Wittering on Wednesday - including Tennis, legacy, heat, blogging and ice cream(!)

Special bit of wittering this Wednesday, Andy Murray has cracked it, in case you missed it (how could you) he won the US Open in a thrilling five set final against Novak Djokovic. The summer of shear joy for British sport just took another level step up, just when we all thought there was nowhere else it could go after Bradley Wiggins triumphed in the Tour de France, and the GB and NI team excelled during the London 2012 olympics. Phew, as a huge sports fan (aka TV sports-aholic) I am just about out of steam - I stayed up until gone 2am to hear Murray win on BBC radio.

Olympic bounce - local rowing legacy?

I ran into a former rowing colleague the other day who told me all about the apparent effect the Olympics has had on our local club, Llandaff Rowing Club. Each year an event called the "Pub and Club" is run which encourages teams of four from local workplaces, clubs and pubs to get together learn to row for a month culminating in the "Pub and Club sprint regatta". There were, I was told, queues down the stairs and out of the clubhouse door coupled with cars parked all over the place apparently during the initial sign up evening. As an event I know they will love it, it was my introduction to rowing and left me totally hooked.

Any sign of an Olympic 2012 legacy, or an inspire a generation, sports effect near you?

Bring the heat

I am trying, and I am not sure how I am doing, to mix up my running a little. Yeah I know my training log looks pretty much as it always has, but it belays a change in approach which is seeing more speed-work. For me speed-work is a relative term of course (closes mind to how fast the Olympians covered such distances), but having spent a very very long time running at and just below 10min/mile pace for greater and greater distances I have needed the change and gone looking for it. At the moment it is not especially structured with me doing one session a week (at a mid-range distance) with sprints or sustained bursts within it. Like I said I don't know how I am doing but I am certainly less 'bored' with working my way around every course at 10min per mile.

Wales Blogger awards

I have seen on other blogs mentions of the awards for Welsh bloggers (I first noticed it on the very professional http://www.girlontheriver.com/ blog via my twitter feed), unfortunately I don't read enough of them to give a real judgement about their merits but the short-list is a fun way of taking the temperature of blogs in this part of the World. Some I think will be retained as regular reads - more on those in another WoW perhaps.

Take a browse of the 'Peoples choice' nominees list if you like at http://www.walesblogawards.co.uk/peoples-choice-award/

Swansea next...

Not long now until I tackle the Swansea Bay 10k. I have to say I am looking forward not only to the course and a lovely day out by the sea with Mrs. Taffi but I am also looking forward to my Joe's Ice Cream. This is a family thing inspired by my wife's love of the ice cream that they concocted in their ice cream parlours, when we go to Swansea or the Mumbles (or anywhere vaguely close actually) we have to 'pop' in for an ice cream. Very good stuff it is too, and I am looking forward to a well earned scoop or three ;-)

Diary - sunny, shattered showers, modest breeze. I am feeling inspired by all things running at the moment, and reading loads of great blogs and magazine articles. Job interview later - which should be fun.

More post-Olympic blog posts

It appears that as the 'dust' settles on the London Olympics more and more competitors have been able to take stock and take a perspective on their efforts. They are a mix of honest, reflective, philosophical view points, here is another that caught my attention...

Annabel Vernon in her BBC support blog posted this reflection on her Olympic experience of both London and Beijing (fifth in the 8+ in London, silver in the 4-), and though claiming to be confused she eloquently conveys the trials, tribulations, efforts, joys, lows and highs of high level rowing. Moreover the effects I suppose of making competition sport your life / career.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/annabelvernon/2012/09/proud_and_confused_-_but_thats.html

Diary: very pleasantly warm, high scattered cloud, cooling breeze, very chilly overnight. Later I should complete my last pre-Cardiff10k run. Received an offer of an job interview today so I am pleased, but unsure where it might lead (not my first choice of direction). Grateful for my beautiful family and their continued support (including silly kitchen dancing).

Tough stuff

It seems that when you think "Oh, no my race preparation has been awful" as though you are suffering the biggest sporting setback of all time. I have been there and ridden the 'tough race' bronco, but then you look at some stories from the London 2012 Olympics and realise "okay so my injury issues are pretty small really!". People (athletes - but lets not forget they are normal people too) training themselves silly for four years or more in huge blocks / cycles for just 1 day in roughly 1461 (depending on when the Games is scheduled within a given year).

One such athlete who as the sporting cliché goes 'turned herself inside out' in an effort to achieve was Helen Jenkins (a triathlete, and the 2008 & 2011 triathlon World champion) and I have just finished reading a blog post she released about her Olympic trials and tribulations. Helen is from Wales the 'small' country I reside in which as part of the United Kingdom which had high and specific hopes for all of its cohort of Olympians very much including Helen. The pressures that she must have felt living under the home tag of 'gold medal hopeful' must have been incredibly intense, that she put herself through what she did a testament to immense inner strength. Good on her for pushing through, doing well, and then describing so concisely how she got there (she finished fifth) - there are many definitions of 'heroic' and the vast majority of them don't require gold coloured medals (or any medal) and evidence.

