TCS London Marathon 2024

Today was the day after a heck of a lot of training including around 900 miles of running, today was the London Marathon.

I headed out the apartment this morning to catch the DLR from Bank to Greenwich park. My wave was RED 11 so quite near to the end of the runners, I needed to get to the start around 10 for an 11 am start.

The DLR was super busy, there were huge queues as Canary Wharf I was glad to have gotten on earlier. Arriving at Greenwich there was a walk to the park then get to the pens in time for the start of the race.

I was talking to an American lady in the pen. She was just completing her abbot six stars, very exciting.

I started the race around 11:08, following the 4:30 pacer up until about half way then dropping back to the 4:45 pacer unto around mile 20. Going over tower bridge just before the halfway point was incredible, such an iconic scene and so many people. The race carried. won snacking around the docklands. My legs were feeling really tired by this point and my pace dropped. By mile 24 I was feeling very tired but the crowd was still huge. Kath and Thom saw me but I missed them.

The end of the marathon takes you down the mall towards Buckingham Palace, finishing just afterwards. I was exhausted but I made it in just a smidge under 5 hours, 4:57:37. 

The Land is inhospitable and so are we

Today Kath Thom and I headed to London on the train so that I could pick my number up for the London Marathon tomorrow. Kate P's brother was also running and as luck would have it our trains arrived at Euston at almost the same time so we have a quick chance to meet up and wish each other luck. Then we headed from Euston to the marathon show in the ExCel centre. It was very busy with lots of runner collecting their numbers and there was a big property investment show in the hall next door. People in suits meeting people in running gear.

The number collection was actually very well organised I only had to queue for a few minutes before getting my number and a bag for the drop off.

We had a wonder around the stalls, Thom loved the music and lights at the main sponsor new Balance. I bought myself a new hoody there. I managed to find my name on the marathon wall and we cruised around signing up for various promotions. I also collected my free T-Shirt.

Feeling a bit tired we headed to the apartment we rented at the Kings Wardrobe near to St Pauls cathedral. The apartment had two rooms a small kitchen and a living area it was actually really lovely and we were all pleased. Settling in for an evening of carb loading via Pizza Express.

 

So much for the 10 year plan

Today marks Kath and I being married for 10 years! It has been an incredible time, we've moved house had a child, and had so many adventures together.

Time has really flown I can still remember the day so vividly, so many of our friends from the UK travelled with us to Bialystok. Being married at the town hall then partying until the small hours at Folwark nadawki. It must have been good because Kath's sister chose the same venue.

Getting married to her was the best decision of my life, and I can't wait to see what the next 10 years bring.

Welsh rarebit

Today we headed to Plas yn Rhiw a national trust maintained Manor House and garden. Located on the hillside is that spectacular views out to the sea. Its a bit out of the way down some narrow siding roads I was a bit sceptical however it turned out to be a really lovely visit. While small by national trust standards is perfectly formed, the grand was a joy to walk round and the views were well worth the trip. The cafe is particularly stand out too we enjoyed a coffee and cake there. 

There is also a free EV charger in the accessible parking section.

After the house we headed to Aberdaron for lunch. Eating at a cafe inside a building which dates to 1300 we then had a stroll around the beach. The tide was coming in and Thom enjoyed running from the waves. I skipped stones into the water and enjoyed the views.

It was sunny while we were on the beach but then the weather changed quickly so we headed home early with rain lashing down! This evening we decided to have a quite one and got ourselves a chippy tea from a place in Pwllheli

Aviation museum

 

Yesterday we visited the Airworld Aviation Museum

Thom loved it!It is one of the very few museums where you can actually get into the exhibits. We sat in a Vampire and a helicopter, Thom wanted to 'blast off' and advised us to 'hold on tight!'. 

There are both aircraft and memorabilia there, with a bits from both world wars, and a section about the royal observer corps. Plus some search and rescue as that is based next door.

The place hasn't really changed since the last time we were there (2010), the modern simulator is powered by sun Sparc station 40, I used to run a second hand Sun ultras-arc 50 in 2008! Nevertheless I would recommend it! It is a really interesting place right next door to Caernarfon airfield where the air ambulance and mountain rescue are based.

In the afternoon, as the weather was very changeable,  we headed for a walk around the beach Morfa and Nant Bach beach. This was a new one for me, the beach was small and stony. It mostly serves as a harbour. There used to be a massive granite quarry nearby and there are signs of this with the remnants of large excavations visible. We saw a lot of half eaten crabs so the seagulls must have been busy. There were also plenty of boats anchored. There was a lovely view from the end of pier, took a panoramic photo. Thom wanted to be a tall giraffe and be carried around on my shoulders all way back to the car!

Sea Zoo

 

Today we visited Anglesey sea zoo. It’s got a decent range of fish, crustaceans and other ocean creatures from around the British Isles. Thom was a big fan of the lobsters and the small sharks. They even have a breeding program for sharks and you could see the fledgling sharks inside the eggs (video below).

