Tag

Glasgow 2014

All I Want For Christmas

Is not to be worse than I am right now

Christmas tis the season to be jolly and to overindulge in a festive feeding frenzy. Normally, having spent the year running and training hard, I would accept this and enjoy a few weeks not worrying about the macronutritional content of mince pies and shortbread, but this year is different.

Having put on 40lbs this year, I do not want to exceed that. Since losing all my weight in 2011, I have yo-yo’d a little, putting on a few pounds in the Winter and quickly losing it come Spring.

However, I have never before gained this much and if you have read my previous blog, you will appreciate that my greatest fear is returning to a life less active.

So, I have decided not to wait for a New Year resolution. I am resolved not to gain any more pounds (of fat).

Instead, I will use the rest of December to prepare me for the year ahead. That does not mean that I will procrastinate over plans or spend a small fortune on new training kit (ok, I might still manage the latter). Instead, it means that I will use the next few weeks to devise and implement my new training regime.

It will consist of resistance training at Pure Gym, Shawlands; yoga at Bikram Yoga Southside and my daily active commutes to and from work.

Moreover, It will all revolve around a more structured and consistently adhered to diet. Although I will be using Weight Watchers to record my progress, receive and give support and earn Vitality points, I will not follow a diet plan

I will cut down on my intake of crisps, biscuits, bread, cheese, gums and chocolate. Basically, all the things that I love.

And, when I say cut down, I mean eliminate them from my diet. I am not a fan of any diet that eliminates any type of food, but the simple truth is that I eat far too much of the above and, unfortunately, I cannot currently trust myself to moderate my consumption.

One bite is never quite enough.

I am also going to try and improve my culinary skills, as one of the reasons that I eat too many ready meals and too much toast is that I cannot ready a meal, such as a roast.

So tonight, I have taken my measurements and taken stock of the journey ahead. The next few weeks will not reverse the damage done but they will put me back on the right path.

Three years on and I still do not know how many miles I have to travel, but I do know that it is #timeforme and time to just do it!

“Last Christmas, I lost all my weight and the very next year, I gained it all back” will not be a recurring theme.

Tomorrow, I’ll post my starting measurements and update you on Day 1. As always, your support and encouragemnt is much appreciated.

December 13, 2015 5 comments

Commonwealth Games #Team14 DoMore with Strathmore Physical Activity Try-Athlete

Do More Child’s Play

written by Stephen Morrison

One of my personal trainers, Scott, asked me about my goals. He may have been expecting me to say that I wanted to be lighter, stronger and faster, but instead I told him that I wanted to be able to climb trees, swing from bars and jump over walls. I wanted to be able to play with my boys and I wanted to be more flexible and supple. This pleased him greatly and over the past few months, I’ve been hanging from bars, practising on rings and crawling on the ground

So, when my friends at Strathmore Water invited me along to their Do More event with Commonwealth Games Gymnastics superstar and Do More Ambassador Dan Keatings, I pictured Dan being overwhelmed by my grace, strength and ability on the apparatus.

What can I say? I have a vivid imagination and an overwhelming amount of self belief.

Plus, look at me on these rings!

A front lever. Who said a camera doesn’t lie?

If ever there was a blogger prepared for an event, it was me. What I wasn’t prepared for was the scene I witnessed on my arrival. For one moment, I thought I had arrived at a One Direction event, not one for Dan Keatings. For it was full of screaming and hyper children.

I have often questioned the value of using athletes to promote physical activity to the masses, but seeing how the children responded to Dan, my views have changed (a little). These children were in awe of Dan and in turn, I was in awe of them.

In the waiting area they were jumping up in down, doing cartwheels, splits and various others moves that made me wince. I shared a look of fear and bewilderment with some of the other adults present.

