Roller Disco

Having lived in Pimlico for 18 months and moving out in a week, I felt it would be rude to live so close to Vauxhall Roller Disco (www.rollerdisco.com/) and not try it at least once. We built up for it by instigating a neon theme, putting on luminous pink make-up and spraying on lots of body glitter.

Tickets for the roller disco were £12.50, whether bought online or on the door. The price includes entry, skate hire, and as much safety equipment as you like (we just went for wristguards). We turned up there about 11pm and, to be honest, unless you're some kind of super-skater, this gives ample skating time. The place was busy enough that it had a good atmosphere, but spacious enough that you weren't crashing into someone every second step!

The venue itself has two floors - one plays cheesy pop and is on the entry level; make your way up a few steps (who puts stairs in a rollerskating venue?!) to the second, larger floor playing more modern stuff, but also skating at a faster pace. It was incredibly warm inside and I would criticise the venue for only having one bar serving tap water - especially when to get there, you either have to navigate through or circumnavigate a whole bunch of rollerskaters. I can't comment on the price of the drinks - after a few wines at home then adding wheels to my feet, I felt it was better to try and keep my wits about me...

I have no great ability at either ice-skating or roller-blading, or in fact anything that involves moving along on anything other than a normal foot-set-up. The venue has Marshalls on the floors, who can help pick you up when you fall but will also assist in showing you how to work the skates. I relied on a cumbersome style of pushing off the brake and then trying not to let me legs do the splits - which seemed to work - no falls and no bruises! Perhaps I was relying on leg strength a little too much, however, as after a couple of hours of skating, my legs were Aching Like Nobody's Business. Or perhaps I'm just getting old.

We stayed for a couple of hours till around 1am, then un-skated and headed for home. I think I would return to the roller disco, although not straightaway. It was difficult to actually dance in the skates, and I would've felt a failure if I'd abandonned them any sooner, just to enjoy a bit of a groove.

This is for you if...

If you enjoy a night out that doesn't rely on alcohol or sexy dance moves. There is no other type of club in the world where simply walking round and round in a large circle is an acceptable dance style!

Recommendations

This is definitely a dress-up venue. You don't have to be quite so luminous as we were, but people were expressing their creative side with their outfits. I would recommend cracking out the knee-high socks and leg-warmers!

 

Roll over Beethoven!

What: Roller Disco
Where: Vauxhall
Who: http://www.rollerdisco.com/
When: Friday, 3rd August 2012
With: Here come the girls!
Why: It would be veritably criminal to live so close and never go to the Vauxhall Roller Disco. Plus I haven't broken a limb in a while.

Massage Course

This was another voucher purchased through Groupon - £39 for a 5-hour "Introduction to Massage" course, courtesy of Alkanation (http://alkanation.com/london-workshops/introduction-to-massage/). It was held at the Neal's Yard Meeting Rooms just north of Covent Garden.

It was a well organised course: it started on time; there was the right number of hand-outs; and they incorporated a lunch break into the schedule. It began with a short discussion about the participants' experiences with massage and the various benefits that it can provide. Fortunately, this didn't take the form of a lecture and was pretty useful as it allowed all the latecomers to arrive without missing any of the technique demonstrations.

We learned four techniques in the class. First up was a basic neck, shoulder and back massage. This was quite hard to get to grips with, mainly because everyone has different sensitivity, especially on their neck. From experience, I have a very high pain threshold, but I had to be super-gentle with my partner, as she couldn't cope with much more than very gentle pressure.

I'm not sure what I think about reflexology (where areas of the hands and feet are linked to different parts of the body) but the hand massage which we learned next was refreshing and the foot massage was heavenly. Luckily I don't have a foot-phobia and I'm not squeamish about toes; for the guys who were, they tried out an extra hand massage.

We finished with an Indian head massage technique. For me, this was the one I was most interested in, as working in an office, hunched over a desk all day, puts a  lot of strain on your neck muscles, and staring at a computer screen affects all the muscles surrounding your eyes.

How good was I at the techniques? Hard to say. Some of them (foot and hand) came a lot quicker than the others, but I imagine it is the kind of activity that improves with practice. All I need now are some willing guinea pigs...

This is for you if...

If you're looking for something that does what it says on the tin - an introduction to massage. There was nothing extraordinary or ground-breaking, but the course provided a solid base - either for learning further techniques, or just to provide a bit of knowledge to use when you need a bit of relaxation!

Recommendations

If you go with someone else, make sure you're comfortable massaging them, as you work in pairs the entire time. The best top to wear is a short-sleeved T-shirt, as this avoids straps or sleeves getting in the way.

There's the rub

What: Introduction to Massage course
Where: Neal's Yard Meeting Rooms, near Covent Garden
Who: Alkanation
When: Sunday, 8th July 2012 at 10am-3pm
With: Myself
Why: I enjoy going for massages and so would like to learn more of the techniques. Plus, Will thought it was a good idea, for some reason...?

Triathlon

It was back in January when Helen persuaded me to sign up for the Shock Absorber WomenOnly Novice Triathlon (http://humanrace.co.uk/events/triathlon/womenonly-triathlon). Having never competed in anything where I got to wear my own number, it seemed like an excellent activity to include as a Something New.

