Happy Hogmanay! 204 days to go.

As usual, apologies for the delay in keeping the blog up to date. Poor chat from me I know. Must do better...

First off, I wanted to say a thank you to everyone who took time to read my post last month about Andy, I was pretty humbled to get some of the messages and hear from a lot of people I have lost touch with over the years. It was nice to hear from you all, we should try to stay in touch a bit more often.

To start this post... It would be rude to not to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hogmanay!

I am on Christmas break for a couple of weeks and pleased to report that  I've managed to dominate the traditional Christmas "Tripoley" (card game consisting of poker and Michigan rummy) stakes at the Wallace residence in Pittenweem and the Lawrenson residence in Aberdeen, so i'm pretty chuffed with all that much to the annoyance of my wife. It has been nice to catch up with everyone, I have been so busy over the last couple of months it's been hard to see family as much as I would have liked so its great to spend a bit of time off the grid. I'm sure everyone finds that. 

Whether i'm at home or work I get asked the recurring question - I guess that's because people know that i've taken up wrestling and am trying to earn myself a spot at Glasgow 2014. The question, has moved on from "what is your entrance music going to be? or What is your finishing move?" it's much more general and is as you would expect "How is the Wrestling going?" I have almost developed a standard answer to this and that is - "yeah, it's going good thanks." I normally say that without even thinking about it, so after having a bit of time to reflect I found myself thinking is the wrestling going well? I questioned myself about it after bumping into my neighbour on the train and he said, "Still positive about it all?" 

That is a really good question - I think with hindsight and a bit of time to reflect you get a much better picture of where you are mentally and more importantly where you were. I know for a fact that mentally I have been drained and that has has an impact of my physical ability to train. To answer the question truthfully, the answer has to be, yes, I'm confident that my wrestling skills are getting better and i'm a lot more savvy on the mat and know what I'm doing. I had a couple of great wrestling sessions over the last couple of weeks which Steve which have honed in on my strength in attack and helped me with a bit of strategy which is always good. My physical fitness - it's ok, i've not hit the gym as much over the last two months, in part down to time constraints and in part down to niggly injuries but they are really just excuses. I kind of hit a bit of a rut after my injury back in June and i do still have a bit of pain ever now and again. I probably could have trained harder in the gym and I need to, I am going back to it hard in 2014. Sometimes you need a bit of motivation and I found mine. There are only 204 day to Glasgow 2014

www.scottishstudentsport.com

I had a nice surprise - I was asked to close the Scottish Student Sport Christmas Seminar a couple of weeks ago and had a do a presentation and talk about what I was doing and a bit about my wrestling journey. That gave me a bit of perspective, it really has been a bit of a mental journey and I have met some great people along the way and I've found out who my friends are and aren't. I looked back at the journey as a whole and one of the things that came out of my talk was that i've been wrestling now for 16 months, that is nothing in the grand scheme of things. If I mange to qualify in February it will be nothing short of good fortune. Not wanting to do myself a discredit but I am realistic. I've been hammered by people who think that I took up the sport as a quick and easy way to get to the commonwealth games. None of whom who have taken time to get on the mat and actually try it. Just because there isn't any other 120kg (from January 125kg) guys doesn't mean that its a shoe in by any stretch of the imagination. If there is one thing I've learnt so far from this experience it that wrestlers put in a phenomenal amount of work, it's a different lifestyle, you have to be adaptable to your training and you have to put in the hard yards at to make sure you progress but even more so than that, if you get the chance to represent your country, you have to earn it. My two closing notes at the seminar we Never Give Up and Don't be afraid to try something new, you never know what doors will open up for you and that is certainly true to what i've found.

My progress into wrestling has been good, for someone who had never even thought about the sport, i've done all right and more importantly i've enjoyed it and love doing it. I'm reading a book at the moment called "No Helmets Required" by Gavin Willacy. Gav is a really good bloke, passionate about what he does as a sports journalist and Author, I met Gav about 10 years ago now on a Rugby League tour. The book he has written is about an American footballer called Mike Dimitro, who in the 50's who set up the American All Stars to tour Australia, the guy was a complete cowboy but there was a passage in the book where Gavin articulated how I felt a couple of years ago. After Football Mike Dimitro needed that challenge, needed the ability to stiff arm someone and legitimately and legally smash them on the field of play. I know how that feels and that's exactly how I felt when I hung up my rugby boots.

