Just swimming

A quieter day today than most Thursdays. I was being very lazy today. I wrote up my blog from last Sunday and then went swimming.

Spenborough pool today. It was reasonable when I got in, three in the fast lane and two in the next one. However there was a sudden addition of too much testosterone. Three young men got into the second lane then decided to come across into the fast lane. This made for very choppy water as they all sped off at top speed doing front crawl. However they could only do two lengths at a time and then had to rest, wimps! They lasted about 20 minutes then got out again.

Meanwhile I had been quietly plodding away at the lengths and managed to do 72 in an hour. That's a mile and a half. Pleased with that.

A joint training ride with the Sports Group!

Last Sunday morning dawned clear and cool. We all met up at Guiseley Station in various modes of dress. The Sports Group looked (mostly) sporty and the Leisure Group were the usual mishmash ranging from lycra clad to sunny holiday wardrobe mode.

In our group there were seven of us. Lead by Mike, with support from Richard and bringing up the rear was yours truly. Included in the group were Peter, John and John Jnr and Mark.

We set off from Guiseley and I assumed we would be going down the hill into Otley but no, the Sports Group lead us straight up a blooming hill or two. How can you go down into Otley by going up!!! Rounding the first corner I saw a glimpse of the Sports Group disappearing into the distance. Having done 49 miles two days before my muscles were still aching and that hill set the scene for the day. That was the last that we saw of the Sports Group until later in the day.

We came down the Chevin and landed in Otley and then set off on our usual group ride through the lanes to Knaresborough. It was always apparent that I would not be able to keep up with their speed. Everytime there was a hill we would re-group at the top, where the rest of them had had a rest and then we would set off again. Throughout the ride one or other of the guys was always 'babysitting' me! Making sure I was alright.

All was going well until they decided we weren't going to take our usual off road track but go by road. Not a good move! We carried on until the end of the road. Turned right, followed it to the left and set off up a hill until we got to a roundabout where we took a right. Then Mike stopped and decided we had gone wrong and we should have gone straight on.

We corrected this and carried on uphill for about 100 miles, or so it felt. Richard, who was keeping me company at the back, and I noticed a sign showing Knaresborough to the left so of course at the next opportunity the group had turned right! We eventually decided that we should carry on right and go up to the road and turn right again (are you still with me?). This new road also went uphill for another 100miles and this time I had John Jnr with me (I think it was more by accident on his part rather than design). The rest of the group had got a move on and disappeared again. We arrived at a roundabout and it showed a right turn to Knaresborough which was only 1 mile away and downhill, yippee! John and I set off down this road.

Alas my joy was short-lived when Richard suddenly re-appeared and said we had gone the wrong way and the rest of the group had gone on uphill to the next roundabout. How can one journey have so many uphills with so few downhills? We re-grouped at this familiar roundabout and headed in our usual direction for Knaresborough.

On arriving at the cafe we found a right rowdy bunch of cyclists in there headed by our very own Ian Wood. After an exchange of stories of how we got there, we decided to go and sit outside in the sun. Ten minutes out there and we realised it wasn't as warm as we had thought. Beans on toast were consumed but the drinks hadn't arrived so we adjourned to the inside part of the cafe as the rowdy bunch had now cycled off into the distance.

Scones and drinks finished we then re-adjusted ourselves and set off again. We went back on the normal return journey with nothing untoward happening along the way. The long climb up to Weeton took it's toll on me and Richard tried to slow to my pace to keep my spirits up. He had to give in and go a bit quicker though. I have never had to get off the bike on any hills though so that's a plus. When I arrived at the top of the world er I mean Weeton I was ever so slightly shaky so asked Richard if I could nick his Go Gel.

Off we went again and stopped for a quick chat just before the main road. Mike decided it was probably wise for me to stop at Otley and get a lift back to my car. I tried arguing but he wouldn't hear of it. So we pootled into Otley, where I took my leave and disappeared into Sainsburys for a milky drink and then went to the car park to await my lift.

Peter came and dismantled my bike and took me and it up to Guiseley and back to my car. I was tired but I wasn't dying or aching too badly.

A nice warm bath soothed my muscles and I was good to go again.

A whole week!

