That said, I'm a very outdoorsy kind of person, so chilling out tends to involve a lot of physical activity, preferably in the open air. I'm hitting 40 this year and perhaps I'm in the middle of a midlife crisis but I've taken to exercise with a vengeance.

When I stopped playing rugby I did nothing for five years but now I try to run or cycle to work . . . it's amazing the effect that gridlock has had on me. I like the fact that it's green and I'm doing something for myself too.

Last Sunday I spent with a couple of friends doing the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon. We swam one-anda-half miles from the island to the shore, then ran for two miles, cycled for 18 and ran for another six. Shattering but fun.

I'm involved in a charity triathlon in Athlone on 14 July . . .

it's a fundraiser for Respect, the Marie Keating Foundation and Crumlin Children's Hospital.

All this keeping fit I suppose has to do with the kids. I have two daughters, aged six and nine, and I don't want to be a couch potato kind of parent. I want to get stuck in and do whatever they're doing, which is why you might see someone bearing more than a passing resemblance to Shrek trying to learn how to rollerskate in the Phoenix Park of a Sunday morning. The girls think it's hysterical.

In the winter I take them skiing in Kilternan . . . once the Christmas hysteria is over we try to get to the snow as often as we can.

I live in Castleknock and we often go to Farmleigh on Sunday for coffee or lunch after mass. I love it there . . .

it's a bit of countryside in the middle of the city. The girls play and I'll read the paper for a bit.

In the afternoon we might barbecue at home before vegging out in front of a movie. I don't watch much television so I wouldn't be one for following a series but when Britain's Got Talent was on we were all hooked.

Today is a different kind of Sunday because, along with some of the watch brands that we work with, like Tag Heuer, Breitling, Dior, Ebel, IWC, Zenith and Franck Muller, I'm hosting an enclosure at the Budweiser Derby for 180 guests including Grainne Seoige, Caroline Morahan and Pamela Flood.

It's a way of saying thank you to some of our best customers and having a day out at the same time.

The Derby's always a glamorous event so it's a good fit for us. I'm praying for good weather. We have the Soul Shakers coming in from the UK to make cocktails and there will be lobster and traditional Italian fare and a live jazz band.

There'll be plenty of champagne too.

Later on we'll continue the party at Ronan Ryan and Temple Garner's new restaurant, South. It'll be a very different day to my usual Sunday.