Go wild swimming

When I decided that I wanted to try wild swimming I sought out suitable local places, and discovered Lumb Falls, near Hebdon Bridge.  I was ready to go, weather and free time permitting!

Last weekend was always going to be a bit of a strange one.  I wasn't quite sure how many volunteers I had turning up and so I half expected I was going to need to work Saturday as well as Sunday, and was approaching this with tired acceptance.  When I turned up on Saturday we were ok, so I had a ride on the steam train (I wanted to pick up some veg at the market - great excuse!), and then decided it was warm enough to attempt an outdoor swim. 

The road to Lumb Falls was paved with wrong turnings, mostly my own fault.  It is fairly hard to navigate from an OS map while driving, and I usually arrive in Rawtenstall by train so forgave myself for getting a little lost.  Eventually I found the right turning, worked out which of the footpaths was probably the correct one, left the car in a pull-in, and set off down an overgrown path, until the sound of rushing water suggested I was in the right place.

Four teenagers were splashing about, jumping over the falls and generally having fun, so I waded down stream a bit, sat and read, and then decided to go ahead and get in myself.  I wonder whether I would have been so brave about climbing into a seemingly bottomless pool if they hadn't proved that nothing was going to jump up and bite my feet?  The water was cool and golden brown, what I used to imagine 'brackish' to be like until I realised that involved salt.  When I stood shoulder deep I could only see midway down my chest, and the rest faded into murky depths.  I swam for about twenty minutes, the last five in solitary splendour.  As I climbed out the chill struck, and I dressed quickly, still feeling cool to the touch half an hour later.  I was very glad I'd brought my thin fleece. 

On the other side of the valley was a shell of a farm house so I climbed up to that and had a poke around, surprising a sheep inside the sole remaining room.  I sat on a fragment of wall and read a couple of chapters of Great Northern before deciding that if I wanted to be home in time to eat I should leave fairly soon.  I reached home shortly after seven, having had a wonderful afternoon - I shall go back!

My mother thinks I was foolhardy to go swimming in a strange place on my own.  Do you agree?

Run the Race for Life

I was supposed to be visiting a friend last weekend, but her little boy hasn't been well so we postponed things.  On the spur of the moment I signed up for the Race for Life in Heaton Park and got in a few hours before the deadline.

Yesterday morning I left the house about nine am and caught the tram to Heaton Park.  There were quite a few people in bright pink (SO much bright pink) and I felt very subdued in my grey running vest and blue shorts!  There were stalls from sponsors including one handing out bottles of water, and rather a lot of waiting around while everyone gathered.  The compere recycled his jokes as we listened to music and heard from one of the cancer research people, a 90 year old woman who was going to start the race for us, and a man with terminal cancer who came on without a shirt to show us his scar and explain how important and how difficult it was to talk about his condition.  There were a lot of people wiping their eyes at this.  My eyes were damp for a lot of the morning really - some of the back messages were incredibly moving.  There were lots of photos, lots of personal messages, and a few people who were running because they or friends had survived.  Being on the weepy part of the hormonal cycle didn't help much, but I know I would have found it very moving at any time.

When the time came to start they divided us into three groups: the runners, walkers and joggers.  I was around the middle of the joggers, and I was a bit cheesed off at the number of people who stopped running/jogging as soon as they crossed the start line, blocking the way for those of us who really did want to run.  I wanted a two lane system - walking pace and faster!  Next time I'm going to join the runners group.  I crossed the start line seven and a half minutes after the official time (it felt like a maths problem: if several thousand women pass through a gap X wide at Y abreast, how long will it take them to pass?) and wove in and out.  There were a few patches where the path was too narrow to overtake and I had to walk a few steps, but I kept going and soon we were on the wider stretch and things eased a little.
It was astonishing what a difference the supporters made.  I didn't have anyone cheering for me, but when you run around up a hill, knees protesting and lungs straining, somehow people applauding and cheering everyone gives an unexpected boost.  I did walk for about 500 yards (4K to 4.5K).  It was up a steepish slope and I was tired. 

I know for regular runners 5K isn't much, but it felt like such an achievement for me, even though I didn't run the whole way.  I felt absolutely amazing afterwards, although I ache a bit today  I have so far raised over £135 (more with giftaid) and I am really keen to do it again next year.

I ran with four names on my back:
Lily Robinson was my Nan.  She had cancer in the 1970s and Grandad was told several times that she wasn't going to survive.  She battled through, and lived until 1995, although the damage done by the treatment left her very frail for most of my childhood.  I am so grateful that thanks to the treatment she received I knew her for almost 17 years.  I still miss her so much.

Joan Watson was the mother of my oldest friend.  She died a couple of years ago after her second fight with cancer.  She came from Bury (something I didn't know until I moved up here) and when I spoke to Caroline yesterday she said that Joan loved Heaton Park and used to take C and her sister when they were little.  It made it feel even more fitting that I ran with her in mind.

Irene Kerrison was my paternal grandmother.  She died of breast cancer when I was about four.  I am deeply saddened that I have no memories of her.

