Saturday, January 8, 2011

Going to the opposite side of the world and battling jetlag!

‘What is the best way to combat jetlag?’ I thought to myself, at 1 am in the morning. Hence the reason why I am writing this blog now at 1.23 am!

I have started my New Year pretty exotically, having travelled through 3 different continents and countries in the past 2 days; the UK, China, and finally to Australia! It is a pretty long way to go to just train however due to their opposite summer down under; it made the perfect ground for a very heavy month and a half block of training in preparation for my 2011 season! Something which  am very much looking forward to!

It is day 1 here in Perth, in fact actually day 2 but still feels like day one! Confusing I know! I had slept for 14 hours the previous night which I think was a lot down to the fact my body clock hadn’t adjusted yet - and still hasn’t adjusted! Anyhow, in what was left of the day after having woken up at 2.30 pm still looking for breakfast; I went to Yoga. I was fortunate to find somewhere so close to where I am staying to do it as it is great. It helps with my core strength which is vital for a cyclist and it is an awesome way to totally relax. I must thank both Ann Bowditch and Caroline Wick ham (who runs Yoga sessions in Guernsey) for getting me into it. Now the day is finished - seemed like the shortest day in history!

I have to the end of the weekend to sort out this jetlag and then the long and hard hours in the saddle, start on Monday. Either way though I think that by the time that starts I will be too tired to stay awake anyway!

Thanks for reading my blog, I will try to keep it as up-to-date as possible!

James McLaughlin

Saturday, January 1, 2011

A New Year... A New Start

First post... what to say... As the title suggests... a new year brings around a new start and a whole world of new and exciting opportunities.

2010 has been a great year for me. I have had a pretty strong cycling season picking up my first Elite category win in the UK in May and a few more high placings while racing in France throughout the summer. My highlight of the year has got to be the Commonwealth Games in Delhi - as much as there was criticism about the Games leading up to the event, I thought upon arriving that they were fairly unfounded, with it being one of the best experiences of my life thus far.

2011 is going to be a pretty full on year... I'm looking forward to it!

Happy New Year!!