I’m probably not the only one trying to catch a glimpse of Christmas through the telescope. And I also suspect others have already aligned the crosshairs and laser sight on it.

Work hasn’t exactly piled up these last couple of days, but I’m starting to wish for the end of term already. School on Saturdays means that the word “weekend” doesn’t offer much in terms of consolation; indeed, after this one, I’ll have to think of some way to mentally make it through the academic wall, which typically surfaces two to three weeks before the end of term. (Kind of like Heartbreak Hill at Boston.)

Yesterday morning it was 125 pressups in the absence of students. I also curled 3x15 reps using the hi-hat cymbal (and stand) – I should take some pictures to prove it’s possible. In the evening it was 20 minutes of no-nonsense stepping; hard all the way through. It wasn’t because I’d engineered it to be that way, or felt like going all out, but simply because I was watching Alias as I stepped and hence couldn’t be bothered to do the 45-by-15s. Thankfully, after about 15 minutes the heart rate was at 75-80% - a redeeming bonus. For me, that effort felt equivalent to doing 3 miles at 7:30mins per mile. I get the feeling that cardio sessions like these – indoors, on the stepper, watching DVDs - are going to feature a bit more prominently as we head into the winter.

My work-life-exercise balance hasn’t exactly been wonderful these days. You’ll see what I mean if you take a look at the piles of books and papers strewn over the floor in our spare room – thank goodness we’ve got one, and isn’t nicknamed “The Stable” for nowt (Yorkshire for “nothing”). And if I were making a list of 100 things about me, one horrible fact you wouldn’t want to know about me is that “I sometimes wear a suit to work - not because I care about my appearance, but because the jacket hides the unironed shirt. And the tie tries to blot out as much of the remaining exposed triangle.”

In the spirit of Thou shalt not blog some other things , I shall spare thee.

Other exercise-related stuff: I’ve been doing calf-raises on a 2¾” block of wood, and it’s definitely doing something. While my calves are certainly no match for the champion's - mine are more "kid ass" than "kick ass" at the moment - no one can accuse me of having sparrow’s ankles.

My last student's cancelled on me so I shall head for the stable and try to reclaim a bit of my life back. Ever have a room at yours where all the crap gets shoved into?