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Mile

Diving inYesterday (30/3/16) I swam a mile.

Not the first time I have swam a mile – I have breast-stroked my way up and down Shepton Lido before – but the first time I have swum a mile, non-stop, front crawl. Swam it in 38 mins 37 secs.

Went for my 4 o’clock swim, sans Sam who had somehow persuaded us not to go that day, jumped in and set off. It was not busy and a sense of calm enveloped me as a began to plough up and down the lane.

With no Sam, I soon decided I would swim 36 instead of my normal 30 lengths – I’ve done this a few times.  I then figured doing another 4 lengths to take it to 40 would be no big deal. And then the thought began to crystallise in my head: if you are doing 40, another 8 lengths isn’t much to ask to take you to the magical mile. And so I decided to do so. I did, however, waver at 24 lengths – at this point I would normally be thinking about ramping up my pace for the last few lengths, but now I realised it was only half way. I trekked on, was soon in the thirties and the mile was in touching distance.  I kept going and was soon there.

I don’t think “mile-ing” will become the norm (Sam wouldn’t have the patience to wait!) but would like to do a mile on a reasonably regular basis. Perhaps once a month? And after a mile, what next? The two obvious challenges are 60 lengths (2 Km) and swimming for an hour. Who knows? My knee remains a bit dodgy so still not pounding the pavement, and I do enjoy my swimming at the moment.

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Sunshine on a rainy day


Track of the week 27/3/16
A mix of sun & showers today made this an appropriate tune for track of the week.

Always reminds me of my first few weeks of IOT (basic training when I joined the RAF). I have a recollection of this belting out through the block one Sunday afternoon after we had got back from some march/run/nav ex through the local Lincolnshire countryside. Have always liked the song since. Happy days!

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Deck & Trellis

Deck 1Pick of the week 27/3/16

Two for the price of 1 this week!

(Deck & Trellis – sounds like the name of a pub)

A beautiful day on Friday (Good Friday), first day of my hols, and an opportunity to begin building my deck. The pic above just shows the planning phase – at this stage nothing has been dug, or fixed.  By the end of the day the first three pads were in place and the joists cut to size. Then, the next day, the rain came and outdoor work has been delayed since.

trellisAlso included this pic of me taking down a trellis panel as the deck will just overhang the bed.  Removing it should connect the two halves of the garden into one space.  Hopefully, when all is completed, one would forget that the trellis was ever there, so I though it important to include a pic of its destruction as a reminder of what went before.

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Bonjour!

French FlagOne of my goals, targets and aims was to swim the channel. Since writing those targets I’ve had some doubts as to how far I actually need to swim.  I surpassed the 960 lengths I originally calculated a week or so ago but I now don’t think it far enough.

Anyway, I am now claiming to have reached France, having swum 1064 lengths, which equates to 35.1 Km or 21.9 miles.  The official minimum swim distance is 21 miles, so I reckon I’ve done it.

Loving the swimming at the moment, typically swim 30 lengths in circa 23mins 30 ish secs.  It seems to ease my knee injury, I reckon I’ve swum more because I’ve run less, and our lack of plumbing over half term meant swimming every day which added to the distance.

Suppose I’d better turn round and swim back now! 5,000 lengths in the calendar year? Now that’s a (new) challenge.

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Gate

GatePick of the week 13/3/16

Spent a part of the day putting up our gate. Rather proud of the end result.

Blue skies, too! Perhaps Spring is bouncy its way along.

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Mother’s Day

Becky Sophie and SamPick of the week 6/3/16

Mother’s day – my two children with their Mum.

(Looking a bit like a GAP advert against the sheer white of our new kitchen!)

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Alive and Kicking


Track of the week 6/3/16

Mother’s Day and it was apt that this popped up in my youTube stream.

Although, I believe, meant as a love song, I always think of my Mum when I hear this – who was going to make things right when they went wrong, who would lift you to the top so you could see, and, should it all fall through, who’d take you home? Mum.

What you gonna do when things go wrong?
What you gonna do when it all cracks up?
What you gonna do when the Love burns down?
What you gonna do when the flames go up?
Who is gonna come and turn the tide?
What’s it gonna take to make a dream survive?
Who’s got the touch to calm the storm inside?
Who’s gonna save you?
Alive and Kicking

One of my all time favourite songs, and all the more so now as it reminds of my Mum, what a great lady she was, and right that we (I) remember her with such a positive, powerful and uplifting song, as that is how  I remember her.