On reflection... oh no, not that word. Please no big soppy tale Tom... There's nothing to moan about really. I was thinking how wonderful 2013 was for me. Probably the best year of my life (so far)... I took on some almighty challenges. Felt the extreme highs and lows of love and life. Finally realised I should appreciate my family (took my time). I shared epic moments with friends and picked up a new best friend along the way. I had next to no responsibilities in 2013. No job, a lack of attention for Uni work, and so it pains me to think that this may be one of the most adventurous years I ever have... Who knows? Work can be fun right? We'll see.
It's been an absolute age since I last wrote a blog. 5 months in fact! It's not for lack of things to write about. Or necessarily lack of time to share all the ups and downs. More that I would get halfway through writing something and think: "no one wants to read this crap anyway," and that was that, an unfinished half memory of what could have been. On reflection... oh no, not that word. Please no big soppy tale Tom... There's nothing to moan about really. I was thinking how wonderful 2013 was for me. Probably the best year of my life (so far)... I took on some almighty challenges. Felt the extreme highs and lows of love and life. Finally realised I should appreciate my family (took my time). I shared epic moments with friends and picked up a new best friend along the way. I had next to no responsibilities in 2013. No job, a lack of attention for Uni work, and so it pains me to think that this may be one of the most adventurous years I ever have... Who knows? Work can be fun right? We'll see. I started the year with a goal. The Manchester Marathon. I developed a 15 week training programme to take me right through to race day. I mostly stuck to this plan through January and February, with some hiccups in March and a fortnight break in April to fit in the most memorable 2 weeks of my entire life (more on that later). I had neglected my role as Cycling Club Road Vice Captain for the past 3 months and come race day I felt that it was at least worth the commitment. I ran within myself 'til halfway. It was there that I spotted my family and girlfriend cheering me on! That was the boost I needed to unleash the overeager excitement and lose control of my mind and with that my ability to keep my desired pace; I just let my feet take me on. I ran for 10km at ~4:35/km. Pretty fast considering I started at 5:00/kms. I obviously paid for this later. The final 3km my legs felt as though they were made of lead. Sweaty clenched fists painfully uncurled and a finishers medal was thrust over my head.
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Why?Almost a year ago Guy expressed his concerns at the growing levels of inactivity and obesity in UK school-age children as well as the lack of organized outdoor sporting events for young people. Guy established a Community Interest Company called ConceptX to address this, with the aim of organizing outdoor activities specifically for under 18s. I share Guys concerns and therefore jumped at the idea of cycling Coast-to-Coast to raise money for these events. I had high hopes of being able to drum up a strong University of Bristol Cycling Club contingent, however one by one they dropped and unfortunately I was the sole survivor who made it to the start line in Whitehaven. The RideThe lego dance movie is an inspiration. My music video idea will surely lift off now summer has finally cracked.
The relaxing pasta party topped with gooey Ben & Jerrys was just what I needed. Shame I'm awful at conversations without saying something completely Non-Politically-Correct. Good for cheap laughs... until it gets old. Story of my life. Legs are gonna get burnt tomorrow! Bricking it. How far? How far? Legs are not impressed just thinking about it! Stress is oozing from my body causing me to feel constantly sleepy. Definitely rewarding myself with a snooze now. There I was sleeping peacefully, for a change, and something jolts me from my sleep. Hmm. It's not a fire alarm. Nor is it anyone banging the front door. Oh... oh dear lord... NOT AGAIN! Yes indeed. Bashful the stallion is at it once more at 6 O'CLOCK in the morning! Right afterwards I heard a bunch of drunk students ambling past the house. That says a lot about what time it was. Unbe-bloody-lievable!
