Adventures in Feeling Alive

As this year comes to an end it is time to look back on the last year and look ahead to the next. Many people around me have been telling me how much they will be glad to see the back of 2021 and how horrible the last year has been and yet I really don't think it's been that bad has it?  I think I have a very different way of looking at things, I always have done, for as long as I can remember I've always been a 'glass half full' kinda guy.  When I look back at the last year I am very aware of the bad things that have happened, the ongoing problems the world is going through, but I find that I really don't focus on any of the bad things, I focus on the good things. The holiday's that I've been on, the shows I have seen, the new friends I have made and the adventures I have had.  When I do look back with that positive attitude then wow it has been an incredible year.  I needed to finish off the year right so I started early this mo

I have had such a good few days, it started on Christmas eve with a double swim, first with my wonderful friend Ann in Hayling and then with the lovely swimmers at Eastney, I really love swimming with both Ann and the Eastney swimmers, they are all such wonderful people and they make me so happy.  On Christmas day I completed the Southsea Parkrun with no shirt on, I finished that run on such a high, I drove home elated with what I had achieved and I have been on a high ever since. since then I have heard some wonderful feedback, no one seems to mind, there were no bad comments, a few fellow swimmers said they were proud of me, all these comments really boost my confidence. On Boxing day I got to introduce two friends to the delights of the cold sea, my running mate Matt and his 13 year old daughter Ava were incredible, they didn't complain about the cold, they were strong throughout  and I am so impressed with how long they managed to stay in the water. I am so proud of both of the

Today it was a Saturday which means it's a parkrun day, it also happens to be Christmas day so the parkrun happens to be rather special.  I've spent the last few weeks building myself up to running the event shirtless and now the day had arrived.   There were a few things I was keen to find out, firstly whether my times would improve at all as I have a theory I run better without a shirt on. Secondly I wanted to know how people would react, this was going to be a bit easier being a Christmas fancy dress optional run so I had made myself a few tinsel accessories and worn a Santa hat so I figured people would see it as a bit of fun.   The first thing that happened literally seconds after leaving my car I passed a fellow runner who looked at me, smiled and said "class", this was an instant confidence booster for me. I soon met a running friend minutes before the start and then we were off.  There were lots of smiles on the run which was great, not one single negative com

Today is the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, I use an app on my phone called Strava, I use it to log all my runs and walks (and kayak trips too) and I was recently invited to join in a challenge on Strava to walk for 1 hour on the shortest day of the year. I decided that my hour walk was going to be to the top of a local hill called Butser hill to see the sunrise, here is my video of my little trip out.

I used to hate early mornings, I was never an early morning person, in fact I always tell people I am a night owl, then lockdown happened and for some unknown reason I started to grow to like mornings, various things happened along the way and I slowly grew to enjoy the mornings. The reason I am telling you this is because whenever someone says to me "Rob, can you do a sunrise swim" or "Rob, how about an early morning hike" I think nothing of it and I get up with no problems at all.  Ann said to me just the other day "Rob can we make Mondays swim an early one please" and I thought nothing of it and just said yes, It actually wasn't that early, I've been up at 4am for swims before now so an 8am swim is nothing really but here is a short video of my trip to the beach for a morning swim with Ann and Rachael.

I have been really busy these last few days, Christmas is always a chaotic time for me and squeezing in the runs and swims is always going to be a challenge however I have managed a few during this last week, On Tuesday and Wednesday I managed swims and then again on Friday I squeezed a dip in between 2 jobs which was great.  The Saturday before Christmas is always my busiest work day of the year but after a bit of thinking and planning I worked out that I could fit in a Parkrun, my last one was 2 weeks ago then I achieved a personal best for the Southsea course and that was the first time I had run a Parkrun without a walking break in the middle, I wanted to see if I could repeat the feat (I was 7 seconds slower than my PB but didn't need to have a walking break again). If you have followed my blog then you will know that is is my plan to eventually run the Parkrun without a shirt on, As I explained in my blog post Motivated to Run I feel I run better when shirtless and so I want

It is currently the silly season for me, it always is this time of year with my work and today I had a bit of a quieter day for a change, I managed a swim this morning with my swimming ladies Ann and Rachael, and then this afternoon I was sat there thinking about doing something. I've recently been keen on the idea of going for a shirtless hike somewhere and I thought I would use this afternoon as an opportunity to have a little experiment, just an hour or so to see how I get on. I am lucky to have some beautiful countryside and forests within a short drive away so I headed off to a small car park at the back of Queen Elizabeth country park. I then decided to make a spur of the moment video to show how I got on.  Enjoy 

I have been running weekly for a while now, sometimes I do a Parkrun, sometimes I do a run with Chris and Matt, sometimes it is a combination of both of those and I even go on my own for the odd run. I have lots of opportunities to run which makes me very lucky plus I am very keen to go running so I don't really need any motivation to actually go running, that is not what this post is about despite the title. If you have kept up with my blog you will be aware that I have enjoyed running shirtless for many years, its not something I have always plucked up the courage to do but I am getting more confident in recent times. There is something I have often said about running shirtless - I always feel I run better without a shirt on, I find I run further, I feel better and generally I think I get a better workout.  I have had this idea in my head as to why I think I run better and it wasn't until today during a small discussion with Matt that I had my idea confirmed. I run in all sor

     I really love big waves, they are so much fun, don't get me wrong I do love a perfectly calm glass like sea to swim in but there is something about big waves, I love to watch the waves roll in, each one as strong as the last, surging up the beach with such energy and then falling away again ready for the next one. I find it so wonderful to see how much power there is out there in the big open ocean.       When the big waves arrive I find myself itching to get into the water. There have been a few times I have driven down to the beach and watched the huge waves and thought to myself "nope, too big and too dangerous". I generally like to think of myself as a very safe swimmer and in those instances when its too rough I drive home slightly grumpy but also happy that I've not risked my own safety. There was one occasion I miss judged the big waves and I got caught in one that slammed me to the beach. I still have a scar on my knee to prove it (albeit a scar of happy

    Chris and Rob at Havant Parkrun      I am fairly new to the world of Parkrun, if you're not sure what it is then let me explain, Parkrun is a free weekly Saturday morning 5km run, Parkrun's happen all over the country, there are 5 Parkrun's in my area. Parkrunner's are issued their own personal barcode which is scanned in at the end of each run enabling you to keep track of your progress, its a brilliant idea.       I say I am fairly new to Parkrun, that is a lie, I've actually had a Parkrun barcode for about 5 years but I have never had the confidence to actually join in with one, that was until this July when I took part in my first Parkrun. Last Saturday (the 4th) I took part in my 10th Parkrun, the location I generally choose is in Southsea mainly because I know some of the other runners and it is next to the sea if I feel like I need a dip, The Southsea run is very popular often getting between 300 and 400 runners.     I've was asked not too long ago wh