Catch Up ......

Oh blimey, another catch-up day but in my defence we have been exceptionally busy over the last few days.  Today I did my second 10k race but I am going to write up about that in another post.  Anyway, catching up:

Thursday:  Didn't run with Rommel this morning as I was anticipating going out with the running club tonight and doing interval training.  It wasn't until later in the afternoon that I remembered Other Half was taking Son One to the circus so I was going to miss running club as I was going to have to stay home with Son Two.  I was really annoyed with myself at the missed opportunity. 

Friday: Half a day at work today as it's Super Supper Club night!  Took Rommel for our early morning run, half day work (finishing at 12 - hurrah) and then took Rommel out again in the afternoon before setting off for Weymouth.  We had a lovely run, we did get lost a couple of times but ended up finding a great off-road loop that I reckon is probably around the 4-mile mark (although, with getting lost, we did around 6 miles).  I should be able to use this route in the mornings now instead of a straight up and down as I find that type of run exceptionally boring. 

Super Supper Club was as great as usual but this time made even more memorable by the return of our founder member who we haven't seen for 7 years since she emigrated to Wales.  It was a fantastic but very late night .... bed time didn't arrive until 3.30am and I was awake again at 8.00am so the drive back was a bit of a strain.  However, the night made the drive worth it and we have been super organised and not only have the next date booked in but the next three, culminating in the Christmas night.  Oh, and SSC is going on tour in September as we are all visiting Lindsey in Wales.  Very excited.

Saturday: Got back to Wiltshire around lunch time and then had to set off again at 5.00pm for another night out; I told you this week was all go.  Got back around midnight and with getting up again with Son Two at 5.30am, this did not bode well for Sunday's race - more on that later.

On other news this week, I got my Garmin Forerunner 305 and I was uber excited.  Obv.  Several price comparison sites pointed me in the direction of Halfords as being the cheapest place to get one at £129.  The only store that appeared to have any in stock was Taunton and, as luck would have it Mum was going to Taunton that very day.  I reserved it, Mum bought it and then sent it to me so that it arrived Wednesday.  I didn't get to open it until I got home from work and it was with great excitement that I opened the packing.  My first thought was that the box didn't look in that good condition for a new item but put it down to it having being delivered by Royal Mail.  However, on investigating further ie. opening the box, my suspicions were raised even higher and finally confirmed when I turned the unit on.  They were trying to fob me off with an ex-display!!  The watch had clearly been used, it had a load of running stats on there and had even been set up with the user's personal details.  To say that I was livid would be putting it mildly but as it was gone 8pm by now there was very little I could do about it.  Thursday morning found me ready to do battle with Halfords as there was no way I was prepared to pay full price for an ex-display and no way I was going to return it all the way to Taunton for an exchange / refund.  I have to say the wind was knocked out of my sails a bit when the manager proved to be very reasonable and promised to identify a brand new item and then have it couriered to my local store for an exchange.  However, after several phone calls backwards and forwards, it turns out that Halfords have no brand new stock in hand and, as a discontinued item, no way of getting any more in.  Therefore, they have either offered to refund me or I can have the next model, the Garmin Forerunner 405cx, for the same price.  Really torn about what to do, the 405cx's reviews are not as good as the 305 but I think most people are complaining about the touch screen on it and I'm not sure the complaints are justified.  Whilst I'm pretty pissed off with Halfords trying to fob me off with what is clearly not a new model I'm happy with the service they are offering now that the problem has been bought to their attention.  Having said that I have learnt a valuable lesson in that, in future, when I buy an electrical item I want to collect it myself as checking the contents of the box would've been the first thing I did before leaving the vicinity of the shop.  These things are sent to try us eh?