Tube strikes. Don’t you love them. I have walked miles today. Literally. It’s good for me, I guess, and comes at the end of a week of chocolate abstinence, so I’m feeling righteous. I ache terribly, though. Not just from the walking, but from overdoing it in the gym on Monday.

I’m blaming the smelly people who came into the steam room and forced me to leave before my muscles had gone all floppy and relaxed again.

Typing is very uncomfortable.

Anyhow, there was no choice but to walk. The queues for the bus would have filled dozens of double-deckers before I even got near to one, so I dug out the free map I’d picked up from the tube staff last week and headed out west.

I couldn’t face picking my way through all the roadworks in Holborn, so cut south at St Pauls and across the river to the Tate. It looked kind of logical on the map, and it was very pleasant walking along the South Bank. I lost track of the number of artists (or art students) I passed. They were squatted all along the river bank with oversized pads of cartridge paper and soft dark pencils.

By the time I finally got to the coffee shop where the guy behind the counter winks, and carried my tea into the office it had started to rain and I was 90 minutes late.

The day feels short when you get in at that time. I wasn’t ready for lunch until mid-afternoon, and it wasn’t so long after that that it was time to start the long walk home.

I’d arranged to meet Sam in the pub so we could talk about Sunday’s show, so headed up to ITN and popped in to organise my feature for the breakfast show on the way. Very strange being in at that time on a Wednesday.

Didn’t stay long, at either ITN or the pub. With the prospect of a long walk back to Liverpool Street hanging over me, I was keen to get off. Somehow, though, I managed to take a wrong turn and added on an extra couple of kilometres, finally making it to a train over an hour later.

So, here I sit, feeling tired and achey, but I’m not in the least annoyed about the strikes.

I think we should have one every week. Sure it’s inconvenient, and yes, it probably costs the city a lot of money, but it gets us fit, too. A lot of commuters could do with a good walk twice a week and this is the ideal excuse.

It woula also be quite satisfying to see the strike come to nothing. I’d be quite happy to have the pay rise they have been offered, particularly as the starting salary for a tube driver is so good anyway. They just need to lose a few days pay without seeing any good come of it and they’ll soon start to wonder whether 3% is not so bad after all.

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