Ross bent over backwards for Dan

To get us warmed up, we played a version of Tig. Two youngsters and I were charged with catching every other attendee, making them stop and wait till someone crawled under their legs, before they could resume running

I felt like Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, as I ordered the ten year old on my left and the twelve year old on my right to take the flanks while I assaulted the main body. I also pictured a lion hunting gazelles. I did say I had a vivid imagination.

Ten minutes later, my pride was shattered and I was lying on my back, gasping for breath. I had forgotten how fast and light on their feet, children could be.

I had also forgotten that I had often wondered how gymnasts looked like they did. With cover model physiques and muscles upon muscles. The first training session provided an answer. I was only just recovering from chasing the kids, when we split into three groups, with my group enduring a strength sapping circuit class. The presence of Dan Keating did momentarily give me a boost.

Trio of Tricep Dippers

As I did planks, press ups, burpees and crunches, my eyes were drawn to the other two groups. One session had the kids focusing on their floor work and the other had them working on their pummel skills. Both groups showed more talent than I could ever hope to achieve and my own efforts on the apparatus were met with laughter and even some applause, as I seemed to invent new ways of landing. Most of which involved my backside.

I’d have liked to have seen them try this with me!

Throughout the morning I was amazed and impressed by the skills and attitudes of the kids present. Hidden amongst them might be future champions, but in my eyes they also represented hope. We often read about how inactive the youth of Scotland are, but here were a large group of kids who had honed some impressive skills and who genuinely loved what they were doing and who hung on every word of advice Dan gave them.

Dan holds the floor

However, despite all their hard work, there can only be one, and it was left to Dan Keatings to make the final judgement and decide upon his star pupil:

I spoke to Dan later about his success, his future goals and his training. Like Libby and Robbie before him, he is determined, dedicated and disciplined while also humble and passionate about his sport. With Glasgow hosting the Gymnastic World Championships in 2015, he has another challenging year ahead.

He too spoke about the children, about how impressive they were and how important it is to get them involved and to keep them engaged. His own training started at five years old, as he prepared to follow his family into Thai Boxing and it shows the value of being a Try Athlete at a young age. We can’t predict what sports and activities our children will enjoy, but we can try and let them Do More of them and allow them to discover new talents and their own interests.

October 2, 2014 0 comment

Commonwealth Games #Team14 Try-Athlete

Team14 & Team Scotland Commonwealfies

written by Stephen Morrison

While many in Glasgow where lining the streets or hanging from windows, I was able to celebrate the amazing success of Team Scotland at Glasgow 2014, up close and personal, with 5,000 others in Glasgow’s George Square. We cheered, we roared and we laughed as we shared their glories and their stories, told amiably and proudly by siblings, by parents and by the stars, themselves.

And afterwards, I was able to add to my collection of wealfies:

Being a member of Glasgow 2014’s Team 14 has been a wonderful experience and the photos, new friendships and memories have made this a wonderful summer. I look forward to seeing what lies in store and what the Legacy of the Games will bring.

August 17, 2014 0 comment

Commonwealth Games #Team14

Team 14’s Try Athlete

written by Stephen Morrison

We have all heard the argument. We have all seen the meme: “Running vs Lifting”. It’s usually accompanied with a picture of a pale, skinny and exhausted long distance runner in one corner, with a bronzed, chiselled and statuesque Adonis (no, not me) in the other.

It takes great delight in tearing apart the sport runners love while glorifying an activity that probably too few of us do.

It portrays runners as weak, feeble and ignorant of just how damaging running is (even though research shows that running can be a great treatment for arthritis). And it assumes that runners and lifters are two separate species.

That because we run, we don’t lift.

And, I am afraid to admit that used to be the case for me. I had spent so long on a calorie restricted diet and only doing cardio that I worried that doing resistance training would require more food and result in more weight gain. Furthermore, the gym wasn’t a place I wanted to be. Full of athletic, strong and attractive people who would look at my rather plump backside and run me out of the place. So I went outside and ran. And I quickly realised that I enjoyed it and that my weight loss continued.

