I Ran - (Dane Grant - Jan '11)

(An old draft I found today which I started writing after a run I completed back in January 2011. The entire run eventually ended up being about 2h:30m long. The next morning, with full intention of only running to wind down from the previous day .... I did it all again. A brand new route, got lost in the run, and wound up back home again over 2hours later. Here's why...)


Laced up, capped on, watered in,
My journey then began.
Leaving front doors, automatic gates and electric fences,
... I ran.

Not sure of the destination, the route, or how long it would take,
I resigned myself to the fact that this was something I needed to make.

With a mind so cluttered,
All it took was one foot in front of the other,
I ran till it all went away.

I ran.

It all started with a focussed goal to simply clear my head,
Voices plaguing me all night, lying awake in bed.
I had no idea of what, or when, or how, or why even me,
Oh how different, this run would eventually be!

I ran and ran till it all went quiet, and then it flared up again,
Till new things entered my mind. Sometimes it got insane!
Till the pain arrived, and disappeared. I had no intention to stop.
This journey WILL CONTINUE, even if it meant I'd physically drop!

I ran.

Sometimes I looked ahead,
Sometimes I looked down,
There were times I stopped looking all together,
Just absorbing everything around.

The friendly waves and occasional hoots, to get me up the hill.
The wind and breeze, the splash of a sprinkler,
All reminding me this moment was real.

I wound through the 'burbs, the businesses and brigades.
Through a 'kasi, kerkhof and kaal dirt-road terrain. **

I eventually arrived back,
Through the fences, gates and doors.
The guy who left that morning,
Was no more.

I Ran.

Dane Grant
© 2011 (All rights reserved)
**
- 'Kasi (Slang for eKasi or Township. I ran through Alexander township)
- Kerkhof (Afrikaans for Cemetery)
- Kaal (Afrikaans for naked/empty)

BELATED May 4th - Robotic Pirate Monkey

(Belated Post - Due to Blogger not allowing new posts for a few days!!!! Grrrrrr)

May the FOURTH be with you on this weDUBNESSday! A day in each week to celebrate all things dub, and the past influences and the spin-offs still yet to come. Some tunes will be complete mix-n-mash ups, and some a lot more straight forward. I’ll post up what I like, and take it from there. Just cuz it’s popular, doesn’t mean I like it, and just cuz I like it, doesn’t mean it will be popular… ;-)

Today, I’m in a cheeeeeeeeelled mood. So, time for some cheeeeelled choooons…

For those of you who are not fans of DUB, I strongly suggest you check this song out. You neeeeeever know.... ;-)

Robotic Pirate Monkey - Sing With Me (ft Aerosmith)

Robotic Pirate Monkeys (RPM) - http://roboticpiratemonkey.com

This Colorado trio have been around for a relatively very short time, but have managed to make some big waves in the scene.

The tune I picked for today is their latest track, SING WITH ME. Sampling the Aerosmith tune “Dream On” from 1976!! (This will be a killer Parkour training video backtrack, imho!)

May 4th 2011 is a good time to be highlighting these guys as they launch their new EP tonight in Colorado. G’luck Gents. Let it be a ripper!!!!

Check ‘em out on Facebook, Like, Comment, Support! (and if you search their website, you’ll even find an album or two to download. Some GREAT tunes to find!!!
http://www.facebook.com/roboticpiratemonkey

BONUS TRACK

And JUUUUUUST because Blogger made this post late, I thought it only fair to throw in a bonus track. This is Drum 'n Bass producer and musician from the South West of England, Danny Byrd.

"From Bath With Love" has a chilled start and ending, with typical DnB sandwiched in-between. Enjoy!

