It is that time of year when we are bombarded with sport,
there is almost too much on offer. I am struggling to choose which sports to
prioritise and that is just the participating, right now we are being spoilt
for choice as spectators too.
Even those uninterested in sport cannot have missed the
build up and start of the football European Championships, sadly though some of
that is probably due to the wrong reasons. We have heard far more in the press
around the violence off the pitch than we have of England’s efforts on it. This
has also detracted our attention from a different yet extremely significant
England result - the rugby in Australia. The England rugby team secured a pleasantly
surprising victory over the Wallabies in the first test, on the same day the
football players only managed a draw in their European opener.
I have hardly had chance to keep up with England’s efforts
both in France and Australia as I am spending as much time as possible riding
both horses and bicycles. I have two events looming ever closer at a rate of
knots that do not allow for the desired training. With just over two weeks
until my triathlon miles on the bike are my main focus, so much so that for
some absurd reason I agreed to enter a cycling time trial. I thought fifty
miles best effort would be perfect training however that was before I realised
it was A – on the A38, B – at 5.30 on a Sunday morning and C – full of
professionals with all the gear. I did stick to my original reasoning and
battled it out on my own with countless riders flying past me, it must be
valuable miles in the bank even with my lack of speed. My other challenge is
far more imminent and daunting, in just a few day’s time I will be playing in
my first ever polo match in front of thousands of spectators at the Gloucester
Festival of polo.
