yesterday I completed my first triathalon so I can officially call myself a triathlete! 
Final preparations were far from ideal as last Saturday during what became my last swim session I pushed myself a little too hard leading to a horrible bout of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). Basically my left arm was in agony and I couldn’t lift it at all.
I was able to do a brick session of 19k cycle and 5k run on the Sunday before the DOMS really begun to hurt but after that I wasn’t able to do anything so Monday onwards until the race I did absolutely no training. Far from ideal but I had little choice to ensure my arm would well work in time for the race!
My arm still hurt but I managed the swim just about although slower than I had hoped, I then proceeded to muck up my first transition whilst trying not to tear my number attached to my top. The cycling went well though and I conquered the hills before went off for my run which was hard work and a bit slower than I hoped. Overall though I cam in just past my target with a time of 1hour 50mins and 18 seconds. Had I not messed up the first transistion I would have easily beaten it so I was pleased.
Everyone from work also finished and we are all determined to carry on and do several more next year when the new season starts. If I do though I think I will be investing in a new bike, as full suspensioned mountain bikes are not designed for road triathlons!!
Posted in: Random.
Last few weeks now have been dedicated to triathlon training as race day quickly approaches. It is now less then 2 weeks away and I’m realising that maybe the 2 swim sessions I have had so far are far from enough!! The running and cycling are coming on well with my 5k running time now under 30minutes and my cycling 22k time just under an hour. Found another swimming pool closer to home than riverside in Exeter so am hoping to get there 4 or 5 times over the next few weeks to build up and improve my swim time. The aim is to finish and prefrably finish under 2 hours so we will see, but wish me luck guys as think I will be needing it!!
Posted in: Random.
Today we had another attempt at a One Day event this time at Nutwell Court.
Started with the dressage, a much improved dressage in comparison to our Stockland Lovell test other than the walk where she tried to halt to scratch her leg so I pushed her forward and she jogged. Well unfortunately the judge was awarding 6s for everything whether it be good bad or indifferent so even though there was a BIG difference in standards of tests in the section the marks did not reflect this with almost every combination being within a 5% margin from 1st to last. My test was awarded 58% which really shocked a lot of us as it deserved far more. Unfortunately that is the subjective nature of dressage and an unaffiliated judge! Oh well although annoying I didn’t let that ruin what was a good performance from her.
After my dressage I ran off to walk my showjumping and Cross Country tracks but not before a wasp took the oppourtunity to sting my hand ouch ouch OUCH! Cue me running to the paramedic men for spray to prevent my hand swelling to size of a small melon! Walked the XC track and it was honestly small with a few perhaps odd questions in that for the 2ft3 the riders had to pull their riders out from jumping two separate points on the course to avoid jumps from the 2ft9. I actually asked if I could jump the larger jumps (not wanting to encourage Fleur to run out) but was informed if I did I would have been eliminated, in hindsight maybe I should have done so anyway!!
The showjumping course was causing problems as lots of people were going too slowly and getting time faults or going too fast and knocking fences left right and centre. Fleur though was pinging, went in cut a few corners didn’t rush and jumped a lovely clear happily within the time allowed.
Then on to the XC she left the start and jumped the first few like a pro then we had the water where we unfortunately had a stop. Basically she was green took a good long look steeped back then launched in (nearly sending me swimming in the process!!), we then continued and jumped round the rest like a pro and would have loved to have taken her round again round the bigger course. I would have happily taken her round the 3ft3 as it seemed positively small compared to Stockland Lovell!
So we finished with 20 penalties for the stop leaving us in 10th. without the stop would have been 3rd and with the dressage mark she deserved who knows!
Was really really pleased with her and the only major point we came away with needing to work on was water, she needs to see far more and next time need to take her schooling through water before a competition!! really really pleased with her though and she is definitely maturing at last, but so she should be at 9!!
Posted in: Horses.
Last night was the night time parade, this has a far less serious and far more carnival type atmosphere compared to the main parade. It was good fun but not quite as vibrant as previous years.
Posted in: Random.
Today was the Battle of Flowers in Jersey. It is a long Island tradition involving floats up to 40ft in length covered in real or paper flowers (majority are real). I got drafted in yesterday to help with Trinity’s parish float, couldn’t really escape from doing so as only live a couple hundred metres up the road for the shed where it is built! Got Darrell involved as well who was quickly promoted to leaf stapler!! There were some very very good floats this year but St Saviours’ did stand out as the deserved winners. Below is just a few photos
Best float ever!!
Posted in: Random.
Well back home and wow the house has definitely changed, quite a lot to the point it is currently hard to distinguish if it is a building or a bomb site!! Basically the majority of the rewiring and a good part of the plumbing work has been done this means that all the carpets are up (and thankfully most disposed of!) and channels have been dug in the floor on the ground floor in order to put in the various pipes mainly for the central heating. It is actually quite interesting to see that the floor itself is a thin layer (inch or so) of concrete then some gravel and then earth so not much to dig through.
