Ready for a kip
Been up since four-ish to do an airport run. Decided to pop into Greens on the way back and enjoyed a thoroughly good lengthy non-clock-watching session in the resistance room (back and chest), followed by a lazy few minutes in the steam room and a second breakfast - yippee. Now 2pm and feels like nine. Could do with a kip but that ain't gonna get the cricket scoreboard done, is it? And now my colleague's just said he could murder a pint - that's of beer if you were wondering... Drink and work don't mix (especially on a warm day like today), and drink and tiredness don't mix either. Even the thought of it is starting to make my mind wander (as you're probably very well aware if you're reading this). Plan of action: brisk walk in the sun followed by a minor rule break (a mid-afternoon coffee! Boy, do I know how to live...)
Published Date:
24/06/2009
Modified Date:
24/06/2009
Tag texts
Scroll back a few postings and you'll see mention of an offer to play tag rugby on a week-day morning before work, made by an old chum of mine who I bumped into at Greens. En route to that particular posting you'll also notice that 'early-morning' sessions at Greens aren't unusual for me but I've discovered there's quite a difference between my 'early' and the tag team's 'early'. My version is to get to Greens any time between 7am and 8am and cram in a 30-45 minute 'super set' weights session with a hint of cardio thrown in (time permitting). The tag-team members, I've discovered since joining the Greens tag rugby text set, are out on the pitch at 6.45am, play a good hour or so and then it's down to Greens for a wash and brush up before work (it wouldn't surprise me if they also manage to throw a few weights about as well!). I take my hat off to them, but can't see me throwing mine into the ring at the moment. I'm up and about in plenty of time to make it, but there's simply too much happening at breakfast time in my house and it all runs to precision timing otherwise none of us would get to work/school on time...but might be more scope during the schools' summer break.
Published Date:
10/06/2009
Modified Date:
10/06/2009
BIG breakfast
Y'know when you wake up early on a Sunday morning and think 'I should be having a lie-in' but can't get back to sleep, well that's what happened to me and my good lady. So, with the older teenager in charge at home, we hot-footed it to Greens together - something we've always planned to do but never really got round to it. And it was ace. Even the drive in was a treat - quiet roads and no vocal interruptions. And while we have different routines we could chat in between. But here's the best bit - a full English breakfast afterwards. No guilt after an hour-and-a-half in the gym finished off with a stint in the steam room, and time to catch up on each other's hectic lives over a cuppa and a sausage! Only one slight worry, so enthused by the morning was my better half that she suggested going to a spinning class - now that really is something to ponder over a mouthful of fried-egg-yolk-drenched toast...
Published Date:
19/05/2009
Modified Date:
19/05/2009
Spring greens
Had a great gym-based week a couple of weeks ago - got to Greens before work virtually every working day of the week. Then it all went belly up because of the Easter holiday. Felt really guilty about missing the gym sessions at first but, thinking about it, like work, I was probably ready for a break from it. Sometimes you need to take a step back, re-think or simply re-charge. I had plenty to do - spring's a busy time on the plot and we've already benefited from a couple of early-year harvests including spring greens and salad crops. In fact, it's all been pretty encouraging - you stick a seed in the ground, cover it, water it and hey presto it grows, you pick it, you eat it. All right, so there's a bit more to it than that, but that's the gist of it. 15-year-old son T spent an afternoon up there with me and that was great. And a wander around Scarborough and a 20-mile family hike along a section of the Dale's Way from Ilkley in midweek ensured I got my exercise fix.
