New training programme

I have recently carried out a new training programme, which works with 12 riders, and got great results with it too.

I find coaching really enjoyable, espcially now as I can use a bit of magic, to get even better results than before. I even did a class of Auto riders, the first in a long time. Impressed with how quick some of the riders are and how quick the improvers can improve, I will probably have more training for auto riders in the future.

I have also carried out some 1:1 coaching with amazing and instant results, this is already very popular with the riders.

So, dare I say, the 'EDMASTER performance coaching' website is nearly ready to go live. I say dare because I've mentioned the new DMP website a number of times and it is still in the waiting.

Sprinting

Friends from Iceland visitd me last week and joined me training. It was great fun and really good to have someone else to train with. We had a day at the athletics track which worked out really and realised how much work I have to do to get to the level of fitness that I want.

I really enjoy doing 100m sprints and in the past was quick compared to the poeple in our training group. Orsse, from Iceland, ran me into the ground beating me easily.

Motivation supplied, more track work coming up!

X-ray

8 weeks after the operation on my scaphiod and I have had the first x-ray. The signs are good, the bone is healing well around the screw and the gaps are filling in nicely. Fortunately, I am using a small splint now for the next 4 weeks, however, I still need to be careful with the wrist so that full recovery can be achieved.

I am grateful that I still need to be careful as it means that I am still unable to ride my racer on the road, on the turbo is ok. This is great because I will now start using the new athletics running track at the Keep Moat stadium in Doncaster for training. I have kept away from running in the past and I am looking forward to creating some new work outs to get me in shape for the next 4-6weeks.

How do you improve your performance?

As a Motocross rider/racer, what do you need to do/to have, to improve your performance?

For me as a racer the are 3 main areas, as an athlete, that you need to concentrate on:
Fitness, Nutrition and Coaching (both on and off the bike) of course you need outstanding bike performance which is well maintained and a good team around you all working towards your goal (and that's the riders goal only!)

I have become really curious over the last couple of years about what I would need to be doing, if I was in a fight for a World Championship title? How could I make it possible to be in this situation?

Experiencing racing with World Champions, training with Multi National and World Champions is a great way of getting this information. Whilst I was racing I was lucky enough to be in that situation, however at that time, I was unable to make the most of it.

Now, I am in a position where, after a lot of studying and research I can use it for myself and give, racers of today, the key ingredients that make up the composition of being a champion.

Services that 'EDMASTER Coaching include: Bespoke Nutrition Plans, Fitness training Plans, Motocross Coaching, Personal Sports Psychology and Circuit training.

The 'EDMASTER Circuit training will be taking place on Tuesday mornings 9.30 until 10.30 and the track will be open from 11.30 for riders who will want to ride after training to make the most of a great day. I am really looking forward to doing this type of training as it really helped me when I was doing Grand Prix.

It will be starting mid February and I will advertise it more closer to the time.

Have fun.

Within 10%!?!

I am sure that my scaphiod is within 10% of being fully healed. Today I have noticed that the intensity of my last couple of training sessions, including today, have increased. I think this is important so that the blood is getting pushed through the area fresh and faster!

Of course this is my interpretation and what I am visualising to make the bone heal together strongly, tight and hard together.

I love training!

Engines have filters.......

Describing what Time Line Therapy does for people, and how it works, is something I have been considering lately and here is a way that I can put it, to help people, consider the possibilities of what this process can do.

Motor sport people are aware of engines having filters, and that these filters, hold dirt and engine particles whilst filtering everything else that passes through it. If there is dirt on the filter, even more is attracted to it and the filter becomes even more clogged up and then eventually the engine begins to break down.

The same is for our mind, of which we have two (our conscious mind and our unconscious mind and I am referring to our unconscious mind at the moment). Our unconscious mind filters all information that comes in to us, through our senses (Eyes, Ears, Touch, Smell & Taste) and stores ALL our experiences.

Bad and inhibiting experiences can clog our internal filters and reduce our ability to create even better results than the one time you went out and produced something amazing, that time when everything went awesome and was so easy.

Well, this is what NLP, Hypnosis and Time Line Therapy is all about. It's just as easy to change/clean out your unconscious minds filter as it is to do with an engine, allowing you the possibility to enjoy your racing, hobby, job, family...! Just like the times when you were a kid and had so much fun, which came free and easy. You could have it back :-)

Healing

Training is going well. I'm really enjoying getting on my bicycle every day.

The reason why I'm cycling is so that I can oxygenate my blood and increase my heart rate so that, at least once a day, fresh blood is being pumped around (and through) the scaphiod.

The scaphiod has blood supplied to it at one end, as apposed to both ends like other bones, this is what makes the bone tricky to heal.

I have been using Hypnosis and my pendulum to find out how the bone is healing and the progress seems to be very good. I loose count of how many times I visualise the bone healing and concentrating on what I want to be doing when the cast comes off.

I'm stepping up the duration and intensity of my sessions from January 1st.