A few extra problems have of course been discovered as is a necessity with any house renovation apparently. The major one was the discovery of two asbestos boards in the kitchen behind the old units. Because of this the kitchen is currently sealed off until they can be safely removed. Thankfully before ripping out the kitchen the channels for the piping had already been dug so it is not causing any real significant delays just additional cost to remove it! There is also some minor dry rot which needs to be treated and kept an eye on and also in the kitchen there is the need for damp proofing as one wall (the only bit of wall in the house which has earth behind it (as house dug into rock bed!) has damp issues which weren’t exposed until the old stud work walls were removed.
The box room is progressing to become a shower room with the piping in! and the main bathroom has been stripped bare giving a much bigger room. The builders are also looking to raise the roof level of the bathroom (it is essentially a studwork box within larger space to room to do so!) as currently anyone of ‘normal’ height would hit their heads if standing in the proposed shower or bath!
work over the nexy month will be very slow as the builders are on holiday and the plumber and electrician will not be able to progress much further without the builders doing some work. Builders will be back in September though which should allow work to begin in earnest again.
Will get the photos I have taken today uploaded on the Great DIY photo page!
Posted in: The Great DIY Project.
Yes the work has started and the builders, electrician and plumber are in the building, quite literally!
So far the studwork dividing wall between the toilet and bathroom has been removed and the two rooms stripped bare. This means that now there is a decent sized bathroom instead of two tiny rooms. The majority of the pipe work has also been put in to convert the box room into a shower room (complete with loo and hand basin!) which means the house will have a bathroom a shower room and a downstairs loo which will make it far more rentable considering it is a 4 bedroom house (6 if you count the attic)!! The plumber has also started with the water connection to the mains in addition to the new central heating system which will be run by a new oil fired water boiler which is going in the utility area.
Several trenches have also been dug both inside and out in order to lay water pipes for the central heating and electric cables to the outhouse to power the water pump for the well (although using mains water for the house we intend to keep the well supply for use outside i.e. the garden/washing cars etc.)
Me and Darrell will be back there in 2 weeks so will be able to update with lots of pictures to show how it is progressing. Although of course the main purpose of our trip will be to do as much work as possible on the house, be it wall paper stripping, polystyrene tile removal or if we are really ahead of our game painting!!
Oh and turns out the kitchen really was a major bargain. We have hired a carpenter/kitchen fitter type bloke who dismantled it for us last week and who will then in turn fit it for us. Apparently it is solid wood (no cheapy MDF/chipboard in sight!) with quality fittings worth well over £10k!! Also being solid wood it will be far easier to adapt into our kitchen. My mum has also been able to negotiate a very good deal on some floor tiles so all there is left to sort in the kitchen is the work tops, and again my mum has some connections so hopefully we will be able to get a good quality work top at a good price. We looked at the concrete tiles which give the look of authentic flagstones the same as in the house I rent here in England but unfortunately they would raise the floor level too much but my mum has found these tiles which look like limestone. But will be easy to clean and fit and also look great which is obviously vitally important!
Getting rather excited now that it is all coming together, just can’t wait till it is all done. It is a real shame we can’t get over more often as then we would be able to do far more work ourselves are get it done far more quickly but unfortunately a big stretch of water called the English Channel gets in the way somewhat!!
Posted in: The Great DIY Project.
He is 7 weeks old, and goes by the name of Blue! Meet Sarah’s new puppy. He is a cheeky, inquisitive little lad who is full of energy. Bit of a machine at the moment either running, exploring, eating, poohing or sleeping!! LOL
How could you say no to that face?
Posted in: Random.
Saturday night was the WO’s and Sgt’s mess do at 24 Commando which was my first proper mess do (previous to April Darrell had been attached to a recruitment office).
It was run with a medieval theme and was completely decked out with decorations made by the lads as well as having medieval style entertainers. Was a great night and a lot of fun, shame about the hangover the next day!! Also the effort put into the costumes was very impressive to say the least.
A photo of Darrell dressed to impress!
Posted in: Random.
This weekend I was home alone because Darrell was away with the army and Sarah was at a family wedding. So I took the oppourtunity to attack a giant canvas I have had for months but not been brave enough to do anything with. Firstly I couldn’t find my acrylics or oils so ending up using my Gouache paints which really are not designed to be used on canvas but they are holding.
Fairly pleased so far but quite a way to go. Think will extend the neck down to the edge of the canvas and potentially leave the background blank so to keep the dramatic nature. Please ignore the white ‘glow’ this is from me painting over extra pencil lines and only shows up because of the flash. Once completed it will not be visible
I will try and keep updating the blog with progress reports and eventually the finished article.
(click to enlarge and click again to exit!)
Also here is the photo I have based the painting on. It is a photo I took in 2007 at Burghley of Silbury Hill ridden (or in this case led) by Andrew Nicholson.
Posted in: Art, Horses.
