Last weekend she entered her first competitive event, aged 7 (see video).

I’ve never really been into watching gymnastics, but it looks great from a participant’s point of view and I think it will do wonders for Maggie’s confidence.

It’s remarkable that young children can perform on the beam without fear and fling themselves around on the bars.

Our designated area included parts of the central business district, which Juliet had to do by herself in warm weather on working days.

The big kids disappointingly didn’t want to help us. Teenagers!

We finished most of the residential streets today. Despite cooler weather it wasn’t easy work because of carrying the books, climbing steps and distance from the car for replenishment of supplies.

A pram would have been handy. Air travel cases had to suffice.

After lunch I played cricket with Michael in the nets and bowled fast at him, finally getting a rhythm. I know I’ll be sore tomorrow and Monday.

The burst of energy came coincidentally after I visited a doctor on Friday for the first time in five years.

My blood pressure was slightly high and the doc reckons I should lose a couple of kilograms. I could have diagnosed that myself and saved the $96 consultation fee.

However, he did check the brown spots on my chest and back, and none of them are malignant for skin cancer.

When I was a child nobody worried about covering up with shirts and hats or suncream, so it’s worth checking.

Not to mention the long history of cancer in my family on both sides, which I told him about.

The only thing they can test for properly, apparently, is bowel cancer, which they normally do for people over 50.

The prostate cancer test is unreliable. Tests for skin cancer and testicular cancer are by view and touch.

“Self check below deck” is the phrase we used in Apex many years ago to promote awareness of testicular cancer. I never thought I would lose a cousin to the disease.

If you read the daily newspapers you may as well give up breathing, because everything you eat and drink is a cancer risk.

I’m not so hypochondriac and plan to enjoy what’s left of my life.

I scheduled a blood test for next week and will be interested to see how my cholesterol is going.

Despite the blood pressure, my doctor seemed to think and I agree, if the cholesterol is low I don’t have anything to worry about for the next few years at least.

If the cholesterol is elevated I will increase my exercise regime, as I did several years ago.

I have less time now, but I’ll make the time through lifestyle changes if necessary. Maybe I’ll walk to work several days a week in autumn and winter.

I walk regularly now, but need to do more to lose those few kilograms. Doc thinks I should try something different in addition to the walks.

Delivering phone books and bowling fast was a good unplanned start.

Nothing complicated. I will restrict myself to cereal, seafood, soup, fruit and vegetables for 14 days. I aim to lose 10 pounds.

The reason for writing it here is that I will be accountable to myself.

In the earlier article I described how Michael beat me over 25 metres in the pool and I bravely stated that “I would expect to hold the upper hand in athletic and cycling events for the time being”.

Well, today that theory came unstuck when he finished ahead of me in the GMF Health Fun Run. Results haven’t been posted yet, but Michael thinks he covered the 4km distance in about 18 minutes and I’m tipping 21 minutes for myself.

Last year I came sixth in the event with a time of about 19:30. There were a lot more competitors this year and I’m not as fit.

Young Michael had never run over that distance before (school cross countries are 2km for him at the moment) and had plenty of energy to spare at the finish. Next year he should complete the event in about 16 minutes, is my guess.

I ran 4km in the GMF Health event. The 10km event seemed a little intimidating given my current fitness and the warmth of the weather.

I still don’t know my time, but I feel that I pushed myself more than the speed for my 5km morning runs several times a week. I was tending to cramp after the event.

I last played hockey about 16 years ago on grass as a goalie, so fitness wasn’t critical. I decided to have a run in the field this year for general fitness and Kalgoorlie is fortunate to have a synthetic pitch, which is much faster than grass.

My skills are pretty ordinary compared with the mostly younger blokes in the team and I doubt I’ll last a full 70 minutes when the season starts, but running around for a half or so should be good fun.

The retired model is an old Repco, which Juliet bought secondhand several years ago when she thought I should work on my fitness.

It took me a couple more years before I embraced that challenge and I’ve worked the bike pretty hard since.

It was getting expensive to service the old bike and I was going through tyres every few months.

I brought it across the Nullarbor and went riding one night last week. The back wheel is poorly aligned and kept scraping against the frame.

I’m not exactly Mr Fix-it, and I realised it would probably cost $70 for a service and new tyres.

Instead of paying that I visited the local cycle shop this morning and bought a $400 new bike! It’s a silver Giant Boulder, which seems appropriate for the Kalgoorlie-Boulder goldfields.

According to the sales pitch it has reinforced wheel rims and paintwork that won’t peel or scratch. Those features set it apart from the $300 models.

I cycled up the highway north of town this morning and found it a pleasure to ride.

I’m not very accomplished at uphill riding and it’s a reminder that my fitness is limited. Still, it was good exercise. From the carpark I walked up to the summit and enjoyed the view.

The temperature was two or three degrees, but it didn’t feel cold as there wasn’t much wind. There was snow above 1500 metres. The ride back down was exhilarating.

I have a problem which two and a half years ago, with a sedentary lifestyle and 16 stone to carry around, would have been inconceivable.

I have a sore knee from running!

My left knee aches every time I go for a jog, which is usually 5km four or five times a week. The sore knee used to be occasional. It used to only happen when I ran more than 5km. And it used to feel fine again if I took a day off running.

It now hurts every day. My right knee is starting to feel a twinge as well. I’m slower than I used to be. My lower right calf hurts when I run because I’m favoring my right leg.

The pain isn’t severe and I can still run, but my enjoyment is diminished.

I’m at the point where I think I should see a doctor or physio. Do physios know about such things? I’m worried the doctor will just refer me to a specialist, who’ll want to cut me open.

My running is now something I enjoy and I don’t want to stop. Equally, I don’t fancy the idea of invasive treatment to get my left knee right again.

If anyone read this far and has advice I’d be pleased to hear it.

Juliet suggested we have pizza tonight to celebrate!

My first cholesterol test in April 2003, which triggered the start of my fitness campaign, returned a ratio score of eight.

The report gives five different results, and only the “total cholesterol” at 5.6 was marginally outside the desired range of 5.5 or less. The ratio score is the accepted indicator.

My weight this morning was 177 pounds (80kg), which means I’m about four pounds overweight according to BMI calculations for my height (5′ 10″). I’m not concerned about that, but losing the last few pounds gives me something to aim for.

Considering I exercise about one hour a day, including a half-hour run five times a week, it shows how hard I have to work now to keep a respectable weight.

I exercise more now than I did in my early 20s, and my diet is probably better, but back then I could consume anything and not put on weight!