Its Friday and perilously close to Christmas. Its time to collect the turkey and other goodies for the festive meals. I get up and do breakfast and meds before driving my partner and I to the local garden centre to collect our festive flesh. After picking up the turkey, mincemeat, sausage rolls and pork pie we move onto the vegetable stall. We are well loaded with food now to which we add a box of crackers. We are a head of schedule so we indulge in scones and hot chocolate. It is all the more pleasing to have got this done quickly as it is absolutely pissing down with rain.

We get home via the garage to fill the car. The goodies get stowed away and its warm drinks all round. There is some Christmas and life admin to be done. My partner and my youngest daughter disappear to the kitchen to bake. A little later there are fresh mince pies and jam tarts to be sampled.

I try to put of the dreaded moment that I need to train to one side but eventually I can’t put it off. I change into my kit and make for the garage. Its a 45 minute session on my lower resistance level. It goes reasonably well in a chilly garage.

I record the session and then change into TV watching clothes. The family eat tea and indulge in some more of the home baking. We then settle down to an evening of quiz programmes including the impossible Only Connect. Then its on to a thriller type thing, Enola Holmes with Millie Bobby Brown, before night meds and bed. Today seems a bit “thin” but I guess that’s what Christmas is about, a kind of non thinking indulgence and sloth fest. Friends are all busy with family, new homes and the last minute rush of Christmas preparations. For me and mine it is a gentle 24 hours before we take a Christmas dinner to my partners mother so our Christmas day will be on Boxing day.