2011 August | Hitting The Hills

In the gym with Boris: Why I’m supporting DC Academy

Written by Phill on August 16, 2011

This week we’ve invited Boris from DC Boxing to give us a few words from the gym floor. Boris may be relatively new to the club, but he is already proving to be a great asset to the club. His commitment and constant enthusiasm serve to remind us why we are putting ourselves through 380 miles of Scottish weather for DC Boxing, so without further ado…

My name is Boris and I’m one of the boxers at DC Academy. With 35 years I’m too old and probably not even talented enough for competitive boxing, nevertheless and though I only started four months ago, I feel very much at home and accepted in the club. There is a really strong sense of togetherness in the gym, probably because everyone feels equally pushed to the limit after a hard training session, regardless how different we may be outside the club.

The challenges are always changing. Right at my first night I thought the coach would be joking when towards the end of the session he asked for 12, then 11, then 10, etc… press-ups and I could hardly do 10. It’s still not my favourite, but now I can do it. And while I just started the training to complement my fitness programme as a runner, I soon realised there is so much more to boxing than hitting a bag. It’s the precise orchestration of technique, speed and power combined with an incredible need for stamina that makes boxing such a varied sport. I think this is where DC Academy has a great advantage: Ivan and the other coaches want to make sure that we understand how to put it all together and practice until it works; they make it clear that just sparring alone doesn’t cut the mustard if you want to be a good boxer.

Boxing and boxing training can teach you a lot, also about yourself. Your limits but also possibilities. In that respect it is probably no different to martial arts. Talent and physical ability aside, some key ingredients are discipline, dedication, and commitment. Hard work. Self-control. Sounds familiar? Of course. Good old values we should try to teach children. It always makes me happy when I arrive at the gym and the Juniors are still pounding the bags. They might not want to see it that way (hey, we’re talking about a bunch of teenagers), but this is where I feel DC Academy makes a difference at a time when the councils close down youth centres and other facilities. The club gives these youngsters something to do, provides them with an opportunity to identify and overcome their limits, to become confident. And I rather have that happening in a bout than bullying others in the streets.

Boris' Shed (Boris not included)

The club’s current location is best described as a shed, and although that has its own charm to it, there is a lot of room for improvement. We’re not talking about luxury. We’re talking about necessities; a new ring, a few more bags, even gloves or skipping ropes. The membership fees are small to allow everyone to enter the club, and I think this is an important and positive difference to more exclusive venues. It is thanks to the great engagement of people like Phill and Heley that we can now plan ahead and save towards a new ring. I’m happy to do my bit, and I hope I could convince some of you to click on that yellow little ‘Donate’ button on the right and make a small contribution towards DC Academy.

Heley’s Wales Trek Report

Written by Heley on August 12, 2011

Last Thursday we set out on our final trip to test out all the gear we plan to take to Scotland and practice walking on the kind of terrain we’re likely to encounter. Setting out on Thursday morning and returning on Sunday afternoon, this was a good opportunity to learn important navigation and camping skills, and find out what walking in hilly areas is like, given the general lack of inclines around Cambridge. This was also my first time visiting Wales and it was nice to see some of the pretty parts of the area, making for a welcome change to the fairly monotonous scenery that we encountered on our trip to Ely.

Thursday

All packed and stocked up with food, we drove to our starting point at the bottom of Llangynog hill. The first part of the day, to our first break at the waterfall, was very pleasant with nice walking and views.

Things became a little less pleasant, however, as we headed away from well-walked footpaths and onto the heathland on top of the next few hills. Heather isn’t the nicest thing to walk on, and I ended up falling down crevices several times along the ridge. Things got better as we returned to marked footpaths and more even ground over the other side of the hills. Typically, I then twisted my ankle on the flat footpath, after surviving the heather mostly intact. Given my ankle and problems with Phill’s knee, we decided to change route and head for a nearby spot Phill knew would be suitable for camping. This turned out to be a sensible decision as we ended up arriving at around 9pm, just as the light was fading, so probably wouldn’t have made it to the planned camp before dark. It’s good to know that we’re willing to change plans if we need to, rather than just ploughing on regardless of the situation. We then quickly set up the camp and fire, cooked dinner and settled down for bed.

Friday

As I found out during the Ely trip, I’m not great at sleeping in a sleeping bag, and this was another restless night. A combination of the lack of sleep and going slightly off-course led a tired first half of the day. I soon woke up as the footpath we were following to Lake Vyrnwy disappeared, and walking along (and through) the river became the easiest path to take. We made it through in one piece, apart from some fairly soggy feet on my part, however, and rejoined the footpath for the final stretch towards the lake.