For my small part I will be endeavouring to bite my tongue (lock my keyboard away) the next time I set out to an event with 'less than perfect' training. Everyone at every level of moving be it slow to fast, weak to strong, novice to elite needs a little perspective now and then - mine was adjusted mightily by an honest simple account of sporting struggle.

Helen's post can be found at http://www.helenjenkins.co.uk/index.php/blog/8-blog/25-olympics

Post-Olympic hangover

I thought everyone was a bit daft to suggest that there would be a 'hangover' after the Olympic show came to its climax last weekend, but perhaps I was wrong. Sure no one is throwing up, repeatedly visiting the bathroom, popping headache pills, it's not that kind of a hangover, but there are definitely effects. TV schedules are rushing to tell everyone "hey, look we have great shows", sports clubs are brimming with new keen participants (I only hope they saw it coming and have the facility to take on the enthusiastic hordes), people are still talking of little else, and of course the paralympics are coming. In some ways there is more human spirit on show in the paralympics, more stories to make a grown man cry. Sure Olympians earn respect for their graft, hardships and endeavours but many have the sports 'machine' behind them, something about a person who played a new sport in hospital and during rehabilitation and were made anew by adversity makes you stop, really stop, and wonder in awe of their achievement.

So obviously I am suffering a hangover, a week on and I am blogging (well rambling) about it. I could fill a good many posts with my highlight moments from the summer games so far (I really think we are only halfway with the paralympics coming). I am inspired in my own way, I have watched several Olympics now since I was a kid and every time I get the same buzz afterwards - even now in my middle age I think I might win gold some how?!?! haha

Inspired I am under way properly with running training again, running around 6miles three times this week, the training plan is there, the fuelling (diet) plan is back into shape, but for the moment my legs and lungs are feeling their own hangover from not training for so long... but like the Olympics I know my fitness will come around again (though hopefully it won't take four years!).

Sunny, humid, scattered cloud.

Hope your weekend rocks, and has no hangovers in sight ;-)

Busy but not - post-Olympic effects

Over the last couple of weeks I have been in my own little Olympics bubble, where there was not enough space for 'extra' things like blogging - sorry. The bubble was a lovely golden place to be as Team GB (& NI) outdid itself, although like a long holiday in foreign places I came 'back' from the bubble wondering just what real news I missed in the World. The events themselves were inspirational and I discovered today that the local rowing club is teeming with people wanting to start a new sport (or come back to it because the Games reminded them what they are missing).

For my own part I have felt ever more motivated to get properly on the move again post-illness, and so I have signed up to three races I started with the Cardiff 10k, and the Swansea Bay 10k... then things got out of hand and I applied to run the Milton Keynes... marathon! Yup, I have signed up for my second marathon - many said I would, and how all knowing they really were. Thus, although I have not strictly done the greatest amount of actual sport I have indeed been busy filling out forms that ensure that for the next few months I will be doing quite a lot.

Oh, and having had my vicarious sporting fix I should have space to get blogging again.... a training plan may follow (as I learned a lot of lessons the hard way from my first marathon).

Happy Wednesday - I hope the Olympics inspired you to go get busy :-D

A cautionary tale - a story of a brave life choice

There are many positives to take from sport, and much to be lauded about the benefits of elite athletes and sports people as role models. The other day I read an article about the experiences of an elite level triathlete, Hollie Avil, and her decision to 'retire' from her sport. There is nothing odd on the face of it that an athlete retires, there can be many reasons for it, the elements that stand out as 'headlines' here are... her age (22 years old), her successes (former European and World junior triathlon champion; one time Olympian in Beijing; World ITU podium successes), and her potential (harder to put a metric on but prior form could only hint at possibilities)...

So what then is the reason for the retirement of a bright prospect in British triathlon? Well it makes for a painful read (please read the full article, a link reference is below), she came to the very evolved and mature decision primarily because of an eating disorder. The development of which she directly attributes to her sporting career. Having suffered across three periods of her relative short career she determined that, and I borrow from the article she wrote herself...

"I don’t want to risk my health again, not just my mental health, but my physical health.
I want to be happy."

Many people outside of elite sport turn to training and sport as part of a personal strategy to control weight and feel good (I use it along those lines myself). There is are innumerable links between issues of self-image and sports, to hear such an honest and eloquent description of the feelings of a 'top-level' athlete succumbing to the worst of these issues is so sad. That the coaches, mentors, fellow competitors and so forth seemed to contribute to issues for an individual is, from the outside, worrying. That an elite level athlete in the public eye had the presence of character to recognise what was happening them in a specific environment and walk away, is commendable, brave, refreshing, and one can only hope a cautionary tale that will inform other future athletes and sports directors.

