White water rafting

I've sort of spoiled my Juneathon as I didn't do anything yesterday. However I have done two things today so hopefully that kind of keeps me on track.

This morning I did 42 minutes of run 2/walk 1 minute. I got up early and was out of the door for 7.20 am. Found it a little more difficult than last time I went out but hopefully that is just a blip. The weather was cooler than of late but not raining. The streets were pretty quiet thankfully.

When I got back I got my canoeing gear ready as we were off up to the Washburn Valley to go whitewater rafting.


This is the reservoir that feeds the white water area. The bottom of the dam wall is where this starts.






Our canoe club, West Yorkshire Canoe Club, pay for the water to be released from a reservoir so we have guaranteed whitewater no matter what the weather has been doing.

We arrived and got ready fairly quickly and soon found we were in the next raft to go down. Steve Thorley-Lawson was guiding this one and after the briefing we were on the water. It was a fairly sedate journey down but we still got wet. Right at the last minute we went down a small weir and the passenger in front of me lost her balalnce and went overboard. In getting her back in we miss the disembarkation area so had to go a bit further downstream to where we used to get out. Luckily the van had seen it happen so came down to the car park to pick us up.

Second time down we went with George Harrap who is fairly new to guiding on his own but is due to take an assessment for it in October so wanted as much practice as possible. This time there was Chris, Paul, Peter and myself in so we had a right laugh. The ride was fairly tame though. When we got to the exit area, Peter jumped out to pull the boat in and didn't realise it was going to be so deep at the edge so went for a complete ducking.

There was a bit of a wait for the next go so we had some lunch and coffee and then wandered back up to the starting point. We got George again! This time he wanted to do a classic run, so no bumping or trying to get us out of the boat. He did some surfing in one of the bigger weirs though as he wanted to perfect the technique. We all survived this journey intact.

Fourth time around we managed to get Heath who is a complete headcase. He knew we were up for a bit of fun. He purposely hit every rock and tree possible and when it came to the weirs he tried his hardest to get us to tip someone out. Luckily I mostly spotted which way he was leaning and leaned the opposite way to counterbalalnce the raft. Having said that Peter did go overboard and hung on by a toe loop in the boat and I managed to pull him back in.

Heath then got Peter to jump into the front of the boat and we went over the big weir. He then turned the boat around and we paddled upstream and into the bottom of the weir and Peter got absolutely soaked by the freezing water. He then tried tipping the raft up in an eddy but again I counterbalanced this and he failed. We reached the bottom intact again.

We waited for the van to pick us up but this time there was all three rafts and a load of canoeists. I managed to jump into the front of the van thankfully and so did Sandra. Ken was driving but we had no idea how many people were in the back of the van with the canoes (the rafts and paddles were on a trailer). We counted people out, including us in the front, there were 22 of us in a Mercedes Sprinter van!!!! Health and Safety would have a field day with us.

After that I called it a day. It was raining hard and I was quite damp by then so starting to feel a bit cold.

Juneathon

Monday 31st May - Bank Holiday

We got up reasonably early to go canoeing up at Sleningford in North Yorkshire. There hadn't been much rain and the water levels were never going to be high.

Isobel's friend, Leah, came with us. We kitted her out in all the gear but we only took two boats with us, Peters and the one I have borrowed from the club.

When we got up to Sleningford it was fairly busy but as anticipated the water levels were low. We burbled around at the bottom end to begin with and then dragged the boats further up and came through the 'rapids' back to the bottom part. Isobel and Leah were mainly playing in the water or sitting on the rocks and sliding down with the tide.

We got out and let the girls get in out boats. Leah was a little bit apprehensive but did really well and soon lost her fear. They both took the boats further up and came down the last bit of the rapids and the only problem they had was getting stuck on the rocks due to the shallow water.










The girls were getting cold so decided to call it a day and went to get dressed. However Peter and I dragged our boats up to the hole. Looking at it for a while I decided not to do it because the water was too low and, being heavy, I was more likely to get stuck on the rocks. Peter managed it after getting stuck. I re-launched at the bottom of the hole and we both travelled back down to the bottom, flat part of the river and we then decided we were hungry and thirsty and we got out as well.

Tuesday 1st June

I had intended atarting the Juneathon but went into a downward spiral quite early on in the day. I had an argument with Isobel about money. It was her 13th birthday recently and she had £85 in total after buying a memory card for her camera. She has bought a few items but I was shocked to find that she only had £20 left as most of it has been frittered away.

Unusually for me I couldn't shake the negative feelings off all day and even a nice little wander around the charity shops in Cleckheaton didn't help. Consequently I ate some rubbish today and then slept on the sofa which annoys Peter intensely.