After a break for lunch, we continued along the route to our planned camping site. The afternoon walking was less eventful than in the morning, but enjoyable nonetheless. The route passed by quickly and we arrived at our destination by late afternoon, giving us plenty of time to set up the tent, make a fire and cook dinner. Camping next to the waterfall was great for the scenery, but not so great for the accompanying midges. Even with head nets on they were becoming a nuisance and any bit of exposed skin was being attacked, so we eventually fled to the tent for the night.

Saturday

Another sleepless night and the return of the midges in the morning meant I really wasn’t happy and struggled for the first half of the day. Being incredibly tired did have it’s advantages, though, and I managed to zone out and plod along for a large part of the distance we covered. Seeing the lake near the spot we camped at on the first night was a huge relief as it meant we had almost reached our destination for the day. The last couple of miles passed by in no time, and we both were very glad to arrive at the camp site, knowing that the hard part of the trip was over. The feelings of misery in the morning were (mostly) forgotten after an enjoyable evening back at the camp, complete with a campfire, rainbows, and no midges.

Sunday

After a much better start to the day, possibly due to a better night of sleep, or the knowledge that we were on the last leg of the journey, I was feeling more positive about the trip. A short descent back to Llangynog, followed by a nice relaxed walk with Karl on a route around a couple more hills with lovely views, was a nice reminder that walking can be enjoyable. This was a good end to a trip which I found challenging and tough at several points, and had definite highs and lows.

It’s fair to say that I learnt a lot this trip – both in terms of useful skills, and in what to expect on the trip in Scotland. And that there are lots of sheep in Wales.Pleasingly, I didn’t struggle too much with the walking, so don’t have many concerns about the physical side of the trip. Sleeping, or lack of sleep, is my main concern at the moment, but that can hopefully be fixed after getting used to being in a sleeping bag. Or by a week or so of sleep deprivation.

Just the last few preparations to go now, then we’re off on the real thing…

Trek Report: Wandering around Wales

Written by Phill on August 10, 2011

Last weekend Heley and I did our final practise trip in preparation of our 380-mile walk. We walked the best part of 50 miles across and two and a half miles up during three and a half days.

It was forecast to rain for four days. The forecast was wrong. Instead we had beautiful weather to complete a route that can only be described as insane. It took Heley until the fourth day to realise how crazy the route was. If we do decide to do another practise trip, I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be allowed to choose the route.

Day 1: Thursday

The first day saw us rolling up in Llangynog a little after 10 am, having been to the supermarket for provisions. Setting off at 10.30 was hardly an ideal start to the trip; getting there a few hours earlier would have made the day a lot easier, but setting off at all was at least a start.

For the remainder of the morning we walked from Llangynog to Llanrhaeadr Waterfall. Heley managed to twist her ankle along the way. The start we were making to Day 1 was becoming increasingly less ideal. The waterfall was beautiful, the sun was shining, the lady serving the tea was polite and the tea itself was wonderful. My first cup of tea of the trip was closely followed by my second. Little did I realise how long I was going to have to wait until my next cuppa.

We then started our first major ascent of the trip, first to the top of the waterfall, then onwards to Post Gwyn, a subsidiary summit of Cadair Berwyn. Wiki has this to say:

“The summit is the highest bump on the most westerly of Cadair Berwyn’s long south ridges. This ridge has a peat bog covering, with the heather being very deep. No well trodden paths have developed here and the summit is seldom visited.”

We can confirm that it is seldom visited; we can also confirm that the heather is very deep, and the peat bog is very boggy. We spent a long time walking along this particular ridge. Heley’s ankle was not happy about this; neither was my left knee.

Eventually we met the main road, where we could see some crazy mountain bikers dropping down the hill that we were climbing next. Over and down into the next valley, we dropped past Pennant Melangell and up into the hills again for our first night’s sleep under a tarp.

Day 2: Friday

The second day saw us walking alongside lakes, rivers and onwards to another waterfall.

We made a couple of slight navigation errors. One saw us walking a mile further east than we should have and the other led to us having to walk through a large stream leading into Lake Vyrnwy.

Fighting our way through steep slopes covered in sharp plants that seem to sting or bite and following that with stepping from stone to stone through a stream under the cover of trees made us feel like we were in a jungle. It was a very small, tame jungle that happened to be located in North Wales, but a jungle nonetheless.

Over the dam and into Llanwddyn we got drink fizzy drinks and I had a bacon sandwich. Heley had a mint feast. Fizzy drinks, bacon and ice cream – it was the start of a very pleasant afternoon.

We walked along the lake and through some fields up to Rhiwargor Waterfall. The sun was shining, we’d arrived at an intended location, and we weren’t feeling as injured as the previous day. It was feeling a little more like the trip was supposed to, and a little less like I had drawn a crazy squiggle on a map linking as many hills, rivers and valleys together as possible.

