OK…back from the dead…again!
I couldn’t let the Olympics go by without a word or two. It’s been blimmin exciting so far, even (I would imagine) for those among you who don’t like sport. This is a bit all over the place but forgive me, it’s too exciting!
We (as in Team GBR) are doing amazingly well so far. It’s amazing how smoky it seems to be in our lounge at the moment, tears are a regular occurrence in the Rowe household…also amazing how the men seem to cry more on the podium than the women.
The mornings this weekend have seen us up watching sailing on “interactive”. That has been awesome - and more so because I actually understand what they are doing nowadays since I learnt to sail! If you don’t think you like sailing, watch the 49′ers medal race. Wow! As for Ben and the Blondes - were those shiny gold medals ever in doubt? My heart was in my mouth for the Yngling…
Of course, we started well in the swimming. Admittedly we have not won as many medals as we would like but we have won golds and a bronze, with more to come too. On the plus side, we have lots and lots of British records and PB’s - you can’t really ask for more from an athlete. Naturally the swimming has been entirely dominated by Michael Phelps, who can fail to be amazed by 8 gold medals? Who can fail to be amazed by his physique and who can fail to be amazed by how low he wears his suit without showing off his bits?! Honourable mention here to Ryan Lochte, who is my personal favourite swimmer in the USA team, even if he isn’t so famous as Phelps.
We have been dominant in the cycling so far. More shiny gold medals for men and women…hopefully with more to come. I am very much looking forward to seeing Cav (that’s Mark Cavendish to many of you) on the track with Bradley Wiggins in the Madison. Of course Mark recently won 4 stages in the Tour de France and he is awesome. If a little cocky…can’t blame him really though. More medals to come I think in the cycling for Team GBR.
More fantastic performances from Team GBR in the rowing, lots of tears from the men’s lightweight double sculls (and from me and David watching!). We haven’t lived up to expectations in some of the events but you can’t win ‘em all…I think Gary Herbert who commentates wishes we could though. His voice has somewhat gone!
On the athetics track we haven’t been dominant though, we have managed to get Christine Ohuragu in the 400m final, we *had* Jeanette Kwatche in the 100m final, Andy Baddeley is in the 1500m final. No-one in the men’s 100m final, no-one in the women’s 3000m steeple. Luckily Greg Rutherford is into the long jump final (unlike a certain Mr Tomlinson), as are our 3 high jumpers. Naturally all the headlines have been grabbed by Usain Bolt and his frighteningly fast 100m…gold medal and new world record. I only hope it’s not drug-fuelled. I can only assume not, as they have been tested so many times by all accounts. David made a good point about his physiology being so different than everyone elses, so perhaps that’s the key? He is kind of lanky…
In the gymnastics we have won our first ever apparatus final medal in the form of a bronze medal, which is fabulous. He beat the men’s overall champion, who happens to be Chinese too. We also won a couple of bronze medals in some equestrian stuff…someone made a point about the horses winning medals not riders. Perhaps they should get a medal, I hope they at least get a rosette.
It’s not all been good though. We have failed miserably at judo, shooting and archery…we were meant to be winning medals there but didn’t.
Here’s to another week of great action. One thing I can be sure of is that I am going to suffer severe Olympic withdrawal symptoms. The other thing I can be sure of is that I will burst with excitement in 2012…
August 17th, 2008
Well, fortunately not. Is this blog dead? You may have thought so but (un)fortunately not 
I am very aware - and reminded frequently - that I have neglected my poor little blog the past few months. Many reasons (admittedly mostly involving my putting one foot in front of the other a few thousand times and ending up running but you’ll know that if you read rowerunning) and no doubt many excuses but I am going to endeavour to post some bits and bobs here, relating to what we have been up to recently. Oh and possibly some total gibberish too.
How shall I begin? Perhaps with the exciting news that our local Tesco has started to stock patties again (no less than the Port Royal Pattie, which is Pattie of the Year 2003/4!). A caribbean delight, which we first tasted at the Notting Hill Carnival over 10 years ago…sort of an exotic cornish pasty really but mighty tasty.
Aren’t you glad this blog is back in action. You’ve been missing out and I hope you sleep better tonight for knowing about the Great Return of the Pattie.
