My food in pictures

"Do you follow a special diet??"

I get asked this question A LOT! And whilst I am sure some athletes do, I don't. Over the years however what I eat has changed as I have understood more about food, what is in what and how it can be used to fuel me for training and life. I don't pretend to be perfect! I have the occasional McDonald's, pizza and Gin but for the main part I try to eat unprocessed, homemade and appropriate food for my life. For me, working full time as well I really notice in myself when my diet isn't great. I feel sluggish and have no energy which then leads to poor choices and it just snowballs!!!

Breakfast... is my favourite meal of the day! And so important as it sets you up for the day, I literally have to have breakfast before I do anything else as without it I don't really function. 

Porridge or fruit and high protein yoghurt are my go to breakfasts! Fage Total 0% is the best. On a weekend I might have scrambled eggs on toast as I'll have more time. I always try to start the day with protein as it keeps me fuller for longer and then some fruit for one of my five a day. 

Snacks

I get hungry if I don't eat something every couple of hours or so! And no one likes me when I am hungry. I try to chose 'natural' ish snack bars such as Eat Natural or Nakd. Nuts are a good shout too as they contain protein to help me last until the next meal. There are some treats in there though if you look carefully - I have a weakness for sweets and chocolate but who doesn't. I am also a massive tea fan. The picture above is my current collection!! Green tea with peppermint is my no. 1 at the moment, although it is hard to resist a normal cuppa. Decaff is for post-work as normal interferes with my sleep! 

Lunch/Dinner

I don't really discriminate between lunch and dinner.... most of the time I'll eat leftovers for lunch as I find I eat better quality food that way. It also means that two or so times a week I'll cook a big meal and that will keep me going for lunch and dinner for a few days. I guess it isn't the most varied but as I am not a massive fan of cooking it works for me.

Here are some of my favs/regular dishes.

Cooking enchiladas

The finished product with homemade guac

About as close to a salad as I get... more avo, I am obsessed

A classic. Fajitas.

So I eat a lot of Mexican! For a treat I'll sometimes get a burrito - last year it was tradition for our athletics squad to have #burritothursday after our long session. I'm sad it no longer exists!

When we were down in Bath we had a BBQ and below is the meat we cooked! I can't ever imagine being a vegetarian - I love meat :)

The finished product!

And lastly... I don't deprive myself.  My friends and I went to Anstruther a few weeks back as they are renowned for their fish and chips! Safe to say we were not disappointed. I also eat out often (any excuse not to cook!) - the last pic is a meal I had in Bath at the Firehouse Rotisserie which was delicious!

Skeleton Myth Buster courtesy of Marcus Wyatt

He's back people! Guest blog no 2 from Marcus is here - skeleton myth busters...

Hello again.

So after weeks of Kim badgering me to do another blog due to my first guest blog’s unprecedented popularity (it was definitely the other way round and without said popularity) I decided to do a piece on something in Skeleton that might actually be slightly informative. Being part of a lesser well known sport as well as working in a restaurant (The Tuckers Arms, Dalwood, 01404 881342, bookings preferred but not essential) means that I often talk about Skeleton to people who have very little prior knowledge of the sport if any at all. Often, what I find is that there are certain ideas that they have heard about skeleton that are in fact untrue – you could call some of these things… myths.

So, MYTHBUSTERS BLOG!!!

All of these ‘myths’ are various things that people have asked me about or questioned me about at some point or other, some fairly frequently. Regular readers of Kim’s blog might actually find that they know a lot of these things as by reading her blog she’s made you all armchair experts on sliding down an icy chute. But, hopefully there will be some things you didn’t know and I’ll make you all a little bit smarter and you’ll be vaguely interested in what I have to say! So in no particular order, here goes…

                Myth – We compete in the Bobsleigh – Nope, although there are eight of us we are a squad of individual athletes training together. A lot of people know bobsleigh more than skeleton so when you say you do skeleton bobsleigh they actually think of bobsleigh. The difference is that bobsleigh is two or four people in a cylindrical shaped vehicle, whereas we are one person lying on their belly on a sled.

