The best laid plans….. When is it when you set your goals for the coming months that somehow it is never as straightforward you think it is going to be! January started out with the annual pilgrimage to North Shields complete with hoards of people out for a good day and some characters that come out that have not been out since stars wars stopped casting for characters! A great day was had by all and I had no hangover the next day! Result Christmas and New Year had been a heady mix of eating and family get together’s mixed lazy lounge pants days and family movies and games like cluedo and the game of life! Speaking of life it was getting nearer and nearer for the time to get back to the gym then on the Sunday before D-day my body decided to shut down and give me full on man-sized Flu! Complete with priests and bells to bring out the dead I had to even put a cross on the door to warn every one of the plague. I usually am unable to go to work due to injury rather than illness, for me to not struggle in carrying my Martyrs cross was a big step in the looking after myself goal I had in mind! I spent my time trying to rest and my sarcasm was at an all-time low according to my lovely wife Kerry (so I must have been ill). Being ill has a great knock on effect to your body when you are ill you are ill, after the illness subsides you still don’t feel 100% so the next few weeks are hard for you to jump back firing on all cylinders, I was going to work teaching all day going home tired eating food then going back to work trying to get that tired feeling to go away! To add Injury to illness I thought my forever sore back would improve but even after being a good boy and not training as hard (you have to start somewhere) my back pains are still ever present (not good is the technical term) which does not help my stretching to the splits goal I had set before Christmas, I have become more flexible but I am not quite there yet! (Do not worry Mr Bill Wallace I will do you proud one day) Speaking of stretching my wife Kerry (The boss of the AFC and chief Interior design consultant) has been working her magic and us making the AFC lovely and for the next foreseeable future, so we have been going in early and on days off (you never get a day off life , as Kerry says) painting and repainting the gym karate kid style with the help of the gym members that Kerry trusts with a paint brush, Kerry has a great eye for design and a great skill with gloss paint but is costing me a small fortune in brushes (As she bins them rather than cleans them, as it saves the mess …… her goal of a freshly painted smart gym is coming together nicely! Rome was not built in a day….. But at least it was finished lol Fight prep and organizing fights are going well with Lee “The Wasp” Campbell mid prep for an up and coming bout and a few more just beginning to start their camps it is going to be another whirlwind of seminars fights and fun! Please stay tuned for further details …. And remember keep goal settings No matter if you don’t reach your goal this time re -set it and start again it is the only thing that works YOU CAN REACH IT! Until next time Play nicely with the other kids John Atkin

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