July 2011
2 posts
The Doors in Camden
I recently had a couple of hours to kill and decided to take the delightful Miss G to the new Doors photographic exhibition in Camden. Even though Jim Morrison was long gone when I was born it only took one chance hearing of Break on Through for me to be hooked on The Doors’ music. In fact I would go as far as to say that L.A Woman is my all time favourite song and many others would easily get in...
The great outdoors just got a bit greater
Hello dear blog readers. I’m going to let you in on a few secrets. I love the outdoors, I love the cinema, I love the film Memento, I’m a big fan of my mate Dave and I love Greenwich. So you can imagine my happiness when the wonderful pop up cinema, Nomad, came to Greenwich recently.
Apart from the fact it was a bit chilly it was a particularly great way to spend a Friday evening sat in the grand...
June 2011
3 posts
Ssssshhhhhh!
There are without question many benefits to living in London. The bright lights, vibrancy and hustle and bustle rarely disappoint and boredom is not something that is easily found. One downside though is that at times the sheer pace of the Capital can feel suffocatingingly oppressive. I have learned that if you want to make a success of living in London you have to go at your own pace and not try...
Loving the lido
I’ve got a new favourite place and its London Fields lido in Hackney. This place is great and is amazingly accessible. This might not be in the easiest and appealing part of London to get to but it is worth the effort and the £4 to get in. To be fair it isn’t that hard to actually get to as you can get off the East London line on the overground at Haggerston or Dalston and then walk about a mile...
Is it really any of your business?
Yesterday I made the short trip to Reading to speak at the Zoggs UK conference. Zoggs are supporting the Channel Swim event for the spinal injuries charity Aspire and I had been invited along to talk about life with a spinal cord injury and how Aspire can help people like me. I was made to feel really welcome by Zoggs and hopefully I got the message across about how important it is that they get...
May 2011
2 posts
I've found heaven and there wasn't a cloud in...
Some people think that heaven is a place where beautiful people, dressed in white, sit on fluffy clouds strumming away on golden harps. Well I can tell you that I’ve seen heaven and sadly there are no clouds or harps oreven a big bloke with a beard. The truth is I found heaven when I went to the Gluten Free and Allergy Show at the Kensington Olympia and its a magnificent place. Don’t believe me?...
Everyone has the right to a voice
Today I joined thousands of other people on the Hardest Hit demo that took place around Westminster in London. The demo was organised to protest against the coalition government’s planned welfare reform bill. If you haven’t heard about the bill then don’t feel too bad because it has had very little coverage in the media, other than in the Society Guardian, which is shameful and a damning...
April 2011
3 posts
Unfinished business
This is not how I thought I would finish my first marathon. After four months of training and numerous blogs, miles pushed and endless bottles of Lucozade consumed I’m devastated to have to write this update and say that yesterday I was unable to complete the marathon. As you can imagine gutted does not begin to describe how I feel and this is made worse because it was due to a problem with my...
Only a few days until marathon day
I’ve just been for my last push before the marathon and a wave of nerves has just jumped up and smacked me in the face. I was doing ok until I got up to Greenwich Park and saw the preparations for Sunday being made. Who would have known that seeing a few hundred portaloos could fill someone with such fear?
It has though been a good week in terms of sponsorship. I’ve been back to the Greenwich...
Finally some steps I can enjoy
A recent trip to the theatre saw me take my mum to the Criterion Theatre in London’s Piccadilly Circus to watch The 39 Steps. The play is based on the adventure novel by John Buchan. Seen as there are at least five film versions of the book there is a good chance that the story will be familiar to you as it was to my mum. Whereas I have never read the book, seen the TV mini-series or any of the...
March 2011
5 posts
The finishing line is in sight
With just three weeks to go the London Marathon is almost here and I can’t wait. Training has gone as well as I could have hoped and since the last training entry I’ve completed two more half marathons improving my personal best each time. The races have been at Silverstone on the race course (1:15:23) and Paddock Wood in Kent (1:14:42) and both have been superb in my preparation. The biggest...
Getting some coverage for Aspire
I thought I would take this opportunity to share a couple of articles that have appeared online about me over the past couple of months. Since I did the open water swims last year I’ve had some good coverage which has been great as it helps to raise the profile of Aspire, who I swam for, and can help get a few extra pounds in towards my fundraising targets.
