… my musings on, er, "stuff"
Wednesday 6th July 2016 – Swam 3K in 1 hour 5 min 25 secs
It just felt right. Pool was relatively empty, time was on my side and I just decided to keep plodding on for 90 lengths.
Took over an hour – am amazed that I can swim (front crawl) constantly for more than an hour. The hardest thing is just copping with the time in the pool (i.e. not getting bored!) than the physical. Will do it again sometime. Chuffed that I’ve done it.
I have a new distance – 72 lengths, or 1.5 miles. First swam it on Wednesday 29 June ’16, was ploughing up and down the lanes and I felt on fire (if you can be on fire in a swimming pool!) so did a bit of mental maths to determine what was a sensible extension to 6o lengths and came up with 72 lengths, or 1.5 miles.
Have swum it three times now, time about 51 ish minutes. Once you get to the sixty lengths of 2K, adding another 12 is no big deal, and that’s the mindset that has seen me hit this target. Last summer, I’d do twenty lengths, soon added another 4 to make it half a mile. I think it was the start of the Christmas hols that I pushed myself to 30 length – 1K – and I was chuffed with that. 30 lengths now just seems like a walk in the park. Small increments every time.
So what next? The logical next step would be 90 lengths – 3K. That would involve swimming for over an hour – quite a big physiological step, but a goal to aim for before the end of the summer hols …
Track of the week 3/7/16
The summer holidays – my very own glittering prize.
When I used to drive to and from work, I would always play this on my way home from school in the last few days of the school year. The long summer holiday hoved into view and you could catch a glimpse of the shimmering, glittering prize that is eight weeks off, eight weeks to do your own thing, eight weeks to be your own man.
Like a Glittering Prize
I saw up on a clear day
First taking hearts
Then our last breath away
And now the hols are once again upon us, that glittering prize is firmly in my grasp.
Pic of the week 3/7/16
Hard to believe it, but Sophie has finished Year 11 and Thursday was her leavers’ assembly and then Prom Night in the evening.
Where have all the years gone? I still remember my little girl toddling around Crewkerne, and here she is now all (nearly) grown up having finished her GCSEs.
One very proud Dad.
Track of the week 26/6/16
In the week of Brexit, I felt that this was an appropriate track of the week.
A great track about Britain’s (England’s really) shameful past, but still a song of hope, of what might still be.
The past is steeped in shame,
But tomorrow’s fair game,
For a life that’s fit for living
Good morning Britain.
I have been surprised as to how worried the Brexit vote has left me. I am now fearful that our economy will tank and that times will be tough.
That my children will now no longer be able to so easily go and live and work in the wide European continent saddens me. We have taken a backwards step, an attempt to close our doors in an ever more international and global world.
Hopefully, when I look back and revisit this post in weeks, months, years to come, I will wonder what all the fuss is about, and just enjoy this great track.
But in this green and pleasant land,
Where I make my home, I make my stand
Make it cool just to be a man,
A uniform’s a traitor.
Love is international
And if you stand or if you fall,
Just let them know you gave your all,
Worry about it later.
Pic of the week 26/7/16
Woke with a little anticipation on Friday morning and headed downstairs to check the referendum result, fully expecting a vote to Remain.
I was staggered, stunned and somewhat frightened to see that we’d voted to leave by 52% to 48%.
I was surprised by the result and also a little surprised by my reaction and how much doom and gloom it has filled me with since.
In the run up to the referendum I’d flipped and flopped between in and out and, if I’m honest, for some time I was an “outer”, although I think I secretly hoped that if I voted out the country would vote to remain.
About 10 days before the referendum, my thoughts crystallised and I become a convinced remainer. Although it pained me that voting to stay in the EU would give some legitimacy to the bloated and corrupt bureaucracy that is the EU, this couldn’t negate the positives of the EU (freedom of movement, the EU is about the only institution big enough and capable of taking on corporate giants like Microsoft & Google etc.) and, at the end of the day, the UK has (had?) the 5th biggest economy in the world and why would you do anything to jeopardize that?
I was quite surprised with my strength of feeling as I put my “X” in the box to Remain, having fully realised that it was the best course of action. And to discover, on Friday, we’d voted out has left me fearful for the future. Who knows how it will play out? Perhaps it will all work out for the best, perhaps the status quo will remain, but in the short (to medium) term, we’re in for one bumpy, bumpy ride. I feel quite angry towards my fellow brits who have allowed hype and fear of immigration to lead them to make the decision they have made. I really do think that most outers voted as a “two fingered salute” to the political classes without fully understanding what they have done. And the sad thing is is that it is those that voted out will proboably be those that suffer the most. They’ve been sold a pup by Farage, Johnson and Gove and we’ll end up paying the bill.
A sad day.
Track of the week 19/6/16
Youtube is good. This is another track that it just “threw” into my playlist.
Not sure I’ve heard it before, although I reckon it’s been heavily sampled down the years.
Any, some fine acid jazz from when JTQ was probably still in shorts.
Pick of the week 19/6/16
Father’s Day 2016 – a lovely pic of me with my two.
A great day.
Ran today, and surprised myself by coming back with a 5K PB of 24 mins 10 secs.
Ran the Tor View Road Six K run. Ran the six K in 29.09 which is 3 seconds of my PB for that. Not any easy run to PB in as most of the 5th K is uphill, from the mini roundabout past Morrisons and all the way into Tor View Road.
Got off to a cracking pace – although its all down hill, so should do, but then just kept going: felt good, felt easy, no wind, warm but not too warm. Wasn’t really trying for a PB, what was pleasantly surprised when I totted the Ks up. Splits can be seen below.
Track of the week 12/6/16
With the start of Euro 2016, there could only be one choice for track of the week. The best football song ever written, and don’t just listen, watch the video as well.
And it could have started so well. England played Russia last night and were clearly the better side. One could even go as far as to say England played well, but they just couldn’t score. Eventually Eric Dier scored from a 70th (ish) minute free kick and it looked like England would hold on to secure a valuable – and deserved – win. But in injury time a poorly cleared corner was lumped back into the box and a Russian giant leapt over a little full back (Danny Rose, who had had a good game) to snatch an equaliser and break English hearts.
… England’s gonna throw it away, gonna blow it away
Wales on Thursday, not quite a must win match, but really, we must win it.
And the whole tournament has been marred by shocking scenes of fan violence in Marseilles between Russian, English and French “fans”. We thought those days were behind us.