It’s very near as it happens.  This will be my 41st and most likely final blog piece on this channel as I am going hi-tech.  I’ve had a webcam on my new(ish) laptop and not used it until today – then I thought, how often can I be bothered to type a blog and when I do, how long does it take?  Match that up to how long it takes to make a poor quality video and its a no brainer….so…..

It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to my video ramblings via my new youtube channel.

- http://www.youtube.com/conker892

After about two hours of faffing around subconsciously trying to avoid going for the run, I finally managed to drag myself out of the house.  It was always going to be tough, I had not been for a while and the weather is not great – strong winds all day so far.

To make it slightly more challenging, I normally run with my iPod on – which today decided it was not going to work correctly, so for the first time in a couple of years I ran with only the sound of the great outdoors around me (mainly car noise).

I felt ok for the first 1km, but after this I turn into the wind which slowed me down a lot and I contemplated turning back – only realise that doing so would mean I had to run up a very steep hill.  Around 2.5km I started to feel it a bit, I always know when I’m struggling as the Nike+ software will give you an update on time and distance, which I tend to hit a little too frequently.

It really started to hurt on the way home so I took an off road short cut to save my pain, knowing that the distance would come up shorter than I would have liked – but that I would still record a decent run.

Nike+ has recorded the following for today’s run:

• 5.05km
• 27mins 27 seconds
• 5.25 per km
• 445 Calories burned

I could reel out a load of excuses, most are a bit feeble to be honest.  The main issue is that when I decided to knuckle down a few weeks ago I fired out a 6.7km run which took just under 39 minutes.  I was reasonably happy with this as a starting point and had all of the intentions to keep the runs coming, then I acquired an ear infection and it was game over.

The thought of going for a run today is less than appealing if I am honest, it’s currently overcast and windy outside – but I know full well that if I ignore it today, I will no doubt find an excuse for the rest of the week too.  So I am going for it.

My first attempt will be to equal the distance/time from my last run on 25th September.  From here I need to find a minimum of around 10km on top over the next 47 days.

Follow my progress on Twitter – if you want to sponsor me for the race, I am donating all of the funds raised to local charity Nelsons Journey.  Find out more here www.justgiving.com/traxionmedia

I love most sports and always find time to watch Golf when it is on TV, but I have been limited to the odd game of pitch and putt and crazy golf until now – neither are widely recognized as being the jewel in the golfing crown.

In July an offer came up on Tickles where I could buy a 30 minute Golf lesson for just £10 at www.chrispottergolf.co.uk, so I bought one.  Not too long later a further offer appeared on Groupon to buy a 2 hour lesson plus use of the facilities for a day at www.costesseypark.com, costing £49 for two people – so my friend and I bought that too!

Last week I drove to Blofield for the first lesson, which was with the man whose name appears above the door.  Chris took me to the final bay of the driving range, asked me to grab a 7 iron and have a swing.  I did, it sliced off the tee and into the wall – nice.  He was a very empathetic person and pointed out common errors which I was making.  Through the half an hour he looked to change my swing technique and put in place some fundamentals, unfortunately there is only so much you can learn in 30 minutes and so he departed as soon as he arrived, leaving me with 100 golf balls to fire into the wall.  I decided I had to make sure I stuck to training and learning, so booked a short set of lessons before I left.  

The intention was to head to the driving range every other day for a few weeks, at which point I would look to make use of the second offer that we purchased.  This didn’t go quite as planned, I found myself in the direction of the golf course on zero occasions in the following week.  

Out of the blue I took a call on Tuesday night from a friend of mine who I had not seen in ages, his wife was away for the week and he wondered if I fancied a round of golf.  At first I figured that there would be no point as I can’t actually play golf, but the weather was forecast to be good and we had plenty of spare time, so off we went.  

We had a voucher for a cheap round at Barnham Broom so I had to make a little more effort with my appearance, one brand new pair of Nike golf shoes and some trousers later – we were ready to go.

All in all I enjoyed the round, but with no talent and no experience, it took almost 4 hours to pay 10 holes – at which point I surrendered for the day.  My playing partner used to play off a good handicap and so offered plenty of advice and I  feel as though I learned quite a lot, but with so much to think about I think I over complicated the process which ultimately only lead to frustration.  Contrary to Happy Gilmore, you can’t run at the ball and belt it a mile and also the more effort you put in the swing, the wilder the result.  I can count on one hand the number of shots I played which ended up where I intended, I most certainly cannot count on one hand the number of shots I took per hole.

