London Marathon? I must be mad!

Out and about

Well its official, I am now entered into the Virgin London Marathon 2013 so theres no turning back now!  Given my medical history especially the past year or so where I’ve had knee surgery which confirms that I need a full knee replacement and had severe allergy/skin problems I must be insane to be doing this but its something that I’ve always wanted to do, and I’ve been entering every year for years and finally this year I got accepted!  Luckily I was able to defer until next year due to injury but I can’t do that again so next year is it!

I have no illusions though – I will be walking the entire course and it will take me (at best) 8.5 hours and probably at worst over 10 so I’m not expecting there to be much of a crowd or even official people/photographs by the time I get to the end.  What I do hope to achieve though is the feeling of satisfaction for having completed it (might not feel that on the day!), and raising money (hopefully a lot) for charity which is going to include my Dr cousins charity in Zambia to help those who are orphaned or made destitute by HIV/Aids.  I shall probably also raise money for another charity at the same time but I can’t at the moment decide between Cancer Research or Alzheimers Society. Hmmm…

I’m already in training by doing the Midnight Walk for our local Martlets Hospice (http://www.justgiving.com/Caroline-Sturtridge) which is going to be 13 miles which is a good test.  I’m following their suggested training plan for it as much as I can and once we’ve done the walk, I’ll speak to a personal trainer friend about extending my training for the Marathon.

When I’ve completed the Marathon, I’ll then think about going on the knee replacement waiting list.  Its a bit scary though, so will see if the training helps it!

Duxford Jubilee Airshow

Out and about, ,

Having enjoyed our trip to Legoland yesterday and then watched Eurovision (at least the UK didn’t come last!) today we were heading for the Duxford Airshow, which neither of us had been to before.  We enjoyed a hearty cooked breakfast in the hotel, and then headed on our merry way with a slight detour to pick up a picnic lunch at Asda.

By the time we made it to Duxford it had turned into another baking day which we felt even more as we lugged our picnic, chairs and camera equipment over to the airfield.  The original idea had been to look round the museum as well but we got there a bit later than planned, it was so hot and we had so much stuff we decided to just plonk ourselves down at a convenient spot and stay there which is what we did!  We found a spot with a good view, which was handily not too far from some toilets (very well maintained during the day by the staff despite them being in constant use), and settled down to enjoy our lunch.

By the time the airshow started we had had to renew our sunscreen several times and were down to our last bottle of drink as it was scorching hot – I’m sure quite a few people got sunburn!  The show was fantastic though, with lots of different types of planes and the sky was so clear we could see everything.  The highlight of the show for me was probably the Battle of Britain memorial flight with a Lancaster bomber, a Hurricane fighter and a Spitfire, though the Red Bull Matador aerobatic display and the Spitfires at the end ran them close.

I took quite a few pictures and G took a few videos which can be seen by following the links below.  I’m afraid they’re probably a bit boring unless you were there!  By the time we left, I didn’t feel too well as I think despite trying I hadn’t drunk enough and I’m not used to being out in the sun for so long, but all in all it was another good day as part of a great weekend.  Thanks G!

Flickr : http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeetha/sets/72157629948499682/

Youtube : http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF10CA5A0F006B651

Birthday trip to Legoland!

Out and about

It was my birthday, and I knew what I wanted – a trip to Legoland!  Now for a 40+ year old, that might seem a bit strange but there were several reasons but mainly because I LOVE LEGO!  There I’ve said it! 😉

The other reasons were to see the Star Wars Miniland that was put in this year, as well as the Jubilee Buckingham Palace display in the original Miniland which included the Queen with real diamonds in her crown.  Very exciting!

We got to the park around 11, and got in for ‘free’ with our Clubcard vouchers (result!).  Despite being very busy queuing for tickets and the barriers was quite fast and we were soon in the park itself.  Even though it was a hot day we decided to walk down through the park rather than take the hill train as the queue was quite long.  Our first ride of the day was the SQUID Surfers which were great fun though we both got a bit wet, and then a bruised hip when the ride finished as it bumps into the centre platform quite hard.  Maybe we’re just getting old…

We then moved onto the Dino Safari but were a bit disappointed as (unusually for Legoland) the ride went through quite fast so it was very hard to take everything in, and pretty much impossible to read the signs and look at the models.  Maybe they’d just not set it up quite right today but it did seem a bit odd.

Atlantis was our next stop to do the Submarine Voyage.  It was cool to see the fish, sharks and rays (real and Lego!) though I couldn’t get any good pictures as I hadn’t set my camera up right (doh) and no flash was allowed.  There were screens in the ‘submarine’ but ours didn’t work – in fact there were quite a few places in the park where screens weren’t working which looked bad, including one that was displaying a windows error (wish I’d taken a photo!) – which we reported to the staff afterwards.

