Eton Sprints Qualifier May 16th 2021

 

 

 

Human Race Events,

The photos here are from a previous year because we were both racing and so neither could take photos and the event photos have not been sent as yet.

 

This was of course, a much looked forward to event after lockdown.

The first race since September 2019.

No need to explain the details for that big hole in our triathlon world and our sporting hearts.

This year, the event was allowed with strict rules about Covid restrictions.

 

The race venue is the Eton Dorney Lake that was the venue for the rowing events during the 2012 Olympic Games.

It is perfect in every way, since it has a traffic free private road for the bike course and the lake side paths for the run.

The first leg in the race was quite different from previous years in that there was not a race briefing shouted to the athletes in the water before the wave start.

The race briefing was a video sent by email.

 

The waves were held further apart and at each wave athletes were held in a long, long single file line.

Then they were released into the water at a few seconds intervals each person.

So strictly one swimmer at a time was sent into the water and that was their start, rather that the mass start for each wave that has been the pattern previously.

 

This meant that there was no chance of a short swim for the swimmers to get used to the water temperature.

This time; it was wait, then run in and start swimming; from warm and comfortable in your wetsuit, to ‘Ice Cream Head’ in the water in a few seconds.

Quite a change.

Actually, I liked it that way, not fighting for a piece a water in a threshing crowd.

This made a nice calm start heading for the first turn buoy.

Then we headed for the big orange buoy in the distance that was the first serious turn.

It is a lovely swim in smooth clean water where the route is clear.

Since it is a rowing lake you can find a rope line under the water to follow for the 750-metre swim.

 This was first open water swim since last summer but for a few sea swims.

For me that meant 8-9 months ago and all we have had before hit even was on month of pool swimming but in lanes.

No controlled swim sets at all. so this was in at the deep end for me. My husband/coach and I have had plenty of bike and run work though of course with Murpheys law ruling. we both felt quite lethargic after our second jab a month ago and were not feel at our sparkling best.

 

Still, we told each other many times in that month of feeling a bit off colour…. Its only a sprint! We can do that with our eyes closed.

Anyway we got through it and made it to the finish line and were so happy to have been able to race again even after a slow fashion.

 

The whole event was extremely well managed.

There were no spectators allowed according to the race info.

Masks were mandatory everywhere except when racing or in transition.

All very professional with separate entry and exit lines for everything.

Brilliant.

 

As soon as we had both finished our race we collected our kit from the transition and made our way out of this beautiful venue.

With the long breaks between race starts there would be new swimmers darting in and new bikers around the course most of the day.

That made it a very long day for the marshals though there were fewer athletes to control at any one time.

 

There were no shower facilities with the Covid regs, and so we changed when we got to our car, well van actually. VW Caddy.

We headed away but stopped for something to eat and drink and after that heading back to the van.

We spoke to a couple in the huge car park who were out with their dog.

Cutting the worst moment of the day, I patted the dog a couple of times then stooped over to pet it a bit more as we spoke to the couple.

Then without any warning jumped up and bit my face, right over my mouth and chin area.

It was such a shock and so hard that it felt like a hard punch on the chin.

Blood poured everywhere which was quite alarming.

The people were most apologetic as Steve moved me quickly away to start mopping up the blood that was everywhere.

My quilted puffer coat was ruined and I was glad that I had not worn my best one.

We did manage to get me packed in the van and we set off for home.

We were both more concerned about getting me home rather than taking details whilst I bled.

 

Steve drove home, fairly sedately actually, because he was so concerned about me.

I took a selfie and sent it to a friend who is a doctor and asked if she had any advice but she was out of contact and could not reply until later when she first saw the message.

He made stop for fuel and to get me a cold drink that I could have with a straw because of the damage.

An ambulance pulled in next to us and Steve and I got out to ask them please to take a look and tell me if I should go to A & E or not.

The young crew members did so without a second thought and told me to go straight to Worthing A & E.

He said that they would make sure it was cleaned properly and that they would give me an anti-Tetanus jab.

 

After filling in the computer questionnaire registration on the touch screen,

We were seen by a nurse quite quickly only about an hour wait.

Having taken a good look; she gave me a couple of Paracetamols before sending me into the main hospital to the Urgent Treatment clinic.

It was on the way to that department when our friend rang back and was happy that we had gone there already since that would have been her advice too.

We waited for another two hours.

It was 8pm when we were called into be seen.

