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My body is just about recovered after a week-long cross-country ski camp in St Moritz.

I’ve done six of these camps now and you always get a lot out of them but the ski-ing breaks you, it absolutely breaks you!

There was more snow than I have ever seen before and you would look up the slopes and there was just powder everywhere. You would have loved to have just been out snowboarding all day but we had some proper work to do.

Ten of us went over with the team’s strength and conditioning coach, Steve Gent, and sports scientist, Paul Mullan.

I have my own programme and spent about 80 per cent of the time on my own so it was pretty dull for me but cross-country ski-ing is really, really good for endurance. It puts your whole body through it for 4-5 solid hours every day and your muscles are just screaming at the end. Especially for a windsurfer, where you are using your whole body so much in every race, that level of endurance training is invaluable. You can go out cycling for the same length of time but it’s only your legs that get the workout really.

I haven’t let up on my training since I came back from the Worlds in December. I trained everyday over Christmas except Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, just keeping the intensity up in the gym. This was always going to be the plan after the Worlds.

The Worlds were a strange one. I got everything out of it I wanted and tested all the things I wanted to test, but they are hard lessons to learn because no-one likes finishing 13^th at the Worlds. I do feel I’m in a stronger, better position for having learned those lessons but it isn’t an enjoyable experience.

I'm now in Miami for two weeks, training and then the Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta. There will be more focus on trying to perform at this regatta and actually approaching it with an outcome in mind, whereas the Worlds were all about the processes. I do feel in a positive position.

Christmas was lovely, we had both sets of family down but I can’t say I was too hands on on Christmas Day, I just sat back and let it happen around me! Thomas absolutely loved it. He’s two-and-half now and definitely knew something different was going on because there was a ridiculous number of presents under the tree and he had met Father Christmas about five times! He did wake up about 5am on Christmas morning but we managed to get him to go back to sleep and he ended up getting more presents than everyone else put together.

It is seven weeks until our second baby is due at the start of March. Sarah is doing amazingly and Tommy is excited too. He keeps saying ‘baby in Mummy’s tummy?” It is going to be a full-on time when the baby arrives for sure!

Nick

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