An Introduction to: weDUBNESSday! (Dubstep Music)

"it's no secret i love DUB! Therefore to all fans of music i declare 2011 from this day forth to be referred to as 'Twenty Dub One'! :-D"
(My facebook status update: 20th January '11)

"As a campaign to highlight the silent and often sadly overlooked D in the word WeDnesday I propose we alter it slightly. From now on, Wednesday shall be known as WeDUBNESSday!"
(My facebook status update: 16th March '11)

Quite clearly then, I like the Dubstep music genre (Or better referred to as simply, Dub). Especially the "dirty/harder" versions we see cropping up and evolving (big bass drops and wobbles, etc). Although I also enjoy remixes which have subtle dub nuances planted inside. It must come from my long love of Garage, Speed Garage, Acid Jazz, Tech Step, Jungle, Breakbeats, Electronic, Drum n Bass, and and and...

I remember radio mixes I used to tape one or two moons ago from the 5Fm's Reebok Classic show era on a Friday night with Derek "The Bandit" Richardson. It was during a midnight feature he had on called "the other side of dance" (I think it was), and often the mixes on there were done by some very popular DJ's at the time (such as Todd Terry), but using very experimental tunes and weird samples. Ones they could never get away with playing them in a club or on a big set. I loved these!! They never really fitted into one genre.

And look at us now! Fast forward a few years and the stuff is literally mainstream and all over the latest daytime radio playlists. As great as that sounds, perhaps it should remain in the clutches of only the select few who can work it well. (I very recently heard a, bad, Britney Spears song trying to use a small dub insert. Who knows why. It's definitively not for everyone...)

And with that brief history done..... I'll be keeping the DUB video posts on my blog here from now on (as opposed to Facebook) in order to be able to track them later on down the line. (and revive my blog page again, which I've been neglecting!)

Here are a few of my weDUBNESSday YouTube tunes that I've already posted up on Facebook the last few weeks. Fittingly, I'll start with Skrillex in this post. Loving his work at the moment. Most of these are remixes. If you want to check out his original works, then search for his second album "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites". (His debut album being, "My Name Is Skrillex")

iSquare - Hey Sexy Lady (Skrillex Remix)

La Roux - In For The Kill (Skrillex Remix)

Benny Benassi ft Gary Go - Cinema (Skrillex Remix)

Skrillex - Reptile

Happy 7th Birthday PKSA!

It's Parkour South Africa's birthday!!

Today, 7 years ago, Neil Craig and I officially registered www.parkour.co.za. I remember speaking to him on the phone from the UK in 2003 and in a very excited voice saying, "We MUST introduce this to South Africa now! It's the most amazing thing ever. You've GOT to try it!"

A few months later, I was back in SA and on the streets of Pretoria handing out 100's of black & white A5 posters to passers-by. Inviting them to attend the first "official" pksa jam at the Union Buildings, and telling them all about Parkour.

The first PKSA website, as shocking as it was, I created with MS Frontpage and edited txt files using a Black background and White text schema. What a dreadful colour choice that was! Then it went through a Grey background and Black text, which was only marginally better. Later on Neil created the latest format of the website in a complex php design and it's stood the test of time. (We've had compliments from the parkour communities all over the world, and remain one of the few websites to have lasted since the initial international boom in 2003. Many of the other sites were created on free websites and died a slow death.)

Skip ahead 7 bumpy years (I went back to the UK for another 4 years and only arrived back in SA in 2008/9 to continue on the PKSA structure), and we now have well over 2000 people on the database and plenty more visiting our website on a monthly basis. Plus we have a regular international audience, with over 50 countries worldwide viewing our site and interacting on our forums.

Monthly training sessions (We call them "Gatherings"), just in Johannesburg alone, can attract well over 50 people at a time. Not to mention Durban, Cape Town and a few of the newer cities to attract followers such as Port Elizabeth, East London, Grahamstown, Stellenbosch, Bloemfontein, Potchefstroom ... to name a few.

I've even had a few emails from people up in the Limpopo province asking for advice on training.

Recently we've seen the neighbouring countries tag along for the ride, with Namibia being the most active and guys in Zimbabwe and Mozambique as well.

So here's to PKSA, and it's new transition about to happen in the next year. May it last for many more years!

Cheers!

