Remarkable New Year
Happy New Year! Its snowing like I’ve never seen it snow in Inverness before. Scotland has the best ski conditions in Europe, as demonstrated by skiing along the canal towpath this afternoon. Had to remove the Air Greenland tag from the back of my sit-ski, which is really sad because it means I haven’t sat in it since then…that’s three and a half years since the most incredible journey of my life, skiing across the Greenland icecap. Big skies, open space, pure wilderness, the kind of place that empties you, so you can stop doing and start being.
At the end, I was hooked, reluctant to return to ‘normal’ life, and was sure I’d be hard parted from the ice for long. So what happened? Work, family, commitments, daily chores, miles of biking…the kind of stuff that although important, can easily squeeze out a few vital blocks. The blocks that hold all the mortar together; the adventures that give us the space to breathe amongst all the busy-ness of the business of life, and remember that we’re a little being in a big universe.
Our ski tracks across the pristine surface of the Greenland icecap are marks I’ll never forget. Simple marks that made life feel remarkable. It is, but sometimes we get too busy to remember.
To all I know and all I don’t, Happy Adventuring in 2010, and may you find yourself feeling the remarkable-ness.
— January 01, 2010 08:09 PM
Fit for Purpose
Fit for Purpose
I spend dark winter hours like a hamster, pedaling my handbike on a turbo-trainer, occasionally strapping on a heart rate monitor to try and keep a pace. I watch something on iplayer – great that ‘Spooks’ is back - to distract myself from the boring labour of pedaling a bike when there’s no view whizzing by, no wind or rain to distract me from the pain of burning muscles.
It’s all in pursuit of this slightly mad idea of making the handcycling development squad with a view to 2012. Apparently UK Sport is eager for aspiring Paralympians, but my eagerness is falling on deaf ears at British Cycling. Maybe they just think I’m too old or no good. But strangely, just when I’m wondering how to train smarter and get stronger, I get a call from John and Christine at ‘Fit for Purpose’ , offering me some sports performance testing, nutritional advice, and coaching. Perfect timing if I’m to sustain the hamster wheel any longer.
A torturous 40 minutes on the turbo, with minute intervals to prick my fingers and squeeze blood out for testing, I now at last know more about the text book training measurements I’ve so often read about, but never known how to get. Lactate threshold, maximum heart rate, body fat percentage (yikes), peak flow measurements etc. I’ve struggled to get into these more ‘serious’, perhaps slightly geeky aspects of training, but as I’m serious about getting faster on the bike, and training smarter, then it couldn’t have been more perfectly timed.
John and Christine have years of experience but have only recently put it together to establish ‘Fit for Purpose’, Aberdeen-based and offering a personalized service for anyone who wishes to get fitter, better. I’m hooked now and have just bought some electronic scales to help me keep a food diary for the week…probably so they can tell me to eat more protein, and less chocolate biscuits. Hmmm.
Watch this space to see how it develops, as ‘Fit for Purpose’ help me get fit for 2012, whether that’s handcycling at the Paralympics, or skiing to the South Pole. They’ve offered Andy a diet analysis too, but he’s not up for it…it would be goodbye to bacon butties and mountains of chilli, chips and cheese.
— December 07, 2009 07:20 PM
Cosmo Fearless Woman Award?!
Just home from glitz and glamour of the Cosmopolitan ‘Ultimate Women of the Year’ Awards for ‘Fun Fearless Females’. What’s one of them, I wonder? Certainly there was no fear of showing legs or cleavage, and amongst the glittering celebrities, it was with some bemusement that I was privileged to receive the ‘Fearless Woman of the Year’ award. Absolutely not true – Andy has seen me quivering beneath a climb, shaking with distress at the sight of surf whilst out sea kayaking, and jumping at the scurry of a fat spider.
I’m not sure whether being viewed as fearless is an honour or a representation of my tendency to launch foolishly into potentially dangerous situations. It is certainly a humbling experience, to be gathered with a group of women doing incredible things, inventing equipment to help the world’s waterless population, humanitarian work in far and dangerous places, giving opportunities to teenagers who might otherwise go astray, fighting cancer, etc. – a room full of people doing really good and hard work, which make climbing mountains and crossing icecaps look like sheer, indulgent, adventurous idiocy (but that still won’t stop be from doing it).
Ruth Jones (‘Nessa’ in Gavin & Stacey) seemed unsure what to make of her Ultimate ‘Funny Woman’ award (quote ‘is that funny ha ha or funny strange’?). I was typically envious of the Ultimate ‘International Angel’ award…having that spiritual slant to life, I like the idea of being an angel.