Sure, I did the odd class of Pilates and Yoga to improve my core and increase my flexibility, but lift weights? Nah!

However, as I researched the events of Glasgow 2014, for Team14, I came across an advertisement for the weightlifting and my primal urge to lift something heavy took over and I decided that I’d be a jerk if I did not at least find out more. So I turned to Scott Devenney, of SD Movement, who had coached me back from my recent running injury and who had studied under John Hardy of Faster Function.

I turned up expecting to snatch up some barbells and power my way though some lifts. However, Scott had different ideas. Before unleashing me on heavy weights, he wanted to assess my technique and pulled out his IPad!

There’s not a squat right here

Scott identified that both the bar and my knees were too far forward, which would impede me when lifting heavy loads and that I leaned too much to the right (so had to resist a pun). So, we didn’t hang around to correct my technique…Well, actually we did. I have t-shirt muscles. My biceps are developed, but my shoulders are weak, so I needed to toughen up. I needed to hang tough.

Hang Tough

After hanging around and pulling myself up, without using my arms, for a bit, I worked on uncoupling my back. I focused on moving my upper, middle and lower back in isolation, which was harder than I thought and before long, I felt ready to have another attempt at passing the bar test.

A clean approach

With homework (hanging in swing parks), I will continue to strengthen my shoulders and improve my range of motion. Maybe then, Scott will let me actually try some Commonwealth weightlifting . Until then, I will just need to take some inspiration from watching the stars at Glasgow 2014. Tickets for the weightlifting are available from glasgow2014

After this session, I have decided not to make a choice between running and lifting.

Why can’t I do both of them? I’ll become a try athlete and continue to sample and enjoy all sports and become stronger and faster.

And for all of the runners that cross train, what enables you to show a clean pair of heels in your races?

July 9, 2014 0 comment

Commonwealth Games #Team14 Cycling Triathlon Try-Athlete

Get On Your Bike For Team14

written by Stephen Morrison

It’s Bike Week and as a member of Team14 and as an Active Travel Champion and spokesman (I do like a pun) for both Sustrans and Paths For All, I thought I’d take a break from running (albeit for only 24 hours) and wheel out my bike and my thoughts..

My decision to get back in the saddle was partly inspired by a recent trip to Copenhagen, where I ran a marathon (there are possibly Amazon tribes who still haven’t heard this). Not only do the Danes love running (1 in 3 run), but everywhere you look, people are going to work, school and even to evening parties on bikes.

It’s not surprising then that Copenhagen is probably the happiest and best place to live in the world.

So while some people are complaining about lane and road closures in Glasgow during the Commonwealth Games, I am excited that this will be an Active Games. I make no secret that walking and then running to and from work were instrumental in transforming my life. I also discovered, to my surprise, that I didn’t melt in the rain. If we can continue improving our routes to the Games venues, we can encourage more to get to them by foot and bike. The challenge then will be to continue this progress and build on the great work by organisations such as the Bike Station who today, in partnership with Glasgow City Council, launched their Nextbike Hire Scheme. For the next three years residents and visitors to Glasgow can hire bikes, a la Boris style, to get about our wonderful city.

Bike Station were also present at the Pollok Park Cycle Fair on Saturday, 14th June, and in addition to getting my bike security stamped by the Police, I took the opportunity to sample some other forms of cycling. They say two heads are better than one and surely four legs peddling is even better, but sitting behind, with no control felt just a little uneasy, even though I was in capable hands. Rather than cycling in tandem, I felt like a spare part, simply responding (usually belatedly) to instructions from my main steer.

I needed to feel in control. So, launching myself and my bike off a ramp and onto a huge airbag made perfect sense. Even the warning sign and the attendant’s admission that yes, I could get hurt, only made me want to do it more. As I’ve grown fitter and stronger, I’ve also seemingly become invincible. I had the Men’s 10K the following day, but what could go wrong? After a few minutes warming up I was adjudged to be confident and competent enough on the special stunt bikes to tackle the ramp. I readied myself and powered my way towards new heights of awesomeness.