A frustrating as it was, I will stick to it for now – I’ve not had to learn how to do something for quite a well and that in itself may prove part of the challenge ahead.  Next stop is the visit to Costessey on Monday, If i have stopped aching by then!  Watch this space.

When I started looking through the events I had booked in for the month I was astonished about how little free time I would actually have.  A mixture of business and pleasure has taken away any full weeks I thought I may have and the holiday will now be September, even then I had to rearrange having found out that I am due to attend a wedding.

My agenda:

August 1st – Trip to Sidcup to visit a client, it is a good 120 odd miles from my house to there, so once you factor in the travel and meeting that is a complete day.  Fortunately the client in question does not drink so I can be sure that this is a straight forward meeting and then a drive home.

August 2nd – Norwich City open training session.  This was moved from the 1st which pleased me as I can now attend.  I may try and make this day the relaxing one and throw in some golf if the weather is ok. (Hard life eh)

August 3rd – Heading to London for a meeting with eBay.  In May I was fortunate enough to win £3000 as part of a fantasy football competition, the prize giving ceremony is being held this evening (free bar) so that writes off most of the afternoon of the 3rd for travelling to the event and probably most of the next day too!

August 6th – Norwich City v Parma in a pre-season friendly.  This is part business and part pleasure, Norwich are won of my clients and so I have to head along for a quick catch up. They have kindly supplied some tickets for the match so I am taking my accountant and his 4 year old son along.

August 10th – Business planning course.  I should have attended this last month but did not have time and most of it now may not be relevant, however I am all for attending events which might help my business – more so when they are free.

August 11th – Ironman karting – no idea what it really entails, other than go karts and so I said yes!  I went to the karting track in question a few weeks back with a mate, it was the first time I had been there in years and loved every second.  I feel the competitive nature of several blokes in go karts might make for an interesting afternoon.

August 12th – Travelling to Tamworth for the weekend to see the in-laws.  We don’t head up that way all to often as it involves packing up the dog and all of his belongings, frankly it’s easier for them to come to us.  However on this occasion the trip coincides with….

August 13th – Norwich City away at Wigan Athletic and I will be in attendance.  I would have gone anyway with it being the first game of the season and first game back in the big league for a long time, but the events below are preventing me from attending the first home game of the season so I felt all the more that my presence was required.

August 16th – Twitter for business course courtesy of Business Revolution in Norwich.  I have been to a couple of their courses so far, partly to allow me to make better use of social media as a business, but also as I feel it will be of use in future pitches with clients.  Social media is massive and growing by the second and so I definitely want my finger on the pulse, possible by placing my hand around it’s throat.

August 19th – The annual pilgrimage to Chelmsford for V-Festival.  I love going to V, I missed last year due to a close friends stag do but had been to the 4 years prior.  This year the line up is mixed but there are plenty of bands both new and old that I am looking forward to seeing.  With a bit of luck the weather will be nice too so we can enjoy a few beers in the sun.

August 23rd – Carling Cup 2nd round fixture.  This could either work out to be my first home game of the season or my third away game once August is over.  Norwich never tend to do particularly well in the cups, but this is one game we are guaranteed to be in – you can’t get knocked out before round 2!

August 24th – More free meetings and advice, this time from the Norwich enterprise centre.  These guys have been a massive help to me since I started the business.  They offer free advice, funded by the government and various organisations and are more than happy to answer any questions you may have or offer suggestions as to services you might need.

August 27th – Norwich’s second away game of the season, against Premier League big boys Chelsea.  I’ve been to Stamford bridge a couple of times before, we generally tend to get beaten and quite comfortable to be honest.  £50 for the privilege too!

August 28th – Great Yarmouth races.  My friend and I have been on a bit of a self imposed gambling ban during the summer to save a few pennies, this is due to come to and end shortly and we thought we would celebrate…..by gambling.  A day at the races in the sun is always fun, get the beers in an shout loudly and the wrong horse – what more could you want.

If nothing else at least this blog will allow me to keep track of all of the things I have lined up for this month to make sure that I attend!  Here is to a slightly more relaxing September when I will actually get a holiday.