Next stop was an early lunch, having decided that the park was so busy we should eat either early or very late and we were both starving!  Unfortunately the food disappointed a bit, especially the panini which took ages to come out and was then barely toasted – the cheese wasn’t melted at all!  Given the heat of the day we should’ve got a refillable mug but we just ended up buying lots of drinks all day instead – needed as it was so hot!

The queue for Orient Expedition said it was only 15 mins wait so we thought we’d do that next – big mistake as it took pretty much an hour to get on a train!  There were lots of parents with small children in the queue who were getting very fractious, and I’m sure some of them also had only decided to do it based on the wait time.  When we actually got to the front we saw that it was quite inefficient to get people onto a train and then actually get the train moving – maybe the staff too were struggling in the heat!  Was good fun when it finally got going though.

Next up we went to the Dragon rollercoaster which despite the length of the queue actually moved quite fast and was pretty much the one ride that came close to Disney efficiency in loading and speed.  This first time that we did it, I decided to video the entire ride which didn’t come out too badly I didn’t think (Dragon Video).  Was fun to do but nowhere near as fast or twisty as we remembered – guess we’ve been on bigger rollercoasters since!

It was now time to head up to Star Wars Miniland which was very popular (unsurprisingly) but quite well spaced out so you didn’t feel too squashed.  Was boiling in there though so aircon would definitely be an improvement!  Something animated in each display, sometimes at a push of a button when it lit up (not sure some of the kids knew the meaning of illuminated which was the word they’d used!).  Very well worth visiting, and I even got my picture taken with a large model of the Millenium Falcon!

There was still time to take in another ride, so we went back to Laser Blazers which had been quite busy earlier in the day.  As it was still quite warm, we had an icecream before heading in.  The soft icecream was what I wanted but it was so hot they weren’t selling it as it was sliding off the cone!!  Blimey!  I went for a cornetto instead which turned out to be a mistake as the cone was soft so we reckon it was out of date – tut, tut! 😉  Laser Blazers turned out to be a ride like Buzz Lightyear at Disney where you shoot at targets to score points, and I won out of us two 🙂  The targets took awhile to reset so we were glad we were in the front of the four person car as the person behind me struggled to score points – I felt a bit bad but hadn’t realised this until the end.  So if you do this ride, make sure you are at the front of the car!

The day was drawing on, so we headed back to the Dragon (weeeeeee!), and then took in the original Miniland which had extended and changed a lot since the last time we were there.  Particular highlights were the Jubilee Buckingham Palace display as mentioned above (though you couldn’t tell they were diamonds apart from the fact there was a security guard near by!), and models of the Kennedy Space center.

Nearly time to go, but not before we’d had a quick look round the shops though as I wasn’t allowed to buy the R2D2 set (boo, hoo!) I didn’t buy anything (shock, horror!).  Maybe when we’ve moved we’ll have space for more models!  Back to the car tired but having had a fun day despite the heat.  Not sure we’ll be back again unless they revamp a lot of the displays as its definitely one for the kids rather than adults without and a few bits looked tired/broken but so glad we did it for my birthday!

Not very interesting I know but if you want to see the photos I took, you can find them here

Collecting EU Olympic tickets

London 2012, ,

To get all the tickets that I have for the Olympics (which before you start getting annoyed, means that at least 7 other people who wanted tickets but didn’t get are able to get them are able to come to the games), I bought from a couple of other EU ticket sellers – one from France (run by Eventeam), and the other Denmark (run by Sportsworld).

Now despite being a bit annoying to deal with, Eventeam are going to courier their tickets to everyone just like London 2012.  However, despite being a British company, Sportsworld want everyone to go to their London ticket office and collect them in person.  I’ve just had an email detailing the dates that they are open, and its only just before the games so I’m going to have to make a special trip to London for them as I need them the first day – dagnabit!  I did know about only being able to collect them when I booked them but thought I’d be able to go a bit in advance.  Best talk to the boss about having an afternoon off work so I can go get them…

UPDATE : Whilst working out the best time for me to get the tickets, and realising that I needed them for the first day I’m in London (for Archery) I finally read the bottom of the email thoroughly (I know, I shouldn’t skip things!) and it turns out that I can nominate someone else to pick them up for me – woo hoo!  As t’other half commutes into London every day she is kindly offered to go pick them up for me – result!

Are you going to the Diamond Jubilee River Pageant?

Other, ,

Being a bit of a traditionalist, and knowing that I won’t see another Diamond Jubilee in my lifetime (probably) I would really like to go and see the Thames River Pageant and the Queen on the 3rd June.  However I have been (as usual) very lax in making my mind up and organising things AND I hate ringing people so consequently I have missed out on tickets to both events I was considering (Battersea Park Festival and Design Museum).  There do appear to be lunches available at some of the restaurants by the Thames but given that they seem to be  £125 (at least) a head and the person I’d be going with isn’t that bothered it seems a bit dear.