I have been very remiss this week and haven't done any blogs this week.

So starting on Monday 15th, I went swimming at Tong Pool. It was fairly quiet as usual but I was in the end lane which is actually two lanes. There is a guy who trains hard who always swims along the wall side and I usually keep out of his way and we respect each other. The only trouble this week there were two of those women in who insist on swimming up and down talking to each other and taking up the space of three or four people. I still managed to do 70 lengths of intervals in 45 minutes though.

Thursday 18th. Weird day today. Woke up early thought I might go for a run then thought if I'm going for a long bike ride that might not be the best idea. The internet had gone down and I spent part of the morning getting it sorted out so decided it was too late for a long bike ride and I would go swimming as usual. Then I got an email asking me to come down to Centenary Square for a photo opportunity for the internal newspaper, Pride at Work. So I got my gear on and cycled into town.

I met up with Richard, Jan, John, Tom and Woody and we did a few photos and then they all went back to work. So I thought I might as well go for a ride. I srt off up Thornton Road out of Bradford. I got about 4 miles up the road when I spotted a phone on the grass verge. I stopped to pick it up and got my feet tangled in the pedal straps and fell off the bike.

Once I picked myself up I realised my bike chain had come off, I rang Peter for instructions. Once I was covered in oil and I had jammed the chain down the wrong side of the bike Peter decided to come and get me....my hero!

I started to walk down the road with the bike but it was difficult as I had to lift the rear of bike to move it. So I leaned up against a lamp-post and waited for Peter.

While I was waiting two lads jumped over the walll across the road, looking like they were bunking off school. They crossed to where I was and one asked me if I had a problem with the bike. I told him the chain had come off and he said he's sort it. Sure enough in a few minutes he had got it back in place and I thanked him and gave him a wet wipe to get the oil off his hands. He said 'no problem love' and went on his way. How kind!

When Peter arrived I remembered the phone I had picked up and looked through the numbers on it. 'Mum' seemed like the best option so I rang it. The woman at the other end was a bit stern at first. Then she realised she was getting the phone back and thanked me. She came down to Halfords where I said I now was and picked it up. She was very grateful and we had a lovely chat.

Friday 19th, this has been a long missive so I will try to shorten this one. I did the bike ride to Skipton like I did a fortnight ago but this time I didn't finish at Bingley but kept going back into Bradford so 49 miles done in all today. My nether regions are a bit sore and I have a group training ride on Sunday. Oh dear!

A lot of exercise.

This morning, Thursday, I got up early and had my porridge. Then I got ready to take Isobel to school and put Evie, the dog, in the car with us. I was going for a run.

What a beautiful morning it was. Cold, but sunny. We set off on a steady R2/W1 but then a man had to hold tight to his dog as it was having a right growl at Evie so I felt it was unfair to stop running right next to him so carried on for 2.5 minutes. That didn't feel too bad so I carried on doing R2.5/W1. This meant I got further up the Greenway today. It was pleasant running today and Evie managed to trot along side me or just in front of me actually.

I got back to the car feeling good!

At lunchtime I went to Spenborough pool. There were three people in 'my'lane, the fast lane, already but the other lanes were quite busy. I noted that there was one guy doing front crawl, he has become quite a regular. Then there were two women in the lane. I saw that one woman was a very slow swimmer but the other one wasn't too bad. As the lengths ticked by, the woman who was swimming slowly became quite annoying as she wouldn't hold back at the end of the lane even though you were about to overtake her.

She disappeared eventaully. Not sure if she moved lanes or got out. The other woman carried on for a while longer and then got out. This left me and fast front crawler. When he got out I thought great I've got the lane to myself. Then three people moved up from one of the two slow lanes. A guy and two girls. They pretended to do front crawl but the last girl could only manage three or four strokes before grabbing the side and then going again. Then they swam side by side or jumped up and down on the lane rope. They were sooooo aggravating! The staff never said anything to them either.

Despite all this I still managed 60 lengths in 46 minutes. I was happy with that.

Then this evening I went circuit-training. There were June, Liz and myself and two new girls. Set off absolutely fine but by the time I was doing the second lot of running up and down the side of the hall my legs felt heavy and I felt tired. I carried on though and got my second wind and did alright.