The main focus is around what has been probably the busiest and most significant 2 months of at least the last 5 years for me.  In late May I left my job, the circumstances leading to this were avoidable but my hand was forced a little.  I decided to take the leap of faith, although at the time I was not quite sure in what direction I was leaping.

I spent some time thinking about next steps and it became apparent that there would be an opportunity to start my own business, ensuring that I could remain in an industry within which I had started building a career in.  This would be no easy task and I would face several obstacles should  I decide that this was my new path, but I figured I would have no better time than right now.

In June 2011 after some careful consideration, Traxion Media was born.  I had to call on a number of friends and contacts to point me in the correct direction, so many things are needed in order to even set up a business – nevermind run one, and a successful one at that.  After registering the company name, my preferred URL and a Twitter account I started speaking to potential clients about how we could work together.  The outline of the business was to be a Digital agency and consultancy, allowing me to work in all forms of online media as well as offering my input and knowledge to those who required it – and make money from this.  By offering this option, I opened myself up continuing to work with partners I had worked closely with in my previous role, without treading on too many toes at my old place of employment.

Within the first 2 weeks of launching, I had a couple of clients set up who I would offer consultancy too.  I cannot tell you how much of a relief it is to have a guaranteed revenue coming into the business so soon after starting.  I spoke to many people at the time and the same question always cropped up – what about money?  I knew that it was important to secure an income early on, meaning I could then invest in my business to give me a chance to flourish.

So what technology do you need?  I’ve no idea, I worked on this as I went along and started with a laptop and took it from there.  Amidst the excitement of starting my own company, I bought a house and so one room was then designated as an office.  As I sit here writing, I am quite pleased with how it has worked out – I would have loved to work for someone who offered me these facilities! I have a large desk with plenty of storage space, a new external harddrive to back up important files, a filing cabinet for old school paper documents – then the good stuff, Sky HD and an Xbox both viewed via the 32 inch flat-screen planted on the wall.

Being your own boss sounds great, I wont lie, it is – however spending a lot of time in your own company is perhaps not the best thing in the world.  My other half comes home from work and I have a million questions about her day, I look forward to meetings for reasons other than the possibility of making some money.

Networking is something I was told I should investigate, you cannot underestimate the value of knowing people – I didn’t get where I am today without a few contacts.  Networking events can be a little tedious if you attend the wrong one, too many legal eagles and accountants swarming around waiting to pick up the small new businesses (waves hand).

As we approach the end of July I can look back on foundations I have built for a possible future empire, I do so with joy as if it were to all end tomorrow I would be massively disappointed – but very proud of what I have achieved thus far.  I know there is a lot more to come too.

This past weekend I made the trip to Hamburg to watch the Haye V Klitschko “fight”. My day started at 3am on Saturday with a quick shower before driving to the airport. I met my partner in crime for the weekend and following check we started the weekend as any boys away from home would, with a cooked breakfast and a few pints in the airport.

The airport was busy as to be expected, most of those on our plane were heading to Hanover as we were to then catch a train to Hamburg and save a few quid. We were staying in the lovely Radisson Blu for the night following a bit of a cock up with their booking service which meant they cancelled our original hotel a few days before hand.

By this point the weather has started to turn a little, but I had seen it was expected to rain prior to arriving and figured my trusty Gelert jacket would suffice. As it turns out I probably would have been better off with a life jacket, wet suit and a boat.

We flagged a taxi down and assumed he would know where the thousands of British were congregated. First mistake. We were dropped in the middle of some “love parade” which was absolute carnage. After an hour or so of wondering around we decided that the best plan was to get another taxi, who again did not know where the Haye fans were hiding. He stopped to ask to policemen, with no joy and so in the end sent us in the best direction he could suggest and we were walking in the rain again.

By an absolute fluke we turned a corner and found several hundred fans hanging off of every lamppost, door and table they could find and so we set up camp. As the rain worsened we took the decision to dive into an Irish bar and spent several hours in their drinking with a plethora of football fans – all drawn to my bright yellow Norwich top. My favourite of them all was a Leeds fan, who spent a good hour venting his dislike of Norwich – which I finally concluded was due to the fact that we are better than them, a message which was not received especially well.

By now it was approaching 8pm so we began the first of mainly fruitless attempts in the rain to find a taxi to take us to the Imtech arena.

