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Right, I’m really not doing a lot of this blogging, am I. But for my own record, here’s what I got up to in the 2nd half of 2023.
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Another episode of the quarter notes, written purely for my benefit so I can remember what I was up to! I started the quarter with another trip to London, this time to go to my first cricket match, a T20 country game at Lords. I’d been invited along by a Twitter Friend to learn about the game as I had never watched it and my placement at the Commonwealth Games was at the Cricket. Excellent time was had a Lords – even if my first impression of the Pavillion was a sea of men in blazers, with the only women…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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Definitely not the best of months. A number of routine changes through me off my plan..something I need to work through, as I can’t have that happening again. The Numbers 30 recorded activities (+1).  9 walks, 14 runs, 6 strength sessions 27 hours of activity (-1) 63 miles (-7) The month started well, with a local run and then a trip down to Box Hill, with a friend, to get to know the place and do some initial walks. This was kept slow as my friend was not that fit, but it game me a chance to check out some…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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17 – 30 Aug Being on holiday stops you blogging, who knew!:-) Anyway, I will catch up, but I’m doing it monthly for the rest of the year. Doing: The main event was my prize trip to the Belgium Formula 1 GP, that I had won earlier in the summer from Shell. I’ve already written this up, for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the race. I was out with both some F1 friends and Wine Club for dinner during the week. One of those was slightly more boozier than the other, I’ll leave you to work out which was…
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10 Aug – 16 Aug Doing I had a catch up with former colleagues, as we gatecrashed the leaving drinks of another former colleague from my previous agency. Fun was had, lots of chat and gossip, lots of drink. I decided that going camping for the weekend was a great idea! Well, not just camping, but to a hacking event called ‘Hacklands‘, organised by Helen Keegan and friends. A wonderful weekend, with data talks, photography lessons and lots of music. Reading Worked my way through 4 books. How Uber is changing life for Women in Saudi Arabia. I can’t even…
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3 Aug – 9 Aug Doing Dinner at Marcus at Wine Club. Another Michelin restaurant, although one I’d eaten at before. They were having a dinner offer, the lunch menu at lunch prices, so we got together for some chat and food and wine. More vaccinations on saturday, final round of them, before I headed into town for the Shell V-Power Hunt, which I’ve written about. I was very happy to win this 🙂 Reading Two book read this week. still just the fiction. Sometime soon, i may read a none fiction!
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27 July – 2 Aug Doing some weeks I get really busy, most weeks I do little. This is another of the latter, must be because of summer! I did travel down to Southampton way on Tuesday for an away day of working, with a gorgeous view of Hamble harbour. The weather turned stormy this week. Not only down on the south coast, but in London. But stormy skies and sun peaking through make great pictures Had a weekend lunch at Michael Nadra, an excellent local restaurant that does not get enough credit. On Sunday, I wandered down the road…