Parkour - Breaking in new jumps

(Not a "new jump", just one I like. Taken at "Planet Fitness", Wits)

You know how it is, you've watched a video or saw a picture of someone trying out "this amazing jump" that you just HAVE to try yourself. You get there, do the jump, and either A) feel amazing and walk away, or B) wonder what all the fuss was about and say "It wasn't THAT difficult".

But what you probably haven't considered, is what it took for that first person to break in the new jump. Now I'm not talking about "inventing" a new movement or "trick", and I'm also not taking ANYTHING away from nailing a jump that someone else might have already done. No, not at all! Those all carry their own feelings of elation and accomplishment. I'm also not referring to the "easy" jumps that you know very well you can do or which don't involve any risks if you fail.

What I mean is when you find a new jump that nobody else has yet done, or that you are aware of. One that perhaps puts a lump in your throat, a slight hesitation in your step, and sets your heart racing.... then, for some reason, you go for it!

I've been fortunate to have opened up a few jumps over the years and I can say how much more of a rush I get with those than by simply copying someone else's. Regardless of how tough they might have been. For me it's the build up, execution, and if all goes well, the celebration when landing the new jump which I absolutely love.

What makes me go for it? Well, there are a few physical things I like to do in the lead up just before the "YES!" moment on any jump, and many of these happen quite quickly and naturally the more jumps you do.

• Guess/Check the distance, if possible
• Check the landing surface, if possible (is it stable, slippery, how will you land)
• Check the run-up (stable surface, any cross winds, slippery stones/gravel/water)
• Check shoes (the soles for grip, laces tucked away, the right shoes for this jump)
• Check injuries, if any (fatigued muscles, recovering sprains/breaks)
• Acknowledge main risks, and work on minimising them in a worst case scenario

Then it's time to focus and cut out the distractions. Sounds, people, doubts, cameras ... and any others your senses might pick up.

Now that your mind is a bit quieter, ask yourself why you want to do this jump. Especially if there are risks involved. (I'll discuss this in detail in another blog topic one day)

All these lead up towards building my confidence. Which is where the next phase kicks in, and in many ways, the most important one when going for that new jump.

Next, I need to believe I can do it and remove the final excuses. This can come from a number of various methods and usually involves some form of visualisation. Something which I've recently been working on a bit more with a friend who's in Sports Psychology. Simply getting friends to count, "3,2,1, go!" is not my idea of good preparation for a jump which involves potentially very hazardous risks.

Now, you're at a point where you trust your gear, worked through the obstacles, believe in yourself, and ready to go .... but you've not gone yet. There's one final point.

For me, it's the "YES!" moment. The point-of-no-return, the one which tips the scales and where there are no more mental or physical obstacles leading up to it. The one word you'll hear me say under my breath as I take that first step mere moments after answering a few questions... 

Can I do this? Will I land it? Will it be my best effort?

"Yes!"

Come rain or shine!

Last night's training marks 3 weeks since the group first started Hell Night at the Westcliff Stairs (aka Westcliff-hell-stairs-of-doom) for Urbanathlon 2010.

Our training continues up to 6 times a week in various locations and consists of various strength, cardio, speed and agility exercises working the entire body. The team is working well together, and each person gets a chance to add new exercises as we progress.

With the rains arriving last night (and the outside temperature still holding firm at a warm 20 degrees Celsius) we motored onwards, albeit cautiously, up the stairs. Until they got too slippery for our usual course, and we had to make a few changes. (for instance, we included literal footskating down the slippery roads. New Balance (850's) + Tar Road + Rain Water = Grip Fail. I somehow don't see this exercise sticking, excuse the pun, to our regular plan. Honestly though, it was loads of fun!!!!)

This total grip failure in the wet has put a serious question mark over the use of my 850 NB's for the race.

The early morning training after hell night is always a laugh. With the body still aching in the legs, we move onto upper body and abdominal work on the Jungle Gym at Zoo Lake. These circuits today were a killer. My arms felt like lead afterwards. Awesome! :-)

Onwards and upwards! I'm looking forward to seeing how the rainy season affects our sessions as we move into summer. (as I can get the chance to test my other shoes in the wet..)

