Well, London was awesome! We had a really good time (mainly eating, haha.)

But the biggest event was gymnastics. (B let me down, so I went by myself.) Anyway, I got there, and would you believe there were only about three girls? The majority were boys. So I began walking on the beams and balancing and whatnot, just as a warm up, when I realise what all the boys are doing. You guessed. Parkour. No kidding, these kids were awesome. Then a couple of the girls started to join in and they were pretty good too!

I was joining in running and vaulting (using a springboard) over a crash mat. I had a really good time but at points I felt really intimidated - I was alone and new, and there were so many people I felt I couldn't screw up in front of them. But the instructors were lovely too!

I had a really good day!

Today is London day! Hooray.
I promised I would show S my parkour roll, but it had to be on grass because I'm to bony to do it on concrete. But don't worry - I will get there eventually!

Also today is gymnastics gym! I'm so excited . There's not much to say at the moment, since things are flowing pretty well. I'm going to adjust my diet a little bit, because I want to eat healthier foods to help with my parkour.

Okay, so tonight's practice was focused on getting the PK Roll down to a T. Using this tutorial (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=imXH7PqpfSY) I practiced it. I've been using a mattress for all of my rolls, so I must apply these techniques to harder surfaces. But tomorrow's gymnastics day, so I will practice then

Today I was walking home from school when I noticed one of these

and obviously I had to have a go at doing an underbar vault. And I did, and I succeeded. It was pretty slow, and must have looked horrendous, but I did it! Also I tried to do a forward roll today but I wasn't on soft floor and it hurt, haha!
Anyway, must be off.

I had to get up this morning to check I can still forward roll. And I can! Half day at school. I'm probably going to go for a run before I go into town with B.

London and gymnastics tomorrow!

YAY!
After watching many how to videos on youtube, I finally can do a forwards roll! Hooray!

Now onto backwards rolls.

So today's gym session was pointless. Well, it wasn't, but it sure felt like it. I had aimed to go for four hours with my friend, GB. But GB never showed. So I went in for two hours. Not four. I was seriously not motivated. Maybe it was because I'd been there the day before, maybe because I'd had school. Whatever.

Because of GB not showing, I kinda screwed up my routine. I did 150 reps on the Assisted Dip / Curl machine, using only 8 and 9 weights. The lower the amount of weights you use the more you are using your muscle instead of the machine and it is a good indicator of your strength. I did 50ish arm curls, 65 lying tricep presses, 40 tricep extensors, and 12 overhead dumbell presses. I also did my promised 15 mins on the treadmill, (to Girls Aloud and Sean Kingston) 5 mins on the boring rowing machine with it's stupid 'pace boat' and 20 on the cross trainer.

Before I continue, I must add that Sean Kingston is not my type of music. At all. This is due to my own sheer stupidity. On one of my previous blogs I made a mental note to charge my iPod. I didn't. Oh well!

Anyway. After my 2hr session I went downstairs to get changed. There was only one other person in the changing rooms (it's communal, with benches), and she was in the suntanning thing and couldn't hear me. So I lost my inhibitions and began jumping about around the benches and whatnot. It was successful (ie, I didn't fall off or over or injure myself) and I am proud of me.

I also bought a top similar to this :

but with a different pattern. It's made by USA Pro and it's a women's stretchy camisole. Well, that's not what they call it, but whatever.

Anyway I'm off to watch videos and talk to people. I might make a blog collaborating a list of decent useful links.

Okay, so this is going to be a quick blog before I'm off out to the gym. This morning I woke up and the area in between my shoulder blades really hurt. The pain's still there, yet it has calmed down a lot, and now I can squash it.

Now I'm off to the gym, and I've organised that little plan. I'm going to work through it. And I'm not going to overstrain myself. And I must stretch.

Arrivederci, I'll blog when I'm back. Bring on the caffeine and the endorphins

EDIT: Just got a message from a friend to say they couldn't make it with me. So now I'm going alone! Bah!

Okay, so this is my third blog post today, which just shows how quickly I am going to be accumulating them. Anyway.

After reading a lot of forums, watching a lot of videos and having many conversations, I have decided thus ; my rolling is crap. Even basic forward rolls are ineffective for me. This is a major problem. Because in parkour, most jumps above a certain height require a roll for a landing. It's pretty vital. Perhaps it is because of my leg : body ratio (about 3:1?) that makes rolling so awkward. I guess this is one of the things I will have to practice on Friday.

I'm going to the gym again tomorrow, and I'm going to pay specific attention to my back and upper body. I need to build as much upper body strength as I can, but I don't want to kill myself with it. I'm also going to incorporate some other exercise too. I shall make a programme for tomorrow.

-) Stretching.
1) 10 mins on cross trainer
2) 50 reps of chest pressing with 3 and 4kg weights.
3) 50 reps of alternating chest presses with 3kg weights.
4) 5 mins on rowing machine.
-) Stretching.
5) 25 reps on Assisted Dip / Curl machine.
6) 20 situps.
7) 10 mins on cross trainer.
8) 50 reps of alternating dumbbell curls.
-) Stretching.
(Repeat).

Now, that is honestly not overkill. I did a pretty erratic version of this today, although I didn't go on the rowing machine. That is a terribly boring way to work out, IMHO. That reminds me, I must charge my iPod. I much prefer working out to music.

Now. It is important not to forget why I am doing all of the training. The upper body strength will help me support my weight during PKing. I guess this is my version of conditioning. I'm not going to properly train till Friday, and that will be in the Gymnastics Gym. I have listened to advice given in that using gymnastic gyms to practice parkour can lead to over confidence, because you believe that you can do it in a safe environment, and that doesn't mean that you can do it - safely - in the real world.

Ah, it's 23:25. I guess that's bedtime?

Parkour : (noun) A recreational pursuit in which participants traverse urban structures by running, jumping, vaulting, rolling, etc.

Traceuse : (noun)A female participant in the recreation parkour.

Traceur : (noun) A male participant in the recreation parkour.

Free-Running : Free running is a physical art, in which participants (freerunners) attempt to pass all obstacles in their path in a smooth and fluid way. Free runners interact with their environment using movements such as vaulting, jumping, somersaults and other acrobatic movements, creating an athletic and aesthetically pleasing way of moving. It is commonly practiced at gymnasiums and in urban areas that are cluttered with obstacles.

The first thing you should know about me is I'm new to this. I'm young, and I'm inexperienced. Parkour is soon going to be one of my favourite things in life. I just know it. This is the first real blog that I've created and I'm going to try to update this as much as I can.

So, things you need to know about me: I'm female. I'm 16. I'm British. I'm also at school and I have a job. I'm athletic and I use the gym at lot.
Things you need to know to fully understand this blog: well, I guess I could do a whole other post on things like that, and the terminology and whatnot.

I might as well do today's update while I'm here. Today I had school, then I went to the gym. I did 140 sit-ups, 15ish minutes on the cross trainer, some running and stretches, and I also began working on my upper body. I used a machine that I love love, which is the Assisted Dip / Chin machine. It's one of the funnest machines at the gym.

Then I moved on to doing some upper body training using free weights and other weight machines. It was good. At the end of my gym session I had a little adventure around the sports centre. I found that we actually have a whole gymnastics club, and they have a whole evening dedicated to fun informal sessions there. I'm going to go with my friend B, this Friday. It will be good and since I haven't done any gymnastics in a long time, it will probably be hilarious, and painful. But I believe me practicing this is going to be vital to any steps I take in Parkour.

Okay, blog done.