#7 - January: Testing
Hellohellohello,
Well, it’s safe to say we’re out of ‘holiday mode’ now and well and truly back into the routine and the daily grind. We’ve been using this time to ‘plant some seeds’. We’ve been testing projects and theories to ensure that 2024 is going to be as big of a year as we envision it to be. Eee, that’s scary to say/type out, but it’s the truth.
So what have we been testing? Well, we did a test run of our podcast and we’re excited to officially share the first episode with you. We’re running tests for our second product that we are planning on launching (oops - not allowed to say any more about this right now - we have to keep you on your toes). And, in February, we are testing our services in the best way we know how - by putting ourselves out there and shooting. But there’s more on all of that if you keep reading…
In this month's edition:
What do a grandad, a dad and Alex all have in common? (…surely not a podcast)
No risk, no rewards - our first shoot as woowoo
Conquering the Yeti
Why I Tri: Ready, set, go ..... and start all over again :(
What do a grandad, a dad and Alex all have in common?
They’re all training for a triathlon, of course! And we’ll be there to record whilst they sit and chat about their training… We’ve been talking about it and teasing it for a while. But it’s finally here. Our first podcast - why we tri.
What is it about? 3 amateurs; a grandad, a dad and Alex, share their journey to a long distance triathlon hosted by their non-athletic sister.
What can I expect? Casual chit-chat, the ups and downs of training, plenty of dad jokes and just maybe some words of wisdom.
How often? Once every 2 weeks.
When? Wednesdays.
How long is it? 30-40 minutes.
Where can I find it? On Spotify.
I want to find out more: Check out our page here.
Well we’re excited to share with you that Episode 1 is now live!
What we've been up to
La Conquête du Yéti by Manneken Peaks
The first shoot of 2024 - and what a fun way to start. This is Conquer the Yeti in Belgium. The Yeti, is a man-made ski slope, and the event is a team-relay event that sees the runners climb up the ski slope on every lap. Teams are made up of 4 people, and every lap a new team member joins the first runner. So runner 1 does 16km, runner 2, 12km, runner 3, 8km and the last runner completes one 4km lap.
No risk, no rewards - our first shoot as woowoo
We mentioned earlier that we are testing our services this month in the best way we know how - by going out and shooting. In fact, we’ve noticed a lot lately, that there are big rewards that come from putting yourself out there. We’ve learnt that the worst that can happen is, erm, nothing. Absolutely nothing changes. But the best that can happen? Well… maybe a little something like this:
In January, Alex reached out to a sports event in Spain to see if they’d be interested in having any additional photographers on the day. One thing led to another and the next thing we were all on a call chatting to each other ... and what followed was an opportunity we knew we couldn’t say no to. Which leads us to the present day, and actually this week we are off shooting our first event, as a duo, as woowoo with this sports event. The event is a one-day trail run in the mountains of Sierra Blanca, in the South of Spain, hosted by CxM.
But it’s not just another sports event. In fact, CxM are unique. They want to do more than just organise a race - they want to give back to the community and ensure that sports and nature is accessible to everyone. Marina, one of the organisers, told us the story of them raising enough funds in just 16 days to buy a specialised wheelchair to allow a child that they sponsor to be able to race alongside everyone else. We don’t know about you, but that makes the hairs on our arms stand up.
This is more than a shoot for us. This is a story writing itself in front of our eyes. And we couldn’t be more excited to have the opportunity to tell a bit of it for now… but don’t worry, you’ll be hearing a lot more about it in next month’s newsletter.
Oh, also, Alex is en-route to Spain which means that the woowoo team will be reunited for a while. That means there will be scheming. And lots of it.
Shout out (a chance to highlight cool people doing cool things - living their woo)
The Alpine Run Project
Take a look at the documentary about this project “from the streets to the peaks” - it’s about using trail running to change the lives of young people. 12 young runners from different walks of life were given a chance to run at the UTMB weekend.
The aim of the project is to get young people more active, and give them a chance to follow a different path (one that is mostly followed by people in a privileged situation right now).
We love it, because it has a strong overlap with what we want to do with woowoo - where woodoers can actually support and help others achieve their own woo. Small steps at the moment, but one day we’ll be producing our own video in this vein!
Guest Column: Why I Tri - Ready, set, go ..... and start all over again :(
January done, Christmas and New Year a thing of the past, days are getting longer, and I for one am looking forward to better weather to do more of my training outside. In particular, longer bike rides, in the countryside, in shorts and t-shirts 😊
But, after all of the ‘Summary of the year’ updates from Strava and, review of annual goals the like (did you hit or miss ?!?) – its all back to zero.
Is that good ? Is it a fresh start ? I hate it.
It’s bad enough when you start your next exercise …
Length number 1, 39 to go
Kilometer 1, 79 to go
1 km ran, another 9 to go …
5 mins in, an hour to go …
It’s like everything we have done until now has been thrown away – done and dusted – history – forgotten… and we start all over again ☹
On the one hand, it is like that. The first step / stroke / pedal of any workout is the most important one – getting started – because, usually, when you get going, you complete the task.
And it is so important to get going. If you don’t feel like it, if time is short – accept you will do half the distance planned (or less) but, usually, when you get going…
Something is better than nothing.
So do we really start the year at 0 – with nothing ? Do we start each exercise with nothing ?
Absolutely not !
Triathlon is endurance, about building, about lasting.
Each exercise builds on the last. You get better, fitter, stronger – maybe not with each exercise, but over time.
And that’s what counts. Keep at it, Keep going. Take the first step – and remain consistent. Half the distance is better than nothing. And when you get going …
When you get going, and keep going, you will surprise yourself about what you can achieve !! 😊
In the diary
10th February: Photographers at CxM Sierra Blanca (trail run)
15th February: Why we tri, episode 2 podcast recording 👀🎙️
17th February: CxM pencil
24th February: CxM pencil