Apology

Many of you may have noticed that I've not been out many sundays recently. This is down to a number of reasons. Firstly, I have no shoes in a decent enough condition to train for a long while. But that's being rectified soon, as Sean is selling me some Kalenji's the same as his.

The other reason is Lauren. Yes, I place doing my girlfriend above doing parkour. That should give you some idea of how much she means to me. And to be honest, I'm given the choice between snuggling up with her on these cold winter days, watching the time pass and being generally comfortable, or being out in the freezing cold, training very lightly because of my lack of decent shoes. It's a bit of a no-brainer. By no means does this mean that I'm quitting parkour. It's just the current situations don't lend themselves to me training on sundays much. As a result, I often train in the week. So anyone wanting to come out, just give me a Belle and I'll be out. This situation also potentially outlines the need for somewhere warm and dry to train when training outside simply isn't feasible. I know I probably sound like a pussy for saying this but whatever.

So yeah, mid-week training, I'm game for. Training on a sunday, sometimes but not all the time. In fact, it'll probably slip into a system whereby I come out every 2 sundays.

Injury [oh lawd! THE PAAAAAIN!] & the winter weather

So I was out training on Thursday, with Flipp. We'd been driving around a number of locations, checking them out (Turns out training in Mountsorrel isn't very good. As well as few spots, it's packed with chavs. Getting yelled at whilst training isn't cool. Fuckers deserve to be shot.). We'd just arrived at Whitwick, and (ironically) parked at the local NHS Clinic. Walking along a wall, to look for places to train, I tried to drop to a catpass to run infront of Flipp (who was slightly ahead of me). Sadly, I didn't interpret just how slippy the wall was. Enter me falling full body weight onto the side of my right leg, and my left knee, on this bloody freezing cold, solid brick wall. Needless to say, I was overcome by pain and started moaning like the little girl I am. Then went into mild shock for the lulz.

So because of that, I was out of training for like... a day. The injury's fully healed now, and it wasn't really that bad. I just needed something to type about. However, I was very lucky. This is testament to the unwritten rule that you should NEVER drop your concentration when doing parkour for even a SECOND. That second is the second you misplace your foot, lean too far over, or all-out have a mind fart and die. This is a very important thing to remember, especially during this cold, frigid season. Which very nicely draws me on to my next subject, the winter.

No doubt many people, when winter approaches, start to get slightly depressed, parkour-wise. The days are getting shorter, the weather wet and icier. Those 10ft precisions onto rails will have to wait another 2 months. Everything gets a whole lot slippier, and if you fall, the environment's a whole lot less forgiving.

But instead of viewing this season as one which limits your abilities, instead see it as time to work on stuff you didn't have time to do in the summer. You can rest for longer, allowing your body to recoup and you to be top of your game more often. Work on simple balancing. Go out sprinting to improve your speed. Just work the very basics, to lay the foundation for the coming summer months. Instead of letting winter hinder your training, let it compliment your training. Also, with nights coming earlier, it allow for some goddamn EPIC stealth training. If you can brave the cold, it's well worth it.

Talking about the cold, it's totally worth going out and training in as cold and nasty conditions as you can. Strong mind, strong body. And your strong mind's telling you to dive into that freezing cold lake and act like a marine.

Boxing Day jam:
As with every year, this year will see the great event of the boxing-day jam. We all meet up in queens park, dressed as festively as possible. Prizes for the best costume (that you can actually train in, so no christmas puddings) ;)
S'all for now, train hard and be safe.