We finally made it to the stadium, which is quite nice as it happens. Having seen pictures of it before hand, I was expecting to be sat in the rain – but it was probably the only time between 8pm Saturday and when I left on Sunday that I was dry!

The beer was reasonably priced and the pretzels were huge, a must have if you ever find yourself in the area. Our view was good and I felt for those sat at pitch level, as the rain was coming down with no view to stopping.

I can’t say that I paid too much attention to the undercard, other than one fight where one of the boxers hand his gum shield punched clean out of his month in a Rocky style slow motion shot. Worth a watch around 4 minutes in for the best view http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDG362nTBd0<br

Soon it was time for the main event, or so it was branded before the night started. We kicked off with a farcical ring entrance from Haye, delayed with no reason offered to the crowd – event those in the ring did not seem to know what was going on. He then had to bustle his way through the crowd to get to the ring before waiting for Klitschko. We had fireworks and fanfares as the Ukrainian made his way to the ring, and following the anthems we were under way.

I have not watched the fight back since the night and due to several beers, what I recall may not be 100% accurate however what followed was a succession of rounds with both fighters occasionally swing a arm in the vague direction of each other, punctuated by Haye slipping/falling/diving to the canvas.

It was clear to me after 4/5 rounds that the fight was going to points and that Haye had no chance, what was surprising is that Haye didn’t really seem to either want to, or be able to do anything about it. No qualms from the Haye corner at the end then when the result was a landslide point’s victory for Klitschko.

With the rain hammering down we left the stadium and began the hunt for a taxi, one which would take us to many places I am sure we didn’t to visit and had it not been for the aforementioned Gelert rain attire I would have been literally soaked through. With that in mind, I cannot recommend the rain coat in question enough!

I finally got back to the hotel around 1.30 am and so after a 22.5 hour day decided I would hit the hay – I did more damage to my pillow by laying my head on it than Haye did to Klitschko.

Hamburg – Day 2. Following an almighty lie in, and a monster breakfast – the second day panned out a little like the second. The familiar tale of a lack of taxis and more rain.

Granted, you can’t choose the weather when you go away. You can’t make the person you want to win the boxing do so. With this in mind, I kind of tend to hope that the other bits fall into place so as to not find myself inconvenienced all of the time. Another thing which puzzled me was the lack of organisation with the transport; from a country known for efficiency I score you 2 out of ten.

In summary, Hamburg – a city of two “I’s” – Inconvenience and inefficiency.

I am not entirely sure how the idea came about, but first on the agenda of activities to ensure I remember the year of 30 – was a year of sport.  What I wanted to do was try and get to plenty of different sporting events which I would remember in the years to come.

It’s been a pretty good start to be honest, I clocked up Australia vs England from the MCG only 13 days into the year which is certainly something I won’t be forgetting in a hurry.  Not only that, was still in Australia when England retained the Ashes.

A few Norwich games followed until Friday 5th March when I found myself attending the o2 arena for the first time, to watch the New Jersey Nets v Toronto Raptors in the first regular season game to be held in Europe.  Having never really watched NBA before I was not too sure what to expect, but I loved every second of it.  NBA is typical of American sports, plenty of breaks in between fast flowing sport.  During the breaks they do their best to get the crowd active, if this isn’t enough you can drink beer in the crowd!

I should add now that it’s likely that there may be some tenuous sporting links throughout the year, the first of which will occur next month when I return to the o2 to catch some WWE action.  I have found myself now catching the odd match here and there to ensure I am up to speed on the night.

Asides from the sport I have personal objectives that I have wanted to achieve for a while and there is no time like the present.  So far in 2011 I have agreed to buy a house, due to move in around May time and managed to make some noticeable amendments to my credit score following years of trying to fix it.

2011 has been pretty good so far, so I am pleased there is plenty more to come!

I would imagine that given the direction of their season so far, you might find that the Ipswich fans are split as to whether they are ready to play us or not.   Is a red hot derby, live on TV and in enemy territory what is needed to fire the proverbial rocket up the backside of our Suffolk foe?  Or could City add more misery to an increasing pile of dissatisfaction at the gates of Portman Road?