Certification

Since I went to see Ashley Scott at Mindracing for a break through session, I 've been learning about NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and have been using some of it for coaching, with great results. I was totally blown away with Time Line Therapy (the process used in the Break Through session) and have been learning about it and going through the self development as I have gathered more information on the subject.

I have now completed my courses and have become a Master Practitioner of NLP, Time Line Therapy and Hypnosis.

Why would I want to use this for Motocross coaching?

The great thing about NLP is that it's about communication, problem solving and empowerment. So it's easy for someone to learn a new technique or strategy for racing, it's possible for a rider to over come mental blocks through conversation, as well as using Anchors to get rid of, for example, nerves before starts or jumps.

For problems that people may experience all of the time, rather than some of the time (such as before a start) then Time Line Therapy is the tool for removing negative emotions, such as, Anger, Sadness, Fear, Hurt & Guilt, as well as Limiting Decisions and Limiting Beliefs.

Hypnosis is great for coaching, of which, I want to practice some ideas that I have for it's use with riding. Also, it's great for relaxation and unconscious suggestions.

So, at the moment I am putting different coaching packages together and am really excited about creating, empowering transformations for anyone in sport whether that be riders, mechanics, teams or businesses.

In a previous blog I wrote about setting SMARTER goals. If you want to achieve something for racing next year or something in life, use this method and you will put yourself in good stead for achieving it.

Simple plan

I have now had a 2-3 hour operation on my wrist. The doctor thinks it will be 6 months until we will know if it has healed correctly! and that there is a 60% of recovery.

Now, this may seem like the odds are slightly stacked against me, however, I know I am a quick healer and that my plan will have me back to normal in weeks rather than months.

The plan is simple: rest, exercise, eat well, visualise the bone healing and rest.

One thing that I am over the moon with is the fact that I have had no pain what so ever. I am unsure of how I have done this, even when the nurse said that taking the drain out of my hip (from the removal of bone for the graft) was going to be painful. I watched her pull it out with no pain at all. I like this!!

Recovery has already started!

Keep having Fun

Time

The last time I wrote was September 6th, wow, that seems such a long time ago. I have my operation for my wrist tomorrow, of which, I am looking forward to.

I have full movement in my wrist now. The doctors said that I would loose movement and the strength of my grip feels really good also. This begs the question 'have I healed the bone already?'

I have finished my training courses now which means that I can now offer the best Motocross coaching that anyone can provide in the U.K.

Did you know that there is no need to feel nervous on a start line? Is it possible to feel excited, determined, and totally confident, Every time you go to the start line? You bet it's possible.

I have learnt new techniques that are quick, easy and very effective. I'll explain more after my visit to hospital.

Keep having fun

It's all about the CandEy

Its been sometime scince my last blog, mainly due to studying, of which, I will write about another time.
I have also been training alot. I am having an operation on my scaphoid in the beginning of December and I want the bone to heal really well and very quickly, for me, the best thing I can do to make this happen is to be in great shape for the operation and start training as soon as I can afterwards...........here's to hoping :-)

Star riders at DMP

Wednesdays riders practcing at our track got a great treat when Tommy Searl, Billy Mckenzie and Jamie Dobb turned up to ride.

It was great to see these guys make riding look so easy.

Think about this....

I've started training on bicycle, today being my first outing and I noticed something that is made up from 3 or 4 parts, as follows.

Whilst cycling this morning I noticed how easy it was for me to notice my thoughts and that I would occasionally check on my technique, heart rate, posture and cadence. I consciously checked in on my unconscious mind to check that everything was going okay. I was giving no thought to riding only what was going on around me.

I then thought to myself 'how is this different to my swimming?'
I started swimming only being able to think about getting from one end of the pool to the other and over time I started using a technique that I thought was ok. I was able to think about other things whilst swimming. Mainly, who am I catching and how long can I keep ahead of the other guys who are a lot faster than me. (I may have stopped racing at the moment, however, it doesn't mean I have stopped being a racer!)

On one of my coaching days, the father of the rider told me that he is a swimming instructor and as we talked, he gave some advice on how to improve my technique.
Back in the pool and I am using all concentration on technique and have very little thought to what else is going on around me in the pool and my speed has improved greatly.

This is what I enjoy about coaching.....being able to get riders to use new techniques, at an unconscious level, so that they can concentrate on racing and watching the track rather than fighting the bike and doing their best to stay in control!

Coaching beggins

I've been evaluating my position of 'where I am at' recently and I am excited about what is coming up for me between now and the end of the year.

Firstly, I will have my wrist operated on in December. This will allow me to get back in to coaching and help other riders improve their game.

I've got a trip to America in the middle of September, which, I will talk about closer to the time.

There is always work to do at the track! I am very please with the improvements so far and I look forward to add the rest as soon as I can.

And currently, I have been busy gathering information for our new website, which, has taken longer than I imagined. I have some great ideas for the new site and look forward to having it up and running in the coming weeks.

DMP

Wow! It has been some time since I last wrote.

I have been busy, naturally. The rain has been challenging for us, however, we have coped very well and I am really pleased with how quickly we can move so much water in one day.

