That's what friends are for...

Monday night I was still in Dundee. Invited by my colleague to his house for dinner, I didn't want to disappoint. After the afternoon meetings, I went back to my hotel, dumped my bag and rushed to Tesco to buy some suitable plonk. I think it was on the walk back that I started to feel queasy, but I put it down to tiredness caused by jet lag. I got back to my room again and answered emails and worked on some reports, still feeling a bit off, stomach cramping a bit, that sort of thing. Didn't really think much of it, in fact I made myself tea and ate several ginger cookies while I surfed the net.



David picked me up around 7:30pm. I decided that his car had a distinctly funny smell -- nonedescript animal, something between pig and hen, definitely enough to turn ones stomach. he took me the long way to show me the coast and the sand dunes. By the time he reached the house I was feeling a bit green. I was greatful for the offer of a pre-dinner G&T, which I thought might settle my stomach. Instead I found myself unable to pay attention to the subject of discussion -- whether the regulations for human-animal hybridization were the same in Canada as the UK. There was a bill under debate in the House of Commons that evening. My palms were sweating and my stomach was doing hurdles. Finally, I had to admit there was something wrong, and with a hasty -- "where's the bathroom, I feel weird" -- I threw myself at the toilet.



Of course, David's wife would happen to be a microbiologist. She was totally embarrased by the thought that I had been food poisoned by the local fare -- although as David said, it was lucky I threw up before dinner, otherwise she would have been mortified in case it was her cooking. he blamed the pub lunch, and I tend to agree. I don't eat meat, so why I thought that liver and onions was a good idea is beyond me. The nice thing from all that was I realised that over the years working with colleagues, some of them become good friends. Such good friends that it really doesn't matter if you choose to throw up at their house.



This week was supposed to be eating carbohydrates to boost my glycogen levels. I think that was why I ate liver and onions -- for the iron, not the carbs. Instead I threw up until my knees were shaky standing and climbing a flight of stairs at Edinburgh airport was near impossible. Not a great start to pre-half marathon week.