Derby day is like a cup match, form doesn’t seem to matter.  The players feed off the crowd and the crowd are ready weeks in advance of the actual game, their voices saved for 90 minutes of hurling abuse at the opposition in the name of entertainment.  I remember watching a derby beamed back to Carrow Road on a huge TV screen.  Loads of people turned up and even though those at Portman Road couldn’t hear us, we screamed as if we were there.  Fat lot of good it did to be honest, we lost 5-0 which was quite comfortably my most disappointing derby memory.

Given the recent run of draws for Norwich, a win would be greatly received regardless of who the opponents are and looking at the table we could in theory find ourselves sitting just above Ipswich by the time the match starts – interesting given the fact that Norwich have not lost in the last 4 games and Ipswich have lost the last 3.

For the first time in ages more than local bragging rights are on the line.  Ipswich must feel that given the money spent so far and the man at the helm, they should be knocking on the door of promotion.  By contrast I would have said when asked pre-season that if Norwich finish in the top half of the league it would have been a great result.  A third of the season down the line and I have changed my tune, with a bit of tweaking Norwich will have a damn good chance of being in the playoff mix and games like this could prove the needed shot in the arm to bolster our promotion aspirations.

One thing is sure come 3pm(ish) on Sunday – I will still be supporting Norwich regardless and will still have more than a few unpleasant words to share regarding “them” from down the road.  Let’s hope that in the years to come, we can look back at derby day 2010 and remember every second.  The turn and shot from Chris Martin that gave us the lead, the dismay as with seconds to go until half time the referee gives a penalty to Ipswich in front of the Barclay, followed by the euphoria as the ball screams over the bar and is devoured by the crowd – but most of all, the electric cheer from 22,000 as the full time whistle goes and Norwich (hopefully) reclaim their throne as the pride of Anglia.

Yesterday was the 14th November and to most I imagine that simply falls into the category of the day after the 13th and before the 15th. For me it is a lot more significant and set my life on a course to where I find I am today.  To be exact the date I refer to is the 14th November 1984, I was 3 years old (in 4 weeks time I will be thirty).

On this day my life and that of those closest to me took a dramatic turn, the tremors of which are occasionally still felt today and doubt still will be for years to come.  On the 14th November 1984 I lost my mum who died shortly after giving birth to my sister, who in turn died shortly after that.  In the space of a few hours I lost the person who brought me into this world and the person who I would no doubt years down the line look to as one of my closest friends.

I can’t begin to describe to you the trauma that something like this would cause, not directly to me as at the age of 3 it was all a blur and to be honest I can barely remember a thing abut my mum other than from the odd photo.  I never had the chance to meet my sister Jennifer, possibly the thing that hurts me the most.

From the moment of these events my life course changed direction and I was to see my dad and grandparents fall out, only to ever speak on one occasion since then.  I also saw my father move from relationship to relationship, on each occasion I was seen as the baggage and generally overlooked.  Fortunately until the age of 17 my dad and I were inseparable, but my course had other plans and on 11th January 2008 his then (and still) partner decided that I was surplus to requirements and kicked me out.  He made his choice and that was the end of the inseparable part.

In 2000 I took the leap and went to Uni, funded off my own back (racked up a bucket load of debt) and in 2003 following a brief stint working abroad I found myself back in the UK – only having my father to call on for somewhere to stay, we had not spoken for 7 years until this point.  He obliged and the past was put behind us, well for around 6 weeks until his significant other again decided that my presence was no longer required.

Several years of ambling from job to job,city to city and girlfriend to girlfriend followed until March 2006 when I met my now long term girlfriend Claire.  4 and a half years later we found ourselves with a car, dog, cat together and I have been in a job I enjoy (and I am good at) for well over three years.

Happy ending?  I guess so, but having taken my annual moment of reflection yesterday I can’t help but be curious as to how things might have turned out.  I lost my mum at an age younger than I am now and my sister would have been older than my girlfriend is.  I missed out on the chance to tell boys to clear off and leave her alone.  I missed out on my mum dressing me up for Halloween and marching me around the streets.  I will miss them when one day I get married and they can’t be there.

What I hope is that by the time you reach this point you might have had a quick moment to reflect on your own life journey, during your travels I am sure that you have stumbled occasionally and possibly sometimes even wondered if you are walking in the right direction.  We can’t choose which path we are set to walk, but we can choose to embrace it and march with our head held high rather than shuffle our feet and look at the floor.

I live my life by two simply motto’s and so I will leave you with these words:

What doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger and seize the day.

Simon