All of our ditches were full to the top and because of how the track is built up, we can drain all the ditches empty and away from the track. I am really pleased with this.

This week we have made some small changes to the track, so that, I can now build an Auto track and some Trails sections. I will have these finished in two weeks.

My wrist definitely requires a bone graft and I now face a decision of when to have the operation. If I have it in the coming weeks, I won't be able to do as much work at the track as I would like and be able to start riding in November, or, wait until the end of October and start riding in February.

It makes sense to me to wait until October, however, the discomfort sucks and I am really looking forward to getting rid of the pain.

Balance the wheel with an abundance.

In the past I have blogged about the importance of balancing the wheel. Recently I have been working on my personnel development (one of the seven parts of balancing the wheel) and only recently, I have mentioned, living life with an abundance.

I am beginning to realise that in order to produce special results in one of the seven areas (of the wheel) it is necessary to be producing special results in the other six areas, as well.

I am currently reading 'Tour de force', a book written by a man who followed Lance Armstrong and his cycling friends/competitors. The author is quite amazed at Lance Armstrong's character and that, he is, a very special person. It would seem that he exels in balancing the wheel!

It seems, now, a long time ago since Ashley Scott from Mindracing told me that this was important and it is only now that I am beginning to understand HOW it is important.

I have spent today, Saturday, practicing at my track and have had a great time. The track had been prepared well, as usual and watered really well making great berms. The weather has been awesome, really hot.

I love riding when it is hot because I get to feel a cool breeze blowing through my Thor jersey. Fantastic.

Plenty of riders turned out to practice and I had a lot of fun in each of my three motos. The first ride was supposed to be a warm up and after a handful of laps I was beginning to push my speed a little and felt good. The second moto I had fun chasing down some of the faster riders in our group, however, I had the most fun in the last moto. Whilst I started off wanting to keep my heart rate around 165/168, I noticed a rider close behind me. I upped my pace and was still being closely followed and this lasted for the full 20 minutes, it was great having someone on my back wheel for the whole moto.

Looking at the information on my heart rate (HR) monitor, I can see that for the last couple of laps when I made an extra effort, my HR went up to 188 and stayed there, for roughly five minutes. This is two beats higher than my maximum HR.

I am pleased with this because in the last ten weeks I have only ridden 5 times and shows that my training in the swimming pool has been working well.

When I got home from riding the weather was still really good so I went out for a cycle ride for an hour and ten minutes with an average HR of 128. This will act as a good recovery ride and remove any lactic acid which might have made me feel stiff and achy tomorrow morning.

Important races at DMP

After qualifying at the British championship last weekend, I decided that I was unsafe for racing.

My wrist feels just too weak, to hold on properly.

I am going to see a specialist at the end of the month.

In the mean time, the track has been busy and we have been making preparations for two big races we have coming up, on the 16th/17th and the 23rd/24th, we will be closing the track on the Wednesday in between these two races which will be noticeable as it has been along time since we have closed the track whilst the weather is great ( the last time being for the British championship in1997).

It will be a great opportunity to do does extra track work and tidying up. After this race I am looking forward to making some small modifications to the track to allow for some additions to the facility.

Eat well, keep fit......

I have enjoyed a weekend, in Manchester, with my family, celebrating my brothers 40th birthday.

I really let my hair down by having one or two drinks (with alcohol in!) and mostly by eating lots of rubbish food (processed and full of sugar!). As I watched people around me really abuse themselves (in my opinion) with, booze and food, I noticed with ease that there was a lot of fun going on with happy people at the party. I also noticed that I was having a great time even though I felt slightly guilty that I was abusing my body with a couple of drinks and some cakes!

I am just so rock'n'roll!!! Haha

This has reminded me of a saying I once read:-

Eat well, keep fit and die anyway.

From this saying it is easy to think 'yes, why should I be healthy?' , however for me, it is a saying that means what it says ' eat well and keep fit'. Even when I finish racing and my fitness level loses it's importance, I know I will carry on training as I do now because it's just away of life for me.

This is great!

Fun

My training is going great at the moment. I have mentioned, previously, that my training is based around fun.

I understand that the word 'fun' can have different meanings to different people, so, when I go cycling, I love listening to the chain running through the gears (when I have the volume turned low enough, on my mp3 player), I love feeling the cool wind against my cycle jacket and the pressure that goes through my feet in to the peddles, I love checking my current heart rate and to be able to look at the world go by, as I train, is all fun.
When I swim, I love concentrating my technique and thinking about how many breathes I take each length, I love being able to hear my heart beat, lungs fill and expel air, whilst under water and I love to see my hands grab a whole lot of water, making bubbles as I push really hard through the water.
As for motocross, I love seeing things go passed me really fast (and that is, as I go past things!)
I love feeling the throttle on the stop and the brake lever being pulled in as far as possible, I love the smell of 2 stroke engines and the sound of either, 2 or 4 stroke motors.

All these things I have mentioned I regard as fun, however, the one thing I find more fun than anything else, is the effort, I really enjoy giving it my all and getting out of breath.

Keep healthy!!