Singing Lesson #5

Our final lesson, and the much awaited end of course concert! I was the third student to arrive and our tutor was getting a little worried that she may only have three performers for the concert. After a little while a fourth, and as it turned out final, student turned up. We were missing four students, I wonder if they were overcome by nerves? completely understandable but a shame all the same.

There were no new tunes tonight and after the usual warm ups it was straight into practising our group pieces. The concert was due to begin at 8pm so at 7.30pm our accompanist arrived to give us all a chance to practise our solo pieces.

I managed to find the sheet music for A Song For Ireland and brought it with me on the night. The accompanist was very good and played it perfectly, unfortunately the version on the sheet music was slightly different to the version I knew and we decided that I would sing without the piano, I'd go A Capella this evening!

Finally the hour arrived and our tiny but enthusiastic audience of 4 burst into the room. It changed the atmosphere completely! I can't speak for my classmates but I became very self conscious and very nervous. After a brief introduction we started with the first group piece, "Amazing Grace". After an initial nervous start and a few misplaced notes it went very well and judging but the applause the audience seemed to enjoy it.

We moved onto another group piece which was a little more relaxed and then the moment arrived for the first solo piece. I was last in the queue and the first 3 students were fantastic, I had a lot to live up to. Without an accompaniment it was difficult to start but luckily I had a one to one with my mate Diki, an excellent singer, a few days earlier and he gave me a few tips to singing a capella. Having found my starting note in my head I was off. The first verse was a little nervous to say the very least, my voice wobbled like jelly on a fat mans belly (I have no idea where that image came from but I'm not telling my psychiatrist). The second and subsequent verses were fine, I had settled down and stepped into my own world for the rest of the song. The audience seemed to enjoy it and then it was time for one last group piece.

Walking out of the class for the last time was both a little sad and exciting. Sad that the course had come to an end but it was very exciting and satisfying having performed in front of an audience. I'm looking forward to the next step!

Tonight's takeaways:

• Project (...open your mouth!!)
• Articulate (...pronounce those words!!)
• Posture (...stand up straight!!)
• Breath (...at the right time)
• Always do your homework

Singing Lesson #4

Tonight we had our second last lesson and in addition to the usual warm-ups and a new tune we had to decide what we were going to sing for the end of course concert next week. After much searching I have decided to sing "A Song For Ireland". We were asked to find the sheet music for our songs so that the accompanist could practise. Unfortunately I couldn't find the sheet music for a Song For Ireland... perhaps I should sing it A Capella?

Tonight's new tunes:

• Where is the love

Tonight's takeaways:

• Ties, Dots, and Articulation
• (Yet again...) Always do your homework!!

Ambitious cycle...

It's been a little over a week of no running and I'm feeling very fidgety. So myself & Joe decided to dust off the push bikes and head out for a long cycle. I got my new Garmin 405 watch this week and am dying to give it a go. As we live in neighbouring towns we met half way and decided to head north and, snaking around country lanes, we'd edge easterly towards the canal and back towards Naas.

It may seem obvious now but cycling uses a whole different set of muscles to running. After 5 miles I was aching in places I'd never felt before. After mile 8 I couldn't help asking the question: what sadist designed bicycle saddles? What was s/he thinking?

According to my new toy we cycled a total of 18.76 miles, exactly. And the knees; they were OK but during the last 5 miles I could feel them but nothing serious.

Deserters

A couple of weeks ago I was at a my company's summer party held in (I'm reliably informed) a fashionable club in a fashionable part of town; as I'm several steps behind the fashionable people I wouldn't know. We had a large part of the upper floor reserved with our own (free) bar and what seemed like a continuous stream of finger food. I have no problem with free bars, I'm a big fan actually, but the same thing seems to happen at these events. At about 11pm it suddenly dawns on me that I'm no longer sober, why that surprises me I don't know but it's quick as if someone flicked a switch.