I’d like to report that I flew into the air, with birds scrambling out of my way, but in reality, I was reliable informed, I simply flopped over the side, with the now evident bruising (and earlier swelling) on my knees paying testimony to my ungainly landing. Unlike young Gregor Robb, from Hamilton, who seemed to hang in the air for an eternity before landing perfectly. My evaluation of my lack of elevation was simply that I was too big and heavy. Gravity does not lie. However, I was not to be beaten and buoyed by my new stunt rider status, I decided to test my cycling skills further. For in Pollok Park, where I spent much of my childhood, there is a new reason for me to head into the woods.

The Glasgow Mountain Bike Centre has arguably been eclipsed by the Commonwealth Games site at Cathkin Braes, but for a newbie like me, it was an ideal location to get started. With Alpine Bikes on hand with a truly amazing full suspension bike and some tips, I convinced myself that I would be able to safely navigate the Blue Circuit which is:

“a first step into steep terrain, varied surfaces and a chance to get your wheels off the ground.The Blue route requires skill and concentration to get the best out of yourself and your bike.”

And yes, my wheels DID leave the ground. I narrowly avoided several trees and my heart was racing, not only from the the exertion of climbing the inclines, but from the exhilaration of the descents. It was brilliant fun and I can now understand why several of my friends regularly go mountain biking.

Bike Week lasts from 14th-22nd June with activities across the country, from organised group bike rides to bike surgeries, where you can give your bike some much needed tlc.

June 16, 2014 3 comments

Commonwealth Games #Team14 Try-Athlete

Game On #Team14

written by Stephen Morrison

When I first started this blog I never knew where it would lead me. I’ve become a Lay Adviser and blogger for the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine and I now blog about all things running for Great Run. I get to provide regular content on physical activity for my pals at SpogoUK while I am also looking forward to supporting the British Obesity Society and the great new magazine Man V Fat. And I am finally a MARATHON RUNNER, having completed my first 26.2 miles (I lost count of how often I asked myself how many miles I had left) in Copenhagen I love guest blogging, but it’s time to resurrect “How Many Miles?”. It’s time to come home from my busman’s holiday. Home, for me, is Glasgow and this summer Glasgow will be home to athletes, officials and spectators from across the world as it hosts the 2014 Commonweath Games. As I’ve transformed, I’ve also watched my home city transform. Like my own journey, there have been hiccups. We’ve both had to knock down barriers and, at times, we both have had our detractors. There have been mistakes, but neither myself nor Glasgow have given up and come this summer we will both be looking better than ever. Like Glasgow, I have benefited from the tremendous support of those around me. The success of Glasgow 2014 will be dependent on its amazing army of volunteers as much as on the sporting prowess of its participants. I missed the deadline for Frontrunners last year and felt others were more deserving when I was nominated as a Baton Bearer. However, in March, there came along an opportunity to play my role at Glasgow 2014 and I am delighted to announce that I’ll be regularly bringing updates and adding my perspective (for what it’s worth) on the Games. For I have been invited to join #Team14. Glasgow 2014’s fourteen strong team of bloggers, each reporting on various categories linked to Glasgow and the Games. www.adventuresaroundscotland.com will be posting about Glasgow/Scotland and Events while others like www.longstraightwalk.co.uk , http://glasgowdaybyday.com/ , http://www.glasgowmummy.blogspot.co.uk/ , http://www.eclecticcake.blogspot.co.uk/ , http://spoldham.blogspot.co.uk/ and www.paulamusttryharder.co.uk will be covering categories including the Baton Relay, News, Lifestyle and Photography. I’ll be covering Sports and Events with updates here and on Twitter at @howmanymiles_ Look out for #Team14 on all of our posts and I hope you will follow and enjoy my/our ramblings

June 7, 2014 0 comment