                Myth – We have a ‘pit-crew’ – Nope, our sleds are extremely complicated precise bits of technologically advanced equipment that takes hours and hours to prepare and maintain but we do all this ourselves. In actual fact, the time spent working on sleds vastly outnumbers the actual time spent sliding.

                Myth – We compete in the summer Olympics – Nope, seems simple but some people think we do as they may only really know the summer Olympics. Winter sport so winter Olympics.

                Myth – You just get on the sled and ride down – Nope, whilst this would be one way to possibly get down the track, it would be a route that would frequent you with the sides of the walls somewhat, and it certainly wouldn’t be the quickest and may result with the sled being on top of you at some point! I must admit before I started skeleton I had thoughts similar to this and have since realised it comes down to the old saying ‘the best in the world make it look easy’, which in skeleton means they make it look like they’re doing nothing. It is actually rare you find a corner where you do nothing with some corners in tracks have as many as five steers for the best in the world.

                Myth – You can slide all year round – Nope, as nearly all the tracks are in the northern hemisphere it gets too hot to keep the ice cold enough through spring and summer so no sliding.

                Myth – From above: Oh, do you get summers off then? – Noooope, The track closures over summer results in two very different seasons from summer and winter. The summer season is spent predominantly with lots of strength and conditioning work in the gym etc.

                Myth – Olympics are the only competition – Nope, there are actually four different yearly competitions; The Europa Cup, The Intercontinental Cup, The Americas Cup and The World Cup. Many sliders start on the Europa Cup with the aim of working their way up the levels to compete in the World Cup competition. All these competitions are held over many weekends with the overall winner of each respective competition being the person with the highest points total at the end. Theoretically the best most consistent slider in the world should be the winner of the overall World Cup.

                Myth – Your head is only pushed into the ice – Nope, although this is a big part of sliding with high pressure corners pushing your helmet into ice and creating the ‘chatter’ sound of the helmet scraping along the ice. What you also find is as you exit a high pressure corner, the pressure releases and your neck tends to bounce up due to the strain of trying to hold it up in the corner.

                Myth – It’s an individual sport – Nope, well… technically it is an individual sport in that you compete on your own but that is the very few ways in which it is. I could easily name 20+ people who I use regularly to aid my progress in the sport from the others in the talent squad to all the different coaches, support staff and many others who have helped along the way. I know none of us would be here if it wasn’t for them and we all owe them a lot!

Thanks for reading, I hope I have been able to bust a few of the myths you may have had about skeleton bobsleigh. If not then I assume Kim had taught you well and you knew it all already!

Come find me on Twitter @MarcusWyatt14

Until next time (hopefully), bye.

Day 5: Famous last words

Don't tempt fate would also be a suitable title for this blog. Day 5, last day of a tough week and in the last session my hamstring in my left left pulls :( a mere hour after proclaiming that we'd (Maddy, Craig and I) made it and were the last ones standing! 

Plans had changed and instead of push we were inside sprinting. On my second sprint I pulled up, having felt an electric shock sensation in the hamstring of my left leg. It's always pretty scary when that happens... How bad is it? How long out? 

Fortunately it wasn't an Adam Gemili esque pull. No falling or screaming for me. The pain wasn't bad just a warning but all the same it's a scare and it brought my session and week to an abrupt end. Off to massage I went where Gareth our lovely masseuse proceeded to give me the most painful massage I've ever received. I'm not ashamed to say it bought several tears to my eye, but it was necessary! 

So I've spent the rest of the day being checked by physio (I've probably pulled a few fibres but nothing that will keep me out for long), then icing and rehabbing. I think we've used up all the ice in the STV over the past five days! Also check out my sexy compression bandage!

This unfortunate end aside the camp has actually been great. We got loads of pushing done; I personally felt like I improved loads over the week. We also had some really useful workshops and spend more time getting to know the coaching and support team. And of course it was lovely to see the Talent team again; staying together at Olly's was cool because we got to hang out, talk rubbish and take the piss out of each other again. Basically what we do best (and look out for my separate quotes of the day blog). It was also good to have people that understood why you couldn't walk up the stairs but had to crawl instead (sore hips). 