September 30th, 2007
Well, another age has passed since I last blogged and I thought it prudent to post a little about my trip to Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida a few weeks back. I was there with my best friend, Carole and her husband, Mark and their daughter (our goddaughter) Alice Rose.
They flew out a few days before me and soon enough I was in the heat of Florida! We stayed in a lovely 7 bedroom villa about 15 minutes drive from Disneyworld itself, nice to have lots of space and a pool to cool down in! Unfortunately due to an ice-skating accident back in December, Carole wasn’t very mobile - but thanks to her motorised scooter was able to get around the parks quite well.
The first day was spent at Animal Kingdom. The first ride of the day was the Kali River Rapids, all the guides advise you do it early or late - as you get soaked! Unfortunately, Alice got a tad upset by the soaking, so I was left to go on it a second time all alone - which meant Mark could take pictures of me. We then went off to ride the fearsome new rollercoaster “Expedition Everest” - check out this picture of me and Mark on there having a whale of a time. In fact, thanks to the FastPass system, we went on it twice back to back We watched the traditional 3pm parade and then, excitingly, met Minnie Mouse as we were leaving for home.
Friday we had a bit of a low-key day, as we were planning on going out later to watch the evening parade and fireworks at the Magic Kingdom. We executed said plan and the floats were fabulous especially Cinderella and Prince Charming! After the parade we ended up with a muffin and a latte for dinner (I know, not the diet of a runner!) and waited to see the fireworks, which didn’t disappoint.
Saturday saw us visiting one of the waterparks at Disney, called Blizzard Beach. It had all kinds of fun things to do, Alice really enjoyed herself as she is a bit of a water-baby. The park is meant to look like a ski resort, it’s quite bizarre really - but great fun! We then had a lazy afternoon at home, followed by a Chinese take-away (with the most strange pink, orange and green prawn crackers ever!).
On Sunday we headed off to MGM Studios. This turned out to be my favourite of all the parks. We got to ride the Aerosmith Rock and Roller Coaster (cue embarrassing photo!), we saw the Beauty and the Beast stage show from the front row, thanks to Carole’s disabled scooter, Alice met Belle, Snow White and Mary Poppins and the girls all met Minnie again, this time in her traditional outfit…but the highlight of the day was meeting Sully and Mike from Monsters Inc., I was absolutely thrilled to bits - as you may be able to tell from the cheesy grin!
Monday saw us off to Magic Kingdom, where we went on a few rides including the AstroOrbiter and Mark and Alice took time out to meet Buzz Lightyear…to infinity and beyond We then braved the hot sunshine for the 3pm parade, including seeing Cinders again.
Ticking along to Tuesday and we headed to Epcot, which was Alice’s favourite part of Disney. I have to admit that I found Epcot pretty dated and it looked a bit tatty. However, I did have a chance to go on 2 really cool rides, one was “Soarin’” and the other was “Mission Space” where I decided perhaps I could be an astronaut…
Wednesday was my last day before heading home. The week absolutely flew by in a blur of rides and Tinkerbell and Minnie Mouse 
Breakfast was spent in the company of Winnie the Pooh and friends, here I am grinning meeting Piglet! The only thing I really really wanted to do was the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, the ride was a bit of a let-down but the show outside beforehand was great! We were very lucky just to be there at the right time and I think you’ll agree that the chap who played Cap’n Jack was a great lookie-likie! Carole and I had to have our photo taken outside Cinderella’s castle whilst wearing our ears…
And that, my friends, is that. A week in Disney was probably enough for me and I am not sure I would ever return - not least because I think I missed David so much whilst he was at home and I was away. However, I had a wonderful time and have some great memories - and fab photos to treasure. I did say when I came back that I wouldn’t go on holiday without David again but here I am planning a trip to Dubai with three midwife friends in November….
April 25th, 2007
Wow! We have had the most amazing and bizarre couple of days in Jamiroquai-land! If you will bear with me, a brief synopsis will follow…it all started a few weeks back when I got a ‘phone call to say I had won seats on the “Gig in the Sky” ‘plane. We had known this was happening for a long time and luckily David was going to be able to go but not me 
However, one competition entry later and there I was - well there we both were - with a place on the flight!
