Day 138 - Racing Snail

you lookin' at me?

I'm constantly surprised by the array of characters we come across around our way.

I'm now on a mission to get photo's of as many different animals as possible for the blog.  I've had many so far, from dogs to cats, from pigeons to pheasants, from newts to no snakes.  

(I'd include links to all of those, if there weren't so many, and I could be arsed)

But so far, no gastropods...until we met this little chap whilst walking Jazz down the lane this evening.  We chatted briefly (although in fairness, it was a bit of a one way conversation), and he agreed to pose for me, for a moment.

poseur

Then he raced off, and I just caught this shot as he sped on by...

The road is a regular little boulder-field, from his perspective (in the top photo).   It reminds me of Dartmoor, along the river Dart, in fact.  I bet there are plenty of climbing opportunities if you're this small!

Speaking of which, tomorrow is the big day, my 50@50 Challenge!

I've been trying to explain how I'm feeling about it.  Mildly nervous is close, although without the negative connotations.  It's firmly on my mind, and I have a hint of that feeling you get when you're about to dive off the high board, or start a race, or before a gig.  

When I used to gig a lot (20 years ago!), I rarely felt nervous, as I was quite experienced.  But I realised that I did have the physical symptoms - mainly, I yawned a lot!  It took a long time to understand this, but I eventually realised that although I felt ok, I was shallow breathing, over-oxygenating my lungs and hence the need to yawn...

Anyway, that's how I'm feeling, I think - a heightened state of mild, low level anticipation. 

I'm fundamentally confident that I can climb safely and well, but I'm slightly concerned about conditions (a little damp, although drying through the morning), and endurance...I know I can climb with calm, controlled confidence for the first ten or twenty climbs, but can I for the last ten or twenty, when I'm tired having already climbed thirty routes or more?

I also jarred my ankle really badly (the one I hurt when falling off last time, that still hurts a little) at lunchtime.  I just slipped a bit on a wet stair, and it hurt so much that I felt sick for a few minutes.  For a moment, I thought I'd blown my chance to do the 50@50 , but then it sort of cleared up and it's ok again now...so I don't know, minor cause for concern maybe, but I'll see how I go. 

Primarily though, I feel confident, excited, a little nervous...and really looking forward to getting on with it in the morning.   The plan had been to get on the road for 8am or so, but the crag may be a bit drier if I leave it a little later...haven't quite decided on that yet.   It's a two hour drive up there, so we'll leave by 9am at the latest I guess...but now I say that, 8am seems better!

Now I have to have some dinner, then get all the gear together and pack it up, then a few hours sleep...

It's currently T-10hrs or so...

Wish me luck, folks!

B-)