Anyway I'm on the plane just now heading back to Edinburgh. I even got some elevation whilst I waited using my case (pic below) It feels like it's a Sunday and for a while I was completely confused as to why there were so many hen and stag parties heading to Edinburgh on a Sunday... But obvs it's the freakin weekend and where else would you go for a weekend away!! 

The next camp is in a month so I've probably got 10 days (max) rehab and then back to training. Our new gym programme looks brutal; even the coach described parts of it as 'dirty'! Back to work on Monday too; that's the tricky bit, going back to the other side and being support staff. 

But first like I said it's the freaking weekend! There's an outdoor cinema in St. Andrews square so I'm keep I fingers crossed for dry weather. Apart from that I'll be on the sofa resting up and of course, icing. This blog could have been called ice ice baby! 

June camp done. 

Storytime with Marcus

Day 4 is done and dusted. We have had our busiest, longest and sweatiest day yet but its's been a goodun. Briefly we had gym at 9 am, push at 11 am, lunch with sponsors at 1 pm, then we helped out Ignite (our sponsors) on the push track; they were having a corporate day. For Maddy and I this was basically a third training session as we were running the sled back up the hill - this is where it got sweaty; the track was scorching hot! Back home and we'd decided tonight was the night to have a BBQ! The weather has been incredible and it was a great evening with Olly's bobsleigh team.

Post session 3 - hot, sweaty and tired

Anyway chat around the table turned to my blog and tonight's topic.... it was at this point that I had the idea to get a teammate to write a guest blog! Marcus was my willing volunteer and so here is his blog..... (more to follow).

After much deliberation I decided to write my guest blog post on some of the inside or lesser known things about skeleton and our talent group in particular. Hopefully these should give you a better insight as to what we are like as people and what we get up to when together.

Firstly, when on tour you spend so much time with each other conversation quickly ends up having no boundaries and you learn every horrific secret about every member of the team. Including their preferential toilet routines.

You will also have the piss taken out of you at every single opportunity and major stories will be re-lived every month or so. i.e. Craig slipping off the top of a Luge ramp in Koningssee.

Everyone has a nickname, which can be based on anything from physical size - Tiny Tina (Tim) to the way you play a game - Flicky McGee (Chris) or to ones based on another sportsperson - Kimbo Slide (Kim)

We are all super competitive which can make things like card games very interesting and occasionally aggressive (Spoons).

I will make up games on tour to keep myself occupied and everyone will be forced to play at some point. Football Golf in Igls is by far the greatest to date closely followed by Frisbee Golf in Bath.

At least two of us at any point will be injured. Current number as of 11/6/15 - 4 of us

Most of us shared our deepest darkest secrets within about 3 weeks of being away in January. 

Craig is incredible at table football.

A lot of us already have scars in various places on our bodies from the hits we have taken not only on the ice but also from early goes on the push track. For example I have a scar on my knee from my first ever push and Maddy has a scar on her hand from corner 13 in Lillehammer.

It may seem obvious but skeleton is a constant topic of conversation to the point of which at some times we have to actively try to not talk about it to 'switch off' from the sport.

Kim's meet the team blog was originally going to contain Zoolander esque pictures of the team. Of which I have some VERY incriminating (nudity wise) shots on my phone. But they shall remain private.

Thanks Marcus :) and he isn't wrong; we really are very comfortable around each other and know more about one another than some of our closest mates do. For example he is currently on the GameReady in his boxers which have holes in them; and on that note it is bedtime. Night x

Craig trying out a new look

How many elite winter sports men does it take to light a BBQ?

And the food!!

Day 3: Hump day picture blog

It's hump day. Just over halfway - time for a picture blog!

Lunch prep - boys

Our hot ride 'the pea' and lovely model, Craig.