It started on Tuesday morning with a car collection (bullet proof no less!) which took us to Heathrow, followed by a flight to Munich. Once we landed in Munich we were greeted by a Sony Ericsson rep who took us to the special check-in desk for the flight to Athens. We hung out in the dedicated lounge with non-stop food and drink (fortunately non-alcoholic!) for a few hours until it was time to board the Gig in the Sky ‘plane. Once onboard we were served by cabin crew wearing uniforms with the Jamiroquai buffalo man logo on the back of their jackets and we had a dinner of chicken followed by a specially decorated chocolate mousse. After dinner the gig started. Hurrah!
All I can say is, all this, “Please turn off your mobile ‘phone” malarkey whilst on a ‘plane is a load of old tosh! We were encouraged to use our new ‘phones (which we received earlier in the day) to take photos of the gig…so I therefore deduce that it *must* be safe!
The thirty-minute gig was cool - the band played a new song, “Radio” from the last album which has never been played live before and also a really fab version of an old favourite, “High Times”. Shortly afterwards we landed in Athens and were escorted to an area in the terminal where there was to be a longer gig, complete with more food and (very strong!!) drinks. We had a great time dancing and singing along…I wish I could remember how many times we have seen Jamiroquai now!!
A bus about midnight took us to our hotel, where we gratefully sank into bed - but not until we had looked at our certificates and badges which were left in the hotel for us. The certificate was to say that we had taken part in the record breaking Gig in the Sky. A mug of hot chocolate later and we were in the land of nod!
The next morning saw us in the rooftop swimming pool, before breakfast and quick zoom around Athens for 90 minutes. Surely the most odd thing had to be literally stumbling across the “Changing of the Guard” - what outfits!! A bus to the airport, a flight back (delayed due to wind at Heathrow) and a quick stomp from the tube station saw us back at home, at the end of a bizarre couple of days. A fabulous couple of days nonetheless…surely rating highly in the “Top Ten Jamiroquai Moments” Oh and in case you can’t suss it out, a link to all the photos is here.
March 2nd, 2007
OK, so David had a rusty old bike (16 years old, about 3 feet too small for him) to ride to the station on as he was fed up of his lovely bike getting nicked…on Boxing Day he decided enough was enough of riding the teeny tiny thing and went to buy the cheapest bike he could to perform the same task.
Off to Halfords he went, spending the princely sum of £80 on a new bike. He couldn’t have the cheapest one ‘cos he’s too tall. Even the man in Halfords said, “the parts aren’t good quality but that’s why it’s £80″. Remember this later.
He’s had the bike for one month. So far he has had one puncture, got the most irritating squeaky brakes known to mankind (I ran alongside the squeak for 5 miles a few weeks ago!), had the bell vandalised, the gears slip and then he just said, “I meant to tell you, my handlebars almost fell off on the way from work this evening”.
Hence the title of this blog entry…good value? Methinks not
February 2nd, 2007
Wow! I was emailed earlier by one of the guys we know who does the BPTT regularly (and also does lots on the website) to ask if I would allow my 10k race report from earlier today to be included on the BPTT website.
Here’s a link to my “hero” page…I am impressed My only fear is all the embarassing photos that are there which will now be viewed by even more people! I am in good company on the “hero” page with the Olympic silver medallist Sonia O’Sullivan. Double wow!
January 7th, 2007
…was today! If you want to read more, go to www.rowerunning.co.uk - a little site for David and I to blabber on about our running exploits!
January 7th, 2007
I’ll post a longer update soon (as I’m working over Christmas but do have a few days off coming up) but wanted to post a quick Merry Christmas message.
Naturally, we started Christmas Day with a run at the Bushy Park Time Trial, along with about another 160+ crazy people! Festive wear was not obligatory although many of us chose to get in the spirit of things - as the post-race photo testifies. David was even first one to finish wearing a Santa hat!!!
December 25th, 2006
I was today reminded that it has been a long time since I wrote a blog entry, so I thought I would do a quick update for my five readers (yes, I have one more now! LOL!). So, what’s new in the world of the Rowe’s? If you don’t mind I will update on a few things all at once
Running: I have kept going with my running and have also kept going in the BPTT (Bushy Park Time Trial), which I blogged about a while ago. Since the new BPTT running year began on 7th October 2006, there have been six runs (David has run in them all) and I have run in five of them. The best thing is that in four of them, I have achieved new Personal Bests - the most recent of which being yesterday. I managed the 5kms in 32:55, which I was astounded by (and yes, I know some people do 10kms in that time but they aren’t me!) and David was mightily impressed. He came to the finish line with my drink expecting me to still be a fair way up the final straight but I was almost at the finish line. I put it down to the fly I swallowed near the start - the extra protein must have done me good! Overall in the year I am currently in 18th place (out of 302 women and, more excitingly, am being Sonia O’Sullivan who is is an Olympic Silver medallist you know….and yes, I know she has only run three times and is only six places behind me, but still…!) and David is 4th (!!!!) out of 613 men so far this year. He is doing amazingly well and has entered a half marathon in early December (he is doing 15 mile training runs every weekend). Also in the world of running, we have joined a running club and are now both members of the Ranelagh Harriers, who are based very close to Richmond Park.