The HumanRace team who run the event have held women-only triathlons every summer since 2007 out at Dorney Lake, which is certainly a good location for it. As the Eton rowing lake, the water is very calm, making it good for swimming in, and the path around the water is well maintained for cycling/running on. This year, with the Olympic events taking place out there, there are the inevitable building works and seating stands to avoid, but it was still a good venue and, with a little bit of Sunday sunshine and some picnic after the physical exertion, made for a pleasant afternoon out.

The first part of the triathlon was a 200m swim. I was very grateful for my eBay-purchased wetsuit, both for the warmth it provided and also the additional buoyancy. It was hard to get a great deal of momentum at first, because of the number of bodies crowded along the start "line", but once there was a bit more space, it became easier to find a rhythm. I completed the swim in 4mins 47secs, which of the 155 "novice" entrants was the 66th fastest time.

Next up was a 5.3km cycle around the lake. This was the first time I'd ever been on a road bike (those tyres are so slim!) and actually several years since I'd last cycled outside at all! I think a bit more practice on the bike would have given me the self-belief to lean forward and be more aerodynamic, but as it was I finished the section in 13mins 2secs, ranking 69th overall.

The running came last and was the section I was least looking forward to, as I do not consider myself a natural runner. It was exceedingly difficult to get my legs working after the bike, as running (apparently) works different muscles in different ways to cycling. Without any kind of stopwatch or timer, it felt like I was running a lot slower than on the treadmill... But I wasn't! My final time for the 2.5km was 14mins 34secs, which was at least 2mins faster than I'd ever run that distance before, coming in ranked 37th! This is the result I am most proud of.

I would definitely do another triathlon - and I know for sure what I would need to work on for next time... Getting changed! My first transition ranking was 137th (of 155!) and second wasn't much better at 124th. Clearly I need to spend more time getting in and out of my wetsuit/helmet.

I finished with an overall time of 38mins 11secs (ranked 68th), aching legs and a brand new luminous green swim-hat - score!

This is for you if...

If you're looking for an introductory competition, but don't fancy just a 5-10km run, the novice event is a good choice. The distances are challenging, but also short enough that you can probably cope with all of them, even if there's one you're not particularly good at.

Recommendations

My main recommendations would relate to the bike. We arrived at the venue with what should have been plenty of time, but the combination of one girl pushing in, an emergency tyre-repair and a very casual bike-fitter, meant that Helen was delayed from starting the event with the rest of the under-35s. If we'd arrived a bit earlier then we would've also had more time to try out the bikes, so that the first attempt in the saddle wasn't when you launched yourself onto the course...

Things happen in threes

What: Triathlon (200m swim, 5.3km cycle and 2.5km run!)
Where: Dorney Lake
Who: Human Race Shock Absorber WomenOnly Novice Triathlon
When: Sunday, 10th June 2012 - in the 12:15 wave
With: Helen Thomas
Why: I'm not entirely sure - it seemed like a good idea when Helen persuaded me (perhaps after a few glasses of vino...)

Falconry

Lydia and I headed out to experience some falconry at the English School of Falconry at the Birds of Prey Centre (http://www.birdsofpreycentre.co.uk/) out at Biggleswade. Getting there was a bit of a mission - train out of Kings Cross then a 10-minute taxi ride from Biggleswade station - but once there, we were surrounded by fields, trees and (on this occasion) bright blue skies and a strong breeze.

The trip was part of a Groupon voucher experience, which kicked off at 10:15 with flying some birds. First up was a diddy Barn Owl, who battled courageously against the winds to fly from a tree stump to the glove. It was really cool having the bird fly to your hand! Next up was a cheeky Harris Hawk, who completely epitomised the problems of working with animals, by flying up into a tree after just two flights (for first in the queue, me and Lydia!), then refusing to come back down for 20 minutes...

The next part of the experience was to meet some of the centre's birds, starting with the eagles. As Lydia learned, having a heavy sea eagle sit on your arm whilst the guide waxes lyrical about their attributes requires some strong muscles! I was very impressed by the knowledge which the centre's staff had about all the different birds - they really did know what they were talking about, adding another level to the experience. After this we met a whole host of owls - big, small, fat and baby. The two-week-old chick was pretty much just an ugly grey ball of feathers!

The day finished with a falconry display and the centre put on an impressive show, keeping the flights very near (and mostly right over the top of) the spectator benches. A section of the audience would instinctively duck every time the falcons dived down straight towards the benches, to try and catch the lure being swung by the handler. The show also included an overly friendly yellow-headed Caracara who liked sitting on hats and two large pelicans! Who knew they could fly?!

This was a really fun and unusual day out - and good value for the £15 Groupon. Unfortunately, due to the delays caused by the tricksy Harris Hawk, we only got to fly two birds, rather than three. However the experience of the rest of the day was enough to make up for this. I would love to try this again, although I don't quite see myself sitting at home nursing a baby bird of prey just yet!

This is for you if...

If you're looking for a day out with a difference, this is certainly one to try. The birds at the centre were really well trained, so it's an excellent way to try out falconry.

Recommendations

I would recommend taking a car to the centre, if you can. Its in-the-middle-of-nowhere location is great for the view but not so much for the public transport. Also, definitely go with a friend so that there is someone to take awesome photos.