Charles "Crash" Atlas?

Ashington Triathlon - Quite literally in the land of my Father's

My athletic season is up and running and despite not pulling up any trees, I feel fit, healthy and injury-free. This corroborates what my recent health check results were saying. Chloresterol levels lower, glucose levels lower, BP satisfactory. My risk of heart attack in next ten years has come down to just 8%. Diabetes risk – no issues. My weight has levelled despite my high level of activity due to muscle mass increase.
 

I went to buy a new suit for work earlier this week. Normally I fit a 40 inch chest. Incredibly I am now a 44 inch chest size. I have swimmer shoulders, a runners core and erm… hybrid legs. I am certainly not fitting the lean athlete description. I’m more of the bulk V-shape which is good for strength but doesn’t help my times in terms of streamlining or mass having to be carried around in a race.
 

 

Speaking of races, so far this year I have taken part in the David Lloyd Lincoln triathlon, the Southwell triathlon, the Ashington triathlon and aquathlons in Burtwood and Wrekin College. Although I am still hovering towards the rear at finishes I am pleased with my improved performances, primarily as a result of good fitness and more experience of racing at this level. Particularly I have benefited from much improved cycling times as a result of the new bike, the Triban 3. There is a four week waiting list for these bikes as I type because of their great value/great performance attributes. Swimming technique is more focussed resulting in improved race times but running still could be better.

 

 

Next up is the Rother Valley triathlon.  It will be my first triathlon with an open water swim. I did the 1500m Big Swim at the lake there last year and the water stinks to high heaven with duck droppings. The weeds tangle around the legs there too. A fellow competitor got in to difficulties and I swam with him for a while to make sure he was ok.

 

 

Whilst doing a run training session from home to Rother Valley, a chap on a bike spotted my David Lloyd Tri t shirt. He had competed in Lincoln too so we got chatting. It was nice to be spotted as triathlete among triathletes however modest my abilities.

 

 

I am no longer a novice triathlete though. That mantle has been taken on by the chap I saw doing the running leg of the Ashington triathlon with his bike helmet on. Oh dear!


Musically, I performed with Peachy for the first time in 2 years a few weeks ago. There were a few technical issues but otherwise it was decent performance. It was nice to see Dad there too who hasn't been in the best of health lately. Izzie and I continue to rehearse and perform with TWH. all fine on that front.

 

Now about that charity fire walk I have signed up for down at the Hollin Bush…….

 

 

 

 



If you see Sid, tell him...

"I wish I'd never told Sid"

It’s strange how I get a massive spike in hits from China at the same time that my blog gets hacked, isn’t it?  Now, I’ve deleted all the dodgy html code that had been added I can get things updated.

I seem to have hit a plateau in my fitness. In fact, it is deteriorating, which makes me think health issues again. I haven’t been fully fit since November and I just can’t seem to shake one or two issues off. Consequently, my times are markedly much poorer than they should be at this point or indeed what they were 6 months ago. However, at Easter, I had a Forrest Gump moment and just kept running and running. 20km of canal trail between Worksop and Ranby was very liberating. Flat, quiet and scenic.

I’ve managed a couple of Aquathlons this year; Burntwood (snowed) and Sandwell. The Sandwell event (confusingly at Cradley Heath) was a particularly cruel course. Needless to say, with the way I have been feeling, I didn’t pull up any trees with my time and positions. Next up is the first Triathlon of the year, Lincoln. I’m far from prepared for it but I will do my best. I’ll see if things pick up in the next few weeks. If not, I will be visiting the doctor again.

 

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Tokyo Witch Hunt played a great gig in Leeds after taking the Winter off.  A second gig there had to be cancelled because of the heavy snowfall. Further gigs are in the pipeline but I am struggling with my scheduling at the minute.

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So Thatcher is dead but even in death she is still shafting the nation at a time of austerity. £8 million to dispose of her is abhorrent. My suggestion is to strap her to a missile for delivery to Mr Kim Jong-un.  

