Top 15 most memorable training sessions

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

1 = Undercliff path runs before they widened the path meant that when the tide came in, waves would crash against the wall and arc up in the air over the path until they came crashing down. You would run in ankle deep water anyway but trying to avoid being totally annihilated by the wave overhead by timing sprints through the arch of water overhead on thin parts of the path was exhilarating!

2 = The classic Rocky training session that all local fighters know as "Wilson ave steps" The first time i did these was with a club id only been fighting for a little while, as usual was the only female in the club, and i was young...all of which meant i had something to prove. And i did 10 continuous sprints after running up Wilson's avenue and back down with the other fighters....but it was one of those killer sessions where so much pressure was on the performance i almost lost myself i had to dig so far within!

3 = Kicking practise with Roberto the kid! Rob was a 16yr old black belt karate kid who used to help me with accurate kicking techniques. In this session nearly 10years ago practising a spinning hook kick he accidentally planted (or did i walk into?)his big toe firmly in my eye socket, leaving me with the strangest colour black eye I've ever had!

4 = A session conducted by a friend of mine training for the tough guy competition where after 40mins of non stop kettlbell circuits we ran along the stones on the beach 1mile and back through the sea at waist height fully clothed in winter at dusk in the rain with a strong rip tide. Me laughing uncontrollably and hysterically at the cold water and ridiculousness of our session.

5 = In a kickboxing class trying to get one of my most promising and diligent 16 stone Albanian participants to understand the meaning of pulling his punches by sacrificing myself in the ring!

6 = Running, or attempting to, in 98% humidity and 40 degree heat in the monsoon season Darwin. The most extraordinary feeling of drowning in a sauna whilst outside!

7 = Trail running in Kavos, Corfu at dusk alone loosing my way and getting stuck in the hills for hours where the local rumour was that the Albanian Mafia hide out after swimming across. Fear like I've never known. Legs cut to smithereens by bramble as i scrabbled in blind panic to eventual freedom!

8 = Performing a weight lifting exercise in a gym before i had any lifting experience moons ago which caused my right shoulder to dislocate. Gym staff tried to pop it back in but finally called an ambulance to take me to the Royal Sussex for gas and expert manipulation.

9 = The very first time i was running up at Hollingbury fort on a crisp sunny day and saw the panoramic view extending from Ovingdean to Worthing and out to the isle of Wight, feeling alive and strong, reminding me of my life spirit.

10 = Repeatedly cycling down King George the VI avenue, known locally as snakey hill as fast as humanly possible trying to set off the speed camera at the bottom (nope....not once, despite breaking the 30mph limit)

11 = The London marathon. New socks id bought myself for race day with extra cushioning around the heel meant my shoe fit 1mm more snugly than it had in any training session, so that by half way a liquid filled blister had formed across the whole sole of my foot making foot placement unsteady as the fluid sloshed around the blister. And by 18miles it had popped, on both feet, so that i was running on raw flesh for the last 8miles....that day i learnt a lot about grit!

12 = Without question running into the sunset "in the zone" along Brighton's seafront is one of the most amazing feelings in the world. Calm serenity, beautiful nature and the warm late summer sun gently beating down on your back as you carve out step by step the way to your soul.

13 = The day i bench pressed my own body weight for 10 reps was a day and a half! No one was there to share the moment....

14 = The winter of 2008. Evening sessions were taken up by 3 clients back to back all on long distance running programs. The seafront became my enemy as night after night id spend 3 long hours running in sleet and hail with them. When hail hits your face at an angle with ferocity it hurts. When it is combined with spray from lashing seas it becomes hellish.

15 = A sparring night at an old semi contact club in Fareham way back in the day; 4 grown men sitting on the floor wasted from sparring. Me standing in the centre of the dojo asking who was next....oh how we all laughed and laughed, the scene was just so ridiculous.

Squirrel sandwich....any takers?