The balance between a healthy mind and a healthy body can be for many difficult to achieve, there are indeed global industries built upon selling 'systems' to help individuals, but the key is to listen to yourself watch your own behavioural responses and understand when things need to change or re-balance. As a reader of Hollie's story I can only wish that the balance she strikes going forward serves her well and that her experiences will help inform many about the penetration of eating disorders through so many aspects of our culture.

The original article I discuss above:- From the Daily Telegraph [dated - Thursday 24 May 2012] Written by Hollie Avil.

"London 2012 Olympics: triathlete Hollie Avil reveals why she has decided to bring an end to her promising career"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/triathlon/9280566/London-2012-Olympics-triathlete-Hollie-Avil-reveals-why-she-has-decided-to-bring-an-end-to-her-promising-career.html

Other sources:- 
Telegraph Olympic athlete profile http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/Team-GB/competitors/8662574/Holly-Avil-Team-GB-London-2012-Olympics.html
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollie_Avil
Hollie Avil's website http://www.hollie-avil.com/

Wittering on Wednesday - thread catch up

Jillian Micheals podcast - I am still 'with the program' so to speak, and still downloading the podcast. It has a sister video (YouTube) cast but that doesn't fit well with my time. I shove it in my ears while going about things and listen to all things motivation, health and fitness - with a hefty chunk of nuttiness, life musing, and random stuff thrown in. Am I still going to recommend it? Well yes, it is good radio. It is loaded with feminine outlook and why not (?), but hey the advice woven through it is worth the investment all by itself (it's not as if the very feminine view of life is not worthy all of itself). I think you will probably understand what I am trying to carefully express there, either that or I just dug a good sized male faux pas hole that I should leap into now?!?!

The material is good, it is researched (though sometimes I wonder who writes the material they discuss - strange 'science' out there in the health industry realm), it is good humoured, heartfelt stuff, and hey I like it... even if middle aged, vaguely sporty, European dudes was not their intended target market ;-)

The 366 Random Acts of Kindness guy - is still going strong and moreover still blogging strong (more power to him). It is beginning to boggle me just how he will keep coming up with things to do, he has passed the third of the way there and is going strong. The acts are deceptively simple - for example in one act he sought to research and track down a guy handling out laminated signs to the homeless so that he too could share in the same acts of kindness. I still maintain it is simple genius.

The Ultimate Olympian challenge guy from way back did not appear to pick up the baton again, I keep looking and hoping but it seems the blog is gathering electronic tumble weeds. The challenge he set himself was superb - to try all of the designated Olympic sports in within the four year cycle between the Athens and Beijing games. It was certainly a herculean task for charity and I had thought was going well, whatever the reasons he gave up I wish him all the best.

Note of blogs - Blogs of note I have noticed don't include many sports / health blogs in the blogs of note 'hall of fame' on blogger. It generally is the simple genii blogs or the aesthetically sweet blogs that make it, but I would argue that there are some genius and artistic sporting and heath blogs out there. Okay so perhaps they don't want to be seen to endorse a particular thread of health practice / therapy, but there are plenty of very good looking running sites out there for example. The blog "I'd rather be eating" is brilliant not only for editorial but for the quality of the images and blog organisation. Don't worry I am not making a strange pitch for my back of a postcard blog here, I am just saying they could cast the net a little more widely at some well presented sporting blogs, much followed blogs like "Miss Zippy" et al.

Here I step off the soapbox lest my wittering be mistaken for ranting.  I am off to clean up and update some pages gathering their own tumble-weeds round my blog ;-)

Blue skies, light showers, brisk breeze.

Wow Wednesday

Wow, it is Wednesday again already, the middle of the week before the week I attempt a marathon (not that I am obsessed at this point! - much). What is 'Wow' today? Hmm,...

The rings have landed in Cardiff, on a wet lunch time I spotted the work crews finishing up outside Cardiff City Hall

Trying to take a more artistic pic of the newly arrived Olympic rings, but frankly I was in a hurry
- plus you might note this is the back of the rings (?!?!)

•  Wow, the Olympic rings have landed in my home city thanks to the London 2012 games handing out some events to other city venues. The Millennium stadium has football (soccer) I believe - nice that we get a set of colourful ironwork out of it (the cities metal thieves will be looking on and pondering "wow, that'd fetch a fair price").
• Wow, my physio Leon is a genius (Physio4motion - I have to put the link up again simply because he's good, not cause I'm getting anything in return).
• Wow, cross-trainers are great bits of kit, but so so boring to use for long stints! If I had the space and the cash I think I would buy just two pieces of gym equipment: an ergo (rowing machine) and a full elliptical cross-trainer. Full body low impact all the way - though actually make that three bits of kit... there would have to be a huge TV too for the boredom ;-)
• Wow, I really wanna go rowing / sculling.
• Wow, I have been a good consistent little blogger over the past few weeks. 
• Wow, my son is getting faster on his feet everyday (he's been walking less than a month).

Finally, wow simply being on the move is great!