Anyway; much, much later I was in conversation with a couple of friends from my office and we agreed to have dinner in their house a few weeks later and I volunteered to bring desert. The next day I had a vague recollection of agreeing to something; what and what for I couldn't quite make out. The next working day revealed all when an email with a date for dinner and the question: would I be bringing desert and a starter or just desert?

I searched the web for easy, cheap and yummy deserts; sounds like the ideal date! After a few phone calls and I decided to make one of my favourite deserts: Banoffee Pie. It turns out to be pretty easy to make:

• Crumbled digestive biscuits and butter for the base, chilled for at least an hour.
• Caramel, bananas and fresh whipped cream for the filling.
• A sprinkling of chocolate flakes to top it off.

The result was fantastic, and it was such a thrill to see everyone enjoy it!

Singing Lesson #3

After the usual warm up exercises it was straight into yet another great lesson. After a plethora of new tunes we decided that the "end of course" concert will go ahead. We all need to think about what kind of song we'd like to sing and we will have an piano accompaniment which should make it easier to stay in tune and hide any hiccups.

Tonight's new tunes:

• The sound of music
• Dream a little dream of me
• Amazing Grace
• Where is Love

Tonight's takeaways:

• Posture
• Always do your homework

Ouch...

Damn it! I've really done it now. My knees are in bits and I need to start taking proper care of them. So, it's rest for a couple of weeks and then ease back into running if I'm going to have any chance of a 4 1/2 hour marathon this October, but more importantly I need to beat Kerry's time in the Great North Run in early October... there's £25 at stake!!

It's a long way from Carlingford...

Last night it was a struggle to get out of the clutches of the city's rush hour traffic. By 5pm I had to be 75 miles away in Carlingford for a weeding and it wasn't looking good as I crawled along Dublin's orbital motorway at a snails pace and it was already well past 4pm.

We finally arrived at the seaside town and checked into our hotel and I use that term in the broadest sense of the word. It reminded me of a DIY project that went horribly wrong. The hotel consisted of a series of individual rooms running along the length of a driveway, each with large sliding doors to the front that opened straight into the bedroom. The bathroom, again accessed via a sliding door, reminded me of an apartment that I'm sure we've all had. You know the one where the landlord was so tightfisted that he'd never replace anything or get a tradesman in to make proper repairs and the flat looked as if it would disintegrate if you sneezed?

We were running late and had to get ready fast. I jumped into the shower, predictably a cold one, and dried off with one of the micro-mini bath towels. My suit looked like it was rolled up in a ball in the boot of my car, hardly surprising since that's exactly where it had been for the last few days. I managed to de-crease my suit just enough to get away with it. I did a little foraging for an iron and ironing board for my shirt before finally accepting that this was indeed a classy hotel.

With lightly creased shirt, a matching suit and a pair of Doctor Martin shoes I was ready and out the (sliding) door. The hotel owner was a nice guy and gave us a lift down the very steep hill to the wedding venue, his driving skills obviously far outweighed his DIY skills.

It was a lovely wedding reception. It was held in the local sailing club which had striking views along the length of Carlingford Lough. It was a long night, I was trying to drink as little a possible and time seemed to pass more slowly the later it got. But eventually it was home time, the bar had closed and the DJ was packing up. Walking back to the hotel was a bit of a challenge; it was pitch black and all up hill. We eventually made it, wrestled with our sliding door and fell into bed.

Getting up the next morning wasn't easy, my race started at 10am and I was at least an hour and a half away. I struggled to get up and managed to dress, pack and get on the road by 8.30. After a brief stop to get petrol and breakfast I was on the way.

I reached the City orbital at 9.40, I was late and wasn't sure if I'd make it on time but I pressed on. Uncharacteristically I didn't get lost and arrived at the registration office with 5 minutes to spare. I dashed into the office to register and pick up my number. I had to dash back to the car to get my GPS watch and foolishly tried to pin my number on my shirt as I ran. After several minor stabbings I decided to walk until the number was attached. I got to the car with no time to spare, I was officially late as the start line was a 10 to 15 minute walk away.

