Sue's Sports Starter by Sue_Thearle

• A squash and a squeeze.....

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  May2320123:35 p.m.

  So as weeks go, I suppose you could say that mine was alright...... ahem. No really it was better than that, it was magnificent. Why? Well several reasons. I got to host a dinner at Claridges with Sir Steve Redgrave, who taught me how to row. I spent four days watching the best in the world play squash down at the O2. And to cap it all off, I had breakfast with Sir Tom Jones. And he was lovely. And just when you thought life could not get any better, I discovered a new toy at my gym which is my new favourite thing in the whole world. Unbridled joy that knows no bounds.... So where to start? I suppose it will have to be the private dining room at Claridges where I conducted a half hour interview with Sir Steve for a private party of 16. I must be honest that is not the kind of function I normally attend, but as I explained to a friend the next day, the nosebag was marvellous.

  

  And with health and fitness in mind, can I just say that I left my pudding, which was chocolate, mixed with chocolate and rounded off with a chocolate sauce....it was torture, but with summer looming, it had to be done. And I also discovered muscles in my stomach that I didn’t know existed, as Mr Redgrave decided to show me the difference between rowing and kayaking. And me in a posh frock and everything. Our greatest Olympian made me sit opposite him and encouraged me to try and pull him off his chair, just like the pull of a row boat. I was less worried about my fledgling technique and more concerned that he would let go of my hand so that I would fly off the back of my chair. Thank goodness he didn’t....

  Then I high-tailed it down to the O2, to host the British Open Squash for four days. It was a total treat to see such outstanding sport at such close quarters. The players were in terrific shape and the matches were played at astonishing speed. The audience was extremely knowledgeable and all in all I had a ball. Fact. It was though a tad cold in the evenings, as I had forgotten that we were working in what is essentially a large tent. Long days and late nights took their toll and I was knackered by Sunday morning, when I had to get up at 6am to do the news on The Andrew Marr Show. Still the promise of a hearty breakfast and a top notch cast list on the show spurred me on. One of the guests was Sir Tom Jones and to cut a long story short I found myself opposite him and next to Andrew Marr at the breakfast afterwards. Gulp.

  

  Now you know me, never short of a word or two. However, on this occasion I totally lost my appetite, nibbled intelligently on a fruit salad and sat in stunned silence for the first 10 minutes. Then I thought, arse to it, I’m just going to bombard this poor man with all the questions I ever wanted to ask. And so I did, which went very well indeed until I made a slight faux pas. I was passionately extorting the virtues of making contestants on The Voice sing the old classics. Like for instance some of Tom’s finest work. I was warming to this theme when I bellowed enthusiastically. “My kids love your old stuff. Their favourite track is What’s Up Pussycat.....” Cue long pause, and tumbleweed...... “Err I meant New Pussycat, What’s New Pussycat” I muttered apologetically. Happily we changed subject immediately and if it wasn’t for the fact my husband cried with laughter when I told him, I wouldn’t feel so bad about it....Ho Hum.

  Still every cloud has a silver lining and mine has been the discovery of the X-Dream cycle machine at the gym. It is brilliant. It’s basically a BMX type bike with a large screen in front of it and you race people on different courses on it. Predictably it took me ages to work it out and I spent about 2 minutes at the start cycling the wrong way. No really. And let’s just say had it been a real course, I wouldn’t have survived the cliff top section of the first race..... But it was all good and I loved it. Definitely to be recommended. I am a total convert. In fact that is where I am heading now. Have fun funsters, until next week, which I can assure you won't be anything like as star-studded as this one. Another errr fact...

  

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