It has been a most interesting week, most notable for various major sporting events on television that I have tried to catch in between maintaining a regular schedule.

The tennis at Wimbledon has been the highest profile event of the last fortnight and finished on Sunday afternoon with Roger Federer claiming a record breaking 15th Grand Slam title. My man, Andy Murray reached the semi finals for the first time but came up just short in his bid to defeat American Andy Roddick on Friday evening. That lowered the tone a little for the weekend but didn't stop my enjoyment of the other events. I had actually hoped to get down to Wimbledon this year to walk round and view a few of the top names in action during the first week of play. Unfortunately I couldn't justify travelling down to London without having a ticket, knowing that up to 10,000 people were queuing outside just to get access to the complex. I guess I'll have to wait until next year or perhaps see if I can venture out to New York for the US Open come September but that looks unlikely at this stage.

The Tour de France went better with Mark Cavendish storming home to a stage victory on the second day. This was followed by an evening of darts with the final of the Las Vegas Desert Classic which saw Phil Taylor edge out Raymond Van Barneveld in an epic encouter that went right to the wire. I'm really enjoying the Sky Sports coverage of darts at the moment as the game has really come to life with more characters and a quick fire approach to playing that keeps things interesting for viewers. It's another example of taking something old and tired that people find disinteresting and then modernising to transform it into something more involving and eye catching for the audience.

On a personal note I'd like to share a little success in regards of my own fitness. In the not so distant past I was weighing in at 14.4 st/200 lbs/~97 Kg. My attitude was such that I could look in the mirror and justify myself with a comment about being 'bigger built' but still fit because I played five a side football twice a week. In reality I looked horrific. Obvious excess weight, large size in clothes etc. etc. Thankfully through running I've been able to drag myself back to where I was around the time I left school. My last weigh in came back with 12.5 st/173 lbs/~78.5 Kg which is a massive step to getting back on form. The big bonus is that I've managed to drag myself down through the 'overweight' section of the BMI chart and into the high end of the 'good' area. Hopefully with a little more conditioning I can solidify myself in this area. I also feel that I look a good deal better in terms of healthiness.

I couldn't have achieved this alone though. Motivation to get started and keep going at solo activities is hard to come by and I found mine through LiveStrong. My brother started this by buying me a bright yellow Nike t-shirt with the word printed across the chest in black. At first I was mortified by the idea of wearing bright yellow as I'd stick out a mile walking down the street with it on. Then I realised that was the idea, so I went online and bought the baseball cap to match. Now when I go out running I ensure that I'm wearing something baring the logo as if it is an essential part of why I run. I believe that if one person notices the word LiveStrong and takes the time to look it up then I've achieved a little something. The idea of making some sort of difference no matter how small is enough to motivate me to keep going.

This leads me nicely into an update on what I've been buying lately. Given that I only have one decent running t-shirt, I have ordered two more and another baseball cap. This time in white though. I also spent £500 renewing my season ticket for the football despite the fact we are awful an no longer in the top division. I guess like everything else I'm not going to give it up just because there has been a minor bump in the road. I've been thinking ahead a little too and decided to buy some winter wear while the prices are lower. So far I've bought an Oakley beanie but I may add to it with boots and gloves before the summer is out. I'm also eyeing up some gear for the Adidas - Porsche design range however the prices seem a little excessive despite how stylish I believe the range looks. ie £85 for a t-shirt!

On the photography front I have more pictures sitting on my harddrive that need a little post processing before I can share them. Nothing majorly new I'm afraid. I was a little disappointed with some of the ducks etc in the previous batch so I went out during the day this time and snapped a few more shots. Sadly nothing outstanding but I'll get them up so people can judge for themselves. On the plus side I final achieved one of my early goals by getting a long range shot of a crow sitting in the branches of a tree. I'm slowly working towards shooting an inflight shot of something but at the moment I'm miles away in terms of skill level. I might also share an image of the Doo'Cot, something I had no idea existed until a few days ago.

I'm in need of a little direction when it comes to post processing actually. Shooting in RAW, I know I have to spend time fiddling with Levels, Curves, Colours etc however I'm clueless when it comes to framing wildlife images. I've grasped the basics such as giving the subject room to move in the frame so it doesn't feel 'boxed in' but I still see my images as lacking something. Does anyone have any advice or links to anywhere that does? A good tutorial or two would be handy.

No Burn Notice on TV last week! I'm not a big fan of these 'off weeks' where my shows are missing as it leaves a gap in my schedule that I usually fill with doing nothing. Looking at the TV Guide I can clearly see there's nothing on in the next couple of months that I'd want to watch. In a way this is useful as it is the summer and it means I'll likely spend more time outdoors instead!

That being said I do find ways to exercise indoors these days. My addiction to EA Sports' Grand Slam Tennis on the Wii continues to the point that if, and I usually do, have a spare 30 minutes at night I'll go strike up a rally with the CPU or someone over the internet. I'm also quite into the Wii Ski & Snowboard thing that allows you to use the Wii Fit balance board. It isn't much of a game but more of a relaxing way to work out and have a little fun. Really enjoying the Wii at the moment as you don't have to be seriously into computer games to get enjoyment out of it.

Right, time to go because I've gone beyond boring this time.