Tag: sleaford

Today I learnt something…. #janathon

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 2 Comments

Janathon Day 15

Today's run was done around Sleaford – we were invited to the sister-in-law's for something to eat – needs must and all that.

Whilst dinner was cooking I set off into a very cold and windy night. The plan was to do about 2 miles out and then turn round and head back. It was especially hardwork on the way back – running into the wind. I also had the amazing idea to complete a loop of the park as I passed it. With hindsight this was not an amazing idea.

I have never run round this particular park before, it was also dark. Very dark. The idea was to run around the edge – what could possibly go wrong? Well nothing, if you already knew that there was a big ditch running across it. I didn't know this. Suffice to say I ended up in said ditch – I'm just thankful it wasn't full of water and all I had to do was face the brambles to escape.

You can see in the above route of run exactly where the ditch was.

Note to self: do not run in the dark when you don't know where you are.

Today's mileage = 4.09

Total Janathon mileage = 65

Project365 #15

Today's picture just had to be the lovely trifle we had for pudding…

 

Lovely jubbly.

 

 

Swimming #7

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

August's Project is drawing to a close and I must admit I have not been as focused as previous monthly projects. Only seven swimming trips this month, big effort required over the last week of the month.

Today, because of swimming pool opening hours, we had a return visit to Sleaford Swimming Pool. Just like the previous visit to Sleaford, it was again quiet, whether this is just a Friday night thing or that the place is always quiet I'm not sure. But again this is perfect for what is required. Unlike the last visit, we found the car park, even if we did do a couple of wrong turns along the way. But at least this time we did only do one lap of the one-way system.

Interestingly, Sleaford Swimming Pool is more than just a swimming pool….

….but today swimming was what we were here to do. Remembering that I could actually swim, but not very well, August's Project was all about improving my swimming with the distance goal of completing a triathlon, and I am happy to report that the more swimming I do the more comfortable I'm feeling. My front crawl technique is definitely getting better, and I am able to swim further and faster. I've also got into the habit of doing a bit of breaststroke, which I find less knackering, to enable me to swim for longer. Tomorrow's plan is a visit to Peterborough pool.

And after a visit to see my beautiful niece, a picture collage…..

 

Swimming #5

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 1 Comment

The fifth swim of August's Project, accompanied by Marie, finds us at Sleaford Swimming Pool, or should I say Sleaford Leisure Centre. My target was to swim front crawl better and faster, and you only have to read past posts to realise that I actually seem to be getting somewhere. Tonight I was hoping to improve further with the front crawl and start swimming lengths.

The first difficult part of the night was actually finding the pool. After doing a couple of laps of the one-way system the only sign we found pointing us to the pool was this one…

So we decided to park in one of the town car parks and walk. This wasn't all bad, we walked along the canal following the signs.

After 5 mins we found the pool, which was, funnily enough, just next to its own massive car park…not quite sure how we missed it…

Marie did say that it all looked rather 'grimmy', which ended up to be a fair comment. It's not the most modern facility, the changing rooms are very old looking, but it was perfect for what we wanted. The water was very clean and we had no stinging eye problems like the last place.

It was only £3.40 admission and for this you get a standard 25m pool. It wasn't very busy tonight, not sure if this is the norm, so we had a really good opportunity to get some some good swimming done without having to avoid kids, floats, babies, and various other obstacles.

On the swimming front, I feel that I'm actually getting somewhere. As advised, I've been trying to relax and keep the stroke strong and long, and I'm definitely getting better. I've changed my breathing pattern and can now manage to swim faster and further. I think Rio 2016 is now in my sights!!!!!

 

#janathon Day 23

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ Leave a comment

Janathon Day 23

Visited the sister-in-law tonight so I took the opportunity to run somewhere new: Sleaford. Just a gentle couple of miles. Little did I know that Sleaford is a mecca for runners – passed loads on my short run. Also passed a rather cool road to live in….

Runners passed = 9

Runners passed who said hello = 8

Grumpy runners who ignored me = 1

Summary
******
Distance: 2.64mi
Time taken: 00:22:58
Average/Max Speed : 6.90/7.84 mph
Average/Min Pace : 00:08:42/00:07:39
Calories: 308

Total janathon mileage after day 23 = 88.59 miles

…jokeathon…

Q. How do you get holy water?
A. Boil the hell out of it.