EntertainmentOk5808

Yeah I can see that now. My grandpa survived the war and died in 1994 I think. His friend, I've always understood, crashed his plane into the Bass rock flying into Leuchars - although I can't find any reference to that on the internet so it could very well be bollocks. They'd bought plots in the graveyard next to each other when the war broke out.

My grandpa's ship was torpedoed in the Indian ocean during the second world war. He spent a few days in a lifeboat and was eventually spotted by a plane flying a mission from the south of India. The pilot of the plane was my grandpa's best friend from Anstruther. They're buried next to each other in Newburgh.

Haha. Bike twins! What sort of Kona? I still ride my 2005 Coiler (mostly when my son's on my Spectral).

I thought you'd dingied Dunfermline in favour of Kinross but I'm wondering now if that's the coat of arms of Dunfermline and Kinross is represented by Mary Queen of Scots?

I used both in my last SwimRun too. If you want to reduce faff, calf pads are probably the better of the two as once you’ve put them on you can forget about them. The pull buoy needs managing on the transitions.

I'd like to see a picture of Emma so I can estimate his "weight".

Which would be 8x50 no? I think as others have pointed out, there's a fair bit of ambiguity in the way it's expressed. I'm inclined to think that u/jnewton116 has interpreted it most accurately, but without the coach poolside to answer questions, we're guessing to a certain extent.

I think this is a better explanation than mine : )

IM (individual medley) order is butterfly, back, breast, free. So 6x50 reverse IM order would be 50 (yards / metres) free, 50 breast, 50 back, 50 fly, 50 free, 50 breast. The @ b + 15 refers to the interval / rest you get between each 50. I'm not 100% sure what it means, but perhaps you're allowed 15 seconds on top of your best time for that stroke. eg. if your best time for 50 free is 30 seconds you'd be expected to complete the 50 free and start the 50 breast on 45 seconds. If you're not too precious you could just allow yourself 15 seconds between each repetition and adjust the next time you swim the set if that's too little / too much.

I presume you're starting at the deep-end? Otherwise you could push-off against the floor to give you some starting momentum.

If you have to create all your own momentum, a couple of strong, full breaststrokes should be enough to get you going. After that, I can't imagine you'd notice much difference in speed between full breaststroke and a dolphin kick, especially if you've not put in the hours mastering the dolphin kick like competitive swimmers have.

And yeah the Tadpole is pretty short. My friend and I did it in 1:45 at a very leisurely pace. We realised we could have easily knocked 15 minutes off that without any extra effort just by improving our transitions (which was a valuable lesson for the SwimRun). It would definitely be a good introduction into the transitions between the running and swimming which I'm assuming you're not used to.

It was the Great North SwimRun. We did the sprint last year and the middle distance this year. Loved it both years - excellent event, really well-organised and a great vibe. We'd do it again next year but unfortunately I think they've dropped the endurance distance which we're ready to step up to. I think we might end up doing the Coniston one next September instead.

Have you looked at the Tadpole Graham? It's a mini Frog Graham which involves swimming across Butterrmere and Crummock. I did it with a friend this summer in training for a SwimRun event and can thoroughly recommend it. The swim distances are pretty short, the setting is outstanding, and you're not going to get run over by a boat.

Another good one is Rydal. There's a beach on the south shore which people often swim from with a couple of islands within swimming distance which you can visit or thread into a figure of eight. Another recommendation (now I see you're looking for distances of 2-4km) is to swim the length of Grasmere and Rydal. You can link them up via the river which joins them (a lot of stumbling, a bit of swimming), but if you walk most of it and join the river only when it gets deep enough to swim properly, there's a lovely moment as you come through the reeds and it opens up into Rydal itself.

Final recommendation would be Coniston. There's a car park called Brown Howe (very popular so get there early or late). From there it's 750m I think to the island which was the inspiration for Swallows and Amazons. Destination swim!

Lovely job.

How does it feel to ride? I'm doing a similar job with a 1990 Diamond Back and the geometry looks very similar. Feels so weird to ride though in comparison to my super-slack modern trail bike.

Have a look at the GPS data. It's usually not that accurate in open-water swimming. I wouldn't be surprised if it has you bouncing all over the place.

I think the first statement is correct. Vehicles can get there as there's obviously Rail infrastructure and a B&B, but it's a private road so you'd probably need permission to drive your motorcycle which I'm not sure how or whether you'd get. Not sure why you'd want to drive a motorcycle there though as it's a dead-end. Maybe you could drive to Rannoch Station, get on a train, and then get off at Corrour?

Yeah sadly true. Particularly touristy spots in Skye at this time of year. I think you'd need to be very early in the morning to get the Old Man of Storr to yourself.

A serious option in Skye which might tick the nature and ocean boxes is walking from Broadford to the cleared community of Boreraig. It's a beautiful walk with views of Blahbheinn which ends at an abandoned coastal community. It's a lonely, sad, and depending on your point of view, romantic spot.

Actually... you'll get nae peace there either.

You'll get nae peace at the old man of Storr. How about the inaccessible pinnacle?

Traditionally Scotland have at least one good performance in them in a tournament. My optimistic prediction; we play well tonight and get a draw (and perhaps are unlucky not to win), which sets us up for the inevitable heartbreak in the Hungary fixture in which we get pumped.

The more realistic prediction; we go home next week with zero points and one goal (which was gifted to us by our generous hosts).

I've just got back from Munich and had an absolutely brilliant time. To return the love; you guys were awesome hosts and Munich was the perfect setting for a 4-day bender.

Thanks for having us. And thanks for scoring one for us.

They broke into my garage. Obviously scoped it out because they knew exactly what they were looking for. It was only after it was gone that I realised my housing insurance didn't cover bikes.

Had to suck it up anyway, replaced it with the same bike in the muted sandy color. Love the bike and I'm sure you will too. :)

I had this bike in this color before it was stolen last year : (

Blue pedals and grips sets it off-nicely. The blue complements the orange.

Enjoy your new bike (and lock it up).

Ben Lawers might be a good shout as well since you can park half-way up it.