The bar has been raised!

Structured training with the group is paying off, as we saw last night during Hell Night plus again at this morning's session. (The Westcliff stairs saw one change, and that was the addition of a long cardio run to move us from the top of the stairs to the start line at the bottom. All other exercises remained the same, and I felt great afterwards. I can definitely feel an improvement in recovery times and strength.)

It's amazing how motivating yourself to begin something is one thing, but then actually going through the motions is quite another. There are many phases to getting anything done, and I feel it particularly when doing physical training where it's out of my comfort zone. Group sessions really work for me.

• You psych yourself up to the point where you are ready to make a plan and hit a goal
• Friends get involved and it's all a bit easier, as the vision (and nerves) are shared
• First training session is planned and a date is set
• You arrive excited and amped to go
• You begin strong ... 
• Then mere moments later you begin to regret your decision to even think about starting
• Your friends feel the same and the blame game begins. "Who's stupid idea was this in the first place?" (all in jest of course)
• But that thought exists only for seconds, as nobody else is giving up just yet.
• You carry on in silence for a while as each person finds a way to muster up more courage in their own way
• You pick up energy in the knowledge that you are not alone, and the talking begins again
• Finally on completion of that first dreaded full SET, which felt like death half way through, you feel energised, immortal and ready to go
• By the end, it's all a blur and you wonder how you got through all of those SETS
• But you feel great, and the smiles all around afterwards pick you up even more
• We meet again tomorrow, and the cycle begins again!

Parkour Circuits (of death!)

Yesterday's Urbanathlon training session at Wits felt very gruelling! The plan was to do interval training, but we ended mixing it up by doing a number of small intense parkour-style training circuits.

Plank x8 repetitions
It started off with a simple jog up an embankment, arm jump to a wall, shimmy along the wall, drop and roll, turn around and wall run up that same wall, climb over it's railing on the top, jump down and tag your buddy who's been waiting in the plank position all this time.

Sprint x8 repetitions
Hard sprints up the embankment, then recovery jog back down.

Crawl x16 repetitions
Cat crawl on a ledge around a pond for half way, plank crawl a quarter of the way on the ground then recovery jog the last quarter before beginning again on the ledge in cat crawl.

This was modified as we went along. The plank crawl on the ground was eating up our forearms, so we increased the recover jog for half the circuit, and included side steps, crossover steps, backward runs, etc.

The first quarter of the cat crawl up was uphill, and the second quarter was downhill, so we changed the uphill to be similar to straight back legged bear crawls.

Quadrupedal until failure
This involved crawling on all fours down 15 stairs, then crawling backwards back up the same stairs. 5 pull ups on a tree, then repeat.

One modification was to do this with a buddy. You both crawl down at the same speed, just with opposite hands to each other on the same step. the free hand (meaning the one not holding your body up off the step), now "High Fives" (more like a "Side Five"), your buddy next to you for every step. Down AND up. (This was a killer!!)

Stairs until failure (which didn't take long after the previous quadrupedal crawl)
We found some stairs which we could climb up the back of, by pulling ourselves up onto each one just with hands. Up and down 6 stairs, then tag your buddy who's been waiting in a triceps dip position.

Needless to say, my muscles are feeling it his morning. :-)

Wits University 5km Parkour Circuit

For today's Urbanathlon "cardio" circuit workout, we headed off to Wits University and created a 5km parkour run.

To even BEGIN jotting down all the exercises and events we have included will take up way too much time and space .... and you'll be bored to death just trying to read it, not to mention the lack of understanding behind what exactly the exercises are.

Suffice to say, it included locations such as the Death Beam, Bridge Pods, Man Vag Jump(Thank Rob!), Transporter-looking-machine-thingy-ma-bob, Dusty Loo, Pillar Precision, and a ton more. (Non of which are the conventional names for any of the regular spots, plus many many more new locations which we are quite excited about! Especially the progression wall run!!!)