Aquafit

Yesterday, Wednesday, I went to aquafit while Peter went swimming.

There were quite a few of us there today. Chris said she counted 16 of us. It was a good workout although I felt like I pulled a muscle in my upper right arm.

I then had a half hour of chatting to Chris and then went and did a pleasant 30 lengths of swimming.

That was a short and sweet post.

Canoeing down the River Ure

I'm getting later and later at posting about my activities!

Last Sunday we got up before it was decent to on a Sunday really. Isobel (my daughter) and I needed to get our gear sorted for the canoe trip. We always try to get things sorted the night before but then remember something in the morning that can never be found. On this occasion it was kayaking gloves. Searched high and low and I decided to take my cycling gloves in the end.




It was an absolutely beautiful day, cold but clear and sunny. I drove up to Ripon as fast as I dare and only just this side of legal speedwise. Amazingly we got there dead on time. After a bit of discussion we travelled up to the starting point in Andy's car while Peter waited for the drivers to return and bring them up to the start as well.

As the weather was gorgeous there was a big turnout, so we split into groups of 4 or 5. In my group the leader was Adrian. Then there was Peter (Stephen's dad) and Richard who used to come to the pool. All are much better than I am at canoeing. Isobel was in a different group to me by choice.

The first weir is only a very short distance from the start so we were soon down that. Then we had a play at ferry-gliding. I didn't do too badly. A few more weirs and bubbly water later and we had ferry-glided a fair few times. It was nice to just chat to others and we kept meeting up with the other groups. Isobel was doing really well as she wasn't squawking and complaining for a change.

Eventually we got to a point where we all got out and stretched our legs. A cup of hot chocolate and some min choc digestives went down really well here.

We launched back onto the river and carried on down getting stuck on rocks a few times as the water was really shallow. We soon passed under the bridge at West Tanfield which is a beautiful area with a picturesque church and an old Pele tower.

Very soon we reached 'THE WEIR'. The first few times I went down this river I was very nervous and we got out before 'THE WEIR'. However last time down I went down it and didn't think it was too bad at all. Isobel was adamant she wasn't going down 'THE WEIR'

As she was in a group that was ahead of me I was surprised to see her non-chalantly go over the top of 'THE WEIR'. When I got down it I parked up alongside her and we had a chat. She said "I'm not going down 'THE WEIR'" I said "you just have" to which she replied "no, I mean 'THE BIG WEIR'". So again I told her she just had. Then it dawned on her that this was 'THE WEIR' and she had done it woithout a second thought.

We continued along the river to the top of the campsite. I thought it was prudent to quit while I was winning. So quite a few got out here. Adrian said he thought I would be fine doing the campsite bit but didn't push me to do it.

As we were putting the canoes on the car the others came back up from the bottom of the campsite. I learned that Chris, who is one of the more experienced paddlers, had been caught out just above the Hole and was fairly battered. I'm glad I stopped when I did!

A bumpy solo ride.

Needed to do a solo long ride yesterday as I wasn't able to join the group training ride today. After some debating with myself and looking at maps I couldn't make up my mind where to go and nearly decided not to bother. Thankfully the voice of reason aka Peter, my partner, suggested a route and encouraged me to go.

I set off in bright sunshine and cycled from home up to Shelf. First obstacle was Pepper Hill a very steep and twisty road. Sadly I didn't make it up there. I had to get off, get my breath and get a drink. HAving pushed the bike to the top of this first hill I climbed back on and pedalled the flat bit until I got to the second climb. Amazed myself by getting up this one without getting off.

Got on the Brighouse and Denholme Road up to the Queensbury traffic lights where I got stuck in traffic. I walked across the lights and was climbed aboard once more. Having negotiated the rise to the highest point in Bradford it was a pleasure to have a drop past The Raggalds Inn and down to the lights at Thornton Road where a sharp left took me up to Denholme Gate lights and then a delightful whizz down into Denholme village.

A bit of a climb out of the village and I was out into more open country. Past The Flappits and then a long downward ride into Keighley. Only problem going downhill at speed is that you don't have time to inspect the potholes and get out of the way of them. Ouch! Encountered a few stupid drivers along the way but on the whole most were patient.

