Saturday 5 January 2013

blogSPORT

See what I did there? Have decided to go back to basics and use this blog  as a weapon in my fight for fitness and world domination in sport. So, after so long not telling you anything, I will try to keep you up to date with my fitness campaign so you can vicariously feel fit, just by reading along and being a couch training buddy.

So, I got up early to go swimming with R, but A was feeling a bit lonesome so I stayed home and did some gardening instead - well, I pulled up dandelions and brambles, which is what counts for gardening around here. A and I cycled to and from her swimming lesson, 15 minutes each way, and while she swam, I ran. It is very hilly around Bursledon, so more of an amble. My troubled left hip/knee/ankle combo has reared its evil head, I blame the gardening.

Yesterday went a bit better, after cycling to see my spiritual director on Hill Lane, I cycled into town and swam for nearly an hour at the Quays, with R, doing a set which he has memorised from his tri training. It's like this if you want to have a go:
200 swim, 200 pull, 100 swim ( that is the warm up)
4 x 50 slow there, fast back
4x 75 right arm, left arm, both arms
4x25 kick
200 pull

Then you do the set that I have not yet got very far into, essentially its something like this;

swim 400
swim 200
swim 100
swim 50

I only got up to the first bit of that last bit. And wearing flippers. So, I have someway to go there.

Then cool down (I do 100 breaststroke for that)

Tomorrow - who knows - maybe a bike ride or a run?

Tuesday 1 January 2013

Seas the day

One of my favourite mottos, saw it today on a little sign spelled that way and like it even more.

Today R and I had our best sail of the year. Seeing as the year was not even 12 hours old as we sailed, it would have had to be bad not to have been the best. It was sunny and perfect wind conditions, a good crowd and we were sailing a boat new to us both. A slow and secure boat, a dinghy built for stability rather than speed. It had a spinnaker, and as R had never sailed with an asymmetric before I had the mantle of expert, which is a bit of a worry. And would possibly explain that we could not get it down again after a trial hoist, I had to do a bit of meddling in a tricky position to rectify the situation. That led to us being very late to the start line, but we made up some ground and were not last!  I REALLY enjoyed it, and flying a kite in a nice non tippy boat was a great place to learn - made me realise how ridiculously steep my learning curve has been this year in sailing.

We slept in the camper van for New Year's Eve. It was not too cold,thankyou,  and meant we were on the site for the first sailing club NYE party. Which was great! It was really lovely, random mix of people, with assorted extra teenagers to get drunk and dance. Enjoyed my stint in the bar with R, time flew by and the pound a pint prices meant maths not too much of a challenge. Felt very special and lucky to be a part of such a lovely family of people from all walks of life.

Today we enjoyed a walk along the beach to Hamble with the lovely Sanderson Taylor family. A beautiful sunny day, sea looking as blue as the sky, bumped into the lovely Powell family to make it even better! Felt very blessed to have friends today.  Am trying to convince some of them to do a triathlon with me in May - have booked my space! Winchester, 7 May. Interested? Also booked on a sportive on Isle of Wight. The post Christmas week makes me a bit miserable, and when it rains its even worse, so booking in some sporty events for the summer gives me hope that the sun will come again. Yesterday I did a tough swim session with R, did not manage to finish it (2k altogether) as felt dizzy and sick after 1 mile.  But felt good to work so hard and R was a good training partner. Whole family did a bike ride the day before, we managed 13 miles, really proud of A keeping on going. I did a few extra hills on my own after and have a bike ride planned for tomorrow. It is clearly the season to get training!

I find the holidays quite tricky, making the adjustment to being part of our family rather than out of work, I get a bit stressy and miserable. Had a chat with R about it, who said that the feelings I describe are those of a husband! e.g. out at work, don't have a role in the family day to day life, feel like a spare part and that everyone would do better without me. He said that for ten years when he went out to work full time he had to remember when he got home that for you it is the end of the day, for your family it is the start of their time with you. Likewise for holidays. Really helped to know I am only suffering from husbanditis and it has a solution. Glad he explained it to me and it made sense.

I just made H watch Dambusters, told her it was essential viewing. She seemed to enjoy it and asked relevant questions. R's compulsory watching is World's strongest man - so girls are being initiated into that right now. Amazing and utterly ridiculous. But what Christmas is all about, surely?