Monday 22nd March

The alarm kicked in at 6am, I could hear the rain outside which prompted thoughts of procrastination. In other words - "ah I'll leave it 'til tomorrow". Thankfully I didn't.

Up and at it, I got my pre training meal into me, 4 rings of pineapple, amino acids and an arginine based shake.

I loaded up the haversack with water, a towel and a dry t-shirt. Stretched off and hit the road. The run down to the gym is a quiet one, headphones on, head down, rain catching on the breath it's a good warm up for the training that follows.

When I got there I got straight under the bar for bench pressing. Two sets of 20 with the empty bar to warm up the shoulders and chest. Then came the plates. I kept it light with high repetitions. After three sets I did some dumbbell flies again three sets. Some cable cross overs followed using resistance bands and worked until failure. After the chest it was time for some ego training. Biceps. A useless muscle really but boys should have big biceps, so I'm told :-/

After some preacher curls and concentration curls I got into some stretching. I'm picking up some great tips from this guy - http://www.elasticsteel.com. I watched his DVD last night and picked up some great ideas for my tight hips and posture. Loose hip muscles are crucial to good kicking.

After some nice deep stretching I hit the road for the run home. The rain was heavier now. I remember speaking to Wayne McCullough once and he said he loved running in the rain, it was old school training, but it reminded him of home. Well it certainly reminds me of home! I felt good and strong over the last mile and kept a good stride right up to the finish.

Back in the door and straight to the protein isolate followed by a hot shower. For breakfast there was the usual 100 grams of porridge oats uncooked with alfalfa bean sprouts and mixed berries on rice milk. I don't eat a whole pile of dairy. In with the multi minerals and vits some DMAE and away we go.

In the news today, Barack Obama's health bill was passed. While it means very little here to us in Ireland, it means a lot to 30 million Americans who did not have access to health care cover. In the US health care wasn't a right, it was a luxury. Not anymore. That's another chink in the armour of what is a highly unequal society. Fair play to him.

At home, sad news at the death of Robert O'Shea. A member of the IUTF and most commonly known as the photographer at the IUTF competitions. He suffered a stroke. He'll be sadly missed by all that knew him.