I cannot praise the male specialist paramedic practitioner enough, and I hope that I have the written correctly.

He was simple marvellous, explaining everything he was doing, step by step during his examination and clean up and trimming of the wounds.

Then after a telephone call or two, he took photos of my injuries that were sent directly to the Maxilla Facial Unit with whom he had a discussion.

It was decided that it would be better to leave the cleaned and trimmed injuries open, in case of infection from the dog’s mouth.

I was given a tetanus jab and then given a course of antibiotics and a lot more advice before being sent home.

 

The ‘wide awakes’ held me until long after Steve had gone to bed, but in the end, I had a sound night’s sleep.

I feel a bit heavy today but that is not surprising and am having to eat and drink carefully.

The scabs will keep me out of the pool for a while though, annoyingly.

 

Speaking of old fossils…..

Accepting fairly and squarely, that there are many among us who say that there is no such thing as co-incidence, I confess that I do find I feel a little tingle now an again when they happen.

 

There has been a glut of them lately in my world. Holding myself back from reeling them off so that nobody falls asleep, the main theme that I have picked up, has been the somewhere between the mid 1930’s and my early childhood.  I was born in 1939. I can almost hear friends saying, “Well, she is getting on in years, a bit long in the tooth so maybe having a period of refection”.

 Books I have read of late have assisted this slide into the past. I have always been a fan of Tracey Chevalier, I think that like many, my first one of hers was, Girl with a Pearl Earring, that was made into a lovely movie too. (Steve and I made a trip to the Mauritshuis in Den Haag to see the famous painting by Johannes Vermeer). My most recent read by this remarkable story spinner was, A Single Thread. It is set in 1932 and the heroine of the story is 38 years old from a staid home where a father, brother and fiancée, had been lost during the previous war whilst in the book’s running time, war sabres already begin to rattle leading the WWII. I loved every sad moment in the poor woman’s ruined life and the rare glimpse of hope for happiness.  I lent it to a dear friend who told me she had read it in two days and loved it as much as I had. I have just passed it on to another friend/neighbour who is as big a book worm as myself. I couldn’t get it out of my mind, even though I have gobbled up two other books since that one, so when my husband asked me if I had any suggestions for the next audible book, for us to listen to in the car and over dinner, I mentioned The Single Thread and he didn’t need to apply any further thought to the subject. I am loving the book all over again hearing about Cathedral borderer Violet, given a voice by Audible. My man is thoroughly enjoying this very different story too, but of course he is often sitting opposite me whilst I work on my latest embroidery project. The poor man is used to stepping on needles every now and again in our home.

 

I thought I had read most of Tracy Chevaliers books and did a quick check this morning online, and ordered the only one I had not read which will be with me before I finish my present bedtime reading which is Patricia Cornwell’s Port Mortuary, that I found during a cupboard turn out searching for something else entirely. It is one of the many Kay Scarpetta books.

    Another Old Fossil photographed this morning in Arundel by her husband

A little while ago we watched a new movie on TV that we both really adored. That was, Ammonite with Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan as its marvellous stars. So one can see why I was not surprised when, after I had checked that I had missed any of Tracy Chevaliers books from my bedtime reading I discovered that the only one I have missed from at least a dozen of her published books was one with the title, Remarkable Creatures, from about 2010. I ordered it in paperback immediately before checking what it was about. The book is about Mary Anning who was fossil collector, as was Kate Winslet’s character Elizabeth Philpot in Ammonite. I will soon find out for myself if they are more or less the same woman. Both lived in Lyme Regis collecting snake stones and Devils toenails as they were called by some. DO NO TELL ME if you know

 

Before any of my friends should ask…..! Yes of course I have a few small fossils in my home, my coffee mug is standing on one of them.

 

 

 

 

 

Wendy Wonky Wing

My husband Steve and I have had a number of pets during our time together; that is getting on for but still a bit short of 45 years together all told.

We had a house with a fairly big garden and some out buildings for a time. We farmed rabbits for a few years and during that time we collected a few other four-legged friends.

We had a miniature pony called Hercules, who Stephen broke to harness and had a lot of fun driving around quiet roads with the small cart that he bought for the purpose.

We had a milk goat called Daisy and Rough Collie dog who answered to Tag.

We had and loved; about five cats.

We gathered eggs from about a dozen chickens. 

There was also a cockatiel called Custer.

The New Zealand White rabbit population was around 200 in our out buildings.

