Post CWG - Put down the rifle, and back away slowly...

2014 has been a hell of a year: I've competed in my third Commonwealth Games, run my first half marathon, will run my second in three weeks, and am moving to New Zealand in four weeks' time. On the downside, despite my heaviest training schedule yet my shooting performance wasn't really up to scratch and at least partially because of the move to NZ I haven't been selected to represent GB at the next World Long Range Championships in America, and have been dropped from the Wales High Performance squad. Bummer.

Glasgow 2014 was a wonderful experience, made more so by having a legendary shooting pardner, fantastic coach and an incredible support network of friends and family. The downer of is that what did for me was probably the running. I now weigh 11 stone (70kg), down from 12 stone a year ago, and have a resting heart rate in the mid 40's down from the mid 60's a year ago, but my shooting jackets don't fit any more. I'd identified my physical fitness as the most significant area for improvement, following a couple of years of really hard work on my technique, so there's a certain irony here. Either way, there were still one or two highlights; smashing the 1000x shoot to get the 5th highest score in massively tricky conditions, including making a five minute wind change clean through zero to finish on a V, was great; as was coaching Chris to a damn good score in the pairs match (his ability to shoot fast and very, very flat makes this easy.)

I've had a month off shooting and will probably have at least another six weeks off before I pick the rifle up and start training once more. All my kit and rifles are coming to Auckland with me (assuming that the Indian authorities ever authorise me to fly through their airspace with them) and my entry for the NZ Champs down in Trentham is in the post. There's a brand new Creedmore hardback leather shooting jacket waiting for me in NZ which I'm itching to try. Hell, I may even video a few things and put them on YouTube. The only real decision facing me is whether I shell out the cash for hotel, flights and an individual entry to the 2015 World Long Range Championships at Camp Perry, Ohio.

Shooting career over? Hand me the gun, and ask me again...

CWG Day 5 - The Social Networking Games

Chris and I nipped to the range for a quick crack at 1000x in the morning and had some decent shoots; although the wind was moving about a bit and we decided to take it on with some success. Groups were more solid that they had been but still weren't perfect. There was a heavy mirage on the range with the strong sunlight and high humidity, which may have caused groups to be slightly bigger than expected.

The range finished, we hacked in back to the main compound and dropped off the rifles and kit bags before hopping a bus back to the Apex Hotel in Dundee. We needed to get on the coaches back into Glasgow at 14:45 for the opening ceremony, so quick showers and changes were required before a swift lunch.

Being a Commonwealth Games, er, athlete consists mainly of being alternatively treated like cattle then royalty. The Opening Ceremony is probably the best example of this. I maintain that marching for your country is the most exhilarating experience you can have, and the feeling of having 50,000 people cheering you on compares to nothing else of which I know; however it usually comes at the cost of hanging around forever and an age. It is always worth it.

With this being a home games, my wife Katrina and children Samuel and Isaac had made it up to Glasgow to watch the opening ceremony so Chris and I escaped from the village to meet up with them and go for a bit to eat. The only downside is that none of us know the city and we were approaching the stadium from opposite ends of town, but eventually we met up at the East Gate and went for dinner. Having been away for nearly two and a half weeks, it was lovely to see the family. I love to tour but being away from family (but not friends, very many are shooters) for long periods of time can be trying. With dinner over Kat and the kids headed for the stadium, while Chris and I headed back to Team Wales HQ in the village to meet up with the rest of the team.

The opening ceremony, well you can see that on iPlayer, and I even managed to make it onto the TV for the second games running. Bit of a late night though, finally made it back to the hotel for 2am to find well over 50 Facebook notifications waiting for me. My good friend Dan from Jersey had well over 100. An ordinary man with extraordinary hair.

CWG Day 4 - Haar, Haar de Haar Haar

To quote the great management guru Ben Hardy, miscommunication is the mother of f***uption. Chris, our manager Martin, and I had quit the range early the preceding day, so we never got to hear that there was only going to be 1 detail at 500x, so we never signed up to shoot in it. Fortunately, the range staff used a bit of common sense and allowed us to fill in after the first firers had finished and put five rounds down to get a good zero. The first was in a very slight mist, the third was quite foggy and the final of these shots was fired "using the force" as there was a barely-perceptible grey smudge in the distance which might have been a target.

The haar had come in with a vengeance just as the detail finished and we broke to move back to 900x. Previously, the sun had burned through the thick fog quite quickly, but that wasn't to be today. The match officials made the sensible decision to break early for lunch, and we sloped back to the athletes' lounge behind 1000x. After lunch, though it didn't look any better and we just had to wait. I had a good snooze behind the firing point and got a decent amount of reading done.

Eventually, some four hours later, we received the all clear and managed to shoot at 900x. I had a good core group, but with one or two low shots. Still, something to build on.

Back to the hotel. Dinner. Cheese & crackers snack. Bed. Sleep.