The circuit is just under 6km, and it took us a very easy 1:45min to complete, including warm up and cool down.

A great first time, and I cannot wait to really push it through it's paces next time around.

ps, we had a few followers trying to keep up from the start, but they had to dash of pretty early and we were left with only Germano following us doing what he could, but mostly just walking around the obstacles. At least he got to complete the 5km run. Nice one!

The 10 - 1 & 1 - 10 Exercise

This is a great way to mix it up when training with a buddy.

One of you starts with 10 reps of a certain exercise, and the other with a single rep of a different exercise. (You can adjust the maximum number if you are just starting out or if you want to increase the load)

Your rest between the reps should only be as long as it takes for your buddy to finish theirs.

Then the one doing 10 now does 9, while the one doing the single rep now does 2. And so on, till you both have either gone from 10 down to 1 or from 1 up to 10 on that first exercise.

This will give you each a tally of 55 reps completed on each exercise!

You now swap over exercises and the one who just completed 10-1, will begin at 1 going up to 10, and vice versa for your buddy.


Today's morning session had the team meet up at the Zoo Lake Jungle Gym, and our exercises of choice were predominately upper body. (Due to the overload of last night's Westcliff Stairs)

However, I must add that the quadrupedal walk down that immense flight of stairs did take it's toll on my shoulders a bit.

On the menu we had:
1) Regular pull-ups
2) Horizontal/Inverted pull-ups (Lower Back, Abs, plus Upper body muscles)
3) Incline press-ups
4) Decline press-ups

We're starting to think about a team name, and should have something within the next few weeks.

Mens Health Urbanathlon 2010 - Sandton

What better way to start my blogs again after a long silence (I know, I know), than to start blogging my journey to the Mens Health Urbanathlon 2010, which is to be held in Sandton on Sunday November 28th.

Today we officially kicked off the team training sessions and upped our own regular training just a notch!

Tonight's session saw us running up and down the famous Westcliff Stairs in Parktown. All 210 stairs. And not in a rhythmic-equal-distance-bounce either. The unemployed miners who built them back in 1933/4 saw it fit to have a group of 2 here, 3 there, 4 that side, 5 this side... EXCELLENT for anyone wanting to test their fitness.

Oh, and when I say "run" ... we did a bit more than just that. It went a little something like this:

1) Long-stride bounding up the stairs to the first corner
2) 10 press-ups
3) Run up to the next long'ish flat level
4) 10 partner assisted dips on the railing
5) Explosive step-ups all the way to the top
6) Sprint to the corner
7) Lunge to the next step
8) Recovery jog over the road to the next steps
9) Precision jump to each first step until failure
10) Tuck jump between each set of stairs the rest of the way
11) Take no more than a 2-breath rest
12) Quadrupedal walk down all stairs to the road
13) Recovery jog to the next stairs (as quiet as possible)
14) Turn Vaults over the hand railing (in both directions)
15) Buddy does press-ups while waiting for you to finish, then swap
16) Continue jogging back down to the first level
17) 10 Press-ups (in the same place as we did them on the way up)
18) Jog down to the road
19) Stay in plank position till the last person arrives
20) Then hold the plank for a further minute
21) Repeat steps 1 - 21

The kilometre or so run to the stairs and back were a great warm up and cool down, then winding down with a relaxing stretch session before heading home.

Tonight was an easy run where we only did 4 sets up and down the stairs as it was our first group session, and I must say .. it's looking good!!

MOvember

Need I say more....?

I heard some friends were taking part in this thing called "movember", then I got the obligatory dare thrown in my face, and before I knew it the idea had started to grow on me (quite literally).

