Gail Emms' Blog by Gail_Emms

Hello! Wow just two days until Xmas and I hope everyone has finished their shopping and is all prepared?? I'm a bit terrified but I have that 'oh well, nothing I can do about it now attitude and if they don't like it, they can lump it!' Or I will have it! Now there are times in my life when I have very surreal moments and my boyfriend Ed suddenly realises what and who I work with and that happened on Monday, when I opened my front door to find legend cricketer Michael Vaughan sitting on my sofa, having a cup of tea made by a very starstruck Ed!  Michael was filming a BBC documentary about retirement in sport with various people including, John McEnroe, Matthew Hoggard and Tony Adams and wanted a female perspective so he popped in to say hi and film me at home with Harry and Ed.

Harry, true to form, played his part perfectly, smiling and performing to the camera and then after we went to the National Badminton Centre to film some interviews there. I even got to hit some shuttles with Michael and bearing in mind, a cricket ball comes at him at 90mph, I smash at about 140mph and he didn't get many back that's for sure! Then my ex-badminton partner Nathan Robertson came onto court and hit some 200mph smashes at him and I think Michael was very happy when it stopped! It was a very interesting interview and Michael spoke about his retirement as a grieving process which I hadn't really about like that before, but it made a lot of sense. I'm looking forward to the finished programme and will let you know when it is on TV.

I have been doing a lot of British Military Fitness recently so I am feeling fit and ready for Xmas. Sometimes I come back home covered in mud and Ed just looks at me as if to say what have you been doing?! I start the session all girlie and not wanting to get my clothes dirty and by the end of it I am doing press-ups, sit-ups and squat thrusts, all in the mud. If you were thinking about starting up an exercise programme in January, and need a group based activity to keep you going and you want to be outside and challenged, then do look into British Military Fitness. It is not as scary as it sounds and if the guys put up with me whinging and whining all the time, then they can put up with anything! They laugh at me all the time as my leg strength is still pretty good and I can beat everyone on hill sprints, but my upper body strength is terrible! I am working on it... Anyway, try it out because you may just love it!

I was back at the Olympic Park this week for LOCOG and their "Get Set" programme and I went on a tour of the park with 2 families who had entered a competition and won with Netmums. It was a great morning and I learned loads more about the site and got to see the venues close up and it brought back so many memories of Athens and Beijing. It will be amazing and the winning families loved being a part of it. Afterwards we went to the LOCOG offices in Canary Wharf and had lunch while overlooking the 2012 site and I chatted about being an Olympian and my story. What I really tried to focus on was the whole aspect of role models and how important they are close to home and in the family environment.

I was very lucky, that my mum was a huge role model and major influence in my sporting life and how lucky I was to have someone like her in my life. So many young people are missing that and hopefully 2012 will produce some great Olympian role models for young people to aspire to be. And talking of my mum - she turned 60 last week and it's amazing because she looks and acts so much younger! Happy birthday mum! I talk about her so much in my talks and she has no idea..... Probably for the best!! Have a great Xmas everyone and enjoy yourselves and I will see you for the post-Xmas health kick! Bye!