My favourite bit though is near the end of the zoo, where there is an elevated platform over a large tank housing sharks and rays. You walk above them on a grated walkway as they swim around the tank.

Last time I visited the sea zoo was for Kath's birthday back in 2010. Quite a different energy visiting with a toddler. 

If you buy a ticket it gives open entry for 6 days, so we are hoping to get in a return visit. There is also a free EV charger outside unfortunately it was out of action while we were there.

We have headed to North Wales for a break away. Kath found a lovely converted barn about 10 minutes from Pwllheli on Airbnb. The views are the farmers fields complete with grazing sheep, Thom loved watching them and was admiring all the farm machinery too.

The place is done out to a really high specification with an open kitchen dining, and living area. With an outside area for warmer days. There are two bedrooms one of which is ensuite and a bathroom at the back. It's scrupulously clean and very well thought through space.

This was the out longest trip in the Polestar 2 since we bought it. The Airbnb has a charger we can use and on arrival we had used 60% of the charge so it worked well. Had we have gone to south Wales it would have required a stop to charge on route but so would we so far electric is proving no problem to live with.

Fun times rum times

Enjoying the first tonight in Wales with dead mans fingers rum

Stadia is dead

Yesterday was the closedown for Google Stadia. I bought one a couple of years ago to play Cyberpunk. I hoped it would be a cool way to avoid paying big for the new Xbox (though I ended up getting a PS5). They promised that you could game anywhere with an internet connection. to be honest it never really lived up to my expectations.  There was too much lag on my ADSL 60MB. I could never use ultra mode so it wasn't worth paying a subscription for and the games library was woeful. The writing was on the wall when they fired the in house game developers, so I wasn't surprised when they announced the service would be closing.

To be fair to google they did it the right way, I got a refund for the games I bought and they have released an update to allow the controller to be used over bluetooth. Still its yet another service killed by google, must be hard for 3rd parties to trust anything new they do in case the plug is pulled later on.

Mis shapes

I'm sat listening to music from the 1990's, specifically at the moment Pulp. Why is this significant? When I was a child it seemed like all the adults were locked into the music from the 1960's. Maybe we relate most to the way the things from our youth made us feel, or its just hard to try new things. I guess when Thom is my age he will be listening to music from 2030 whatever that will be.

Fireworks at Wilmslow bonfire

Kath, Thom and Kath's friend Kate took Thomas to see the fireworks at Wilmslow community bonfire this evening. The fireworks were really spectacular the crowd was large. Possibly too large for the amount of refreshments sands. We didn't manage to get a drink as the queue was so long. 

We did however catch our neighbours Julies and Emily there was lively to see them.

Thom really seemed to enjoy the fireworks though it was a bit of a late night for him and he was a bit teary on the way home. 

Wilmslow was heaving and it showed how nice the town is when lots of people are walking about. Pity about the rogue parking going on ruining it for others blocking curbs, I wish the traffic officers had been out. 

High voltage

Yesterday was Karolina's  (Kath's sister) Wedding day. At 4pm we headed to the Church to watch the ceremony. It was all in Polish and took around an hour. She and Artur looked amazing and very happy together. 

I had to take Thom out for a walk part way through so Kath could watch the ceremony without an impatient toddler. Unfortunately I missed the "I do" moment. Apparently the priest was a bit of a misogynist, spouting such snippets of wisdom as "Karolina, you must make sure that you husband goes for a drink with the boys, Artur you need to give Karolina money for the hairdresser". This apart it was a lovely ceremony and Artur and Karolina seemed very proud and in love.

After the ceremony we got on the bus to Folwark Nadawki. The last time I was here, it was my wedding to Kath so brought back some lovely memories. We were seated with Kath cousins and brother. We ate, drank, laughed and watched the first dance. The dance was absolutely amazing like something from Strictly! 

Thom looked great in his H&M "suit" and he really enjoyed meeting everybody, especially his Polish Grandad - Marek. He even had a boogie on the dance floor. He got spoilt rotten with cuddles, kisses and presents from many of the family and friends.

There was an InstaMax camera to capture photo memories as modern Polaroids which could be taken away and also stuck into the guestbook as little mementoes the day. We got a pictures of ourselves with Thom and put one into the guestbook. 

Unfortunately having a small child meant that we had to leave very early (the party went on until 5am). We did manage to catch up with plenty of people, which meant a lot, given some of them we have not seen since the day we said "I do".   

Cycling in Bialystok

We are currently on holiday here in Bialystok for Kath’s sisters wedding. I am really impressed with how much the cycling infrastructure has improved since I was last here.

Bialystok is a small city but its been made good for active travel thanks to the large weirder streets and cycling provision. With Covid and other life things we haven’t been here for years, in which time there has been a lot of improvements. Bike hire and scooter hire is all over the city. Most impressively some of the hire bikes had seats for children so I could ride with Thom. They have also built out a lot of segregated cycle lanes including a nice one that follows the path of the river.