We had to trim that total animal population back hard when we moved from that house to look after Stephen’s Grandmother after his Grandad died.

 I have lived roughly by the sea most of my life and apart from my first five years during the war, I was born two weeks before war broke out.

My dad was in called up into the army and my mum gathered up her little boy of five and her new baby and took us to live with dad’s family in Yorkshire.

We did not return to Worthing until the war ended and it was time for me to go to school.

As children my cousins and I played unaccompanied on the beach during the school holidays whilst our parents were working.

 

 These days we only have Princess Birdy of Toddington, who was a stray black cat who slowly moved in with us little by little, training us along the way in how best to spoil her rotten.

Both Stephen and I love the sea and take the sea road on as many occasions as we can, which generally means going a few miles out of our way on drives to the shops or to call in to friends. The Littlehampton Wave, our local swimming and sports centre is right in the centre of Sea Road between Littlehampton and the Rustington/East Preston area, so we can take a look at the sea with sheer delight at the colour of the water, or the sand and rockpools when the tide is out. We love every aspect of the sea, in fine fair weather or when it is blowing a hooley and the waves throw pebbles all over Sea Road.

 In summer, tourists usually pour through the town, making their way to the River Arun and the seashore only a mile away from the station, passing shops, cafés and a good chippy on the way.   

They take it all in and mostly have a great time on the beach. The seagulls are a novelty that is part of the scene, so they even enjoy the noise the gulls make and the cheek they have even when they may just dive bomb the visitors and snatch a sandwich when they can, which always causes a laugh.

 Steve and I are not fond of the seagulls at all. We find them to be quite a pest, particularly on bin collection day, when some neighbours make the mistake of putting their black rubbish bags out, or even their thin kitchen bin bags, the night before the collection takes place. The seagulls have enormous fun tearing the bags to pieces and spreading a filthy mess all over the road long before the bin team arrive to clear it away. I have noticed on the many occasions, when I have tidied up the mess at the bottom of the garage compound, that people even put soiled nappies in their thin white kitchen bins. Surely this is not correct or am I just being old fashioned? Maybe so, for of course I am from a time long ago, when I washed my baby’s nappies by hand. Anyway, I find the seagulls a pain in the backside when they make such a mess.

 In our tiny little walled-in garden, I do like to feed the garden birds and we have a pretty stone bird table and an iron bird bath and mostly we like to see visits from dainty little birds like the Robin that lives in the Camelia tree next door, sharing the tree with a family of Blackbirds. We also see Sparrows, and Starlings and the occasional Blue-tits. Less welcome are the Magpies and the clumsy Seagulls. However…. I don’t mind which of them help themselves at the ‘open house’ table.

 

 

A few weeks ago, a female Seagull started bring her baby to our garage roof with her, I say baby, but it is almost as big as she is! The long-suffering mother seems to be a bit injured and cannot perform the acrobatics that would be required to get into our small garden. She has been picking up what the other birds drop, to feed her very irritating squawking child. Fool that I am, I have felt sorry for the poor old mum with her injured looking gait. I started throwing our little cat Birdy’s abandoned food for them after she has finished eating her meals. Birdy is such a spoilt little madam, that she now will only eat freshly placed food from her bowl, so I have been scraping it out onto the bird table once she had finished eating. Then, I give her fresh food the next time she asks for it.

 

Now, I have been feeding ‘Wendy Wonky Wing’ twice a day or more if I am home, supplementing the dead cat food with a bit of bread and milk, to give her some peace from the pesky baby that drives her nuts asking for food. Wendy Wonky Wing scoops up every scrap most efficiently as soon as I throw it up, before other birds can take it, then she regurgitates it carefully to give to young brat.

 

My husband cannot believe that I am doing this, knowing as he does, that I think inland housing estate Seagulls, are a the most awful pain it the neck.

I have sworn that it is just because poor Wendy W.W. is not fully functioning right now and has that mean little burden of her life, following her everywhere screeching at the top of its silly voice.

Steve has started calling me to say, “Your pet seagull is waiting to be fed”, and sure enough Wendy Wonky Wing will be up on the garage roof waiting and gazing hypnotically in through our kitchen window. Poor Wendy, can actually fly still but it seems she is not going far and is always ready for breakfast or dinner. She sits in wait.

 

I hope somebody would feed me or care a little for me if I was in need, but these have been telling times have they not?