Each year during the month of MOvember (formerly known as November), Mo Bro's (formerly known as Men) across the globe grow taches (formerly know as a moustache) of all shapes and sizes to raise awareness for their chosen charity. (If you are feeling generous this 2008, then please donate here: www.justgiving.com/TeamMovember)

Once the tache had started taking shape I then promised myself I'd read up a little more on prostate cancer as I knew very little about it. Let's face it, in a few years I'll probably have to make that akward trip to the Docs to get checked. YOU know the visit I'm on about.... the rubber gloves, the uncomfortable silences. I mean, really. Is it too much to ask the doctors to throw in a candelit dinner and some chit-chat before they begin?

Well, as it turns out Prostate Cancer is THE most common cancer found in men now-a-days (previously it was lung cancer) and 1 man dies each hour because of it in the UK (With over 3 times as many in the USA). Interestingly Diabetics are at a lower risk due to reduced insulin levels. Thanks to continuous research and development, screening has become a lot easier, less invasive and more accurate which ultimately leads to higher chances of recovery.

There are tons of conflicting suggestions around regarding cancer prevention, with each person and their dog doing their own research. Your best bet is to follow the basic weight guidlines on Cancer Research UK's "Reduce The Risk" website.

Everyone is recommended to eat foods such as Brazil nuts, fish, meat and eggs for their Selenium content, and another reason to eat more fish is Omega-3 (Found in salmon, mackerel and tuna).

But whichever way you look at it...
...Grow your own Tache next MOvember!!

(Ok, so it won't prevent cancer but at least you'll be doing something positive by raising awareness. PLUS the added bonus of looking as ridiculous as the rest of us...)

London Rat Race 2008

Facts:
- 216 Teams (180 on the Sunday)
- 3 in each team
- 2 Members from Team Traceur (Nick and I)
- 1 Parkour Obstacle Course

Mission (Should we wish to accept it, of course):
- Ensure all teams complete the Parkour course successfully, and in one piece.

Results:
- Race Director's Report: Rat Race Website
- TV Footage Sat 22nd Nov 7.30am, Channel 4 (8:30 Channel 4 +1)
- Photos by Detail Events Ltd (unless otherwise stated)
- Photos Online at SleepMonsters
(Navigate on the left of the page for "Parkour Prologue" and "Finish Parkour")

Being the first time I'd ever been involved in this event I had no idea what to expect other than we had to set up a basic parkour course somewhere along the South Bank on Saturday and then again near City Hall on Sunday, and when the competitors turned up we had to make sure they got through the course before letting them move onto the next official checkpoint (They had over 30 in total to get through).

The only hassle was.... we had no idea when the various teams would turn up as they were allowed to complete the checkpoints in any order they wished. Which in turn meant we could be sitting quietly for hours before a mad rush ensued. Which is exactly what happened! :-D

We had great parkour routes set up, and when done properly would take the teams no more than 3 minutes to complete. It involved jumping over railings/walls, cat crawling along ledges (Although we caught many teams chickening out on this), precision jumps (more like "precision walking") across obstacles.

Most teams only managed to clamber over at best by the stage they arrived at our checkpoints as they were already quite exhausted after completing all the other checkpoints and plus all the miles of cycling they had to do inbetween.

The Saturday "Prologue" event had everyone trying their best to stick a BUFF HEADWEAR sticker, which they carried throughout the parkour course, as high as they could by popping up the side of a wall. Team Tutu held the position for the highest sticker, but were pipped right at the end by one of the last teams to come in. Unlucky guys. There's always next year. :-)

Very well done to all who completed the course especially Team Aberdeen Asset Management who were the overall team winners at the 2008 London Rat Race.

White Air Extreme Sports Festival 2008

Another year on the Isle of Wight running the Parkour "Have-a-go" workshops at the White Air Extreme Sports Festival has come to an end, but the beginning of a new era has just begun...

White Air 2008 Promo Video

For 4 years now I've been involved in the parkour workshops around Sept/Oct on the Isle and have enjoyed it very much. Young and old, guys and girls, parents, kids, RAF Falcon skydivers, St John's medical staff, mountain boarders, and the list goes on... all have tried their hands (and feet) at parkour on our pupose built obstacle courses. Each year we attract many "repeat offenders" who just can't get enough of the atmosphere and end up sticking around for the whole weekend to help out, plus not to mention the large amount of local traceurs and free runners on the isle of wight who turn up.

