Tuesday, May 1: I started the month with an early morning half marathon-training workout: back, biceps, lats, traps, forearms, sit-ups, some skipping, and 20 minutes on a steep treadmill:

Wednesday, May 2: My third early-morning workout in a row (that's a record) consisted of chest, shoulders, triceps, skipping, and another 20 minutes on a steep treadmill:

Friday, May 4: 15 kilometers on my favorite cross-trainer followed by a lot of skipping, perhaps too much skipping as a calf injury was about to strike:

Another sore throat heralded in the new month and the cold that followed kept me from exercising until the 7th. I hate being sick. I know eveyone says that, but I hate being sick more.

Saturday, April 7: A back, biceps, traps, lats, and legs workout to celebrate my almost full recovery.

Monday, April 8: Finally felt well enough to return to the cross-trainer and the resulting 50-minute workout. It felt like I sweated more than and I was glad to realize when I finished that my cold hadn't affected my cardio fitness much at all:

Tuesday, April 9: A short sharp chest, shoulders, and triceps workout, my first in what feels like a very long time. 

My first Alexandre Desplat piece is the charming and beautifully crafted theme from The King's Speech. I liked it when I first heard it and playing only increased my enjoyment and appreciation of the piece. I did; however, take some liberties with the arrangement, simplifying it where necessary. You'll notice my right hand stops playing the piano at the 45 second mark until the main theme returns^^. The right hand part for those bars isn't difficult, but I just couldn't get my hands working together. I needed another week or two of practice, but I was eager to start working on my next pieces....

Saturday, March 3: March's fitness campaign kicked off a couple of days late on the third, but I made up for the lack of exercise with a super intense cardio cross-trainer workout followed by a legs weights workout!

Tuesday, March 5: Hardest workout in years and my friend and colleague Jeff witnessed it so ask him if you don't believe me. Fifty super intense cross-trainer minutes followed by a back, biceps, traps, sides, abs, lower back and calves!

Wednesday, March 6: Shoulders , triceps, and chest (in that crazy order) followed by a rareish treadmill session to test out my often injured calf muscles. All good:

February 1: I began February by listening to "Streets of Manhatten", the opening piece from Superman 3 by Ken Thorn, which incorporates snippets of John Williams' theme from the original film. But most of the piece is Ken Thorn's own music and it's a very fun upbeat piece complete with classical flourishes. A nice piece to start a day on. Next up was Spirited Away (the OST and Image Album) which I Iistened to while walking to and from work, noticing for the first time some very beautiful moments and nice variations particularly in the Image Album.

This one's dedicated to my two beloved American nephews, James and Tommy Daley...

Thursday, February 2: I started the month with 45 minutes on a cross-trainer, a piece of equipment I haven't used in I think over three years. A slight calf strain from the tradmill and too much running prompted the switch to the easier-on-the-joints cross-trainer. That was preceded by a pretty intense back, traps, lats, and biceps workout:

Friday, February 3: An early morning core (abs, sides, and lower back) workout. And I walked to the gym and then home again after work if that counts as exercise.

Saturday, February 4: On the cross-trainer again for a gruelling 50-minute workout followed by a few sets of legs exercises:

January 1 – 11: The music of Alexandre Desplat started this year of 2012 off musically in the Australian city of Adelaide. A browse through a music store there resulted in my revisiting Desplat’s score for The King’s Speech (2010), which features a lovely piano theme, a piece I definitely will try playing sometime very soon. This is what I'm talking about: