Learning to Sail

As part of my Birthday present, and aligned with my addiction to trying all things, Jude got me some sailing lessons.  I am now certified RYA Levels 1&2 and have definitely caught the sailing bug.  I have a fault with my GoPro WiFi remote at the moment, so no video as yet, but I will be posting something soon.

So that's "learn to sail" also ticked off.  What next?......

Woolacombe 2012

Our annual pilgrimage to Woolacombe in North Devon gave me an opportunity to tick off a number of things from the list.  The weather broke in the UK to deliver a lovely week of sun just prior to the Olympics launch, and I decided to leave for the coast a week early.

The first part of the holiday would be myself and my daughter form the Davis' and we were joined by Gemma and her family.  Jude and Mike joined us for the second week, and we had appearances from  our family as well as Tom, Ellie, Jimmy Butler, Kirsty and Duncan :-)

The following activities have now been ticked off.

Power Kite Flying

Surfing

Camping

BodyBoarding

Please see a film below caught on GoPro cameras that covers our little jaunt, as well as a few pictures.

An unexpected Party.....

Dear all,

Life has been pretty hectic, so apologies for the delay in posting, but I'm back, and I have some updates and news for you :-)

I never wanted a birthday party.  I don't really know why; I suppose that most of my friends live so far away that I didn't want to bother them; stupid really.  Well one of my best friends Gemma Poole convinced me that it would be a good idea, and I'm so glad that she did.

The fun started for me on Friday night.  My wife Judith was being very cagey about something, and I knew that there was something up.  My daughter Christina was also avoiding many of my questions, and disappearing off to neighbours on a regular basis to "discuss our skiing holiday".

Jude then left with Christina to "fetch something" and returned to my surprise with my old friend Brian Keegan.  Brian is one of my closest friends, and I had not seen him for over a year.  He's the type of guy that I might not speak to or hear from in 6 months, but he'd know I'd drop everything in a second if he needed something and the same is true in reverse.  So it was a great night with Brian on his way home to Ireland.  We had curry, and talked about old times.  It was ace.

The following morning Simon Jones arrived from Switzerland!  It was so good to see him, and he had made the journey especially which was just awesome.  No sooner were we discussing how he was, that Richie Norton arrived from Australia!  WOW.  Gemma and the kids were with him, and the day was off to a roaring start.  More people followed throughout the day.

I want to thank everyone for coming to see us.  I had the best of times.  Thank you for all of the wonderful presents.  Thanks Tom, Christina and Ellie for my amazing Chocolate cake!  Thank you Mum and Dad for being awesome.  Also - a special thank you to Chris "Michelin" Davidson for the amazing food and for being part of my life for nearly 30 years.  Good lad :-)

You see on any other weekend, just any one of these people coming to see me would have made my month.  For them all to have made the effort to see me on this day was very special;  very special indeed.  My informal gathering turned into a proper party.  It was awesome, and I'll never forget it.  Especially as I recorded some of the memories on my new GoPro's.  Life post 40 had started.  Here is the montage from the day....

GoPro Hero HD 2 Ordered and on it's way - Here's the kit list

Well for a (nearly) 40 year old man I'm feeling quite the excited one today.  I called up the lovely people at GoPro, and Morgan took my order for the following:

HD HERO2® Outdoor Edition, HD HERO2® Surf Edition, Wi-Fi Combo Kit, Wi-Fi BacPac, DIVE HOUSING/FLAT LENS HOUSING, Handlebar Seatpost Mount, Chest Mount Harness, Suction Cup Mount, Helmet Front Mount, Tripod Mount, HD Wrist Housing, Grab Bag of Mounts, Wall Charger, Auto Charger, HD HERO Lithium Ion Battery, Floaty Backdoor, Anti-Fog Inserts.


So I've gone for a 2 camera setup.  I would really like at least 3, but something is telling me that this would be a bit too extreme to start with (even for me).  I can always get more.  I've also gone for the new wireless remote which will make things much easier to control.


So here's the camera.

They really are amazing and can take up to 60 frames per second for amazing slow motion.  Here's a summary of the tech specs.  Full tech specs can be found here.

• 
  
• HD RESOLUTIONS:
• 1080p: 1920×1080, 30FPS
• 960p: 1280×960, 48FPS + 30FPS
• 720p: 1280×720, 60FPS + 30FPS

Check this out - I still get goose bumps watching this.

One last video to wet your appetite.  This is a demo of the amazing WiFi Backpack and Remote.  Skateboarding in NY - very very cool.

So that's it for now - a small update from an EXCITED DAVIS!  Now all I need is an new MacBook Pro (with retina display) with Final Cut Pro to go with it!

Peace xx

Rich

3 weeks to go! Training Update...

So with just over 3 weeks to go, I've been mostly busy with my training plan.  My training has mainly focused on running and skating for cardiovascular fitness, as well as stretching and strength excercises using bodyweight.  I have learned a few lessons and have invested in some equipment to assist in my quest (more in a moment on that).  Let's just review the smoking cessation effects for those of you that are interested.

For as long as I can remember my resting pulse rate has been in the high 70's and 80's. I have gone through periods of excercise in the past, but always being a smoker holding me back.  I was amazed that after stopping smoking and with only a few weeks training under my belt, that my resting pulse rate had already decreased to being mainly in the late 60's.  In the last few weeks I have even recorded it in the late 50's.  This has to be a good thing, and I am looking forward to reporting it moving lower still!

As I write today I have now not smoked 1135 cigarettes since stopping 66 days, 18 hours and 25 minutes ago :-)  So it's just over 2 months and I feel amazing (and I've saved about £430).  I have very few cravings now, and much more energy.  I may do another post specifically on the techniques that I have used to stop smoking.  I think I'll post that to my other blog daviskites.  However, whilst on the subject, one of the things I have found useful is the "My Last Cigarette" App for iPhone.  Every time the nicotine monster tried to attack, I just took a quick look at the app, and reminded myself that the feeling would pass in a moment.  It really has helped, and I'd recommend it.

My Last Cigarette App

So here is a screen shot of my training activity for May.  I started training late April, but this gives you an idea of a full month.  I've found this website really motivational, it's called Mapmyrun.  It works very well with your iPhone (and Android, although I haven't tested it with an Android Phone).  When you start the app, it uses your iPhone's GPS (and other technical stuff) to map your route.  It measures things like distance and speed as well, so it's really useful to work out your minute mile pace.  I also got myself a Wahoo Heart Rate monitor, which works natively with the iPhone 4S and allows heart rate capture as well.  I'm finding that getting back from my runs, and logging my times is really helping me motivate myself and go for new personal best times etc.  It's early days, but I'm starting to enjoy it more and more.

Here's a screen shot of the type of data you can get from using the heart rate functionality.

I've always been a fan of body weight training.  With this in mind and remembering that I used to be able to do 3 sets of 10 wide arm pull-ups, I invested in a pull-up station.  It allows you to do wide and close arm pull-ups as well as dips.  I went for the Adidas Pull and Dip Station.  It was really easy to put together, and very sturdy and well built for a home gym.  I'll make a video of how to train yourself to do pull-ups in the next few weeks, as it is an often avoided exercise and should be one of the primary strength vehicles for men and women.  With the right training plan and technique, you can achieve amazing results - more on this in future blogs.  So here's a picture of the new kit.

So there you go, the training is going well.  No major injuries (apart from my possibly broken wrist from ice skating), and feeling fit.  I'll be working on the list again in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

If you want to invest in any of the kit here's a quick reminder of the items I'm currently using:

Wahoo Heart Rate monitor - Links with your iPhone 4S for HR data when using with mapmyrun

Adidas Pull up and Dip Station

Rich

The Initial Brianstorm List....

I've been building the list over the last few days.  I've taken advice and feedback from my family and friends as well as feedback from Facebook and Twitter and have a pretty good list.  I'm looking for some more ideas to add and will update the list over the next few weeks prior to the 1st July.  My plan is to publish the final list on my Birthday.

The list is in a random order at present, and needs tidying up a little.  I will probably end up splitting it into categories and filter them by planning or training time required, expense, type (physical, spiritual, skill etc.)  I've been using evernote to build lists for some time now.  If you haven't used it, it's a great cross platform application.  www.evernote.com

So anyway - here is the list.  Any additional ideas of feedback very gratefully received.

• Military Fitness Tests with James Wilshaw - 8 mile BFT and 1.5 Mile fast run
• Motor Racing - Extreme Banger Racing
• Canoeing
• Falconry
• Sky Dive - Tandem or Possible AFF Training
• Base Jump
• Power Kite Flying - scudding, jumping
• Kite Buggying
• Learn to Windsurf
• Learn to Sail
• Scuba Diving
• Glider Flight
• Hot Air Balloon Flight
• Bungee
• Microlight flying
• Paragliding
• Hanggliding
• Surfing
• Camping
• Bushcraft
• Shooting
• Sea Fishing
• Carp Fishing
• Fly Fishing
• Off Roading
• Rock Climbing
• Climb a Mountain
• Indoor Climbing Wall
• Wild Swimming
• Skiing
• Ice Skating
• Mountain Biking
• Flying Wing Walking
• Roller Skating
• Coasteering
• Marathon
• Half Marathon
• 5k
• 10k
• Triathlon
• 40 Pull ups
• 400 Push ups in 
• Learn to fly?

Life Begins at 40?

Hi all,

Great to meet you!  I'm Richard Davis, and this year, on the 1st July 2012, I will be 40 years young.  Some people say I'll be 20/20 (I'm currently 20/19).  The whole thing got me thinking.

"Rich - what are you doing for your 40th?" is the standard converstaion amongst friends at the moment, and frankly I didn't want to do anything!  This struck me as a little odd, and maybe I should be doing something.  Maybe I should be doing A LOT of things!

I've always done things to extreme.  These can be things that have empowered me, and also things that were destructive.  I used to be a heavy drinker and smoker.  I pretty much quit drinking 6 years ago, and just this morning I didn't smoke my 600th cigarette after stopping 35 days, 8 hours and 32 minutes ago.  There's a very cool app called "My Last Cigarette" that I got for my phone which is helping.  Anyway, what I'm trying to say is this.  I thought I'd prove that life really does begin at 40, and cram as many activities and challenges into my 41st year as possible.  I'm hoping this will be "good" extreme behaviour.  Time will tell......

So here's the idea;  I will get myself a few GoPro Hero 2 cameras for my Birthday.  I will then write a list, and prioritise as many activities as I can over the coming year.  I have started training in readiness for the 41st year, and expect to be in relatively good shape by the time my Birthday hits in a few weeks.

Over the coming weeks and months, I will be updating this Blogg with details of my activities.  I'm hoping that this will serve two purposes.

1.  It will motivate me and provide a journal of my quest;  something to look back on in the future.
2.  It may inspire others, via the power of the internet, to do something similar, share ideas and experiences.  Basically - join like minded people together that want to live life to the max.  I'd like to think that this will be age independant, so whether you are 15, 40 or 80 - join in, and tell us how you are pushing yourself to get the most out of life :-)

In the initial bloggs building up to the big day, I'll share some of my activity lists and training plans.  Stay tuned if you're interested.

Yours
Richard (LBA40)
www.lba40.co.uk
lba40@blogger.com