Wednesday 2nd June

Ok so today is the real start of my Juneathon. The Juneathon is meant as doing some form of activity everyday all month. It doesn't have to be major as long as you do something.

I woke up at 5.30am and wasn't sure whether to run or take the dogs for a walk first. I decided to run. Instead of going elsewhere I set off from home and ran to the top of our road and along Tong St to Dudley Hill. I am amazed at how many people are out and about at 6am. There was a steady flow of traffic and plenty of pedestrians about. I did 39 minutes of run 2, walk 1 and then walked for about 4 minutes home.

A quick change of clothes and I then took the dogs out for a walk. We walked down the moors, where they had a short run about after a stone but someone else came on the moor with a dog so I had to put Bear back on the lead. He is a bad boy where other dogs are concerned. We came out onto Station Lane and past Birkenshaw first school. Up the snicket and round an estate and we eventually come back up to the moors. Back up the moors and we were back home again.

All this before 7.30am! Therefore I am back on track for the Juneathon.

Starting again

Sunday 16th May

Didn't feel too bad on the day I came back from the cycle ride. So we were up early next day, with canoes firmly attached to the roof of the car, we headed towards York, Nether Poppleton actually.

We were actually a little bit late but met up with the rest of them as they were taking the cars to the other end. Once they returned we all launched onto the river.

It was a nice morning with a slight breeze and a threat of rain eventually. We had a nice steady paddle down the river. There were about 20 of us all told.

When we got into the town centre we pulled out of the river for a lunch break and a drink.

With everyone satiated we then put back onto the river and continued down stream. We had a slight shower but nothing much.

Eventually we got out at the boat club landing. It was warm thankfully so we didn't freeze while we waited for Pater to go and get our car from where we started. In fact we sat and had a nice chat with a few girls from the club.

Thursday 20th May

Had to go into work today for a training session so missed my swimming. However I went to circuit training this evening.

Monday 24th May

At long last I went back to Tong Baths to do my swimming intervals. Got there a bit late as I was waiting for Peter to sort himself out. However I did manage 64 lengths (a mile)in 40 minutes so quite chuffed with that.

Thursday 27th May

Got up in good time and took Isobel to school. Evie came with us in the car as we were going running this morning. Haven't been for ages but was ready for it this morning and it's not many weeks now until the Jane Tomlinson run in Leeds. We went straight down to the Spen Valley Greenway and I did 39 minutes of run 2/walk 1 and I honestly didn't find it too hard at all. Finished it off with 6 minutes cool down walk. Evie was shatterd as she had already had a walk with Peter and Bear.

Lunchtime and I went swimming at Spenborough pool. It's been a few weeks since I came here as well. I was late getting there today and then I saw my friend Claire filling her sweetie machines so I had to have a quick chat.

I did 36 lengths in 29 minutes so pretty pleased with that as it is three quarters of a mile. Claire was still there when I came out so we had another chat.

Evening came and off I went to circuit training. Jeanette was there tonight. I haven't seen her for a few weeks. Im fact there were eight of us there tonight. Felt like I did a good workout.

So that was a busy day.

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.

A bit of canoeing and running

Last night I went canoeing for the first time in a few weeks. Almost wish I hadn't bothered.

Don't get me wrong I have nothing against kids and actively encourage them to go do activities rather than sitting at home in front of their electronic games. However last night there was a whole load of young lads especially from the scouts. Both of our instructors are connected with the scouts so they have opened up our club sessions to them.

The problem is our pool where we practice is very small and we are only allowed 155 boats on at a time. This means that if these lads get in the pool they often are messing about, talking or sinking their canoes. I know this can be fun but it means that those of us who aren't in the water are just wasting our time. Isobel was with me last night and when I realised she was just talking and messing around I asked her to get out so that someone else could have a turn. Anyway rant over.




Managed to get some paddling in. Also did a bit of high brace practice and helped someone do some T rescues. Then we actually did something a bit different. We did some side scullying to a partner in the middle of the pool and back again. Then our side had to get out of the pool and stand on the side. The people on the other side had to paddle to the middle and capsize, then we had to jump in and rescue them. After that the tables were turned and I was really dreading it as I have only just got over my phobia of capsizing. I was pleased with myself as I decided I was going to do it and did!

Just before I got out I tried someone's nose clip and I think that might just work for me. Saves me holding my nose.

This morning I got up early and drove down to the Greenway with Evie. It was cold. We managed to do 30 minutes of R2/W1. I struggled a bit on the outward journey and I passed a youngish guy towards the turning point of my run. When I stopped at the third bridge to do some stretches I noticed this guy had stopped some way down the track and appeared to be having a pee. He was stopped for quite some time and even when he set off again he appeared to be 're-adjusting' himself as he walked along. I don't know why but I got the distinct impression that as I passed him he was going to flash at me. Thankfully he didn't.