: a resolution that I am proud to have maintained ever since. It was my father who introduced me to beer when I was a teenager, in fact I celebrated my 18th birthday in our local pub, with Dad and other regulars, three years in a row in the…

  • England,  Europe,  Walking

    Dry January And Wet Walks

    Well, it came about like this. When we returned from our 9-week tour of Turkey towards the end of November, we had spent 14 of the preceding 18 weeks out of the UK, bathed in sunshine and lapping up wonderful places, enjoying great food and partaking in the odd sunset beer or two. Put simply, we’d gained a few pounds – not a lot, but enough to make us feel like we wanted to shed them and get a bit fitter, and so for the first 28 days back in the country we ate healthily and abstained from all alcohol. This kind of gave us the incentive to try “dry…