Crammed in the pea

Marcus and his entourage

The girls Rob a bank. Psych activity intended to help us with goal setting strategies! (Note: it was ENTIRELY hypothetical)

Boys team - Rob a bank. (Still hypothetical)

Gym action

FUNdamentals - sorry but they're not actually fun

Walking in to town - Widcombe Locks

Dinner at the Firehouse Rotisserie with a best friend; James

The Weir - I fell in love with Bath again tonight

Day 2: Push the tempo

We had a double push session today. On already sore hips! We were up at the track by 9 am to warm up for the first session of the day. It took a while to warm up the body this morning due to soreness from the unusual position we run in when we push. We had eight pushes this morning. The session went pretty well - we definitely all made progress from the day before.

As soon as we're done it's time to recover. I headed up to the cafe to grab some milk and a Nakd bar then into the gym for some mobility. Mobility isn't the most fun of work - stretching, using a roller or ball to work on tight spots (usually painful) but it felt necessary this morning as we had another session later that day and lots of sitting about in the middle.

We had a workshop post-lunch pre-session 2. It was an introduction to the EIS performance lifestyle (PL) service that we will have access to. PL will be able to assist us with transitions and barriers that we will face as athletes. So for example - relocating to Bath and financing this. Finding part-time work, managing your time, balancing training with social etc.

The second part of the workshop was about social media - gulp! I was expecting a workshop of this nature at some point and having heard how equivalent social media workshops have gone and embarrassed and made an example of people it is safe to say I was a little apprehensive what with my copious use of social media. However, I was fine - the PL adviser hadn't actually been able to get into my Facebook because I have decent privacy settings, She also said all our Twitters were totally fine - phew! One job for tonight though is a Facebook cull! So apologies if any of you are no longer my friend from tomorrow - we just have to be careful with a) the people (and their opinions) we associate with and b) who is able to 'share' posts etc.

Then it was time for a quick warm up and push session 2. Another 8 pushes! Unfortunately this is where our luck ran out a little. On the first run Marcus shouted as he jumped on the sled - he'd pulled his hamstring! Cue ice, compression and elevation. He later returned back to the house with a GameReady; a machine that ices and compresses and crutches! We are all hoping he gets a hopeful diagnosis Thursday when he has a scan. The only positive is that at least it happened at a camp. He is able to get instant, top quality treatment and support. Far superior than a bag of peas from the freezer at home!

Poor Marcus getting treatment from GameReady

This evening we are all pretty tired. Once again recovery is the name of the game. I'd had another decent push session, improving again. But now my hips are sore so I spent some more time stretching and working on my sore bits then a cold bath for 10 min.

Counting down the seconds in the cold bath

It's quite a strange existence if I am honest. I am used to working all day then training and having very little time for R+R. But as an athlete it is your responsibility to maximise and optimise recovery so that you can train hard day in day out. I struggle with having spare time; I always feel like I am wasting time if I am not doing anything - this might take some getting used to. Later Maddy cooked fajitas which were delicious :) Tomorrow we have a lighter day; a longer workshop in the morning and then gym and recovery which we are hoping is massage!!

Mads cooking up a feast

Day 1: Ducks and Dragons

Day one is drawing to a close; some people are watching a film, Marcus and myself have just been blown away by episode 9 of Game of Thrones (hence the dragons reference in the title) so it's time to reflect and blog on the day.

The day started with us lot (for once) being early and ready to leave ahead of time! Let me assure you this won't be the case tomorrow and for the rest of the week - we are somewhat renowned for being unorganised and disorderly. The day started with a brief meeting which was preceded by some rogue ducks running freely through the STV cafe doors - some light morning entertainment for us.

First business of the day was a session on the push track. A facility that enables us to work on the push start of the sport; the only one in the country. None of us had 'pushed' since February and that was on ice which is pretty different. The last time we'd been in Bath pushing was October so safe to say we were pretty rusty! Ten pushes later though we were all pretty we refamiliarised and unscathed (another first). My first few were pretty ropey and cowardly (not running very far) but the second half of the session was better; it was feeling like I was getting closer to what the coach was asking which is always a positive. 