Work: Well, besides the fact that the world of mummies and babies is an astoundingly busy one, things are good. I am still loving it - the only bit I don’t love is the fact that due to it being so darned busy I don’t get to always provide the care for the women that I would ideally like, due to time constraints. However, I know that I am doing my best and I am still abiding by my mantra which is to try to do one thing every day which will make a difference to someone I am caring for. I am doing pretty well on that so far. On another work note, I was promoted to band 6 the other day. As far as I can tell there is no great difference except I can no longer say, “but I am only band 5″! I was already doing the job of a Team Midwife as it was - but it is nice to have the extra tuppence ha’penny every month (as much as that, I hear you cry?)…
Jamiroquai: We have been lucky in the last few weeks to see Jamiroquai a few times, not least at the Jazz Cafe as part of the BBC Electric Proms. It was a fabulous gig and took me back to the first time we saw Jamiroquai (1993 I think, in Sheffield). We also were lucky enough to go along to Strictly Come Dancing (BBC television show), where they performed wearing tuxedo’s and looked really cool. However, seeing the band that night was somewhat usurped by the fact that David had his photo with Emma Bunton…he had the same cheesy grin that he wore when he first had his photo taken with her in 1999 at a Jamiroquai after-show party.
Holidays: We have a trip to Prague planned very soon, which we are both really looking forward to. This will make up for the lack of Christmas holidays as I will be working throughout (when oh when will babies realise it is far better to be born Monday to Friday, 9-5?!)…
So I think that’s about all for now. I promise to try to keep this a bit more updated but you know…
November 12th, 2006
Well, not technically my first 5km run - I have done two charity “runs” a few years ago, with times of just under 50 minutes if memory serves. Not really runs at all in fact. However, after my six week training plan, it was time to see if it would do what it says on the tin and get me around a 5km run.
Every Saturday morning there is a run in Bushy Park near Kingston-upon-Thames. The Bushy Park Time Trial (BPTT) is free and a varying number of runners (normally 130 to 200+) turn up - David has done it a few times now. I lined up at the back of the start line - butterflies in my tummy - and after a quick warning about the frisky stags, we were off! I had a 1km rough marker and 2km rough marker in my head, so knew vaguely what I should be aiming for time-wise. This was ruined straight away, as when I reached the 1km point, I was about 50 seconds faster than I normally do (usually I am about 7:40 min/km). Hmmm. I appeared to have gone off too quickly. David conversely said he went off too slowly, which is why he looks so comfy in this photo. Must have got carried away in the excitement! Anyway, I plodded on. The plan that David and I had discussed was for me to run as far as I could before stopping to walk for a minute and then running again, hopefully to the finish.
The six week training plan had enabled me to run for 15 mins, walk one minute, then run for 15 minutes again, covering a distance of just over 4km. The idea is that after the six week plan is finished, you should be able to run 20 minutes before walking. I reached 15 minutes, then 20 minutes and finally managed to reach 26 minutes without stopping! I walked for one minute and then started to run again. Amazingly I was about to enter the “home straight” which David had told me was the final kilometre. He had finished in 20:14 seconds (slightly less comfy in this photo!), so had a few minutes to wander up to me at 27 minutes - and then he ran down the final kilometre with me again. I crossed the line in 34:55, which was 6:59 mins/km!! I was over the moon - and finished 143rd out of 148, so not last
All in all, a successful Saturday morning, incidentally David was 28th out of 148. I don’t think I will ever catch him somehow. My next target is to be able to get around the whole thing without having to stop. Oh - and still talk at the same time as running. Not that I have anyone to run with, so if anybody fancies a running buddy…?
October 1st, 2006
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