I ran all the way to the start line which was devoid of all runners and walkers, I was definitely late! As I crossed the start line I heard a beep and was happy that my time had been recorded. It took a minute or two to reach the slowest walkers and a few minutes later I came across the slowest runners. I was running faster than I would normally and continued to overtake runners for the next fifteen or twenty minutes until I caught up with a group running at a comfortable pace for me. I slowed down and ran the remainder of the race at this pace.

After mile 4 my right knee started to twinge a little, could this be the start of a painful finish? I was right! The final few hundred metres were quite painful but I carried on regardless and crossed the line, with relief, in 42:08. Not bad for a 5 mile run with a hangover and dodgy knees, I must turn up late more often!

Singing Lesson #2

Lesson #2 and I hadn't done my homework! Not only that but I couldn't remember what it was, but I did remember to pick a song to sing a cappella: "Black Is The Colour", a lovely traditional song of Scottish origin that I hoped get through without killing it.

The weather was appalling but this time I arrived in plenty of time, the first to arrive actually. The start time passed and I was still on my own but we gave it a few more minutes and thankfully a couple of my classmates arrived and the class started. We went through a lengthy warm-up session before revising last week’s songs and before moving onto some more complex songs.

It wasn't long before it was time to sing our own songs. For some reason I was volunteered to sing first (note to self: never sit at the front). I stood up in front of the class, took a deep breath and promptly forgot the tune... I desperately tried to hum the chorus but nothing came to mind. I apologised and asked if anyone in the class knew the tune. Luckily someone did and very kindly hummed the tune to get me going. I'm not sure how it went, I was so nervous and focused so completely on the words in front of me that when I sang I didn't really hear myself.

As I rounded off the last note I quickly made for my seat to kind applause. My classmates stood up in turn and performed their chosen pieces, each one was as nervous as me but very impressive; there's a lot of talent in that room!

Tonight's new tunes:

• Caro mio ben... a scary Italian number.
• Scales; majors & minors.

Tonight's takeaways:

• Rests; minim rests, crotchet rests, etc.
• Breathing... sounds obvious but not unlike swimming, if you do it at the wrong time you could be lining yourself up for a comedy moment.
• Always do your homework.

Swimming in Mulranny

On the way home we decided to pop into the new hotel in Mulranny for a quick swim. It turned out to be a very, very long stop as the hotel was equipped with not only a fantastic pool but also a sauna, steam room, an outdoor hot tub overlooking Mulranny bay, a jacuzzi and a whole new experience: the plunge pool; an 8 foot deep narrow pool filled with ice cold water, refreshing is not the word!

PB's and Dodgy Knees: The Achill 1/2 Marathon 2008

The weather forecast for Achill on Saturday morning was: wind, rain, wind, the odd sunny spell and wind. That's a lot of wind!

I thought we had plenty of time to get from Claggan to the race but the drive to Achill is always takes longer that I seem to remember. As we crossed the bridge onto the island there was barely 30 minutes to the official start time and we had a good 20 minute drive to Keel.

The registration office looked like it was a stones throw from the start line. Here's a handy hint: if a map states that it is not to scale assume the worst! In this case it was a mile away and I had to run there to make it back in time.

When I got back to the assembly area I was exhausted, the race was starting within minutes and I used this time to recover as best I could. As I walked along the line of the waiting runners towards the back of the queue I could feel the wind pushing against me; a strong wind is only good when it's behind you, this one was very much in front!

It wasn't long before the starting gun was fired and we were off. We left the beach and headed up to the main road and then turned right towards the mainland and into the wind.

The first few miles were harder than expected but enjoyable. As soon as I turned off the main road and headed towards the northern part of the island the wind eased off and the sun made a brief but welcome appearance. This part of the run was great; the scenery was stunning as the countryside opened up in front of me.

