At the end of February I was back in Cumbria in the North of the UK to give a very well attended talk to the Cumbria Soaring Club in Kendal. Cumbrians always want value for money so not content with my 'usual' talk on the X-Alps they wanted me to throw in the Mt Blanc landing and some details of my preparations for this year to boot. It was a pretty full, but enjoyable evening. I started flying in Cumbria 22 years ago so the area has very fond memories for me and it was great to see some familiar faces along with plenty of new ones. Of course, I had to take the opportunity for a bit of training while I was there so I set out on the Saturday morning up Middleton Fell - I had intended to fly, hopping across the fells X-Alps style but as I climbed the first hill snow started to fall. By the time I reached the take off point it was a little windy (but manageable), the wind direction was not ideal and the snow had become more sustained. Dspite all this, I still considered flying before deciding I was enjoying the walk too much and continued on my way. The picture is taken somewhere near the summit.
Back in Geneva I've been busy too - getting my training regime sorted out. I got back in touch with Pierre Gazeau, the genius behind my training plan for last X-Alps, and after a thorough performance test he's set me up with a detailed training plan for the next two months. He was pleased to see I'd already been following the philosophy he laid out for me last time around and this showed in the performance data. As I wrote in my book, it seems to be very important to do the right training for an event like this (vs. simply doing a lot), and understanding the science behind it certainly helps, as does having someone like Pierre oversee the details.
Back in January I'd been experiencing some pain in my knees when I was training. After various doctor visits I've now been working with a Physiotherapist who seems to have resolved the immediate problem but is intent on keeping an eye on me and making sure the root cause (apparently a slight misalignment of my pelvis) is properly fixed to avoid any recurrence. I bounce between being immensely impressed with his treatment to being somewhat sceptical (well, proding inside my ears did not, at first, seem a very logical place to work on to fix a knee problem!!) On balance though it is working, so I'm sticking with it.
And if all that wasn't enough, I was flying again at the weekend, only a short flight in Chamonix, but good to be back in the air after a winter lay off, despite it being a stable day (the views were stunning though). I did manage to miss out on some great conditions the day after in Verbier though. Still, it seems the flying season is here. Yipppee!.
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