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all calm before the off
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So if you're into cold baths and rubber suits, then the next step is to enjoy doing that and thrashing your limbs about - and hey presto - you could be an Ironman swimmer. Granted - possibly not on the flat in a lake, but if you pick one of the fastest downsteam rivers in the UK - then you might be in with a chance of completing things. Not quite - but all the same - welcome to the Raw Energy Pursuits River Arun 3.5km swim.
You would need some skill to get back to shore at the end - slowest is still under 2 hours - if you miss the last turn into the lifeboat ramp - you're off to France at no uncertain speed wooshing off to the main shipping lanes in the channel... because yes - the Arun is a VERY fast river....
("The river is tidal to Pallingham Quay, 25.5 miles (41.0 km) upstream from the sea at Littlehampton, and flows at 4 to 6 knots (7.4 to 11.1 km/h), making it one of the fastest flowing rivers in the country")
So, 3.5km and catch the fastest point of the tide and you could be done in 40mins - which is roughly how fast the fastest seem to finish in on average... I digress and clearly need to own up and give these guys a big dose of respect.
Personally - it's a big nope from me, I'm not a swimmer, so the main problem of pre-race nerves and actually trying to get photos of everyone before they get into the water is real - because who has time to give to a fool and his camera at times like that ?, and if they are not full of abject fear - which would seem alien to me - because I would be utterly a "bit worried" about how things might pan out. I suppose I could do some swimming training to help reduce this totally rational fear ?
One thing for sure - no matter how experience you are - the "washing machine" as they call it at the start of a mass participation swim race is a thingy to behold, let alone getting your wetsuit cleaned in.
Also last week we had the Machmillan Mighty Hike along the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland. Which if you didn't know is along that northern coast of Northern Ireland, which is quite a long way north compared to say - Sussex. Some fantastically good weather this year (for a change) and perfect for hiking about in - so we had a cracking day at the hikes, loads of smiles and plenty of funds raised, as well as an "above forecast" number of participants - which means more Macmillan Care to be had and shared - which is a fantastic thing to help and be doing.
This weekend we have the REP Cowdray Park Summer 10k - https://www.cowdray.co.uk/sport/run-the-seasons/ which is on Friday evening - which should be perfect conditions, and on Saturday the Yorkshire Dales Macmillan Mighty Hike https://www.macmillan.org.uk/mighty-hikes/choose-a-hike/yorkshire-dales-hike- with live event photos on the day - to get that proof of achievement out there for those extra donations. We have "cool" but near perfect conditions for proper pace around the course - and it's not a flat one... hopefully that 10% chance of rain will pass just to the far side of norway...
and with that - here's some pictures from last week !
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| it's a bit of a busy one when they get going |
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| I'm alive ! |
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| It's the way James Bond would have done it |
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| That casual every day walk out |
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| Self belief reflection (or nose blowing) |
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| HAT FASHION |
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| Yellow card for taking a dive ref. |
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| Moments earlier - defending the goal miding his own business |
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| It's all about the time |
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| quick nasal straightening after a bit of roughage |
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| The smile of achievement |
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| The surprise of achievement ! |
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| victory ! |
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| VICTORY ! |
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| checking for right hand not been bitten off |
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| Pre race bobbing |
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| Tango sir ? |
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| Swimmers are a feisty bunch. Crowds were risking a lot there |
and meanwhile in Northern Ireland, Giants were about
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| haway off to the coast and the wind. so much wind. |
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| correct wind wrapping - but *show your barcodes* ! |
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| ready for the 26miles of groovy ahead |
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as far as the eye could see...sea
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| synchronised finishing |
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| quick zoom along the prom |
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| Prom walking isn't the hardest part of it all - but nice relief |
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| I think we caught him by surprise |
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| As if by magic, presented here is a massive chimney cliff |
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| try scoring a goal past this defensive wall |
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| and this is how memories are made. |
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| marching on |
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| Yaay for big double thumbs |
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| Flying, both of them, hopefully Goose won't get air wash being that close behind |
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| Power team victory |
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| Cheers and medals galore |
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| remember, we kneel down so you don't have to... |
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| is four enough of a defensive wall against our strikers free kick ? |
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| No ! you need at least 7 to defend against us photographers |
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| when you achieve, you believe ! fantastic effort everyone !! |
Sorry about the football Puns, Paul who works here in the office also does football photography and has left us for the joys of the Euros. He said he wanted to get away from the TV coverage of the election - bit extreme Paul, but can't blame you...
In the meantime - as a side subject if you've been following this past 12 months - I continue my research into neuroplasticity and neurofeedback, but the main thing is it continues to support everything about the possibility of speeding up any lagging brain processing (slow processing in parts of the brain being literally the definition of a lot of nurodivergent conditions) - this website is probably more than interesting https://www.centerforbrain.com/
I'll type a thingy about slow auditory processing another time, and how even a mildness of it can cause socialisation difficulties and how speeding up my auditory processing, has overcome 54 years of social struggling, but that essay / TED talk is for another day... https://www.additudemag.com/what-is-auditory-processing-disorder/
Anyway - with that - train well and keep safe,
Until next time
Anthony
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