Gail Emms' Blog by Gail_Emms

Hello! Wow what a busy week?! It has been a little bit frantic, but it has been such fun. I am a little tired writing this and after, it is going to be a power nap for me! I don't know what I am going to do when baby Harry stops napping, but I will have to keep him napping for as long as possible so I can too! Last Thursday was really good fun. In the morning, myself and my producer for my radio show "Road to 2012" for BBC 3 Counties, Luke, went to interview and train with some of the MK Lions Basketball team. It was their day off bless them, but they turned up and I got to have a little play with them. I am 5ft 3. The average height with the MK Lions is 6ft 6. The tallest there was Adrian, who is 6ft 11. I have never felt so small in my life! I did a few lay-ups and then had a shot from the free throw line and managed to get it in first time which meant they all had to do press-ups! Ha ha!

To hear all the audio, you have to tune in to the show (today Monday 6-7pm), but I have to recommend basketball in this country. These guys really want to get the sport much bigger here in the UK and they are so talented. MK Lions get 1000 people watching, but I know so many more would appreciate it. It is a great family game to watch and the kids love it and just want to have a go. And then at the end, I managed to catch the manager Vince Macaulay do something very special - he scored from the halfway line, BACKWARDS! Pretty impressive!!

After the basketball Luke and I pegged it to Luton to meet up with Dame Kelly Holmes as she was opening the new University of Bedfordshire student accommodation. Dame Kelly really believes in inspiring young people through sport and trying to give everyone opportunities that they may not necessarily get. It was good to have a gossip and get her thoughts on the London 2012 games as well, which again will be on the show! I have also been to my 1st British Military Fitness session in 6 weeks. I haven’t been because of work or colds and so it was time I got my butt back out there and started doing some hard work! I loved it but it hurt a lot! It is great to hear realbuzz.com has teamed up with British Military Fitness as I am a massive fan and love being a part of it.

It has really helped me losing the baby weight and doing hard exercise in a group environment when I know I couldn’t push myself that hard on my own. If you want to try something different and need help to keep motivated and train through the winter, then it is perfect for you. I love the complete different mix of people, and everyone helps everyone out. I am aching a lot today, but it is all good and I know that next time I won't be! In fact I’m looking forward to next week's session already! I think....! At the weekend, I headed up to Sheffield to interview 2 girls who are come from the east of England and are in the GB wheelchair basketball squad. It was for the Olympic Dreams programme for BBC Look East and they are doing features on a number of London 2012 hopefuls to make the public aware of future local stars.

The 2 girls, Caroline Maclean and Amy Conroy shouldn’t, on paper, really have much in common. Caroline is mid-30's and nearing the end of her career and has been to 3 Paralympics. She had a bad reaction to a polio jab which left her in a wheelchair for life. Amy is 19 and got cancer in her leg aged 14 and had to have it amputated. She is new to the sport and has only just made it into the team. So, two opposite characters, yet they are the best of friends and have really helped each other, especially Caroline, who has been a mentor to Amy. It was so good to watch them train and then speak to them afterwards and fingers crossed they make it in the final selection for the 2012 Paralympics! If you haven’t had a chance to watch wheelchair basketball, really do. It is so fast and there is no being nice to each other on the court! It is frantic, physical and speedy and fantastic to watch.

And finally, I took Harry to his first football match! We went to Fulham v Spurs courtesy of Fulham, even though myself and my boyfriend are Spurs fans, and we had a great time. Harry was so well behaved and sat on my lap for the first half and every time the ball was kicked up in the sky, he said "ooooooh" and "wow" much to the amusement of everyone around us! He had a steak and kidney pie at half-time and then it was back out to watch the final bit. Spurs won 3-1 so a happy day for us, even though we didn't really deserve the win, but hey, a win is a win! Harry is now obsessed with footballs and loves kicking the sponge football all over the house. All I can say is that I am glad it is sponge, because he has quite a kick on him!! See you next week!