World champion rower Nathaniel Reilly-O'Donnell, from Durham, writes exclusively for The Northern Echo charting his build up to the Rio Olympics in 2016

HAPPY New Year! Like everyone, it’s been a busy few weeks. It was great to be able to come home and spend the week over Christmas in Durham.

Before our team broke up for Christmas we had some testing to see how things are going. It all went reasonably well - we had some testing on the water and then several tests on the rowing machine. Over the past couple of months I’ve had some injections in my back so I was good to demonstrate I’m capable of knocking out new personal best scores.

On Christmas Day I convinced my brothers, Ben and Paddy, to get their road bikes out and hit the road for 90 minutes. They’re pretty handy, so it’s a good way to get the heart pumping by doing something different to my day to day training.

Ben didn’t mention he’d only had a satsuma and a few chocolate coins for breakfast so he started to flag on the big bank outside Witton Gilbert. As any good brother would, Paddy and I just ripped into him the whole way home.

Training over the next few days was on the bike, running along the lanes near my parents or hitting up the rowing machine on their patio. I’d get my training done by lunch and then I’d catch up with family and friends over the rest of the day.

Just before I made my way back down to our National Training Centre I dropped into Fenwicks and bought a suit for my wedding in September. I grabbed a Greggs sausage roll, chatted to Arthur by Gray’s Monument and made my way back for training on January 2.

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BY the time you read this I’ll be just arriving in South Africa for our second altitude camp of the season. The camp will be mainly on the rowing machines and in the gym but we’ll also get a few long rides out on mountain bikes for a change of scenery.

Jess Eddie spent Christmas in Wales and heads off to Portugal for long miles in the boat. She’ll be training in Aviz where the men will head later in the season. There is no more testing for a few weeks, so it’s all about building a big endurance base that we’ll be able to draw upon when the big races come round.

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IF you're thinking of trying something new this year - to get fitter or just to try a new sport - then Google “British Rowing Club Finder”, bang in your post code and it’ll show you the rowing clubs near you.

There are lots in the North-East, drop them an email to find out when their next learn to row course is starting and give it a go. (All ages and fitness levels catered for so don’t worry about that.)

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A WEEK on Saturday will see another Head Race on the River Tyne. The Tyne United New Years Head will be Scotswood to Newburn with start times at 10:30am and 1:30pm – take a walk by the river to check it out!