As promised I will also try and keep a diary of the training (at this stage it can hardly be called training!!) programme I have embarked upon in my bid to win the World Championships (for old gits!).
I managed to get in reasonable shape a couple of years ago but suffered a broken leg whilst training at Urmston. Injuries are without doubt the most difficult aspect of getting back in shape when you reach my age and it is why Judo is really a young man's sport. It isn't the injury itself that is the issue but more the length of time it takes to recover. A broken leg in my youth would have seen me out of action for 2 -3 months and then back in full training, at the ripe old age of 44 it took almost 16 months to get back close to normal. I had managed to get down to about 88kg (from about 100kg when I started) which was somewhere near my target (when I has young I fought at 71kg and 78kg) however since the injury I have creeped back up to 94kg plus. My aim is to get down to circa 80kg by August.
The first stage of my training is to get some cardio vascular work done as it would be pointless going on a Judo Mat in my current shape. I started with 2 mile runs about three weeks ago and have managed to get up to 6 miles each night at a reasonable pace. I have introduced some shuttle runs and want to get to 100 press ups per day (in one session) I am currently managing 70 (up from about 20 when I started).
Any of the team mates I used to train with will laugh at the pathetic targets listed above however age to many chips and constant work takes it toll!!
The ultimate target will be 6 mile daily runs a 6 minute mile pace, three Judo sessions per week, three weight sessions per week plus circuit training. Long way to go but sure I will get their!
