I'm turning 22 in a few weeks time, and while I would normally write something closer to my actual birthday, I will be in Egypt and likely to be disconnected.

It's currently very cold outside and there's a sizeable quantity of ice on the driveway outside. I haven't fallen yet but it seems likely. The weather has prevented me from training much in the last week and this has probably contributed to the rather depressing state of mind I found myself in upon our return home from Mombasa. Endorphins are being sorely missed.

In any case, this trip to Mombasa was one of my best holidays yet, as always going to show it's not the place (we've been there several times previously) but the company which you keep. Some highlights from a superb trip-

• Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, a night club on the beach. You haven't been clubbing until you've been clubbing in shorts. The trance/house stage on New Year's Eve was sonic heaven.


• Jetskiing. Enough said.




• Cycling on the beach. Again, enough said.


• Attempting to create my own cocktail using the all-inclusive bars' meagre selection of local spirits. In the end becoming addicted to the non-alcoholic Shirley Temple.


• Playing waterpolo against another hotel. Touching the ball about twice.


• Not sleeping a whole lot because of the less-than-opaque curtains and the early sunrise.


• An entertaining musical rendition of the Lion King just an hour before midnight on 31st December, followed by a countdown on the beach.

 
In addition, we had some fun trying to travel this holiday season-

• Our flight out was delayed by nearly an hour. We would have missed our connecting domestic flight in Nairobi had we not checked in online. Our delay resulted in the flight from Nairobi to Mombasa being delayed by nearly an hour and a half.


• Our return flight from Mombasa to Nairobi was diverted from Nairobi back to Mombasa because of an obstruction on the runway. When we reached Mombasa, the news came that Nairobi was now clear again, we refuelled and went back again. A 45 minute flight took 3 hours or so.


• Our flight leaving Nairobi was delayed by half an hour, resulted in a near miss of our connection in Amsterdam. This near miss caused half of our baggage being sent on a later flight. 2 hours later.

 
Much of the trip I spent in the company of younger friends and for the first time in my life, I am approaching a birthday with some regret for the fact that I'm getting older. By the time this decade comes to pass, it's shocking to think that my friends and I will be thirty. Anyone who knows me well knows how much I value my individuality and I worry that after the travelling stops and work begins, that's the end of my 'interesting' self.

This fear is, rationally thinking, unfounded. I've met some incredibly fascinating people who work and in any case, work is a necessary part of life. On the other hand though, many of my friends who've started work post graduation seem noticeably different - the weary way they now speak and their constant lack of time. At a recent dinner party, I turned up in a t-shirt and was shocked to see most of my peers wearing some combination of button-up shirts, sweaters and jackets. I don't want to fall into that future, where my friends in their early twenties could have passed for adults in their mid to late tenties.

In short, I want to escape the maturation curve. So if you see me wearing a shirt under a sweater before 2020, you'd better hope there's a good reason for it.

The Tour D'Afrique is a fairly substantial physical challenge, and I've tried my hardest to train appropriately. Unfortunately, my travel plans of the last three months (i.e. living in India) have made that difficult. In addition, for those keeping track of my injuries, sometime just over a couple of weeks ago, I dislocated my right shoulder for the fifth time. It reset itself as I was strapped into the stretcher on the way down from the piste.

This is a recurring problem - despite surgery to 'fix' the problem. This was the first dislocation since the surgery so it is the question of concern is whether any further permanent damage has been done. My shoulder consultant has recommended for an arthroscopic MRI next week, so I'll report back once the results are through. With any luck though, it'll just be a case of physiotherapy. If it has been damaged then more surgery may be necessary.

It has since returned to a fairly normal state and I've been trying as hard as I can to train in Mombasa, whilst enjoying the full range of the resort's buffet meals.

Jogging on the beach-
Painful! I was using trainers that aren't really running trainers - gave this up pretty quickly after a combination of foot pain and late nights meant that early morning runs were unfeasible.

Gym-
The resort had a reasonable array of exercise equipment to use and I visited it about five times, for about 1 to 2 hours. Concentrated mainly on the recumbent bicycle and treadmill - the normal cycle had an incredibly painful saddle. My shoulder ached a bit on the treadmill after a while but once I started correcting my posture, it was much more comfortable.
Pressups and core exercises were a bit more wobbly but doable in slightly smaller sets of repetitions.

Tennis-
Raquet sport is an obvious danger area for shoulder injuries and I approached the game with fair caution. There was no pain though, and the only issue was a slight loss of fine control since the ligaments in my shoulder are now looser than normal. In actual fact, my forehand stroke seemed smoother as a result.

Cycling-
We managed to borrow some hard tail mountain bikes from a family friend. Cycling on the beach was quite difficult - I can see sandy surfaces becoming quite problematic. Cycling on the (decent) Kenyan road outside the resort was smooth - although the occasional potholes and speed bumps mean that some kind of suspension is desirable. I locked out the front fork to gain an idea of how my rigid cyclocross bike would fare and am quite happy that I invested in a suspension seatpost now! The heat is also going to be an issue - in the middle of afternoon, my shirt was quickly soaked after about five minutes of riding at my usual pace. Will definitely have to look into hydration packs this week.