The thing that connected everyone in the room is that we all do things we love doing, and have travelled the roads that those passions have led us along. We probably all think we’re just doing what we do, and feel lucky we are able to.
As I stood on the stage, I could see beside me the friends, family and strangers that over the years have helped me do more than I’d once dared to dream, and it is to all of them that I owe my experiences. If you’re reading this, you know who you are, and thank you!
Meanwhile, the Pole of Possibility plan is getting underway…watch this space for news of ‘Operation Snowball’ – our master plan for involving young people, helping them towards their aspirations, and raising £1 million at the same time.
An inbetween, cycling, writing, cycling, writing….plans for the new book, ‘Dizzy Fingers’ are getting closer (but not in time for Christmas)!
— November 15, 2009 11:14 PM
Sport mad week
Last week was a mad one for travelling and sport.
The 15th August was the London World Triathlon Championships, where bizarrely given my minimal experience of triathlon, I was asked to go and compete for Britain…apparently my one half-iron-man effort in Scotland two summers ago qualified me for an entry! It was a bit of a showcase event for Paratriathlon as a sport – that means a range of disabilities such as wheelchair users, amputees and those visually impaired - and the largest race ever held in Europe with 42 competitors from 7 countries. It was centred in Hyde Park, and involved a 300m swim in the Serpentine Lake (I tried not to swallow but failed badly), a 10km cycle (using a hand-bike) and a 3.3km run (for ‘wheelies’ that means pushing a racing wheelchair).
The event was watched by Olympic representatives looking to include Paratriahlon into 2016. Despite swallowing a lot of murky water, it was great fun & I somehow managed to win a Gold medal for the wheelchair women’s section (though there were only 2 of us!), but most fun of all was watching Andy’s kids Ella (10) and Ewen (7) getting interviewed for TV about what it was like to be there. More info at http://www.britishtriathlon.org
Then it was off to Hungary for the World Orienteering Championships. I was one of six in the British ‘Trail Orienteering’ team, that is an adaption of orienteering for anyone who can’t run through the forest: it’s not a race, more of a mental challenge reading maps and problem solving, sort of like suduko in the forest. With thirty five degrees, and two of the courses around a zoo, it was an interesting week.
I was 8th in the Paralympic class, and our team were 8th overall: it’s hard to beat the Scandinavians where orienteering is more popular than football in the UK! For more info see http://www.woc2009.hu; http://www.trailo.org and http://www.orienteering.org and follow links to Trail O. The British team are always on the look out for new recruits, and you don’t have to have a disability to take part.
Next on the whirlwind week of sport was a day in Preston with British Cycling. They’re looking for a hand-cycle development squad to work with over the next year, in the build up to 2012. The day involved physiological testing i.e. torture on a handcycle with a power meter attached, some explosive power tests, a time trial on the track and some racing around a bike circuit.
I was the weakest and the slowest (consoled by the fact I was the only female there as Rachel Morris, Beijing gold medalist is busy training for the forthcoming World Champs in Italy). Anyway we’ll find out in mid-September whether we’ve made the squad…
— August 30, 2009 10:22 AM
Paddling and hand-cranking
Any kind of adventure would have seemed great after a week in bed with swine flu - good to have some antibodies now though in case of a more vicious winter version. We chose the Caledonian Canal. There were three in a boat (Andy and his kids, Ella, 10 and Ewen, 7) and me in a sea kayak. It was four days of wind and rain, singing, cajoling, midge-biting, wet-tent antics, fearing for the safety of Andy, the kids and my wheelchair as they bobbed merrily on the rolling swell of Loch Ness. No monsters. Two-thirds of the route from Fort William to Inverness is along lochs, the waves quite bouncy at times, and only one-third on canals, where you hope the lock-keepers will let you through in the kayaks. We only got lucky once. I thought the Caledonian Canal would be a dull paddle compared to the mountains and lochs of the west coast, but its a fantastic journey, with free camping and good facilities offered by British Waterways - who market the canals as ‘your outdoor gym’. There’s a map and info about it on the Scottish Canoe Association website.
On the hand-bike front, the National Disability Cycling Championships, a colossal sixteen hours drive to sunny Kent, saw a big field of handcyclists turn up (well, big for the UK at around 20, but apparently they get hundreds in mainland Europe races). Rachel Morris, gold medallist from Beijing, and in the same category as myself (though she is a double amputee), made an appearance after months in hospital, and some intimidating competition for everyone. After a promising start, I couldn’t stay on her wheel, and she pulled away, cranking up an increasing lead to win the race. She’s either a natural or has been pumping iron in the hospital gym, or both. Well done Rachel. Next race in Warwick town centre, 6th September, then the final round of the UK paracycling series in London on the 26th.