From my window I can see the wasteland that was Orgreave Coking plant and the fields above the railway line where the miners were brutalised. I went to school with children from year-long striking families. I also went to school with someone who sat alongside myself and those children that is now a current sitting Conservative MP and who will be in the House of Commons today listening to Thatcher tributes.

Has privatisation of utilities, the railway, the steelworks, the mines and sale of council houses made a difference? Yes. It has closed down GB as a manufacturing nation, driven up costs of energy and travel, killed off coal and steel communities, created a shortage of housing and put unemployment at 3 million.

 Don’t even get me started on the Poll Tax. I refused to pay it and duly received a court summons which was a point of principal that had to be seen through.

 Thatcherism repulsed me and I have never voted Conservative nor ever will.

 If you see Sid, tell him!



Where you from you sexy thing? Erm..Sheffield!

I did my volunteering stint at Park Run last week but I missed running, not least because I was freezing stood still. I had time keeping responsibility for all the runners and fortunately all the data transferred from the timer gadget to the website ok. Phew!

Each Saturday morning I drive past Shiregreen WMC, which is just a stone’s throw away from Concord Park Run. This is where the final “stripping” scenes were filmed for the Full Monty. It dawned on me that I have several close connections with the Full Monty filming locations.

The old Burton Street school used in the film was formerly the Langsett Music Centre where I studied music. I used to love doing a bit of Dave Brubeck’s Unsquare Dance and Take Five on the battered double bass there. I had some talented peers sat alongside me in those classes. Marcos Lopez-Iglesias (played sessions for Duran Duran, Limahl) and Bill Sutton (fabulous jazz pianist) immediately spring to mind.

As a boy, I lived fairly near to the hills of Parkwood Springs that rose above Neepsend and the old Woodhead railway line. Latterly, this was the site of a dry ski village, but in my youth it was a great place to go climbing up to the old gun battery (which protected against air strikes on the steelworks below during the Second World War) or go for a terrifying downhill bike ride. In the film, this where Robert Carlyle sits smoking while doing a training run as the ginger haired bloke tries to kill himself with car exhaust fumes.

Full Monty location - Parkwood Springs (www.onlinegreencity.com)

And then there is the former ASDA supermarket at Orgreave (next to the site of the bitter Battle of Orgreave during the 1984 Miner’s Strike). Though now relocated further uphill following the Walmart takeover, this was/is still my local big supermarket. In the film, one of the characters is a security guard here.

…………………….

I’ve now managed to get out on my new bike, the Triban 3, for the first time this year. I had a good 35km ride to Poolsbrook and back (site of my infamous head-first over the handlebars and roll down the dirt track into a crowd of young mums and their children calamity).

On the way, travelling towards me in the opposite direction, I was humbled by a blind cyclist riding alongside another cyclist. I’m pleased that my resolution of being more tolerant of perceived ignorance held fast. I was heading for a collision and just about to scream a profanity for them hogging the width of the track until I realised the situation.

 After you, sir!

When I got there, I sat down for a quiet coffee and sandwich, only for a female cyclist puffing on a cigarette to come up to me and say how brave I was to have cycling shorts on in the cold and that she admired my bike. I’m not usually known for my patience, especially not when knackered and muddy from my arse to my head, but I did make conversation for a while to be polite in the hope she would leave me alone.

I'm trying to be less grumpy.

Chocolate Beaches, Dim Students and Witch Hunting

More classic eyebrow raising conversations whilst drinking my beer in the Hollin Bush….

A: I got offered work in Brazil once but I turned it down

B: What and miss the Cocoa Cobana?

and later in the same conversation….

A: There are a lot of slums in Brazil. They call them Gavelas you know.

(Favelas – good try though)

………………..

I do wonder if it’s just me being over read in trivia or whether education has really plummeted. I watched University Challenge last night on television. With ten minutes to go, Bangor were leading University College, London by 100 points to zero but still managed to lose. I felt sorry for mature student, Tomlinson, in the Bangor team for having to put up with his other team members being so dim. I answered more questions correctly than the lot of them, screaming the answers at the tv.  Yes I know the Italian origins of the word “madrigal”, characters in operas such as Dido, and that Triton is a moon of Neptune. So why don’t you?

