Test posting

Hey,

I am testing the new access to my website.  It seems to be working.

Thanks Simon for all your hard work, you are a legend !!

Road to Recovery

I AM ON THE MEND. YIPEEE!!
A stint in hospital Pneumonia as patient number 1444, and then banished to my bed by mum with a bucket load of antibiotics and pain killers I have finally turned a corner and am defiantly on the mend.

For those of you who didn´t know i am a certified Personal Trainer, Sports masseur and nutritionist. I studied for this Diploma over two years ago in the UK, and use all my knowledge and apply it to my kiting in order to perform to the highest of my ability at all times.

So when i learned that I had an illness that potentially could affect my performance as an athlete I took an interest to look deeper into the condition, to help me understand what caused it, how to prevent it, and how to get better as quickly as possible. In brief this is what i found out.
Pneumonia is a serious lung condition where the lungs fill up with fluid and create severe difficulty breathing. It is the inflammation of the lung typically caused by infection (either viral or bacterial).

Pneumonia can start as a common cold and develop into an illness that if not diagnosed can potentially kill you.

With antibiotics the infection in the lungs can be cleared although it takes longer for the liquid to drain. Depending on the severity of the illness the lung tissue recovery time differs, but in my case i will be 6 weeks from today.

I was lucky that the doctors spotted it in time for it not to do too much damage to my right lung. I am the first to admit that letting it get to this stage could have been prevented had I listened to my body in the first place, and not kept on training as I really felt the pressure of the competition season fast approaching. As a result the expression "shooting yourself in the foot" applies to me !!!!!!!

This however will not stop me from getting back to my normal life of working, training and competing, and hopefully in a few more days I will be allowed out of the "Dog House" and mum will let me go back to Tarifa. I am under strict doctors orders to take it easy and to never ever get cold standing around in my wetsuit with dripping hair!!! - - after the doctors "Harsh " words - and the theory of practice what you preach, they handed me more pills and wished me good luck with the competitions............ and the lung !

Looks like i will be in my winter suit well into august!!!!

Back in England

I have come back to the Uk for a bit as i have pneumonia. I had a cold when i was in Morocco and didn´t take anytime off the water in order for it to clear up. Last week i felt really bad but was busy with training and preparing myself for the competition in France which is at the end of the month. But i have gone and shot myself in the foot as i will be off the water and in bed for at least 1 week - 10 days!! I have defiantly learnt my lesson now. Hoping for a quick recovery!!

The EFPT

For those of you who didn´t know i love to windsurf as well and spent years traveling around the world teaching windsurfing. So i was really excited when the EFPT tour came to Tarifa for The Toro Andaluz competition. It seemed to be a great start to the season for the boys who have all been training hard over the winter. It was great to see old friends who i hadn´t seen for a while. I would like to say well done to Colin Dixon ( GBR, K99 sponsored by tabu /Gaastra) who finished in 17th place, which was amazing as it was his first competition on the tour. He was a little unlucky with the riders he was drawn against but showed that he has the level to put the pressure on even some of the best. Congratulations to Norman Gunzlein (GER G186 , JP/NP) for taking first place. A great performance from Antxon Otaegui (ESP, E169 sponsored by Jp /NP) who finished in third place showing that he is ready for the season ahead. Also well done to Andre Paskowski GER and Rafael Cervero ESP. Good luck boys for the up and coming season!

The Uk University Kiters

Wow! I am truly exhausted after an action packed week. We have had 80 students out from the Uk. Some who have never kited in their lives...(who did an amazing job - i saw some chicks seriously giving it some out there)...and some who had a pretty high level, which was highly motivating and great to watch. The SKA was organizing the event, although there was some other events organized by Dwarf 8, Lazyblueskies photography, Jeri, and myself. At one of the competitions the crowed was wowed by the unique and fluid style of Abel Lago, who whilst carrying a lost board back to the beach did the most stylish backroll one handed. The crowds were cheering, clapping and talking about his style of riding for the rest of the evening. There is a reason why this guy is World Champion! Also there was a breathtaking display of NewSkool freestyle from a group of young riders from Holland an Belgium. There were two that stood out from the rest. Christoph (slingshot) - who was called "crazy" by many due to the sheer size of his Kiteloops that only made me laugh. The other who was pulling off huge powered maneuvers with a great style was Dutch rider Lex Dekker from Ozone. A pleasure to watch on the water, he is one to keep an eye on for the future. A Series of parties throughout the week were organized for the guys and they really did a good job, partying till the early hours of the morning pretty much every night. WELL DONE GUYS!!!!!!!! Saturday night was the big one. We started with a dinner at BANTI for about 100 (great food -thank you) followed by a party at Cafe Del Mar. Well what a night. Also the windsurfers had their party held in the same place so it was carnage!!! I danced the night away with the girls Angela Peral and Ania Grzelinska and we never stopped laughing!!!! The week came an end so quickly. and Tarifa had done it again. Perfect conditions everyday meant that we were all able to get out there!!! We finished the week off with a party in El Carpe diem, where we did a prize giving for the competitions that had been held throughout the week. The Ultimate prize being a signed board from Abel Lago !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wow! Now that is serious. The night was a great laugh, and everyone seemed to enjoy it, including the windsurfers who i had snuck in !! hehe I would just like to thank all of those who put in all their hard work in order to make this week work out. Dr Beat from Dwarf 8 for sponsoring the event with his delicious and refreshing drinks. Chris and his Team from Lazyblueskies.com photography. Jeri for organizing the events, and Abel Lago for being there, giving advice and promoting the sport to the max!!! cheers guys it was a great week !!