We struggled last Saturday morning as we have lately, to wake up on a Saturday morning. It was cold and the warm bed had a lure too good to give up. Elysia had told us the night before that she wanted to be at Dymock’s at 9am to pick up her copy of JK Rowling’s latest offering. It was 7.30am when I told myself to wake up. As usual I succeeded only after a long and considerable tug of war. The one good thing about these cold, Saturday mornings is that I feel a lot more wanted by the wife. She’d clutch on tight and I’d feel like the world’s most desirable man. Ebbing gum notwithstanding. Of course I could be Shrek and she’d still clutch on. “It was the warmth” I told myself, and came down to earth almost instantly. Still, I couldn’t just yank myself off her hug and leave her to a cold Shrek-less bed. So I lingered on, and listened to Darren on the radio. We have been listening to him on Saturday mornings lately. Darren (or it could be Darryl, we were always cold and half-asleep) hosts an entertaining garage sale type of program on 3AW, and we have him on to wake us up. A lady called in to say her husband was already at work, and it was 7 degrees outside. I suddenly felt very sluggish. I told the wife I’d go put the kettle on to make her a cup of tea, and reluctantly pried open her clutches. I stumbled into the kitchen, and got ready to have some coffee and go for a run. Though cold, it was a sunny morning. By 8.30am it was obvious Elysia wasn’t going to let JK Rowling pull her out from her warm bed, so I told the wife I was going for my run. She mumbled something about letting myself in when I’m done (she was taking Elysia out, not sleeping in) and off I went. It was a beautiful morning. My now once-a-week run is taking longer and longer to settle into a rhythm, but by the time I crossed Coleman Parade about 10-15 minutes later, my strides had more purpose and flow to them. I went up the slight slope towards Glen Waverley Station, went behind my office around Myrtle Way, and headed into Kingsway and when I reached the cafes on Kingsway I could feel a few beads of sweat forming on my brow just under the beanie. This felt good. It was just passed 25 minutes, and I sighed at the much slower pace of almost 6 minutes a km lately. I made my way up Kingsway, into Snedden Drive and towards High Street Road. I cut in behind the apartments just behind the Glen Waverley Secondary College, got into High Street Road and made my way onto the flattening terrain with a push. This is where the slope eases off for a while, maybe the next 10 minutes. After a slightly downhill stretch, I turned into Blackburn Road on the right, making my way towards Highbury Road. As I have done for the past 3 weeks, after I passed the last remaining slope of the route, I turned into Delmore Crescent for a detour to look at some houses. On house we had been eyeing had the “Sold” sign still, resolutely displayed. Hmmm… I turned back into Blackburn Road, crossed the street and as I passed the “slip road” of Red Rooster on the corner of Blackburn and Highbury Roads, I kept my eye on the Tally Ho reserve road. Passed it on 48 minutes. This was better than last week, but still slow. I have 12 minutes to make an 8-minute distance. What the heck – I slowed down to enjoy the sunny but crispy cold air. I barely finished stretching when the wife opened the door and with Elysia, looked all dressed to keep the appointment with Harry. “Give me 15 minutes” I said in between breaths and tore off my beanie, gloves, fleecy top and socks. I jumped into the hot shower. Ahhh…I’m ready for this weekend now.  So was Elysia, it would seem, as we picked up the book and she dived in and submerged herself before emerging some 6 hours later to proclaim the awful turn of events for Professor Dumbledore.