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I’ve been doing some long distance training in the pool, 2km stretches, to build my endurance. I’m disappointed that my first Aquathlon of the year in Halesowen has been cancelled due to lack of numbers though. I may do a 10km road race instead that day. Still no opportunity due to the snow and ice to get on my bike for a good ride either.

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Rehearsals start again tomorrow for my contribution to the live set up of Tokyo Witch Hunt. We have a gig at the beginning of March in Leeds and no doubt Izzie will be plugging the album.

Better go find my guitar…and cables… and amp and…

Kicking Up A Stink

Down at the local pool....not!

I got asked to a jam night at The Springvale Pub. The fact that I got blisters playing proves how long it is since I picked up a guitar. Anyway, it’s always nice to play with a live band. There were five of us who had never played together, nor even met each other before the night. However, we rocked out to Roll Over Beethoven, I Saw Here Standing There and, of course, Johnny B Goode. Made a nice change.

Sticking with music, I called Sheffield Arena Box Office to get tickets to see The Who. All were gone within an hour of going on sale except the crappy seats. Would have been nice to see them again but I’m not that desperate. Another time, maybe.

After a pool workout the other day, a young chap came up to me in the Reception area and asked me if I swam every day and if I did triathlons. He was impressed with my swimming. This was quite an ego boost for me. I’m far from the finished article but the compliment was a good feeling.

I managed 25:18 at the 5km Park Run. This was the 100^th at Concord. It was quite windy and cold. I was trying to go sub 25 mins but I went off too hard at the start and flagged a little towards the end. Next week!

Back in the pool on Sunday morning, I managed 2km amidst the bingo-winged chatterboxes doing breadths whilst navigating beach balls and such like. However, it was the first time I had ever smelt someone’s perfume whilst having my head under water. The smell was pungent enough to be so noticeable under 6 feet of chlorinated water. That’s what I call strong perfume! Why do women wear perfume and makeup to go swimming?  

 Bizarre.

Trains, Pigs and Who?

Because of the snow, I took the train to work a couple of times last week, walking a couple of miles to the village station to catch a connection train in the City Centre. I enjoy rail journeys (as well as the fact that Sheffield Midland station pub has a very comprehensively stocked selection of cask ales for the return journey). 

Wintry Sheffield Woodhouse Station

 

My ticket was checked by Lisa. Her name badge described her as Revenue Enforcement Officer. I wonder what happened to Train Guards or Conductors. Probably got lost in the era of rail privatisation. Anyway, the Destination Facilitator (Train Driver) got me to my intended location in good order through the snowy period.

Staying on the subject of rail travel, I've been perusing the published intended route for the new High Speed 2 rail link. This will be passing through Killamarsh, Rother Valley and on to Catcliffe, not a million miles from me. There are quite a few of the old lines still extant but now used as nature routes for walkers and cyclists, including myself for training. Some of the viaducts, and even the old station at Killamarsh are still in situ. However, it seems that these old routes are not suitable for high speed rail travel and hence the new rail route being built alongside. I think this is an exciting time for regeneration and investment though I understand the concerns of those who will be affected by compulsory purchases. From what I have seen of the plans, my area is not that affected other than the building of new viaducts at Rother Valley, Renishaw and Catcliffe.

The fomer Killamarsh Central Station (www.geograph.org.uk)

Anyway, with the snow having subsided enough and when I did manage to get the van on to the road, opposite the still snowy hale-baled field, I was distracted by two pigs humping in a farm yard whilst another watched on. I guess there isn’t much else to do in a snowy pig sty. I deduced a voyeuristic pig is bound to be a much colder than two humping ones though.

