TRAINING
by Jim Emerton
In my youth and in pursuit of race wins at club and fed level Jean and I would take a flask and make a nice little trip of it, taking in some beauty spots like Filey, the Humber Bridge and Beverley - all in Yorkshire. Sometimes we would try and beat the birds back, as it became a human race. At home the birds, on open loft could maximise on their local fitness. We used local collective training facilities laid on by the grand old TED BOOTH, whose wife cooked me bacon and egg. We need more of these generous spirited people today. For sprint repeated tosses e.g at 25 miles on the assumed line of flight can do the trick. As I got older and more stamina, distance and marathon orientated, from an open loft I entered hens at 95 miles and cocks at 138 miles. However be careful as this is for conditioning on maximum feeding for long international races later. Now Nic and I start the old birds at approx 60 miles. The acid test of reality is a condition on the birds suitable for the tasks in hand. Experimentation will show you the way.
April 2013
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