The first article is on the Great Swim...
A harrumph to London
The big smoke is undoubtedly a great place to live but sometimes I have to be honest it gets on my wick. Today without doubt was one of those days. I woke slightly excited as I was heading up to the Emirates Stadium, the new home of Arsenal FC, for a work event. If you are a wheelchair user the best way to get to the Emirates is on the over ground via the newly extended East London line to...
5 tags
A circus with a difference
You might not know this but tucked away in a little corner of Covent Garden in the heart of London is a circus. This isn’t a big top tent affair though full of scary little men, with painted faces, big shoes and red noses squirting water in each other’s faces. This is a circus with a difference as it is a restaurant called Circus which mixes cocktails, excellent food with good old fashioned...
Sponsor me and I’ll do another marathon a much harder marathon
Ok before I start this blog I want to put it out there that I HATE musicals. I mean I really really HATE them. For anyone who doesn’t know in April I will be taking part in the London Marathon and I’m hoping to raise £450 for the spinal injuries charity Aspire. As I hammered pretty much everyone I know for sponsorship last year when...
February 2011
3 posts
Going down the toilet
I’ve just realised it has been over a year since I started this blog. In that time I’ve written about a number of things from a trip to Rome to me taking part in an open water swim. As a result I thought I should make my next entry an absolute belter, a real eye opening, insightful blog, tinged with a blend of humour and wry observation. Yes this entry calls for a weighty issue to justify being...
One mile nearer to London
Today I got one push nearer to the London Marathon after completing the Race Your Pace half marathon in 1hour 15 minutes and 44 seconds and achieved the qualifying time needed. I’m not getting too carried away though until I’ve actually had my place confirmed by London. That being said I have just celebrated with a curry and a bag of Haribo, which is a slight deviation from the post-race...
Four days to race day
With just four days to my first half marathon in the new racing chair I thought now would be a good time for my latest training update. Since my last blog a lot has happened and I feel in great spirits. This is despite some horrendous looking blood blisters on my fingers (see above) and a knackered neck and shoulder which has required some physio. On the plus side I’ve had my first session in the...
January 2011
9 posts
Do I look like a cat?
Another week of training and all is going well. Today I completed 12.5 miles in 1 hour 30 minutes which by my new calculations isn’t too far from the qualifying time needed for the London Marathon. I did have it in my head that I needed to finish a half marathon in 1 hour 15 minutes which at this moment in time feels like a big ask. However, I’ve been back on the London Marathon website,...
Roll on 28 January
I have to be honest I debated posted this blog as I wondered if it would be a bit woe is me, so you will have to indulge me this once and forgive me for the rather downbeat tone of this post. You see tomorrow will be the 15 year anniversary of my accident and as usual the 27 January is a date that I will be glad to see the back of. The reason for this is that I know...
I’ll see you in the Canteen
This weekend Miss G and myself met up with some friends from back in the north west at Canteen in Spitalfields Market. Canteen, www.canteen.co.uk , is a four restaurant chain in London and I think it’s great. I’m a regular at the restaurant in Royal Festival Hall so was looking forward to going to Canteen. Whilst it might not be one of the more cool venues in Shoreditch we choose it as it is dead...
I ain’t scared of no marathon
I’ve just finished my first full week of training for the London Marathon and I’m quietly pleased with how it has gone. This week I did some interval training alternating between sprints and relaxed pushing at the track, some gym time and a six mile push and an 11 mile push in Greenwich Park.
The 11 mile push I’m over the moon with. My training plan is geared towards pushing for a set time...
No pain no gain
Its official my marathon training is now underway. Since Saturday I’ve been out three times in the chair and have done consecutive 6 mile pushes and 8 ½ miles last night. The great news is I’m loving it and currently am feeling no ill effects. Well apart from a few bloody fingers caused by some gruesome looking blisters. The relative freshness might have something to do with having done some...
Starbucks have done it again
A few months ago I blogged about a wonderful new gluten free tuna sandwich that Starbucks had introduced http://www.rockupandroll.com/post/1554468958/a-gold-star-for-starbucks . I loved that sandwich, ok it might not have been the best sandwich in the world but it was edible and gluten free and that was good enough for me. Well you can imagine my dismay when recently I took a trip into my local...