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The Who are coming to play Quadraphenia at Sheffield Arena. I have seen them perform a couple of times and am weighing up whether or not I can justify spending £60 (for a cheap seat) to go and see them again. Tickets go on sale this Friday. Dilemma!

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As for my training regime,  I haven’t managed to do any cycling and couldn’t get to do Park Run at the weekend but I made up for it with resistance rope work, a 1km stint in the pool and a very muddy sub 1-hour cross country 10km. I have shaved and had a hair cut so maybe it was streamling that got me the decent time.

Man Beats Dog With Stick...

...at Park Run...

...in the Snow

Swim-Golf is a great way to focus on stroke technique | Triathlon Training Notes

Swim-Golf is a great way to focus on stroke technique | Triathlon Training Notes

Snow Wonderings

You may remember my post last year about hay bales. Well, there is still a field that I pass each morning with dozens of uncollected bales from harvest time. The new crop is growing around them and I am wondering why these haven’t been wrapped and stored as usual. They are now covered in snow and must surely be rotting. Has something happened to the farmer I wonder? I have been unable to take a decent photograph as the country road to the side doesn’t have any laybys to pull in and stop. It’s a spectacular winter scene though. I will try and persist to get that photograph.

I was 6 seconds off going sub-25mins on Park Run at the weekend but that’s still two 5km personal bests in as many weeks. To say how ill and rubbish I have been feeling, this new level of fitness I am attaining is quite remarkable. I am more focussed on technique and pacing in my cross training these days. I still need to speed up in the pool and that will come as my strength and technique improve. I've been doing a bit of science and maths too, plotting graphs based on my velocities and stroke rate. It's interesting seeing how it looks on paper!

 The cycling is dependent on the roads being ice free.

So far, I’ve registered for Aquathlons (400m swim in to a 5km run) at Halesowen, Burntwood, Sandwell, Wombourne and Wrekin College plus the Ashington Triathlon (400m swim, 20km cycle, 5km run). The Ashington event will be my first visit to my family ancestral home. I’m going to take Dad along with me to be my tour guide.

As well as sprint triathlons at Southwell, Lincoln, Woodall Spa, Wombourne and Rother Valley, I will be competing in various Masters swimming events plus a couple of open water swims throughout the year.

I’m really looking forward to the start of the new season.

Turning Up the Heat

Athleticism..

Despite my abdominal strain and niggling calf, I’ve been feeling really strong of late.

I really look forward to the Saturday morning Park Run and went sub-26 mins last week. I’ve picked out a new pace setter to help me go even faster and closer to my sub-25 mins next target. Bring it on.

Sundays I have been doing some interval running work around Rother Valley and Killamarsh. It’s approximately an 8.5km round trip. I’ve surprised myself that even after a hard run I can still finish with an uphill sprint. It’s very pleasing.

I’ve also swapped pools for my swimming sessions. I’ve been concentrating on stroke technique more than strength lately but I think it’s time to dig the resistance rope out again to build on my forearms. To swim fast you need a good underwater pull (as well as reducing water drag through streamlining). To this end, I’ve been doing some butterfly stroke which is something I haven’t done since the Summer. I think I’ve only ever swam butterfly once competitively in an individual medley event when I was a child. It’s a killer but great for strength building. I might end up Mr V-Shape yet. Certainly the abs are coming on.

I’ve toyed with the idea of getting a turbo trainer for my bicycle. I’ve read good and bad reviews about various makes that would enable me to spin indoors during the icy and dangerous weather. I’ve not made a decision yet but I’ve definitely decided to go on some Sheffield CTC trips starting next week. These are organised cycle runs which should help me with technique and endurance. I’m looking forward to getting back on the bike.

It’s time to start booking my 2013 events.

Music….

I play with the live setup of Tokyo Witch Hunt and the new album, Eclectic Electric, is available from the usual digital download stores and the reviews are positive. I don’t do Facebook, but you can keep up to date with what’s happening chez TWH via www.facebook.com/tokyowitchhunt or www.tokyowitchhunt.com

And finally…

I have hot water and heat again!