That set the tone for revision really... not that I got lucky tearing my brain out at turbulent fluid flow down a rough pipe... But it was rather distracting having sex in the back of my mind right from the start... And the prospect of none for a very long time. Take note at how the male brain works: 'Food, Sleep, Sex, other'. A crude generalisation, but sometimes that's the way of life. With little revision actually accomplished the day/week/month took a huge turn for the better with a simple phone call. Sometimes phones are really under-rated. The whole situation that brought about the unfortunate tale of my unfiltered blabbings on the internet has been resolved. Things seem back to normal, and it feels fantastic. Better than before in fact due to a giddy after effect of all emotions catching up on me. Now I think I can deal with Bashful getting it any time of day, knowing that there's a sex-filled future. Phew for that. There was very little motivation to revise after the news, so Dexter made an appearance with 3 episodes interspersed with 15mins for a revision session (crikey that's almost 3hrs of blood spatter analysis and pre-meditated murder!). And the 8km Run at just after 9pm finished off what was a truly random day filled with happiness and a bit of everything else in between. To top it off, I've been invited on a run with two guys who post sub 16-min 5ks!! Frankly, I'm terrified, but also feeling dead chuffed to be asked along. Better get some recovery sleep so I'm all set in the morning. A real 'Loving Life' kind of day. Starting June how I mean to continue. Another early start to the day and a very disturbing noise/image accompanied my 6am revision! The less said the better, but let's say the dwarf (yes he is technically called this), next door got lucky! He will now be known as "Bashful"... ok a Snow White reference steps the line, but he asked for it. Well, his lucky lady did! Boy did she let the world know she was having a good time. Having left halls, and the sex crazed, drugged out W Block, I thought the most I'd have to cope with was occasionally hearing the couple who I'm living with. And that's only because I share a walk in wardrobe with her. Although who knows what dirty skype sessions Charlie gets up to. Desperate times call for desperate measures when the callings to your dick are on a different continent. (Long distance sucks). What's more incredible about Bashful, is that this happened at 11pm as well! I genuinely got up and looked outside because I thought someone was at it in the street. It wouldn't surprise me. Still, I'd high five him for the effort though; she's either well trained in faking/exaggerating, or, quite frankly, he's a stallion! I know which makes for a better story. So to Bashful the Stallion, keep it up ;) but keep it down... Cheers.
After thawing out in the shower I immediately went on my laptop as per usual and realised I'd received an email from the organisers of the Castle Triathlon Series for my 50% discount to any of their races. So £75 later I'm entered into the Hever Castle Gauntlet Half Iron Man event on 29th September! Marathon down, bring on the next big milestone! 5-6hours of pain is very very daunting indeed; the memories of my poor decrepit body after the Manchester Marathon are not too distant reminders of the horrors to come. Boy this is gonna be tough! I'm taking this on as a mini punishment for not being proactive and getting an internship this year. I'd much prefer to train for the next 3 months than be stuck at a desk anyway. A Half Ironman is a much bigger life experience surely? So, who knows what excitement tomorrow (or even the rest of today) will bring, but perhaps it's time to get back to the revision grind-stone again.
After hammering my brain with Laplace Transforms all morning I needed a break. So I headed off on a run with the intention to improvise the route. The first 5k was just over 20mins thanks to a very gradual downhill and me pushing it a bit. Some random paths and winding roads through housing estates later, I ended up somewhere to the East of Bristol on the wrong side of the M32. Oh! Fortunately I stumbled upon a tunnel under it and that lead me straight up to the 'Yellow Pages Man's House'. There's a story behind this one.
On the way to BUCS tri we passed Stokes Park Estate as pictured and Andrew managed to convince a few people that it was owned by the man who had 'invented' the yellow pages. This came back to me as I saw it and made me chuckle to myself. That was coupled with the fact I overtook a cyclist on the uphill drag past the house and I now knew roughly where I was... well at least vaguely the direction back home. It felt good to be pounding the roads again on what turned out to be a lovely 1hr route. My outlet for speaking for ages about my sporting endeavours has gone on temporary leave, so I feel this blog may become littered with the ups and downs of my sporting exploits. It's reassuring to know there's always something that can make you chuckle. Even if it's just to yourself.
Dexter... is completing/ruining my revision. It depends how you look at it really. I love the awkwardness in him. I'm sure he's much more relatable than many others first imagine. Everyone who goes, "Hey, I'm kinda like Dexter, in my own weird way"... probably think's they're the only one out their. We all have problems. Dark secrets. Talking about them without talking about them is sometimes the most breath taking moments. Try it. It's hard to describe. 10 ways you are ruining your relationship* 10. "Banging on about the future" - good point well made. Got to look forward. Being a fan of the internet I may bring more snippets of what I see and display them for all to see; my brain on a plate... I hope there's no copyright issues. ©My Brain on a Plate Blog *www.studentbeans.com |