Hi!. It’s nice to be back so soon after a slightly longer than usual pause. If you follow my twitter account you’ll see that earlier this week I attempted reverse psychology on myself to get my blog written on Tuesday. Unfortunately, it didn’t work which has meant I’ve successfully managed to put off writing until now. I need to start giving it a lot more of my time again, primarily because some say I’m quite good at it. Which is nice.

I’ve got some big training and fighting goals already lined up for 2019 one of which is to head overseas again and this time hopefully compete. Of course, before next summer comes around I want to make sure I’m back in the game at the beginning of the new year.

As I’ve said before it’s good to be back and if this year has shown me anything, it’s that when you put your mind to it you can achieve anything you want. It’s a simple case of believing in yourself enough to keep striving for it.

Despite being another year older on Saturday I still feel that there’s a good couple of years of fight left in me and I’d like 2019 to be a year where I get a reasonable amount done. As it stands, I’m still going to be training when I’m 60 and the longer I keep training the better I’m going to get. It may seem glaringly obvious but when I’ve hit a slump (peaks and troughs) it doesn’t always seem that black and white.

Recently I’ve found inspiration to keep boxing no matter where I look. I feel that I’ve really improved a lot as a fighter since the last time I got in the ring and I also feel that the experience I have so far is really going to stand me in good stead in the future, and it’s toughened me up inside.

Even nerves before fighting have changed. A week or so before nerves will pay me a visit for 2 or 3 hours then nothing again. I usually deal with them by shadow boxing. I’ve got a big living room. On the day it’s just mentally getting ready for fighting, right before I start my walk to the ring there is a brief flare-up but that changes into the fire very quickly. Just by thinking it I become it. Exciting eh?

Of course, I’m still not technically marvellous. I get things wrong. I need to work on my focus. I don’t always remember drills. Some days I can’t get stuff I should know by now right, I doubt myself and don’t think very much of myself. I don’t stretch enough. My hips don’t twist like they used to when I first started boxing. Injuries take longer to heal. I don’t run enough. I don’t run far enough. I really hate having to take two steps backwards to take two step forwards but I love what I do, and because I love what I do I know the journey is not only with me for life but totally worth every minute.

I have a little dream that I am going to get good enough and win a couple more fights and get myself a British title before I retire. I feel inspired and I know I can do it because I’ve done it before. Of course, the journey doesn’t stop there but it would be something I could put on my CV? Something to tell my kids about (when I finally get around to having some) maybe. I also intend to get myself out to Thailand again in 2019 and as I’m in South Africa at some point next year I think I’ll train out there again too.

Despite this week being lighter on the ground training wise than I’d like (my birthdays coming up as I said) I’m looking forward to getting stuck in, as usual, this evening. I may even push the boat out and go running today and tomorrow morning. I’d like to make sure I’m doing that 3 times a week again on top of training. Like it or not.

If 2018 was the year I finally made it back I want 2019 to be the year I start winning again. I want it to be a year I remember forever. In the meantime, I guess I need to get on with the rest of Thursday. Run and training later as I said. I’ll see you on that road.