-
-
-
Moving house is always given as an example of a stressful experience, and so it is, but the aftermath should never be underestimated. Especially when, like me, you’ve moved from London, where I’d had a home for 20 years, to the “countrysideâ€. Sort of the countryside, it’s a village and the Birmingham sprawl is not too far away, but it’s a huge change in facilities and utilities available. It’s a place where I know no-one nearby, except family members. But they’ve never lived elsewhere and have a network of connections and a pattern of life that has not had me…
-
I started April with a trip to the Peaks. It was supposed to be a walking weekend with my Wine Club weekend, but covid intervened. I ended up visiting on my own for a few walks. The rest of April was very quiet, little done. I carried on with fitness, getting progressively fiter and stronger. I have a weekly session with the PT for strength training and the rest of the time is mainly spent on walking and running, getting in as much elevation as possible At the end of the month, I made a trip down to London for…
-
I missed 2 years, but then again, so did a lot of the world. Now back to usual service of boring blogging. The big news is I sold the London flat and moved back up to the Midlands, which meant buying a car. Still not bought a new place but working on it I started the year with a trip to The Brecons. My trip to Nepal has been postponed twice and is now on for October 2022. But lockdowns and covid messed with my head and I let all the fitness go. So I have employed a personal trainer…
-
Hah. blogging – what’s that? I see more daily notes happening in these time of lockdowns..so finally documenting what I did in the last quarter of 2019, when the future was rosy, seems a good idea. Remember those times! Bournemouth Half Marathon: I’d originally signed up to the do the full, but with a summer training for a mountain, I decided that switching to the half would be better. A lovely event, although with a route that was a lot of back and forth – and going through the finish line multiple times was a bit weird (weirder for the…
-
Summer is a memory, the leaves are falling and it’s time for quarter notes number 3 of the year. So what have I been up to? First up in this quarter was Henley Regatta. I went on both the Friday and the Sunday this year, catching up with a friend from New Zealand and various army rowing connections.  The weather was excellent, the rowing was great and a really good time was had. An actual social event with friends! It was a supposed to be a follow up to the earlier walk around Richmond, but with a BBQ at Juliet’s…
-
Isn’t this year going quickly? That’s what it feels like – I quite like the theory that years go quicker as you grow older, because they become a smaller fraction of your life. So, what have I been up to? Honestly, not a lot. training, working. But not much else. First up was https://blog.bibrik.com/archives/2019/04/race_report_-_manchester_marathon_2019.htmlManchester Marathon.  And then later on the month was London Marathon. You can read the full reports of those in my earlier posts. Still doing half my time (not quite, but that’s what it feels like) in Germany, so mid-week activities are quite reduced. Although this quarter,…
-
Weeknotes, monthnotes, annual reviews. I’ve tried them all, depending on how bloggy I feel. With its restoration, it’s time to try another favour of diary, so it’s time for QuarterNotes! But! But! What have I actually done this quarter? Not as much as I could have, I think. As has been my usual, I spent what felt like about half my time at clients in Germany, being in the UK every other week. I finally got to go see Hamilton. I’d being keeping an eye on the tickets for a while, tried the last minute lottery on occasion and was…
-
I’ve not blogged for nearly a year..how many noticed? Very few I say, but this is still for me rather than others. I did eventually fix both my sites, no idea why things worked this time instead of when I have previously tried things…but work it did. So what did I do in 2018? Change and challenges is the best overview I think. We’ll start with the stats! The stats Swarm checkins: 944 (+101) Countries visited: 5 (-)  (Germany, Spain, Bhutan, Nepal, Austria (just for lunch)) Michelin Meals: 2 (-4) Miles run: 62 (- 28) Races completed: 2 (-) Miles…
-
The second part of my 2017 Review – basically just for my records. July July started off with me doing something completely different. I headed off to Switzerland for a Beginner’s Mountaineering Course! So taxi, plane, train and finally bus took me to the small village of Les Haudere’s in the south of Switzerland. There, I met up with my fellow course mates – 2 guys, one around my age who’s been slowly getting into climbing/mountaineering and one young, just still in his teens, guy who was looking for something fun to do before heading off on further travels to…