Each year I've grouped together new people who are keen to help set up and run the workshops and with a result we've ended up with some fun times, new friendships and random memories. (Click the image below to see some of the pictures this year)

From Isle of Wight 2008

This year was a big event in that it was officially anounced White Air is moving to Brighton from 2009 onwards. For many who came down to join us it will mark the end of an era as the Isle of Wight has always been a great excuse to make a holiday of the event and really get into the festival mood. But I guess we will soon find out what atmosphere Brighton will create once we get there. Who knows, it might even be better. It's definitively going to be bigger!!

The South African Newspaper

An article was recently written up by Liezl Maclean on my involvement with parkour in the UK and South Africa. I have just got to see the online version which I quite like.

Similar versions of the article were also placed in the Australian Times (Front Page) and New Zealand Times (Page 7).

Feel free to read it by clicking on the main image above (UPDATED 22 September 2010 with a new link on the image and HERE..

And the award goes to...

What a great way to end the season!!

From Athletics

At no point was I expecting to receive anything at the St Mary's Richmond Athletic prize giving today as I only managed to grab 2nd spot (or 3rd depending on Neil Jennings' performance at the decathlon this weekend) on the club's overall men's top performance list (Just missing out to Paul Derrien and his string of wins in hammer and discus) plus I missed out on the highest scoring individual performance (Awarded to Mervyn Glover for his excellent 1.92m High Jump), and when my name was called out you can imagine the surprise..

The trophy was for "Most Improved Male Athlete 2008", as it is my first season at the club (and back at athletics after a long break). I also picked up a medal for being part of the team who became the "Rosenheim League Western Division Winners 2008".

It was also an honour to be a part of two other teams who did very well this year, firstly the Southern Men's League (Division 3S) who were undefeated and have now been promoted to Division 2, and secondly to the small 8-man team who triumphed at the Ealing Borough Trophies competition and won the Men's Faringdon Trophy against all odds (certainly one of the most memorable events I've had to date picking up 4 personal bests in what felt like an intense never-ending cold shower from beginning to end the way the rain came pouring down.)

That puts 2008 to rest and I've not managed to improve on any of my events since I last posted them up here, but here they are for the final time to round off the season and I've included markers for what I want to aim for during next season in brackets:

400m - 59.9s (56s)
High Jump - 1.80m (1.85m)
Long Jump - 6.18m (6.30m)
Triple Jump - 12.11m (12.20m)
Pole Vault - 3.00m (3.50m)
Shot Put - 9.01m (9.20m)
Hammer Throw - 17.94m (20.00m)
Javelin Throw - 49.70m, 163rd in the UK (50.00m)

Let the winter training begin....

You've got to be fit, to be in it!

There is no doubt in my mind when King Gustav V from Sweden told Jim Thorpe: "You sir, are the World's Greatest Athlete" after he won the 1912 Stockholm Olympics Decathlon, that Jim Thorpe had started out his Decathlon journey (plus all the other individual track & field events he took part in those Olympics) in one of the healthiest and fittest forms of his life.

It's with great sadness then that I have decided not to take part in the Decathlon event this weekend, due to an ankle injury I picked up earlier the week.

The injury happened while performing a routine parkour performance in London, and although the ankle was not severely damaged or very serious, thanks to a number of factors including a very good warm-up beforehand, it was enough to cause swelling and light bruising. With these sorts of injuries I've learned that the infamous R.I.C.E. (Rest Ice Compression Elevation) plays an important role in recovery, and I managed to get all this started within minutes of the injury thanks to a handy wine cooler and a bucket of ice nearby.

The on-site nurse completed a quick check up, and I was able to get home to relax without the need for Zimmer frames, wheelchairs or the use of the local paramedic helicopter. :-)

Even though it's been 5 days since the injury and the original swelling has gone down a lot with only a small patch of bruising visible, I still do not feel I should be battering my body through the hard knocks of a 2 day decathlon course. It's very sad, but I'll be sure to reap the long-term benefits from this decision instead.