I left Keighley and headed up to Steeton. There were some climbs but not as bad as my memory tried to tell me. Then it was more downhill into Eastburn and joined the end of the bypass and headed for Skipton. The last mile or so into Skipton seemed quite a hard one despite there not being any real hills. It just seemed to go on forever.

When I got into the town centre I decided to park the bike up near the church and castle. Chained it to some railings and went for a pleasant wander around the market. Bought some jelly babies and then went to my fave cafe and got a scone and a hot chocolate with marshmallows.




A quick phonecall with Peter and the decision was made that he would pick me up at Keighley. I set off back and took the road past the bottom of Bradley and re-joined the bypass. A fast flat road got me to Keighley quicker than expected despite a few potholes that tried to slow me down or stop me altogether.

Another phone call to establish where Peter was and I found he was some way off so we agreed that I would take the Riddlesden road and meet somewhere along there. So I set off again. A good pace and I was soon up the hill and on the level again. The villages flew past, Riddlesden, East Morton, Crossflatts and I was nearly in Bingley. Through the town centre and another phone call to Peter clarified that he wasn't too far off. We arranged to meet in the car park.

Got into the car park and I nearly fell of the bike as I caught my foot in the pedal. Blow me if the chain didn't come off. Thank goodness that didn't happen earlier. So that was 43 miles done and dusted.

Peter picked me up and I got home, had a shower, an hour or so on the computer and then I got ready to go canoeing. Not quite as busy this week but still nearly capacity. Did quite a bit of paddling up and down and then Mike asked me what I was tring to do. I wasn't actually tring to do anything in particular just tipping the canoe at an angle. So we went through high brace. I did this so many times that my arms ached.

I think I had quite a good workout today.

A bit of a giggle.

Today I went swimming at Spenborough. Peter came with me as he's been to the physio with his slipped disc and he's been told to keep moving as much as possible.

We were a bit late r than usual getting there but I was in the pool for 12.45pm. There were two others in the fast lane when I got in and then two really fast swimmers got in as well. One swimmer gave in and moved to the next lane so that left four of us in the fast lane. I managed 60 lengths which is a mile and a quarter in 45 minutes. So happy with that.

This evening I went to circuits. Parking is always a bit of a trauma as there is a lot of football going on at Grange at the same time as we go to circuits. Trouble is that there are a lot of younger kids who go so their doting parents wait for them in their cars and block the car parks. This evening there was even two cars parked in the middle of the car park with their lights on and the drivers reading papers or listening to music, bah!

When I got into the sports hall there was only Chris, the instructor, June who is a lovely and very fit older lady and me! We can deal with that as it's happened before. Then Chris discovered that she had left her music cds at home. I asked if she had any in the car so she ran out of the building, round the outside, across the car park to the street where she was parked. When she arrived back she was in despair. She couldn't open the boot of her car to get at any cds. She asked at reception, nothing except an Ipod. Yeah, that will do....oh no, it needs charging.

When she faced up to the reality of no music she was going to pack the class in for this evening but she reckoned without June and myself's fortitude. We'd carry on without music. Good job we know the routines well enough. All we could do was laugh!

Chris was going to put the mats down for the MSE part of the session but I suggested she only need two and we would move them as necessary. She said she hoped nobody was observing us too closely as they would think she was a hard taskmaster....only two of us, no music and having to move the equipment about ourselves.

June and I giggled throughout the session. I suggested we should have a miniature awards ceremony at Christmas. Something along the lines of awards for the ones who carried on regardless.

I always feel good when I leave there. Firstly because I have done the training so that pleases me but secondly because we always have a laugh about something.

More of the wet stuff

Monday evenings have largely become an intervals swimming session at Tong Pool. This Monday was no exception. I did 66 lengths in all although I was intending doing 64 as that's a mile at this pool.

I started off with 4 lengths of breast stroke to warm up. Then I started doing 2 lengths of breast stroke type legs with a float for my arms, 2 lengths normal breast stroke, 2 lengths of breast stroke arms, 2 lengths of normal. Then I carried on doing the same with front crawl arms and legs interspersed with normal breast stroke.

Did it all in 45 minutes so I finished with a very slow length of breast stroke and one of back crawl.