Its been 2 years that Ive been on a self titled "free life diet". It translates literally and is based more around the ethics than the nutritional advantages. I have not been fastidious, but on the whole nothing more than avian (game and pigeon only), aquatic critters (non farmed) and rabbit has passed my lips in the protein department. I do not subscribe to free range poultry partly due to reading the tractor diaries as well as the conflicting information i have found on what qualifies as "free range" Neither of which lead me to believe these birds fulfill my "free life" criteria.
The obvious missing component in my diet has been the allowed foodstuff's made up by roadkill. And over these 2 years i have tried numerous times to get my head around that, the closest i got was meeting someone who told me of a roadkill dinner party group, which i was hoping to become a part of but never chased up.
Roadkill needs to be collected very soon after impact and drained of the blood that can lead to the meat becoming poisonous if left pooling and coagulating, and i have no idea how to tell whether a hit was recent enough....
Despite the missing component i have noticed that a free life diet is quite easy to stick to once the principles are assimilated, provides me with enough energy, and as a meat eater gives me enough of a sense of consciousness to rest easy at night! My concerns would be to ensure that my high volume of fish consumption doesn't concentrate mercury etc...in my body to too high a degree so i may look to monitor this in the future. And also that i find enough variation to stick to the eating pattern that id like to see me though the rest of my life.
I will of course blog the day i manage to stomach said squirrel sandwich!

Friend, therapist, lover or are you looking for a trainer?

The following is a list of what I consider important credentials when searching for or assessing your current personal trainer. It is by no means exhaustive and in no particular order....

1: Is your trainer qualified to a nationally recognised standard which meets or equates to at least a REPs level 3? And do they belong to a national umbrella type organisation to recognise this for example REPs or the NRPT (national register of personal trainers) And if so, they should hold public liability (and personal indemnity) insurance to cover them for the manner in which they are training you.

2: Before you start (ed) any physical training a good PT will sit you down and run through what can be quite a varied initial assessment but should at least include a health screen to determine any familial health issues, current personal health profile including any medication you may be taking, injuries or mobility limitations, any historical health concerns which may be relevant, your blood pressure and resting heart rate, some kind of body composition analysis, some kind of fitness test, possibly a strength and flexibility test too. You should be asked to complete a PAR-Q form and your trainer should take a note of your details including someone to contact in case of emergency.

3: If your trainer is experienced and established in the fitness community expect them to have strong links with osteopaths and physiotherapists and to know when to say "I dont know the answer to that" and use their support network. Expect them to have good healthy relations with other trainers and know that they meet or talk regularly to share training tips, coaching advice etc... and that building and sharing knowledge is the key to promoting health and fitness as cognitive training not just physical.

4: Your trainer should know that RUN (Blachington road, Hove), The JOG Shop (George st. Kemptown) and SHEACTIVE (North street, Brighton)are really the only places to purchase adequate footwear for first timers for any kind of fitness program. By all means repeat buy from another shop, but for the first time the advice and meticulous attention to detail these guys pay to your footwear selection is unsurpassable.

5: The relationship you build with your trainer is special. Sometimes it can feel like a therapy of sorts; and in fact studies prove that having someone to listen to you and bounce ideas off whilst moving your body aerobically is an extremely effective form of counselling. But be careful with this delicate balance, as although your trainer is aware of these ramifications they are ultimately providing a physical training service to you. And it needs to remain as such to maintain a working healthy effective fully functioning relationship. On the flip side you need to be aware not to balance things out too much, so if you find that your trainer has become more of a friend than a professional to you need to start considering whether it is worth revising your relationship. For the relationship to work optimally it needs to be made clear that your trainer is providing you a service, that there is no option for a cup of tea instead of a session when you are not in the mood, that you dont regularly see your trainer pissed out on the town, that your trainer doesn't regularly lament on the difficulties in their life/relationship/work etc... Your trainer should be a friendly trustworthy informative motivational coach who listens well and provides empathetic and non judgemental personal support.

6: If your trainer has competed or raced at any level in his or her sport they will have an edge over one who trains for passion alone. That edge is purely and simply a psychological experience that they are able to tap into and translate to you when building programs or helping you prepare yourself mentally for your own fitness goals. This becomes relevant predominantly when you yourself are training for a particular event, so ensure to look for a trainer who has "been there and done that" so they can help you train to gain the psychological edge for that sport which is the main advantage at "show time"

7: Make sure you pick a trainer who is interested in learning. Whether its talking or training with colleagues, going on courses, reading and writing papers, going to talks, seminars, shows, masterclasses etc... they need to keep up with the ever changing advice, methods and equipment on the market. At the moment its all about high intensity short duration blast type workouts; does your trainer know what tabata training is? how to use a kettlebell? what functional strength is all about? can they combine these things with other facets of fitness training and maintain a balance or have they got sucked into a fad?

8: A good trainer should be able to take you into the middle of a flat field with no equipment what so ever, not even a watch, and supply you with a creative fun exhaustive and inspirational session of the top off his/her head. In my opinion ;)