I'm totally feeling like shit today, feels like I'm coming down with flu. I hope not as I hate getting flu; it normally renders me less than useless for a couple of days. I certainly don't feel my normal self and I'm pretty sure it's only going to get worse...
Karen and I went to see Finding Nemo this afternoon at the cinema. I was a bit apprehensive about going in the middle of a Sunday afternoon and my worst fears were realised when we got into the cinema. Wall to wall children, what a nightmare. It wasn't so bad as we were on a row that only had three seats so we weren't next to any annoying little brats.
The film was excellent; animation has come on leaps and bounds since Pixar's seminal classic Luxo Jr. The modelling of the seas surface was amazing as were the scales on the side of the fish. Some parts looked real, that's how good the animation was, truly outstanding.
As with the other Pixar creations (Toy Story, Monsters Inc., etc) the story was thoroughly engaging to. The writers they use certainly know how to appeal to all ages and sexes; this is not just a kid's movie. Like their previous movies this one was filled with great characters that were very well voiced.
Karen's favourites were the baby turtles, who were certainly quite cute, dude. Personally I love puffa fish, so my favourite had to be the puffa fish, Bloat I think he was called. It was a very enjoyable way to spend a Sunday afternoon and I'd recommend this film to anyone.
Karen was staying at her parents' yesterday evening as she was of to London with her Mum today. I decided that since I wanted to see a couple of films that Karen had no interest in I would got to the cinema. So off I toddled for the late showing of Underworld, the Kate Beckinsale vampire versus werewolf flick.
I'd heard that this film was influenced by a number of recent films from The Crow through to The Matrix. While you could certainly see which parts of the film were influenced by other movies, it wasn't this that ultimately left me feeling a bit disappointed.
The story was fine, a bit contrived maybe, but it was more the loose ends that annoyed me. Take for example the character Kraven, played by Shane Brolly, what happened to him! He just seemed to disappear and it was alluded to that he'd died, or did I miss something…?
They've left the door wide open for a sequel, only time will tell if they will bother. I might buy this when it comes out on DVD though, even if it's just to see Beckinsale in her rubber/PVC/leather get up again...
We have The Addams Family pinball machine at work, but ever since I joined back in June the display's been broken. Until today that is, some one has given the machine a once over and it's like playing a different game! There's flashing lights, new rubber on the flippers, the glass is clean and best of all the display works! Now I can finally find out how many points I get for everything. I can tell I'm going to get addicted...
You get on the bike and your arse hurts from the previous couple of days in the saddle (only because it's the third day on the trot I've cycled to work). You've got no energy and it feels like your legs are made of lead. You get to work and check your computer and you've slashed three minutes of your best time...
So I got to try out my new swimming shorts this morning and I’m quite impressed. I was a bit baffled by some of the marketing speak, but I can sort of see what they mean, although I’m not sure that just by wearing these swimming shorts I’ll - "improve total force and power production by an average of 12 percent".
I felt that I had a better session today as I sort of followed a plan I found on the British Triathlon Association website. I started off with a 600m warm up, followed by 4 x 25m sprints. I then did four sets of pyramids, 25m, 50m, 75m, 50m, 25m with twenty second and thirty second breaks between lengths. After that I felt that my legs needed a bit of work so I just managed to complete a 100m of front crawl kick. I finished off with a 400m cool down before getting out to come to work. that made for a total of 2100 metres, which I think is pretty good for someone just starting out again.
I’m currently feeling like I’ve had a good work out, which is really good. If I can keep this up three times a week, I’ll be as fit as a fiddle in no time. Now I just need to figure out how to integrate cycling and running in to the schedule as well.
Got to pool this morning a bit on the late side to do a full session; I need to iron my shirts for work the night before. It didn't matter though as they weren't letting anyone in as the showers had gone haywire and were leaking water everywhere. Now I know showers are supposed to spray water, but I don't think they're supposed to do it from the supply piping. So I didn't get to swim today which was a bit of a disappointment, as I don't get to try out my new swimming shorts.
So I actually managed to make it to the swimming pool this morning; I must admit to being a tad on the worried side. I needn't have worried though as there wasn't that many people there and I ended up having the fast lane to myself.
I didn't really have a clue what I was going to do, as I've read that just churning out the lengths isn't enough. Although I think in my state of fitness it's a very good start! I did a 200m warm up, followed by two pyramid sets of 25m, 50m 75m, 100, 75m, 50m, 25m with rests in between. That was getting a bit on the hard side as I was allowing 30 seconds per length and I was struggling a bit, so I stepped down to two sets of 25m, 50m, 75m, 50m, 25m, which was a bit easier, and easier to stick to 30 seconds per length.
After a bit of a warm down it was time to get out and get ready for work. I felt totally shattered, so my base fitness must be totally shot. In total I did 1,650 meters, which I don't think was too bad for someone who hasn't been swimming in ages.
I've decided to start swimming in the mornings before going to work. This is all down to the fact that I've decided to do a triathlon, which involves a swim, a cycle and a run. It's one of the goals I've set myself from participating in the ProActive study into preventing Type 2 Diabetes. There is a local pool open in the mornings before work, so my aim is to go Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I can worry about cycling and running at a later date.
However, Karen has stated that my current swimming trunks are indecent and look terrible. I'm hoping to start swimming tomorrow and I'll have to ware a pair of swimming shorts that I take on holiday, they're not very streamline and can imagine that they'll slow me down a bit. So a quick check on the Internet revealed that I couldn't afford a pair of Speedo Fast Skin Hydroshort's (I don't think I'm Olympic standard just yet...). Since I wanted a pair of shorts rather than a pair of trunks I ended up going for a pair of Maru EXS Short's. Now I just have to loose the belly, otherwise they'll look a bit daft...