Post session we needed to cool down which involves some light activity and stretching. This is to help our muscles recover and was especially important to day because it had been so long since we'd ran bent over in the push position (it isn't that comfortable). I also needed to ice my achilles at the back of my ankle because it had become a little sore from the session. All just little reminders that I need to look after myself and that I am not used (yet) to pushing.

Cool down action

After lunch we had a little while to chill so we went to the lake on campus where we were tormented by the ducks! For those of you that don't know I have a phobia of birds and these ducks are ballsy! Everyone else however found it hilarious to the point where I no longer felt safe or relaxed and spent the rest of the time stood up where I could keep my eye on the pesky creatures!!

Maddy being harassed

We had a few other bits and bobs during the afternoon including some sliding science in a classroom. But we finished pretty early and headed back home where we became primary school kids and played frisbee and if you missed you had to go down to one knee, two knees etc etc. It lead to some interesting tekkers!

No idea how Marcus got into this position!

Once we tired of frisbee we did some mobility and yoga to try and ease the muscle soreness that will no doubt rear its ugly head tomorrow! Marcus, Maddy and myself crammed into the lounge and did a couple of Yoga with Adriene's '30 days of yoga' sessions! 

Plenty of space for yoga

Cue dinner time and Maddy made a fab chilli :) then Game of Thrones for Marcus and myself. A pretty good end to a good first day; GOT was an absolute epic of an episode but let's face it it has been a long time coming! We have a double session tomorrow and a workshop - speak soon x

How do you train for skeleton in the summer?

It's the middle of June. The ice has melted in Europe so there is no 'sliding' to be had. Our last camp was in February so what do we do until we go back out on ice - October ish time?

It is simple. We train. To be successful at skeleton you have to be fast and powerful as well as a good driver. The summer is when you're able to work on the physical aspect really hard. As part of the British Skeleton Talent squad I, along with the other seven athletes have to attend camps in Bath - one a month over the summer.

The May camp had a review/preview focus and involved some testing which I unfortunately could not take part in because of my ankle injury. The June camp starts tomorrow and runs until Friday. From the timetable it looks very physically demanding - double training sessions most days as well as workshops and testing. Fortunately my ankle is all healed. I have been really fortunate to receive physiotherapy support from British Skeleton via the sportscotland institute of sport where I work. This had made a massive difference as before when I was controlling my own return to training I found it stressful having to make decisions.

Tim, Craig, Marcus and myself arrived in Bath this evening. We are all staying with Olly - Maddy's boyfriend who is also a bobsleigh driver. It's a pretty good set up as we are used to all being around each other from winter. It was actually weird in May when we were all staying separate - it felt like we didn't see much of each other. Ellie lives in Bath so we will see her at training and then Brogan will join us on Wednesday. It is just Chris who isn't here because he is on placement at a school (he is studying a PGCE).

Another bonus of staying with Olly is that is keeps the cost down. These camps are not funded by British Skeleton so we pay our own way. SportsAid, a charity that supports up and coming sportsmen and women have however awarded us with some financial support for the summer so this is a massive help and big thanks to them! For me the money will mainly go on travel and food. A flight from Edinburgh is £100 ish during the summer months so my travel expenses are pretty high.

Warming up for a push camp with some golf

I do like to make the most of trips down to England though and usually try to extend the trips to see friends or family. This camp coincided with my brother, Richard's 21st birthday which was very good timing! I have been able to spend the weekend with him in Bristol - he had a BBQ on Friday which I flew down to from work and then we spent the weekend doing a bit of sightseeing. We went to the Clifton Suspension Bridge and played part of a round of golf. I really enjoyed the bridge but am horrendous at golf - I snapped two tees in half and my PB was a bogie - I didn't even make a par! I think I'll stick to skeleton!

Clifton Suspension Bridge

Anyway bed time soon. Things kick off tomorrow at 10 am which is a pretty late start for skeleton - I'll blog every day of this camp so check in to see how it goes!

The tee suffered from my technique