Bognor Weekend Away

Last Friday I went to Bognor Regis to stay at the Russell Hotel run by Action for the Blind. The long weekend was spent with four of my visually impaired friends, three of which also have a Guide Dog. We’d been to stay two years previously, but that was before I had Calvin.

After arriving on the Friday we took a stroll into town along the promenade where instantly Calvin was eager to get on the pebble beach. I’ve only been on the beach once with him and that’s when we met his Puppy Walkers last year. Being a beach boy for the first year of his life he obviously has a soft spot for the sea. Before dinner we allowed the dogs to have a play. Calvin is normally a loon on free-runs and I’m sure he was even more excited than usual, as he sprinted around the beach, dived in the sea and kicked all of the pebbles in his wake searching for treasure! He was the most ignorant out of the dogs on recall, desperate to stay for as long as possible!

On Saturday we took a trip to Brighton and I was surprised at how busy the place was, I would say even busier than London! Calvin was dying to get on the beach again as we walked along the peer, I had to battle him at every set of steps to persuade him not to go down! We grabbed some freshly made doughnuts in true holiday spirit and browsed the shops at leisure.

Sunday was meant to be a relaxing day, gym followed by swimming, a spot of lunch and general chit chat. However, the so called gym only had three pieces of equipment, not including a bike and the cross-trainer and rower didn’t work! So we quickly knocked that on the head and went swimming where the pool was relatively warm. However, some guy took up half the pool doing lengths, which made it difficult for us to swim freely. Since our Guide Dogs all walk at different speeds with Calvin being one of the quickest, we thought we would be more sociable on our trip into town and let the dogs leg it around on the beach whilst we strolled up the promenade. We did this on the way back too, much to Calvin’s delight!

Overall, the hotel is nice and accessible, the staff mostly helpful and the food edible. I particularly enjoyed Scottish kipper each breakfast time, which Calvin cursed me for, as he sulked with jealousy! It was a jam packed weekend and Calvin possibly enjoyed it more than me! Oh and after the four hour train journey home, I went to athletics training like a good little athlete!

It's as Easy as ABC

I’m sure you have all seen my advert for a new guide runner, which came quite unexpectedly, but then again maybe I was foolish to be so complacent. I’m not really in a position to update on the situation at the moment, as things are very much still work in progress. However, I wanted to blog something and have decided to write an alphabet of motivation, since I’ve found myself doubting my ability and ambitions, which is not like me at all! In real life, I’m quite a quiet person in relation to my athletics training, but inside i’m mentally strong, never satisfied and always wanting more. I don’t want to lose that faith in myself, so here goes...

A is for ambition, never be afraid to dream
B is for brave, don’t ever give up
C is for confidence, have faith in yourself
D is for determination, if you’re not hungry for something, it won’t happen
E is for effort, don’t expect things on a plate
F is for fight, be fearless
G is for goals, big or small you can achieve them
H is for happiness, don’t be miserable in what you do
I is for I, be selfish, think about number one
J is for journey, it might be bumpy, but it will be worth it
K is for kick, kick some ass in what you do
L is for length, go to all lengths to get what you deserve
M is for motivation, keep your eye on the prize
N is for never, there’s no such word
O is for obstacles, climb over them or just smash straight through them
P is for pain, no pain, no gain
Q is for question, don’t ever question your ability, you can do anything
R is for rainbow, find that pot of gold
S is for success, the end product
T is for time, nothing happens instantly
U is for unlimited, don’t set limits
V is for visualise, view the dream in your head at least everyday
W is for welcome, don’t dismiss any useful advice or help from others
X is for excuses, there are none, just get on with it
Y is for you, don’t do it for anyone, but yourself
Z is for zone, stay in it, focus and succeed!