I know that I could try and fight our way to the front of the riverbank but I can’t stand for that length of time and neither my other half nor I particularly like being in dense crowds, so I guess our only option is to go to my sister-in-laws for a garden party and view the boats as they prepare for the pageant (no Queen or displays) and then watch the pageant on TV thereby getting at least some of the atmosphere by being in town but not seeing the actual river pageant.  Alternatively, we could just stay home and watch it all on TV as there will be no crowds or queues!

But then its a once in a lifetime opportunity… arggghhhh decisions, decisions!

 

But then its a once in a lifetime opportunity… arggghhhh decisions!

Knew it wouldn’t last

London 2012,

I had all the best intentions yesterday – I wasn’t going to buy anymore tickets!  But as 11am came around, I just couldn’t help myself and there I was on the website seeing what was available…  Rationalizing it to myself, I’ve gone for a couple more events on days when I was already either travelling through London or at the Olympic Park but was only doing one event that day.  Hence I’m now going to see the GB Womens Football team vs Brazil (should be some match) at Wembley, and also going to see Handball in the Copper Box 🙂  I think with the Paralympics tickets I got the other day I’m now going to most venues in the Olympic Park at one time or another 🙂  Of course, the only main one I’m not going to during either games is the Velodrome, but luckily we went to the test event (which was fab and you can see pictures of here  http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeetha/sets/72157629491630759/) so I don’t mind *too* much!

More Tickets available!

London 2012, ,

Today more Olympic tickets become available, but after much thought I’ve decided not to go for any more even though it might mean I could try more venues and more sports.  I’m going to enough, and I want to pace myself and also experience what sounds like its going to be EPIC coverage from the BBC! 🙂

I have seen online via Twitter and forums that many people are complaining that they didn’t get tickets, and whilst I feel a few are justified (i.e. have supported and gone to sports for years but didn’t get tickets for them, or are actually families of athletes) in most cases I feel this is a just a touch of sour grapes.  For something that is SO popular, there were always going to be people who missed out and most people wanted to go to the popular events only (i.e. cycling, athletics, finals only).  Also, at any event like this there are always going to be lots of corporate and package tickets – thats just life I’m afraid!  If you are truly just going for ‘the experience’ as so many people say they are, then go to some of the other events or even the preliminaries.

For example today, there are loads of Volleyball events available but I bet they won’t sell out very fast.  People will eventually buy them but will whinge about ‘only’ getting tickets to ‘a poor’ event.  Its not a poor event, its got world class athletes who spend a lot of their time and (in a lot of cases their own) money preparing for just this moment and they deserve everyones support AND people will find that the atmosphere at all of these events will probably be much better than they are expecting as watching sport live is completely different to watching it on TV!  Yes its disappointing not to get the tickets you want, and yes its disappointing not to be going to the ‘headline’ events but just be happy to get tickets to the GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH and go enjoy!!

</rant over>

100 days to go until the Paralympics!

London 2012

Today marks 100 days to go until the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympics and I love that they advertised the fact on the white cliffs of Dover today! (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/disability-sport/18126293) *grin*.

Although they may not get as much attention or people watching them these atheletes  deserve even more of our respect and support than most of the able bodied Team GB so I for one will be going to see them live!  I already have tickets for some events, but am going to try for more today at 11am when more get released as I really want to experience the Aquatics centre and Velodrome atmospheres as well as supporting ParalympicsGB!

Update – I got Aquatics tickets to see the swimming, but just couldn’t get Velodrome tickets, they’re like god dust!

70 days to go!

London 2012,

Today marks 70 days to go, and its also the day that the Olympic Flame finally arrives on British soil on the gold ‘firefly’ BA plane 🙂  Hopefully it won’t be pouring with rain when it arrives like it was in Athens yesterday for the handover!

I do hope that people will line the streets to see the torch, and there won’t be any (or at least not many) protests or disruptions.  Lets get together and prepare to celebrate the Greatest Show on Earth!

TeamGB / ParalympicGB Supporters Scarves!

London 2012, , ,

Ever since they were announced, I’ve wanted the official TeamGB and ParalympicGB supporters scarves (I know, sad right?).  Only available from Next, I really wanted to see them before I splashed out on them though just in case they looked (in reality) a bit rubbish!  Many times I went to the Next store in town, and even asked a couple of times (very much out of character for me!) but no joy.  Finally this past weekend they HAD THEM ON DISPLAY!  Woo hoo!  Not quite sure how I’m going to wear them, but they look GOOD!

Supporters Flags!