Rob Daniel

Day 31 - all done.

Friday 31st Jul So I did it. 31 consecutive days, the whole of july and on every one of them I achieved 25mins of movement. I’ll kind of miss it in a funny way.  Thanks to everyone who sponsored me.  And thanks to the Parkinson’s nurses this initiative is aiming to support.   Share

Day 30 - not getting dirty.

Friday 31st Jul Did a raku workshop today in the woods near Lewis.  Got very dirty and Smokey as a lot of fire is involved in the process. However that’s not where i did my 25mins of movement.  Thst was done by walking around the block. Twice.  Share

Day 29 - The coast is fine

Friday 31st Jul Went down to Shoreham by sea for a couple of days so did my 25mins along the seashore.  Share

Day 28 - River Itchen, first rate

Tuesday 28th Jul Walked a bit more of the Itchen today, the bit nearest home. Did a circuit that took in a chilled ice tea at the woodmill cafe. All very civilised. Saw a cormorant too and several paddle boarders. Share

Day 27 - Rowing with purpose, almost heaven.

Tuesday 28th Jul Had a really good row today. If you recall, I recently rowed 5032Meters in 25mins. I've gotten close to that a couple of times since. But today I smashed it. I rowed the 5032meters in 24mins 32 seconds that 28seconds faster than my recent PB. Well chuffed. In 25mins, I rowed 5138meters that's 100 meters further. That's quite a lead in  a race. Share

Day 26 - Where they do kicks.

Monday 27th Jul So today I did a simple walk out to the sports grounds on Stoneham lane - where they kick footballs - get it. The only thing that made it interesting was it tried to rain !! We've not had rain for weeks, so it was quite nice getting wet - but it didn't last, time I turned to walk home it was all over. Share

Day 25 - Didn't Dive

Saturday 25th Jul Hit the 25mins a few times today. Firstly I did a re-row, but again failed to improve on the 5032meters rowed previously in the week. Then we did a new walk. Last week we went out to the Hinkley Viaduct and followed the Itchen into Winchester, all very civilised. Today, we went to the Hinkley Viaduct and turned right, following the river down to Shawford. And how different a walk that was. Much more rural. Discovered Compton Lock, a wild swimming spot where there were loads of people swimming in the crystal clear Itchen.  We didn't dive in. On to Shawford where we had a light lunch at the Bridge Inn. Lovely outside space they have there. All in all, a nice walk - and then we walked back, totalling 6km. Share

Day 24 - Done this before

Friday 24th Jul Yes, you guessed it, today's movement was on the rower again. Decided to re-row 5K row from a couple of days back. I'd beaten it by 4 seconds, could I improve on that ? Share

Day 23 - Mill from 13th C

Friday 24th Jul Popped of to Alresford today, for a walk along the river. On this stroll we saw, the Eel House, a pair of nesting swans, the watercress beds and Fulling Mill (a picturesque thatch cottage, considered to be one of the oldest continuously occupied buildings in England.
The mill was built in the 13th Century to tighten and shrink cloth into a closely-woven fabric - a process known as fulling.) Share

Day 22 - made sourdough too.

Friday 24th Jul Busy day today, another one that looked like there wouldn't be time for a proper walk . What's more my sourdough starter was ready and I wanted to bake bread. But I needed some strong bread flour, so off I went "around the block" to the shops to purchase some flour. This bagged me 29 minutes of movement and a bag of strong bread flour. And the sourdough turned out great. Share

Day 21 - A race begun

Friday 24th Jul I've discovered a feature on my waterpower app that enables you to "re-row"" a previous row. What this means is that as you row, it shows you if you're ahead or behind your previous row. Effectively, you;'re rowing against yourself. So, I did that and rowed yesterday's row a whole 4 seconds faster. Not sure if I'm impressed or not, over time I'd expect to make more of a difference than 4 seconds. Share

Day 20 - Rowing plenty

Monday 20th Jul Another day when the rowing machine enabled the 25 mins of movement. Now, when I usually row, I do so for 20mins and aim to cover 4km. If I could row for 25mins at my 20min pace - then I could cover 5km. And today, for the first time I did.. 5032 Meters, 5.032Km. That's plenty of rowing. Share

Day 19 - Rowing Keen

Monday 20th Jul Another day with no plans to get out for a walk, so I got on the old rowing machine and did 25 mins 4.744Km Share

Day 18 -route of old railway machine

Saturday 18th Jul Time for a proper walk today so drove up to Winchester.  Did a walk that starts off crossing the Hinckley viaduct then follows the river into Winchester crossing the playing fields of Winchester college. We came back via the Queen Inn. Weather was wonderful as it has been recently.  Share

Day 17 - honour clean.

Saturday 18th Jul Busy day planned today not sure when I’ll fit the 25bmins in. So did it first thing. Just up the road and back but it’s done. Pledge maintained. Honour clean.  Share

Day 16 - Another teen, rhyming mean.

Thursday 16th Jul Today I went out to Fritham and walked from one pub(Royal Oak) to another (High corner inn). it's about 6km each way, so a sit and recover at the inn is required. Share

Day 15 - Still keen, on the rowing machine

Thursday 16th Jul Trying to do something different each time, but that's getting harder. So today I rolled out the old rowing machine, a few technical issues with the footwear meant I wasn't breaking any records, but I did the 25mins, that's what counts. Share

Day 14 - Cows ? Umm not keen.

