The rest of 2011
So I didn't have any more real holidays in 2011, after the middle of January when I got back from HK. But I still had time to do lots of other exciting things...
I did have one overseas trip, but it wasn't a real holiday as I didn't have any time to relax at all, or do any sightseeing, or see any cities. It was a great trip though - I went to Austria to watch my sister and her boyfriend undertake their first (and only so far...) Ironman (TM). The Ironman is a short triathlon event consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile cycle and a 26.2 mile (marathon) run. I arrived in Graz on Friday afternoon after a particularly enjoyable Ryanair flight and a coach had been provided to convey me to the holiday village where I was staying with Amanda and Matt. However, nobody mentioned to the coach driver that he should have done some research so that he would have at least some idea of where he was going. An hour journey turned into a three hour trek, which meant I missed the 'pasta party'. On the next day, I got to join another coach trip around the cycle course so that the participants could get a feel of the course. However, nobody mentioned to the coach driver that he should have done some research to give him at least some idea of where he was going. I don't think the athletes got much of a taster of what the terrain was going to be like. Later the participants had to drop their bikes off and set them up for the race. Then it was a fairly early night.
Amanda and Matt left the village at 5:30am to get ready. I got to have a relative lie-in, my bus transfer left at 6:30am. The race started at 7am. It was a long old day, even for the spectators. The atmosphere was very special for the whole day. I managed to spot Amanda during the cycle part of the race - I had caught a bus out to another part of the course with two spouses of the other participants from Coventry. Then we saw all the Coventry Triathletes on the run. Matt finished in under 11 hours, Amanda in just under 16 hours. It was an amazing event. There were fireworks to celebrate the finish of the race at the 17 hour cut-off point. And then it was back to Graz and then another Ryanair flight on Monday morning, exhausted after my day of spectating in the sun.
I had undertaken my own significantly less impressive athletic feat a couple of months earlier - I completed my first marathon in Stratford-upon-Avon in 3hrs 35 minutes.
I had very few weddings in 2011. One in Wimbledon, and then a wedding party for another as I couldn't go to the actual event in Thailand, sadly. So not many weddings, but still time for a bit of cricket - went to Cardiff, Lords and the Oval for Test Matches this year. All three days I went to involved an element of rain for a sizeable portion of the day.
Vanessa returned to the UK in August after her year and a bit in Sydney. She stayed with me for a few weeks before she moved to Liverpool for two years, or maybe three. I made a few trips up there to visit in the last few months of the year.
Then there were weekends in Bristol and Southampton, a trip to Leeds Castle and a concert in the rain in Hyde Park.
So that was most of what happened in 2011. What does 2012 have in store? Lots of trips to Liverpool. I am planning on doing two full marathons this year. More weddings than 2011 - already got three in the diary. Hopefully some foreign holidays, but when and where? That is the question! Maybe a significant change to my life - watch this space ;-)
I did have one overseas trip, but it wasn't a real holiday as I didn't have any time to relax at all, or do any sightseeing, or see any cities. It was a great trip though - I went to Austria to watch my sister and her boyfriend undertake their first (and only so far...) Ironman (TM). The Ironman is a short triathlon event consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile cycle and a 26.2 mile (marathon) run. I arrived in Graz on Friday afternoon after a particularly enjoyable Ryanair flight and a coach had been provided to convey me to the holiday village where I was staying with Amanda and Matt. However, nobody mentioned to the coach driver that he should have done some research so that he would have at least some idea of where he was going. An hour journey turned into a three hour trek, which meant I missed the 'pasta party'. On the next day, I got to join another coach trip around the cycle course so that the participants could get a feel of the course. However, nobody mentioned to the coach driver that he should have done some research to give him at least some idea of where he was going. I don't think the athletes got much of a taster of what the terrain was going to be like. Later the participants had to drop their bikes off and set them up for the race. Then it was a fairly early night.
Amanda and Matt left the village at 5:30am to get ready. I got to have a relative lie-in, my bus transfer left at 6:30am. The race started at 7am. It was a long old day, even for the spectators. The atmosphere was very special for the whole day. I managed to spot Amanda during the cycle part of the race - I had caught a bus out to another part of the course with two spouses of the other participants from Coventry. Then we saw all the Coventry Triathletes on the run. Matt finished in under 11 hours, Amanda in just under 16 hours. It was an amazing event. There were fireworks to celebrate the finish of the race at the 17 hour cut-off point. And then it was back to Graz and then another Ryanair flight on Monday morning, exhausted after my day of spectating in the sun.
I had undertaken my own significantly less impressive athletic feat a couple of months earlier - I completed my first marathon in Stratford-upon-Avon in 3hrs 35 minutes.
I had very few weddings in 2011. One in Wimbledon, and then a wedding party for another as I couldn't go to the actual event in Thailand, sadly. So not many weddings, but still time for a bit of cricket - went to Cardiff, Lords and the Oval for Test Matches this year. All three days I went to involved an element of rain for a sizeable portion of the day.
Vanessa returned to the UK in August after her year and a bit in Sydney. She stayed with me for a few weeks before she moved to Liverpool for two years, or maybe three. I made a few trips up there to visit in the last few months of the year.
Then there were weekends in Bristol and Southampton, a trip to Leeds Castle and a concert in the rain in Hyde Park.
So that was most of what happened in 2011. What does 2012 have in store? Lots of trips to Liverpool. I am planning on doing two full marathons this year. More weddings than 2011 - already got three in the diary. Hopefully some foreign holidays, but when and where? That is the question! Maybe a significant change to my life - watch this space ;-)
posted by Gaz man at 10:05 pm
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