A day at the bridge
One of the things I miss about home living in London is the chance to watch the mighty Blackburn Rovers on a regular basis. Before I moved to the capital I’d had a season ticket for about 15 years and giving it up was harder than I thought it would be. Still, being in London does mean there are at least five opportunities to see the mighty Rovers each year. Yesterday I took the opportunity to...
Operation London Marathon
For 2011 I have decided to set myself a new challenge. Not content with all my open water escapades last year and keen not to rest on my laurels I have set myself the, some might say daunting, some might say ridiculous task of taking part in this year’s London Marathon.
I love this race, I love the determination people show to haul themselves round and I love the fact that first time runners can...
Giraffe – Victoria/Pimlico
As it is a new year I thought I’d expand the blog a bit for 2011 and start to give info on some of the places I go in the big smoke. I’ve started to get increasingly frustrated in trying to find useful access info for places to eat, drink, see a film, grab a coffee etc. So as well as giving not so useful updates on my beard growth and jumper buying habits I’m going to start rating and giving a...
December 2010
3 posts
A Christmas cracker of a jumper
First things first, season’s greetings one and all. As you can see I’m feeling festive, in-fact I would go as far as to say I have the Christmas groove on big time. So much so I may have just over done it and I promise to never say the words Christmas and groove again in the same sentence. That being said I do love this time of year. I love the food, I love buying and I’m not ashamed to say...
Grrrrrrr not brrrrrrr
Today after 15 years I felt a small victory after getting my own back on the snow. Let me explain. I hate the snow. I hate it so much I’m going to use caps lock, bold and underline. I HATE THE SNOW. There I feel a bit better now. I think to be honest though I have good reason. In January 1996 there was a particularly bad winter in terms of snow. It was so bad that it made the recent cold snap we...
November 2010
4 posts
Me on TV
Today was a first for me as I’ve never before had to get up at 7am on a Sunday to watch myself on TV. Well I did today as Channel 4 showed highlights of the Great London Swim that I completed in July. It was a really odd experience but did bring back some great memories about how fantastic that day was. Anyone who hasn’t read about the London swim I did to raise money for the spinal injuries...
Have I died and gone to gluten free heaven
I’m starting to realise I am a man of simple pleasures. I’ve pretty much just wandered around Greenwich with a huge grin on my face about all the gluten free stuff I’ve just bought. I apologize to anyone in my home town of Darwen, Lancashire, who might be aghast at the last sentence, it doesn’t really fit my with working class upbringing.
Anyway, after ordering my Christmas turkey from the superb...
A boooooooootiful night with Audrey and Haye
On Saturday depending on your point of view I was either one of the lucky or unlucky ones to be at the Manchester Evening News Arena to watch the Haye versus Harrison fight. I’m still undecided as to whether I enjoyed the fight, all nine minutes of it or so. I loved the promotion of the fight, the build up in the arena and the atmosphere on the night, which included Harrison being booed in and out...
A gold star for Starbucks
There are a number of things I hate about being gluten free. I get pangs of nostalgia from just thinking about a decent chip buttie on white bread with lashings of butter; a steaming takeaway pizza with melted cheese as hot as molten lava; a mouth burning Gregg’s sausage roll; and relaxing at home on the sofa with a Crinkle Crunch biscuit and a nice stewed cup of tea. I often find myself stealing...
October 2010
2 posts
Is it beardy me?
I’ve recently turned 31 and have decided to mark this occasion by trying to grow a beard. Now I know this has nothing to do with me being in a chair or living in London but what the heck, I’m going to blog about it anyway. Now, I am not a naturally hairy man, I don’t have a Tom Jones style rug on my chest or a lawn of back hair that needs a good once over with a Flymo once a week, so it is...
A pain in the arm
I think my activity based year might be starting to take its toll. Or it could be that my commute to and from work each day involves a three mile push. Or it could be that my chair is knackered and my right wheel has decided it no longer wants to rotate. Anyway whatever the reason my right arm has suddenly started to hurt whenever I push. It has got to the stage that that pushing any distance...