Although my introduction 10 months ago into Wrestling Competition was a brutal one, these days it has taken me past the point where Coach Cavanagh is happy to wrestle me if he can help it, you see, Vio the Scottish Assistant Coach did a head snapping session last time I was through in Glasgow and it did wonders for me, last time I wrestled Michael he said afterwards it was like getting clubbed by a bear which of course made me chuckle. 

Michael was kind enough to speak to Sportscotland's Young Person's Sports Panel who were doing a video on commonwealth sports. I know Chris Sellar who is on the panel and he asked if he could get some footage. They did a fantastic job of the video which is below if you want to take a look alternatively click here , Chris Sellar did a great piece and I hope the sport comes across well and it comes across that we are realistic about what can be achieved and if I don't make it to Glasgow 2014. Michael is quite right, I've an outside chance of qualifying but it's still a chance. There is no shame, although it would be nice to show some people, its not about that, i'm doing this for me. If I don't make it, I will reassess, keep fit and try for 2018 games in the Gold Coast. 

My qualification date has changed to 23 February (scuppers my 30th plans). For me that is D -Day and I'm nervously excited for it. January is going to herald a month of Wrestling for me, I'm planning to make every session I can and am going to work my arse off in the gym in the run up just to build fitness going into that competition. On the day, I reckon I have an outside chance of qualifying, it depends who turns up and what my side of of the draw looks like, but I will give it everything I've got and hopefully I will be able to come away with a couple of wins and a podium finish, which will see me meet the games qualification criteria! It will be a bit surreal.

Away from the mat, I've actually been trying to get more involved in the sport and i'm delighted to say that after my volunteering interview back in August, I've been offered a "field of play" volunteering post for Glasgow 2014, so if I miss the qualification target I will be there with the best seat in the house! I had a pretty awesome week in the fact that I got an email from Glasgow 2014 about the volunteering, had something through about the Queens Baton Relay and I got accepted to the University of Aberdeen for a MSc Project Management (distance learning). That means if I qualify, I will technically be a student again, provisionally for the next three years which will take me to a decade of studentship! Van Wilder eat your heart out. Not bad for a kid who left Waid Academy with one Higher C in English but that's a story for another day.

I also went along to the Scottish Wrestling Association AGM last month as well, and they put out the plea for volunteers to get involved. Given that I work in Sports Development I thought it would be poor show not to offer my services and experience to the sport. So hopefully will be co-opted onto the board in the new year and can get to work helping to develop the Scottish Governing Body. 

That pretty much sums up my thoughts to date. 2013 has been a good year, it's been tough but I think it's only fair that I say a heart felt thank you to a few people who have had a massive influence in my life and without them I wouldn't be in the privileged position I am in. So... thanks to my coaches - Michael, Steven, Vlad and Vio. Alex for all the work he has put in on the S&C side. My friends who have been helping me out along the way and  last but most importantly, my family - who never complain about the time away from home, the late nights and the countless journeys around the country. Finally, thanks to those that read this blog, its nice to hear that sometimes people take a bit of inspiration from this little tale of mine.


Happy Hogmanay: All the Best for 2014 - it's going to be a hell of year!

@shocksjr

Start the Countdown - Glasgow 2014 #1YTG

There is only 1 year to go until XX Commonwealth Games - Glasgow 2014

Last week there was officially only one year to go until the start of the XX Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. To me that meant two things... The first being excitement. It's an exciting prospect getting to the games and potentially competing for your country in the second biggest multi sport stage in the world. I keep on imagining how amazing it will be to walk around during the opening ceremony and watching the spectacle that Glasgow 2014 is going to be. It's going to be an incredible atmosphere. I was in the volunteer centre the other day and you got a snapshot of what its going to be like.

The second thing was as you would expect is nerves...they have their part to play, I still need to get there and qualify and that's going to be no mean feat as i've said before. I have started to use a bit of positive imagery - next year winning a match to secure qualification to the games, that is a phenomenal thought. It seems very far away and still very surreal. I've been sitting out injured for 7 - 8 weeks already. I'm on the mend though, that's for sure, the ribs are still sore at times (sneezing is probably the worst). I was out in the garden over the weekend trying to shift some rubble was doing a bit of digging, that gave me a twinge just on the rotation but apart from that i'm not too bad. 

Training with the SRU regional U18 squad

That said I have been back on the mat a few times, more recently to help Coach Cavanagh with a session for the Scottish Rugby Union U18 Regional squad, some good lads in there. They picked it up quite well and were working hard 95% of their maximum heart rate so felt the benefit. It was good. Before that the first couple of times I got back onto the mat was just training, nothing too intense no live wrestling and this week i've been back into full training. Just doing the basics and trying to build up my fitness. It was OK, but psychologically i'm not quite back to my best. The second time on the mat was a complete disaster. I was wrestling with Danny from the club, we were just going over stuff that we had done before and when we got to parterre (on the ground) I couldn't remember very much, i'm not sure if it was because I was feeling drained or whether it was just me struggling because I had been out for so long but it was pretty disappointing. Does that happen to anyone else? use it or lose it!