Chris Rippon died of cancer last year.  He was a very dear family friend and is much missed.

Go and see something live you've never seen before.

In early May I went to Brussels to see the Women's Artistic Gymnastics' European Championships.  I had tickets for the qualifications, and both the team and apparatus finals.  I have only been following gymnastics seriously for about a year, and I learned more about the sport over the three days than I have from all of the blog posts, videos and articles. 

I wasn't sure how I was going to find three days devoted to gymnastics, but I was utterly gripped.  The qualifications were so busy it was hard not to miss something.  The team finals were edge of seat at times, but the apparatus finals were probably my favourite.  The whole stadium was focussed on one place, and the atmosphere was alive with tension and support.  It was very exciting, and I shall definitely be doing it again.

Most of my photos were blurred, but by the third day I was a little better at keeping the background steady.  I think the movement of the gymnasts is captured well (this is my excuse and I am sticking to it)...

Larissa Iordache on beam...

...Catalina Ponar on beam...

...and Hannah Whelan on floor.

Grow something from seed

I cheated slightly with this one - I added it to the list although it was already underway. As most of you know, I bought my first house last year. I've gardened before, but I've never had a garden of my own, to make my own choices (and mistakes). I am astonished at how much I am enjoying growing things. Move over crazy cat lady, I'm turning into a crazy plant lady.

I started off with some seedlings - three geraniums, two strawberries and a fuchsia. Much to my shock I didn't kill them, so I moved on to sweet peas. I planted the seeds (three to a pot) and watched anxiously until they started to sprout. I cannot tell you how hard it was to resist digging up the seeds to see if anything was happening... Then, like Topsy, they growed.

I am going to build a raised bed (eventually), and can't wait to start putting my pots out in the back garden. My fingers are faintly tinged with green!

Drive a different type of vehicle

Guess what I did today!  

This is the Sapper, an austerity loco currently making its home at the ELR, and this afternoon I had a footplate rideup to Rawtenstall and back.  I changed gears and pulled levers and blew the whistle and generally had an amazing time.  Definitely doing this one again!

Introduction

Dear all,
I would like you to challenge me to do 100 things. There is no limit to how many you suggest, or how long/short they are. I'd rather they didn't cost oodles of cash, and I am assuming that there will be a fair number of free ones in there. They can be absolutely anything (although jumping out of a plane or bungie jumping? Not going to happen folks) and I will do my best to complete them and post about them here. They can take an hour, a day, a weekend, or bits and pieces of days, but I'd prefer it if they weren't a long term commitment.

They could involve:
Going somewhere
Making something
Learning something
Watching something
Organising something
Doing something
Reading something
Writing something
Enduring something

Comments welcomed here or at livejournal.

One Hundred Things - A Master List

1 Run the Race for Life
2 Go through a car wash (yes, in a car)
3 Get my work inbox down to just that week's emails
4 Finish my patchwork quilt
5 Grow something from seed
6 Go up into my loft (silly, but I've lived here almost a year and I haven't dared)
7 Do Couch to 5K
8 Knit something
9 Do something touristy in your home town
10 Play a game of Chez Geek
11 Paint your nails with mad glittery nail varnish
12 Darn a sock (or other knitted item)
13 Get on a bus to see where it goes
14 Walk up to Darwen tower
15 Raise £100 for charity
16 Cook a new recipe
17 Take a photo a day for a month
18 Walk Hadrian's Wall
19 Try a new food
20 Complete one of the aerial challenges (i.e. Go Ape or similar)
21 Try your hand at a different craft activity
22 Take a Salsa class - I've had salsa lessons, but will look for something similar
23 Catalogue your books
24 Crochet a purse
25 Contact someone you haven't seen for ages
26 Make a keepsake book/item
27 Alter a piece of clothing you never wear into something that you do (or at least might).
28 Write a poem
29 Go swimming in the nude
30 Make a piece of jewellery
31 Go rockpooling
32 Think of a food you don't normally like. Find a recipe that sounds OK and cook with it and see if you like it.
33 Have you been to all four countries of the United Kingdom? Take a trip to any of them you've never visited.
34 Go to a nature reserve and see a creature you've never seen before.
35 Try something you'd normally sneer at
36 Read a book in a genre you haven't read before
37 Learn a new language
38 A bit like the Hadrian's wall one, but do a long-distance walking path (in stages if necessary) or walk the course of a river from source to the sea
39 Drive a different type of vehicle
40 Learn to identify the main British tree species
41 Get to know a neighbour.
42 Go and see something live you've never seen before - it can be a sports match, the races, a gig, an author talk and book signing, but you must never have done it before.
43 Do everything left-handed (or right-handed if you're left-handed to start with) for a day. (you are allowed to exclude writing, if necessary)
44 Learn to do something technical.
45 Take part in an experiment.
46 take a ballet class.
47 go to see the Royal Ballet at the Opera House and/or see a ballet that is new to you.
48 Read a Shakespeare play that you've not yet read.
49 Dye your hair a colour it has never before been.
50 Take part in a flashmob.