Thames Marathon weekend. Well, the weekend has come and gone and on Sunday I took part in the 14km Thames marathon. It was an idyllic little swim down the Thames from Henley-upon-Thames to Marlow, taking in the beautiful scenery, starting in the county of Oxfordshire and finishing in the county of Buckinghamshire. As we swimmers float down the river, we are seduced by the stunning scenery on the banks of…
Back to reality before the summer disappears. Time has marched on pretty swiftly over the last couple of weeks and LOTS has happened in my life, not a lot of swimming but a lot has gone on. Since the summer started in the northern hemisphere, I have been eagerly and jealously following people on various swim related challenges and managing a few of my own. I managed to do…
The call of the River again!! We are now just under a month away from my next little challenge – OH BUGGER! That means we are just over a month away from the Hippo Hitchup. Where, the Slimhippo will hopefully NOT turn into the runaway bride and agree to be my wife. Best I think about planning the wedding then!!!!! Or at least helping out my awesome wife to…
A different way to spent 24 hours On so many levels this was a truly enlightening and inspiring swim for swimmer and support folk alike! Going back a while, I noticed the entries to this event had opened and I was discussing doing it as a solo affair. Life got in the way, I was sent to Cardiff for work for a few days and by the time I got…
Over training! Physical or mental? Part 2 Now that the Hippo Pod have started a new chapter by moving from the Idyllic river location and into the Forest for the foreseeable future. No I am not being put out to pasture just yet! I can do a follow up to the hugely popular post of a couple of weeks ago. But firstly, welcome to the Hippo Hacienda and its dwellers….
Over-training and the pitfalls of it with regards to Endurance events Recently and in the distant past I have come across a fair few English, and other Channel aspirants who, coming up to their year of opportunity to gain the coveted title of being a Channel swimmer, are getting very despondent with their efforts to achieve the heady heights of the Channel swimming club. Having been in this game for…
It has been an interesting start to the year and this year, I did things a bit differently and booked a challenge very early on in the year. Yes, I opted to swim at PHISH this year – in the endurance event. Ingredients needed for this: 1- 1 x 61 m pool with a steel lining (optional) – huge psychological shenanigans happening 2 – Fill previously mentioned container with fresh…
Coldest dip yet! An interesting week with a bit of swimming done, not as much as I would have liked but good all the same. Slowly eating away at my 430 km target for the year – now only 422 to go before the 1st December. So on a grey morning in West London, 5 intrepid swimmers found themselves on the banks of the Jubilee river to take a dip….
Lets Get Challenged!! A new day and a new year, and already the year is getting off to an interesting start. As it is a new year, there is only one thing for it, a New Challenge! 2016 was a great year in a lot of aspects of my life but this blog focuses on my wallowing so it goes without saying that in the water I managed to surprise…
Steve Wand Memorial The morning arrived and I was up with the sparrows after a pretty late evening chatting with the Slimhippo. She has this innate ability to bring up a discussion topic which I call “it’s not about the Nail!” – one which is not going to be solved by a short few words but a couple of hours. For reference, here is a good example: NOT ABOUT THE…