Anyway, I'm looking forward to taking to the mat again and really getting back into some sort of competitive wrestling this month. I might not be able to do much but I'm hoping I will be able to get myself into decent nick for the Tryst Lions Open at the end of September. The key is to not go back to soon after these sorts of injuries and I'm seriously hoping it heals before too long. I am not the biggest fan of resting and never have been but it is unbelievably important to rest . I mentioned above its more the psychological side of things that's holding me back at the moment. Not in a bad way but at training every time I land on the mat or try to rotate there is always that niggling feeling that you just don't want to go through that pain again, it's more than that even, it's a feeling that I can't afford another injury there isn't enough time and the only way to stop that is to get fitter, stronger and more flexible. I say that they you'll read that I ate that monster below, protein? 

Men vs. Food! 

Where am I now! Well... I've completed 3 weeks of pre-hab, that involved some body weight exercises increasing the reps each week and including some interval training. I felt pretty good about all that and decided I would take it upon myself to start increasing the weight. After 7 weeks out I managed to do 3 x 170kg deadlifts and 5 x 120kg squats ,  the deadlifts without straps or chalk which was pretty decent, squats, I could have done more but was very tired. I was happy enough with that but really need to get to work on my strength which is where I'm heading over the next 6 weeks, I really want those numbers to increase over the next few weeks. I actually managed to persuade an old friend of mine to get out to the gym last week as well, you may remember from my earlier posts, a fella called the bear - he has't been out to the gym at [EN]GAGE in ages and to wrestling in even longer so I dragged him out for a pre weekend shoulder session. It was pretty good we both enjoyed ourselves before heading out with Wife and Sister in law in tow to a restaurant called Shebeen - possibly my new favourite restaurant for a couple of reasons which I've highlighted in the pictures this week. Yep, Bear and I shared a 1.2kg burger patty. The bad boy was huge but we

taming the monster!

smashed it, you have to remember that Bear and I have a combined eight of 240kg so to much 600g each, its doable, the meat was incredible an it was delicious, although I don't think I will eat another burger in the near future!

I saved myself all day for it and next time I go i'm demolishing a Lion sized steak! I've heard good reports! It was an outrageous feast followed by a hilarious night. 
Speaking of hilarious nights, I'm headed down south to Bristol for my good friend Simmos 30th Birthday in a couple of weeks and which will be my penultimate consumption of alcohol up till my birthday next year at the earliest. I'm not a big drinker any more, but am not shy of a night out. My good friend Benfoolio is arriving from Australia at the end of the month meaning that I have to tend to tradition and introduce him to the Whisky experience and a few of Scotland's finest drinking establishments, we have a thing about super brews and they are going to be out in force for the few days he is spending with me. That's the social agenda for the next little while but more importantly...

I'm back to training this week with the Scotland Coaches and Team which i'm really excited about, I've got my training buddy Dave Simm with me and I can't tell you how much I appreciate him coming to the Emirates with me as a training partner. This next little while is going to be a big transition for me, another challenge to add to the list. If i'm going to do this, I need to get bump training up a  notch, sort the diet out and get myself fitter, faster and stronger than I have ever been in my life and i'm actually looking forward to it, i've enjoyed lifting the last few weeks and its a great feeling. Back into the groove!

The final thing to report on this week is that i've had my Glasgow 2014 Volunteer interview, if unsuccessful on the competitor qualification, and pending selection for volunteering, I will be at the games in the wrestling arena helping out. That's a bonus. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to compete in a home games but its also a once in a lifetime opportunity to volunteer at a home games So i've got my fingers crossed that i'll be at the very least involved in Glasgow 2014 in some capacity. 

In case you were wondering, tickets for the Commonwealth Games go on sale this month, if i'm successful in the Qualification then i'll be competing on July 29 at the SECC - Now that's a date for the diary!


Thanks for taking time out to read.

All the Best!

@shocksjr

Note to Self - gut wrenches are not good for the ribs!