Published Date:
27/04/2009
Modified Date:
27/04/2009
Leon Walker
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In June last year I wrote in this column about the tragic loss of David Topliss - the former Wakefield Trinity coach and GB, Wakefield and Hull stand-off who died suddenly at the age of 58 following a heart attack during a five-a-side football match. Fast forward to October and 2008 Wildcats player and former Cook Island international Adam Watene collapsed and died during an out-of-season gym session, aged just 31. I don't recall writing anything about Adam in my blog; I don't feel I knew him well enough and everything that should have been said in tribute was being done in print and online by people far more qualified to do so than me. Five months on, and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are mourning another tragic death - that of 20-year-old Leon Walker, who collapsed during a Reserve team game in Wales on Sunday, March 22, 2009 (Mothers Day). My heart-felt condolences go out to his family and friends. In the months between the last two tragic events, as well as the deaths of former players from the post war era and 1960s, current prop Richard Moore was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, while half-back Jamie Rooney had to be resuscitated when his heart stopped for 30 seconds or so during a routine knee operation. Like everyone else on the outside, I keep asking how so much ill-fortune can befall one rugby league club in such a relatively short space of time? I'm sure (as everyone who has suffered a bereavement will confirm) that the family and club will be asking 'why us?' Unfortunately, neither question may ever be answered fully and everyone associated with the Walker family and club will deal with the loss in their own way with the help of bereavement counselling, if they wish to take it up, that has been offered by the Rugby Football League. One other question that is raised by the three sudden deaths - Adam's and Leon's in particular - is: does the sport of rugby league ask too much of its players? As a reasonably health-conscious gym user I'm aware of the difference between being healthily fit and athletically fit. But the more I see of modern-era rugby league players the more I'm becoming aware that there's a world of difference between being athletically fit and being 'rugby league fit'. The amount of effort required to attain and maintain such peak levels of fitness and physical stature required for the modern game is phenomenal and is bound to be a strain on the human body - it just didn't evolve to be like that. I'm not suggesting there is anything untoward in terms of training and nutrition. I'm just asking, is it right to ask rugby league players to potentially put their lives on the line for the team's success and for our entertainment? As a former rugby player and all-round sports fan, I'd have to say 'yes' provided the risks are reduced as much as humanly possible, and on the whole I think they are in rugby league. Every rugby player knows the risk when he steps over that white line, and every boxer when he ducks through the ropes and every F1 driver when he hits that 'start' button. The question could be turned around to ask: is it right to stop someone participating at the highest possible level in the sport they love, in fact, the thing they live for even if it cuts a life short? I know my answer, and I'm reasonably confident of knowing how Adam and Leon would have answered. |
Published Date:
24/03/2009
Modified Date:
24/03/2009
Supporting a work-mate
Words of encouragement for Express colleague Emma please by clicking on the link
http://www.blogstoday.co.uk/bloghome.aspx?username=bulge%20battler It seems to me, after a couple of years on the healthy(ish)/fitness kick, that to be wholeheartedly committed to the lifestyle one has to be incredibly selfish. I'm nowhere near selfless but as previous postings confirm, I do have enough other interests/commitments not to become a 24/7 fitness junkie. Emma's one of the least selfish people you could wish to meet so I applaud what she's set out to achieve - and the way she's going about it, so she shouldn't get hung up about missing the odd session. My advice: don't let the gym become a chore - a must-do task like homework that you'll do anything else to avoid (in my case washing the car or mowing the lawn). Keep the food intake right (but don't be a slave to it), introduce some brisk walks during your lunch break (or even Emma/Stew time - there are some great country walks around Wakey) when you know you're not going to make it to the gym, and look forward to and appreciate afterwards the bits you can do. Never forget, there's a big difference between being healthily fit, which is what most of us aspire to be, and athletically fit. Keep it up; you're looking good, and above all enjoy yourself.
Published Date:
04/03/2009
Modified Date:
04/03/2009
'green time'
Made a conscious decision to change Greens routine. Managed to get in three back-to-back sessions recently. Tweaked the sets - different weights (upped weight reduced reps, reduced weight upped reps) - tackled different machines in conjunction with loose weights, and sneaked in a bit more cardio' (with half-an-eye on that tag rugby offer!) Result: a fair bit of stiffness but no soreness if that makes sense. True-to-form though, other stuff impinged on my Greens time, some of it 'green time' ie sowing seeds and digging.
Published Date:
02/03/2009
Modified Date:
02/03/2009
Snow go for Mr Shifter
It’s been ‘snow go’ at Greens for me over the last week or so. Days were earmarked, sessions were planned - then it snowed. Then, when the snow cleared the next stretch of days were taken up with furniture removals/deliveries (burnt off a few calories there, I can tell you) then decorating - oh, joy!
Published Date:
11/02/2009
Modified Date:
11/02/2009