September 2010
2 posts
Power to the people
Well it’s only taken two years but I have a Rockupandroll victory to report. I only have a chuffing disabled parking space now for the flat. For those of you who didn’t see my previous post on this subject until now I’ve been banned from parking in disabled bays in the development where I live because the bays are allocated to properties not residents. So after numerous emails, the involvement of...
Annoyed of London
Within the past week I’ve bought three sets of tickets, all of which needed a wheelchair space. Two tickets for Man City v the mighty Blackburn Rovers at Eastlands, two tickets for David Haye v Audley Harrison at the Manchester Evening News Arena and two tickets for West Ham United v Fulham at Upton Park. All very exciting and yet equally all very frustrating.
The reason for the frustration is...
August 2010
5 posts
It’s all over
After five months of training and badgering for sponsorship I’ve finally taken the plunge and actually completed the Aspire Snowdonia swim. This past weekend I spent a very wet few days with my nearest and dearest and 18 other brave swimmers taking part in one of the hardest things I have ever done. When I signed up for the swim I in March I couldn’t swim a length of front crawl. I wanted to...
Loving the East London line
I warn you this post contains slightly over the top enthusiastic mumblings about London transport. So if your train has been delayed or you’ve been sat next to a person with questionable personal hygiene I’d navigate away now.
It’s time to admit it, I love the new East London line on the London over-ground. I’ve lived in London for over 18 months now and one of my biggest frustrations is the...
Ok so this is the last training update
I have to hold my hands up in apology my dear Rockupandrollers. Earlier this week I posted what I said was my last training blog before my swim for Aspire in Snowdonia this coming Saturday. The reason was because I said I’d lost my swimming mojo and I couldn’t bear writing about another rubbish training session. Well, fear not my blog reading lovelies I’ve been for a double swim training session...
Gumtree gripes
A couple of weeks ago me and Miss G moved into a shiny new flat. Whilst the flat is great we inherited a charity shop’s worth of furniture that we didn’t need and the landlord, who randomly lives in Bogota, said we could get rid of. Now half of the furniture was beyond grim and there is no way we could have lived with ourselves if we had tried to sell it to anyone. It was that bad that when the...
The final swimming update
Since March I’ve been writing updates on my swimming training as I prepare to swim almost three miles outdoors in the Llyn Gwnant lake in Snowdonia for the spinal injuries charity Aspire. Although I’ve been quiet for a while due to the joys of moving house and a summer of festivals fear not as I’ve been ploughing on and swimming length after length after length after length. Now with less than...
July 2010
3 posts
After four months I think I’m ready to swim
So after four months of length after length it is almost time for the first of my outdoor charity swims for Aspire. This Saturday I’ll be up at stupid o’clock to splash about for a mile with 5000 other swimmers as part of the Great London swim. When I started my training back in March I couldn’t even swim a length. Now I’m swimming a mile a session and I feel ready. Training has been exhilarating...
June 2010
2 posts
What’s bin going on!
Rockupandroll had an odd experience with a bin man yesterday. I was on my way for a swim at the unholy unnatural time of 6am when I came across a bin van emptying the giant green bins not unlike the one in the picture above. Problem was, the bin was in-front of the drop down curb so rather than having my nostrils assaulted by waiting by a Westminster Council bin van full of rotting rubbish I...
C’mon Italia
Its official World Cup fever has hit the Rockupandroll household. Not content with buying a St George’s flag mug for the England games the ever lovely Miss G and myself have started our own World Cup sweepstake. This is no ordinary sweepstake though, this is the sweepstake to end all sweepstakes.
Once we started this we realised that having only two people in a sweepstake with cash prizes kind of...
May 2010
2 posts
The long awaited training update
It has been a while dear readers since I last updated you all on my training for the two endurance swims I am doing this year for the spinal injuries charity Aspire. Fear not though as I have been busily beavering away with my preparations rather than locked in my flat afraid to enter into the chlorine box of doom otherwise known as the local pool.
When I first set out on this adventure I could...
Facing up to life post spinal injury →
I wish I could write as movingly as this http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/melanie_reid/article7106702.ece. The link is to an article from Melanie Reid who writes for The Times. Melanie suffered a serious back injury three weeks ago and is facing up to the possibility of life as a tetraplegic. I was incredibly moved by this and it perfectly encapsulates the feelings, thoughts and...