It’s not a panacea though as unfortunately there are draconian rules on crossing the streets as a pedestrian complete with on the spot fines for jaywalking. The light timing are also pretty poor, often you have to wait minutes in order to cross the streets. Fortunately unlike in Britain most of the crossings are straight over without the dog leg double beg button push.

It’s working though we have both remarked how visible it is people cycling around the city. It’s common to see both young and old riders in the city centre. I also noticed that stand outside the shopping mall had a lot of bikes present (even though it was a terrible wheel bender stand they have them here too). Our rental apartment also has a lot of bikes parked up. This is quite a big change Kath remarked how she hadn’t seen so many older people cycling previously.

Noticeable too is that the bus infra has had improvements with new stands and large bendy busses. 

First flight

I now know what its like to be the parent of the child who is screaming on the aeroplane! Kath Thom and I headed from Manchester to Warsaw via Ryanair (I know but there aren’t many options from Manchester).  Thankfully the person next to us was very kind and was travelling with a group so spent most of his time further down the plane with his mates. They were off to watch a drifting competition.

Given that the flight was late around 40 minutes so we had already been queuing prior to that. Thom was actually a really good boy. It broke his normal routine but he only had one big cry mid way through the flight. I don’t think he liked being cooped up on Kath’s lap. It was our first flight in over two years and the first with Thom so we were a little on edge.

On arrival to Warsaw, we were met by Piotrek who generously offered us a lift to Bialystok. The drive is around 2.5 hours, and unfortunately it was extremely bad weather rain lashing down all the way in the dark. I am very glad I didn’t had to drive myself. Had we have had to take public transport it would have been much longer as we would have been forced to take the bus into Warsaw first then either take the train or another bus to Bialystok.

Thom was mostly ok on the drive he was extremely tired but also very awake so we had a range of moods

from singing to screaming to sleep. Kath had rented an apartment for us in the city centre a short walk to her old apartment which is now where her sister lives. It is on the top of the ten floor building so we have no upstairs neighbours and we get a pretty good view out of the balcony.

Today I met Karolina future husband Artur, we enjoyed a family meal together it was a really nice evening. Her brother and mum and dad were also present so we had a nice catchup over a burger and fries.

Family cycle

This Sunday we all went on a family ride courtesy of the Cycling Wilmslow community.  Starting off in Handforth we navigated around Tesco Extra, through the industrial estate, then picking up the bridal way which runs alongside the railway and A34, then through Cheadlee Drive to Turves road.

Crossing over we continued to Bruntwood park where we stopped off for an ice cream and to let the children have a play in the park.

After the ride Kath and I ended to the Bulls head for a celebratory drink and snack. You can see the route on Komoot

Cycling home with my son

via IFTTT

Zip world

via IFTTT

My first intro to IRC

 

A long time ago (2004) I was working at a company in Accrington. I ran the IT systems for this company and they used an old version of Microsoft exchange (6 I think). One of the options which had been enabled was internet relay chat. Though mostly now used by career criminals. Back in the 90s and early 00s it was the a tool to communicate with other people. 

Microsoft produced at the time a client called Microsoft comic chat which in one mode rendered the conversations as a sort of comic strip. This was the first time I had seen Comic Sans in use!

Later I would try and start a venture which sold IRC bots which spectacularly crashed and burned after we were DOS attacked. The hosting provider not only took us offline but removed our server and sent it back to us. 

Cycling with Thom

 Kath filmed us getting back from nursery 

Alive

A long time ago, before Thom and pre covid 19 I booked tickets to see Pearl Jam in Hyde park. After several re-scheduallings Kath and I finally got the change to go to the gig. Pearl Jam produced one of my favourite albums and I have always wanted to see them live.

Nina and Bruce stepped in to take care of Thom overnight, so Kath and I could have a free time at the gig. We took the train and checked into the Pullman Hotel in St Pancras in time for lunch. We ate in the restaurant which was super cool but with a price tag to match. Overall I couldn’t recommend it for the food, but not bad for a cocktail in style.

After lunch and a quick change we headed out to Hyde Park to British summer time event. We arrived in time to grab a beer and catch Jonny Marr. The event was sponsored by American Express and they had a special setup where we picked up a free water bottle and tote. The weather was amazing, really sunny and warm, so the water was a good touch.

Next up was Stereophonics, they were the first band I saw live way back in 1999. They were really good and I enjoyed it very much.

We had a posh had a posh hamburger and celebrated being child free and out on a night out for the first time in months with a bottle of Moët. Kath also queued up and bought me a tour t shirt, very cool. Next up it was time for the main event. The set was amazing all my favourites and great banter. It must have been hot on the Great Oak stage with the full sun beaming in, I bet that they were glad when the sun set. 

There were times during the set where I was back to being a teenager listening to ten again, or Vs. It felt really good.

The tube was super busy on the return, we were lucky to get on. When were arrived back at the hotel from the 11 floor we had the most amazing view over the city. 

We woke up early the next day so checked out and got the train back to Wilmslow. We took Bruce and Nina out for lunch to thank them for looking after Thom. He seemed in great spirits. I think he had enjoyed seeing Connie too.