All was well until mile 9 when I started to feel a little little pain in my right knee, the knee I injured when I came off my bike earlier that week. I was passing a steward when I almost stumbled when I felt a sharp pain in that knee. He asked if I was OK and I said yes, it's just a twinge. It wasn't and I knew it but I couldn't stop.

From mile 10 the pain got progressively worst but I knew if I stopped I may not get going again. By mile 12 I must have looked tragic; I had slowed right down and had a very obvious limp but I was still running. As I scaled the last hill the sandy beach of Keel appeared; not long now and it was all downhill.

I finally reached the outskirts of the town, I could see the finish line and running along the final stretch was fantastic as the enthusiastic cheers from the crowd pulled me along and over the finish line. I checked my watch and my time was 2:07:18; a new PB to make up for a dodgy knee!

Singing Lesson #1

No, not a typo! I've swapped the swimming lessons for singing lessons for July. As usual I left it to the last minute to check the location and time of the course: 7pm in South Great George's Street. I wanted to be early and left the office with plenty of time to spare.

I arrived in town over an hour early and took the opportunity to shop for a couple of life jackets for this weekend's trip the Achill. Having found, bought and deposited the perfect jackets into the car I made my way to the music school with 10 minutes to spare. I made my way to the reception area and introduced myself only to be informed that the class had begun 20 minutes earlier! I pulled the printout from my pocket to double check... the web site was wrong, I though I was early and the class was way past warming up.

Oh well... I found the room and slowly opened the door just enough to pop my head around. A very jolly, friendly voice welcomed me and quickly summarised what the class had covered; what a relief!

I found a seat at the back and once I had settled in I quickly surveyed the class. There were 8 in the class; 7 women and me. I'm not sure if my arrival changed things for our teacher but it certainly lowered the tone.

Having missed the group warm up exercises I started the class straight into singing. It turns out that my voice slots into the Baritone category; the type of male voice that lies between Bass and Tenor. I guess that's a good thing; perhaps not the best but at least a bit of both worlds.

One of the reasons I wanted to do this course was to answer the question can I sing?
Apparently I can, just not very well but with practise I could be up there with the average of them!

Tonight's new tunes:

• Fly me to the moon.
• Edelweiss.

Tonight's takeaways:

• Articulate when singing.
• Performance directions; legato, mezzo, adagio and the like... I'll never remember all that, I can barely remember my name in the morning...
• Pick a song to sing A Capella for next week's class.

When gravity goes bad...

After a very wet but uneventful ride home I was just entering Newbridge when I remembered that my locksmith had called a few days earlier to let me know that replacement keys for my bike had arrived. So I decided not to go straight home, instead I'd ride on through the town and up to Newbridge Shopping Centre to pick up the keys.

I had just entered the car park and intended to turn right into one of the many lanes to find a parking space when I noticed a white SUV travelling in the opposite direction. The next few seconds took me by complete surprise; the rear wheel quickly and without any warning slipped to the left. Before I knew it I was on the ground with a very heavy bike resting on my right leg. I was stuck, the bike wouldn't move and my leg was pinned to the floor. The bike had been running for almost an hour, I knew the engine was red hot and being stuck under it was the last place I wanted to be. The driver of the SUV came to my rescue and helped me lift the bike just enough to free my leg. Once on my feet I could get the bike upright and wheel it out of the way.

I felt a little shocked but otherwise OK. The bike took a bang on the right side which knocked the brake lever block out of position but otherwise no other damage.

I rode the bike home and when I got inside my right leg felt quite sore around the knee. Taking my boots off I felt moisture around my knee and I thought blood, damn!! However, once I got my bike trousers off it turned out to be water, probably from the time I spend on the ground under the bike. My knee was a little grazed but nothing serious. There was a little bruising and it did feel sore. The Achill 1/2 marathon is in 3 days time, is that enough time to recover?

Tuesday 3 miler

It's a week before the 1/2 marathon and I'm feeling great, we ran this morning's 3 miler in 23:55, that's a pace of 07:58! Happy days!!