-
As I’ve not being doing weeknotes or even month notes in 2017, I’m going to go with a Year Note. A record for me to remember – rather than any one else to be amused by :-). A aide memoire to what I was doing and where I went, based on combination of calendar, Swarm Checkins and photos taken. It was not that exciting a year for activities; well, compared to my usual. We can start off with my checkin history for an overview.. I’m pretty good at making sure I log in to everywhere I go, especially if it…
-
10-16th May 2015 Doing I started the week running Hackney Half Marathon. A closed road course in its second year, it has had a lot of publicity locally. There were some organisational issues in the 1st year, but it looks like they had definitely learnt from them, as I found the organisation of the day of a very high quality. Great runner village, great course and good support around Hackney all lead to me having a great day. I as really happy having a steady half run, with no walk breaks and feeling in control all way round. On Monday,…
-
After spending the first day of my bank holiday weekend in Worcester, on the Sunday I explored the town of Gloucester. A day similar to the previous in that it took in Cathedrals and museums. First of all was Blackfriars Priory, founded in 1239, dissolved in 1539 and bought by a local alderman who turned it into his house. It was still lived in until the 20th century. the main church now has had all of the floors and rooms removed, just leaving the shell. The centre of Gloucester is pretty compact and just a couple of street away are…
-
Doing A marathon was done. And a very slow trip home was made. Well, Eurostar was fast, my legs weren’t. They didn’t feel too bad, so no need to walk down stair backwards! My agency ran an event this week, field.work, lots of different views on data. I spoke on the first panel of the day, about readiness of business for the world of big data but couldn’t stay for the rest of the day with workload, but by all accounts, it was very successful and had a lot of great press, including a mention of me on Contagious. It…
-
This was a pretty quiet week. Doing A relatively quiet week, with a lot of work to get in to the 3 days in the office. On Thursday, I went along to a London launch party by Datasift, a company I’d watch Nik Halstead grow for years out of the early London start up scene. The party was held in canary Wharf, which had a wonderful view It was wonderful to meat up with so many people from those days, many of whom I’d not caught up for years. I ended up going to dinner at the end of the…
-
Last April I entered the Paris Marathon as my target for the year, but I still put my name down for the London ballot, just in case. I didn’t get in, but as a result of finally joining a running club I get did get an option to marshal the race. Having being very grateful to people who have marshalled the races I’ve run, I thought it was time to give something back. The day started early, with a group of us meeting at 7am at the Tube station to make our way to Shadwell for our briefing. West 4…
-
I ran the Paris marathon on Sunday. Running it was a very. very silly idea but I still went ahead and did it. Last year, London was my first marathon. I had no idea what to expect, I did all the training I could despite suffering an injury, I pushed through and finished the marathon to plan, in the target time. It was hard and I was not mentally prepared for those last 6miles but I liked it enough to try again. When I entered Paris last April, the intention was I would train regularly during the summer to build…
-
Before I look ahead, surely it’s time to take a quick look back, even if just for a reminder for myself. For the first time in a few years, I did not set any new year ambitions for 2014. I’d been made redundant and really, was not in the mood! I was focusing on finding a new role, not thinking beyond that. So I can’t do a review and see if I achieved them. However, they would have been the usual – fitness and expriences. it’s all about that. So what did I get up to? Time to take a…
-
I’ve watched the Lord Mayor’s Show for years on telly, but despite living in London, it’s one of those events that I’ve never watched live. Like Remembrance Sunday, London Marathon, Trooping of the Colour etc. But I’m slowly working my way through them. The Lord Mayor’s Show is one of the oldest of the big London events in origin, with the website stating it has its origins with King John in 1215, when the elected Mayor of City of London was made to come along to the next door City of Westminster to swear allegiance to the Crown. And so…