Sniffles....

Well, I'm hoping that's me done for the season but I'm just about getting over a bug that has been loitering around the house (and work) for the last few weeks. It first appeared as what I thought was a disproportionate hangover from a few glasses of wine on a Friday night, while having a quiet night in (watching The Arrow). I'd say I'm about 80% back to normal but I unfortunately have the Great West Run (a half marathon through Exeter) on Sunday and I can't say I'm feeling completely up for the challenge but as I've paid for it, I am going to run (man logic for you there).

In other news....the end of the boat wakeboarding season has hit. I missed the last day as I had to cancel my session due to this bloody bug. So, it looks as though I'll be hitting Liquid Leisure again from now until April 2015 (wow, that sounds like a long way off!). At home, we're getting a log stove fitted (once Lisa can decide on the one we she wants), so it's lucky that the weather is a tad mild as we're pretty limited for heating in the house since the original fire was condemned after being removed.

Oh yeh. I've kinda accepted that next year I will be getting older and have started organising something to celebrate ....I might be getting older but there's no way I'm going to be growing up.

Anyway, hopefully the sun will stay out over the weekend and I'll be able to Strava my run to see how pathetic I really was......aChooOOOoo!

Summer has gone (already)...

Summer seems to have vanished already and I've managed to avoid going for a surf the entire time. I have been finding the time for a spot of wakeboarding (quite a bit actually) and while on our summer hols we did a spot of white water rafting, some horse riding, a cracking boat trip and 3 scuba-diving days (2 dives per day and all day on the boat). So, I can't really complain.....I spent a lot of time in the water.

In other news, I competed in my first Olympic Distance Tri. Flipping heck, it was hard work. I've rather got use to competitions that take me about 1hr 40min (half marathons, Sprint Tri). Nothing left in the calendar but I think I'll do a few Sprints again next year (including the Blenheim Tri) and might even give the South Coast Olympic another go????

Imagine ... 5 years today!

Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try.
No hell below us, above us only sky.
Imagine all the people, living for today.
Imagine there's no countries, it isn't hard to do.
Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too.
Imagine all the people, living life in peace.
You may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you'll join us and the world will live as one.
Imagine no possessions.
I wonder if you can.
No need for greed or hunger, or brotherhood of man.
Imagine all the people, sharing all the world.
You may say that I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one.
I hope some day you'll join us and the world will live as one!

Today is the 5th anniversary of the day dad died. I guess I've got use to the idea of not having him around but it is days like today that I really miss Big-Town (his real name is Granville but my mates gave him his nick-name). I know I have a blog, facebook, twitter and instagram but I only tend to share the fluff of my life. Today I'm feeling a tad flat. Not necessarily sad but definitely as though something is missing.

Why the lyrics at the top of the post? This is one of 2 tracks that I listened to over and over pretty much as dad passed from this place. Eva Cassidy isn't usually one of my listened to artists but when I want to remember dad, she's there. Oddly enough so is a Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry film! And incase you're wondering, IZ and Somewhere over the Rainbow is the other track.

I miss dad and he was/is my hero.....

Wakeboarding...

The summer is now trying to make itself known again and last weekend I headed to Liquid Leisure and had my first session of the year in just boardies and an impact vest. The water was almost warm and apart from the occasional cloud cover, it was a great ol' session. A tad busy (it got busier as the day progressed) and so limited to 3-laps but once I mellowed into it, I hit a few nice rails, took some decent air (completely forgot how to do a 360 off the kicker at the moment), and owned the pool gap on several occasions. Hoping to exit the pool gap on a rail by the end of the year and if I can get my head around it, try a raley on one of the corners without bottling it or face slapping.

Aerial view of Liquid Leisure

Not me!

Off to ExeWake on Sunday with the not so short man Mark (nephew) as his b-day present from his Aunty Nick and Uncle Lisa. Looks as though it could be thunder and lightening over the weekend and so it's going to be an interesting session.  No Lisa this time, so it'll just be the men together. If the guys will allow, I might treat myself to a pint before they take us back to the harbour (Mark can have a Pepsi).

ExeWake

There is definitely something special about wakeboarding behind a boat. I love a good cablepark session but there is so much more soul is being in the water with a proper actual wake. Also, the locations can be pretty flipping special.

A quick clip from one of my last sessions at Hardwick Park.

Seriously, where did the summer go...

We were spoilt with the summer last year and I'm seriously missing the warm afternoons with only the need for a pair of shorts and an impact vest at the lake. Winter hasn't been a particularly cold one but bugger me, it's been wet. The far side of the park by the river Thames hasn't been under less than 2ft of water since the end of 2013. Out for a walk with Ted & Tilly (we now have 2 dogs) and the Thames has increased in size again. Most of the O-Shire seems to be underwater if you're even just in site of a river - link

As I said a second ago, we now have another dog. This is Ted. I'm informed that he is a Cavachon. Unlike Tilly who is an accidental Sprolly (a rescue Spaniel/Collie), Ted is an on purpose mix between a King Charles spaniel and a Bichon Frise. Ted and Tilly get on most of the time now but the initial meeting wasn't a complete success.

In prep for the 2014 wakeboarding season to start, I set-up my new board and bindings. Bindings are bleddy tight but will loosen up after a couple of sessions. The only problem is (a rather large problem) that WMSki aren't opening fully this year. They have moved location but due to some cock-up they're only going to be running a 2.0 system and not the full 5-system. It means no hanging about for the day on a membership but having to book slots and Pay As You Ride....not going to be as easy to sneak a session in after work this time. Think I might even head back for a spot of boat action.

New LF board and old O'B board. Going to lend my O'B board to a friend, so he can give wakeboarding a crack (it just needs a spot of tlc and a repair or two).

Think next week I might give Quayside a go and after that me and a few guys might head over to Liquid Leisure if they ever reappear from the flood water (poor guys).