Tuesday 14th Jul So today we went back to Houghton and did a really nice walk along the old railway track, then across the fields and River Test to Houghton. Decided to turn left down towards Bossington, saw the old church of St. James in the field, in what was a medieval village but is now undulations in the ground where once the village stood. Then alas, having passed all the fishermen on their beats, we came to the final field - just 7-800meters and we're back at the car - but there were too many cows, so we had to turn back making what would have been a 6km walk nearer to 9km. but never mind, the weather is great  Share

Day 13 - how far have I been ?

Monday 13th Jul Well it’s over 30miles now. Added a walk around the river Test in Romsey today. Used to be a regular short stroll but not done it for years.  Share

Day 12 - A tutti, salve!

Sunday 12th Jul Ok, so the way it's pronounced in Italian doesn't rhyme with 12 - but I'm doing my best here. Share

Day 11 - Three point seven.

Saturday 11th Jul Was struggling to rhyme with 11 when i noticed today’s distance was 3.7km. Phew.  Also struggled to fit in the 25mins but did an old Covid walk up to the roundabout and in this heat it was 50mins. So mission accomplished. . Share

Day 10 - Walking the glen

Saturday 11th Jul Well I say Glen, 'cause it rhymes with 10 - but we call it a gorge, Cheddar gorge. Took a trip to this amazing location and so got in my 25 mins walking in the gorge. Found a footpath that headed up the side of the gorge, behind the shops, followed it tilll it got really steep and decided that the hottest day ever wasn't;t the right conditions for our steepest climb ever so headed back down to the shops. Share

Day 9 - Let's visit a Mine

Thursday 9th Jul Well I say Mine, (because it rhymes with nine) but I do of course mean Minery, Priddy Mineries to be precise. This is an area on the Mendip hills where Lead has been mined between Roman times and 1908. It's on the opposite side of the road to Stockhill Wood, which we walked around, clocking up another 3km Share

Day 8 - what a wait

Wednesday 8th Jul Went to Bath and found a wool shop so I had to sit in the man crèche and wait. We then found a little coffee shop near the river which after an iced mocha we took a stroll along. In total we did about 2hrs moving around Bath and a total of 6km Share

Day 7 - Sheep in heaven. ( Well in the shade, but that doesn't rhyme

Tuesday 7th Jul Set off to walk from Timsbury to Preston a nearby village. Lovely countryside walk with great views. Although once we started to head back the route was down in the valley alongside a small stream - with lots of sheep. Most of them laying in the shade avoiding the heat. After all it's only mad dogs and Englishmen that go out in the midday sun. Share

Day 6 - Got into a fix.

Monday 6th Jul Drove to Stanton Drew with a view to doing a walk that took in the second largest stone circle in the UK. We found the stones quite easily, but could we find the footpath we'd planned to follow ? In the end we stepped over an electric fence and headed for a stile - came out by a school and picked up our planned route from there. At about the half way mark, in Pensford we literally stumbled upon The Rising Sun a lovely pub with a fab garden by the river with view of the Pensford Viaduct - and a nice food menu. So we stopped for lunch. Not fancing the long walk back to Stanton Drew we took a short cut via the B3130 - even then the whole walk came in at over 8km and 3hrs elapsed.  Share

Day 5 - He's still alive - and living in Timsbury

Sunday 5th Jul Did a little walk from the heart of Timsbury, down to the Somerset Coal Canal. One of the first canals built in Britain. It's empty now, but being restored. We also came across the CUD food festival - a vegetarian food festival, lots of people camping etc. We had to divert from the footpath at one point, because the farmer had to put his rams in the field - see image Share

Day 4 - And he's out the door (before 8am)!

Saturday 4th Jul Lot to do today, so got out early and repeated the walk to the pharmacy as I know that's 25mins. Share

Day 3 - What'll it be ?

Friday 3rd Jul Quite a busy day today, but have to collect my prescription - so decided to kill 2 birds and walk the long way around to the pharmacy there by collecting the meds and meeting the 25min movement challenge. Walk took 31mins elapsed and was a distance of 2.25Km Job Done day 3. Share

Day 2 - What shall we do ?

Thursday 2nd Jul Decided to get the rowing machine out, been a while since I rowed for 25 mins but hey ho - we'll take it steady. So wheeled my wooden! rowing machine out onto the patio - and got started. 6 min in and it starts to rain -do I continue or pause and move the machine indoors ? Decided to continue, rain wasn't heavy. Then what do you know, rain stopped and the sun came out and cooked me. In the end I managed 4.37Km in the 25 mins, not helped by the fact my shoe slipped out of the straps with just over 2mins to go - so had to row arms only. But we got it done, 2 down 29 to go. Share

Day 1 - the challenge has begun.

Wednesday 1st Jul So the challenge begins. Parkinsons have tied up with MapMyFitness such that if I record exercise in that app it will automatically update the Parkinsons site, so progress/compliance can be tracked in real time. Simples. So, I've installed the app on phone and watch. Set off this morning on my 25 min walk. Started the watch and off I went. Checked the phone, nothing appeared to be being recorded. So I thought "I'll go 'out' for 25 mins on watch Stop it. Then start tracking on phone on the 35 min 'return' leg " Somehow.. the 'return' leg has been recorded as a 'rowing machine' activity !! Somehow, instead of the Parkinsons site showing I've done 50 mins of activity it's showing I've done 1.274585 miles. But don't worry, just because I've done double the challenge, you won't have to pay double the sponsorship. :-). Let's see what tomorrow brings. Share