After the IOC rocked the wrestling world there have been some pretty big movements on a political stage. Vladimir Putin is supporting a committee that has representation from Russia, the United States, Cuba, Iran and Japan. That's a lot of big hitters in the global community and as Michael Cavanagh pointed out "there aren't many things in the world that would get those countries on the same page" and he's right. Let's just hope the IOC take note and give Wrestling a reprieve in September. You've even had 2 Gold medallists from 1996 and 2000 send their medals back to the IOC in protest and I don't know what I think about that. Pretty extreme but they must feel strongly enough about it to do it.

Bulgarian Valentin Yordanov sends back his medal

Personally, I think the IOC would be pretty stupid not to give Wrestling its spot back, I was reading a blog by a guy called Willie Saylor and the stats he was quoting showed wrestling in a really good light and made you question what the real motives were to recommend Wrestling's removal. He actually highlights some of the things I was rabbiting on about but its worth a read. you can get the link here. One thing the decision has done is increase the profile of the sport.

My training has taken a little bit of a back seat of late. I was having problems with my side for a few days after the English Championships so ended up getting it checked out at the hospital. They reckon there is a cracked rib in there which Ross, my physio/masseuse agreed with. The medical stand point was "Nothing we can do, pain killers and keep mobile"so I continued to train. Problem was that I was getting gut wrenched and that hurt like hell. It must have been the Grecco Champion at the English Championships, he got a beautiful Gut Wrench on me.

On the home front, the family has been in the wars this week as well, Cameron has developed what looks a lot like Chicken Pox and Emma has a pretty bad chest infection, so its fun again this week in my household but on the plus side we are the happy owners of a new car! 

The Emirates Arena in Glasgow

I have had mixed fortunes in my training matches of late which has been annoying. I managed to get to the Emirates arena with Martin just after my last blog update. What a venue! it's an impressive facility and I haven't even sneaked a peak at the Chris Hoy Velodrome yet. The athletics arena is awesome and Wrestling is housed at the back on the balcony, you even get to watch the Glasgow Rocks pro basketball team in the morning sessions. It's pretty cool. I got some good one on one coaching with Vio and Vlad and I got some really good feedback about my speed in attack. That session I would say was the most useful I've had to date. They let me find what I was comfortable with and get my stance sorted before showing me the grips. That's what i've been missing. It's helped me massively, so much so that I finally managed to get a win on the mat against Steven Cote. It's been along time coming! not that I'm going to brag about it too much, that wouldn't be cool but suffice to say I was down by 3 and managed to get a double leg take down and then 2 rolls to win the bout 5 - 3. It was good fun. I could go on but if I was to do that i'd have to admit that Coach Cavanagh beat me the same day 5 - 2 or 5 -3 I can't remember, he is like a raging bull when he is losing!

My success on the mat didn't last long, back in Glasgow two days later I got my ass kicked by Zane and Pedram in a round robin one minute on and one minute off. That was hard going. I just couldn't find my groove and ended up head snapping Zane into my nose which didn't help matters. Still life goes on and I had a special visitor to Friday nights session, my good friend Callum Anderson rocked up for a bit of training and we worked on a move called the suicide throw. Sounds cool but its really just to use when your in trouble. The sneaky git, used it and scored three points to win the first round. Fair play to Callum, he got stuck in, learnt the move and used it well. Luckily for me, I managed to bring him down a peg or two in the next round with a  gator roll from standing. I think he enjoyed himself, might even see him again. 

Volunteer 2014

I've found the last week really infuriating, because my rib is sore I've been over compensating on my left side which has destroyed my back, i've been having massive problems with movement so haven't been training which i've not been enjoying but managed to get on the mat earlier to be in the background for an interview with the BBC. Michael Cavanagh was getting interviewed about the closing of the Glasgow 2014 volunteers which is tomorrow (28th February) If you haven't filled in an application and you are in Scotland - you should get it handed in - there is still time http://www.glasgow2014.com/join/volunteering 

Anyway, Joanne Macaulay from the BBC interviewed me about Volunteering and my exploits on the mat so for all you early birds it should be on Reporting Scotland tomorrow morning. I'm well aware I should have had a haircut! I should say thanks to Alex at this point for letting me throw him around a bit. I got my volunteer application in this evening, I was a little late to the party, but better late than never. Hopefully I'll be competing in 2014 but if not I would love to be there as a volunteer. I can't see there being another Commy Games in Scotland in my lifetime but you never know.

This week, its back to training, I want to hit it hard and get to where I need to be for the British novices in April. I'm looking forward to that one and feeling a lot more confident on the mat!

Thanks for taking time out to read and if you are a heavier lad  at a loose end on Monday lunchtimes or Friday evenings, get yourself down to [EN]GAGE and get on the mat!

Cheers

@shocksjr