Then the midges made an appearance. Brilliant training for any battles with the great Scottish Midge, unfortunately our current preparations were not adequate. Clouds of midges surrounded us, to the extent that we were walking around eating in the hope they wouldn’t keep up with us. To be fair, I’d score it as even. For every bite out of me that they took I have probably either killed or consumed one that had stupidly landed in my smash or my tea.

The midges made for an unpleasant start to the evening, but at least we had our new tent to play with and escape to.

Day 3: Saturday

We’d done the bulk of the planned distance in the first two days, tomorrow would be an easy day, but this one was always planned to be short but hard. Heley started off miserable having not slept well, and then slowly got worse. The midges in the morning hadn’t helped, nor had the fact my route started with a steep ascent. Then a descent, then another ascent. This was followed by a loop around a river to a spot where we could recognise as being about half an hour walk from where we started. Then we got to walk through more bog and heather. Neither of us was very happy at this point. On the bright side, there were some absolutely stunning views up there.

It was all over by mid-afternoon, and we finally reached our camping spot for the night. We stopped and brewed a couple of cups of tea, we chatted, Heley lit a fire using the magnesium fire starter, we pitched the tarp all in time to watch it start to rain a little. The most stunning rainbow I’ve ever seen made an appearance, along with a second rainbow, which seemed to only be there to indicate how awesome the first was.

Day 4: Sunday

We woke up early, cleared up camp and set off in the cold. We had a short walk into Llangynog, where we were meeting a friend of mine before heading on yet another walk up a hill. He had said to knock as early as we wanted, he obviously didn’t mean half past nine on a Sunday morning.

The extent of my insanity became clear to Heley after we met Karl. Karl took us on a pleasant walk along a footpath and up a hill. It was a sharp contrast to the hard, winding walks that we were now used to. It was the most enjoyable walk of the weekend, mostly along bits of footpath, our rucksacks felt light, there was no heather to do battle with, no bogs, no doubling back, and other than a few ferns, and the ascent was plain sailing.

The craziness that had been our route through some of the hills and valleys of North Wales was pretty much over, and we got to enjoy the walk. I’d put us through a few very tough days, so it was a welcome reminder of how pleasurable walking through the hills on a sunny day really can be.

We had a few photos taken of us near the top, and wandered past a few caves and back down into Llangynog.

Summary

The idea of ‘train hard and the real thing comes easy’ has its pitfalls; for example, being demoralised, tired, and injured. On the bright side, we’ve come through everything really well. We encountered more than enough problems, from tough terrain and troublesome plants to issues with insects and injuries.

I can’t say I enjoyed every minute of the trip, but that was never the plan. We needed to make sure that we took advantage of this trip to fully prepare for our walk around Scotland, and I think we managed to do that. We coped with everything my route threw at us, and kept on going.

Next stop… Scotland.

Please remember to visit our Donation Page to help us to raise money for DC Boxing. More photos of the trip can be seen on our Facebook page.

Up a hill in Wales.

Written by Phill on August 5, 2011

Right now we are up a hill in the middle of North Wales. Just testing that I can blog from my phone

Interview with a DC Boxing Coach

Written by Phill on August 2, 2011

Ivan from DC Boxing has kindly answered a few questions about the club for us. Ivan is the head coach at DC Boxing, and has a wealth of experience as both a former boxer and a coach.

1) What is your role at DC Boxing Club?

My role is as a coach, along with being the clubs competition secretary. As well as whatever needs to be done.

2) How did you get involved in boxing?

I remember watching Joe Bugner box Henry Cooper back in about 1970 – at the same time my brother had just started training at the Howard Mallett – so it was not long before I started as well.

3) Why train at DC boxing?

I think the club is a good club – over the past year we have had over 26 lads box for the club as well as nearly every session is all but full. I think you are best to ask that question to all the members, we must be doing something right and I do think the club is on the up.

4) Describe a typical training session

As you know, a lot of the session is based around skill, developing technique and tatical awareness. Cardio work is always a part of the sessions.

5) What makes DC Boxing a special club?

The boxers – every single one makes this club special

6) How could donations be used to benefit the club?

Every club relies on donations and DC is no different. At this moment we are looking to expand the training area so we can have a second sparring ring and another training area.

7) Is it safe? The club trains a lot of youngsters, aren’t parents worried about their children being hit in the head?

Amateur Boxing has a good saftey record, along with a very good medical system. Yes boxers do get hit in the face , but they are trained to defend the punches and headguards are worn in sparring and competitions.

8) Do you have to be a fighter to train at a boxing gym?

No, anyone from 7 to 100 can train at DC

9) What do you think about the sponsored trek to raise money for DC Boxing Club?

I think the trek is a good idea, it will be a hard effort needed to complete and it will test your personal character, I wish you both a good and safe trip and I hope the Scottish weather is kind to you. It would be nice if you are able to raise enough money to purchase our second sparring ring – instead of a red and blue corner we will have the corner pads labelled with PHILL & HELEY.
Good Luck to you both