I have a number of other very interesting events coming up at the end of this month and next, such as running parkour workshops at the White Air Extreme Sports Festival on the Isle of Wight and taking contestants through the official parkour checkpoint for The London Rat Race. From the way the recovery is going so far I should be fighting fit and ready to go by then.

The Decathlon, I'm sad to say, will have to wait......... for now. ;-)

Back at Bushy

It's been a short break from the regular Bushy Park 5km time trials, but I'm back and having fun.

I started out running the time trials back in January of this year, but stopped due to getting involved with Athletics training, and then volunteered at the event a few times. With the athletics season winding down and winter on the doorstep (yeah, like we even had a summer...), I've got back to Saturday morning bliss at Bushy.

Having only run 7 times, I have managed 6 Personal Bests (The one I never got was while I paced my son on his first run)

So starting with a time of 24:41, I've dragged that down to 20:53. Not brilliant, but I'm getting there one step at a time.

My mission statement: I must start SLOWER next time! I start way too fast and then burn out by the 1.3km mark, only to let 80 people pass me between the 2km and 3km mark. Grrr.

Next weekend is the Decathlon.... Let's hope this running helps me a bit with the final 1500m event.

2008 Athletics season winding down

It's been an interesting year to say the least. This time last year I had no idea I would be picking up athletics again after a 15 year break. (15 years! How quick does time fly?). The main reason for getting back into athletics was merely for cross training to aid my parkour in long and high jumps, although I thought I would try out whatever I could seeing as I was at the track.

However, after only a few training sessions over at St Mary's Richmond AC I was already gearing up to take part in the first minor competition, The Rosenheim League (our club eventually finished 7th overall this year).

Shortly after that I started competing in the more formal Southern Men's League - Division 3s, where we finished first and were promoted to the 2nd division for 2009, Yay!.

All-in-all, it's been loads of fun and a great way to keep busy and fit outdoors and certainly improved on my vertical and horizontal jumps in parkour.

Next step is taking part in the Surrey Decathlon where I have to complete 10 events in 2 days (For more information about Decathlons then just click THIS LINK). I'm quietly confident, but at the same time nervous as it is my first time doing this and there are a few events I've never competed in before (and the final event is a gruelling 1500m!!).

Just to round up my athletic achievements so far for 2008:
High Jump 1.80m
Long Jump 6.18m
Triple Jump 12.11m
Pole Vault 3.00m
Shot Put 9.01m (7.26kg)
Javelin Throw 49.70m (800g)

I'll be looking to improve on one or two at the Decathlon before the 2008 season officially closes and I will write a brief post on that experience later.

Back from Nam. (Namibia that is!)

It's been the holiday/break of the year. I can't remember the last time I took such a long time off ... and worst of all it's been years since I've been back to the African continent.

The initial reason behind heading down to Namibia was to take part in the family tradition of hiking the Namibian Fishriver Canyon. We also had a few other stops planned along the way and eventually ending it all off at the Okonjima luxury cheetah lodge - (click the link to see the lodge)

Although I'd never done it before I really wanted to see what the 90-odd kilometer's had in store and why most of the family had done it more than once. My father-in-law would be hiking it for the 11th time around and therefor a suitable candidate as our official guide.

The places we visited were absolutely breath-taking and the images I will try source and put up on the site here will only show a glimpse of what it is like to be there. (I'm currently fighting to recover all my lost images on a 500gb external hard-drive which crashed last week)

From watching young cheetah cubs relaxing in their natural habitat only meters away from me with no man-made barrier between us, to hearing the cry of a fish-eagle before taking off in full flight ...

... from hiking through the depths of Africa's largest canyon drinking water straight from the river, to standing on top of sand-dunes in the blistering sun looking down over ancient dried-up valleys.... and then jumping off!!