I arrived back in the UK on bank holiday Monday at 6:30 (with a 5:30 wake up call giving me plenty of time to take full of advantage of the all you can eat breakfast) and had to try very hard not to drive straight up to Weir Wood and go sailing again! However I decided it was more useful to go to the gym and do some stretching work to try and remove the muscle spasm which built up after a hard week’s racing.
Tuesday started with pilates and then I did an interview with Southern counties radio. I was glad the wind was light or there would have been a real danger of me losing the interviewer, Katherine, off the front of my Laser. In the evening I did some light aerobic work and another marathon stretching session. I have decided it is wise to stay off the heavy weights until my neck has properly relaxed again. I then drove up to visit an old University friend, Paul Hyde and his wife Tab for a curry and a catch up. Unfortunately I missed their wedding due to my operation, so it was the first time I had seen Paul since his stag do.
Wednesday morning and I travelled up to Grafham to do some one to one coaching (I have got to pay for these trips away somehow) and then hot footed it to Wembley sailing club in time for their evening race! Fortunately I won comfortably, otherwise they may have decided that they did not want me to coach them!
Thursday and Friday I coached at Wembley with Ed Sibson. On the first day we worked on boat handling and then we ran a team racing competition. On the second day which was hard work but a lot of fun, we just managed to get all the races done before the wind completely disappeared. In the evening I managed to meet up with another old Uni friend, Ian Drew. It is really hard work to keep in contact with old friends but absolutely worth it. Funny how in many ways not much has changed since I was at Loughborough University!
The weekend saw me doing a couple of opens, first at Oxford then at Lancing sailing club, both really friendly clubs, although through no fault of their own there was little wind. However I did manage to win all the races (3 at Oxford and 4 at Lancing) which has been a real confidence boost.
On Monday I finally made it back to Weymouth (to do some more one to one coaching) and make my final preparations. I now have a few physio sessions (and quite a few evenings of ice) to get me in the best possible shape for my next trip away… I think I had better start packing!
