David Artell / David Artell / 11 July 2008 / Leave a comment

Morecambe defender David Artell updates us on what he's been up to over the summer including a trip to Menorca, a night out in a comedy club owned by the stars of Phoenix Nights and plenty of hard graft on his new house

It's been a while since I've penned a column here on betting.betfair.com so I thought I'd update you on what I' ve been up to. Just so you know, I won't be writing a column every week for this website like last season but will still write one now and then, just to keep you in the loop!

It was a very uneventful summer in our household with very few matters of note. The weeks we've had off have flown by, though the European Championships have helped to pass the time. Some of the football played was quite breathtaking and it was a shame that England couldn't have pitted their wits against the best countries in Europe. For me Spain were the stand-out team of the tournament as I think they played the best football, which was proven when they lifted the trophy.

Myself, the wife and our two daughters managed to get away on holiday to Menorca and it was fabulous to be able to relax and not have a thousand and one things to do at home. The weather was fantastic and if you've got young children the hotel was exceptional as Bufo the Dog and the entertainment team had the children mesmerised for hours. Because we went on holiday later than usual due to us renovating a house (which I'll talk about later) I went for a run for six days out of the seven I was there. It was slightly more enjoyable getting my fitness back up this year. Usually we're back from our holidays and I'm running around Chester in the rain but this year it was sunny Menorca and some breathtaking views of the Menorcan coastline. I even had a running mate in Warren (our daughters played together in the pool and he was training for a half marathon).

We also got to see our friends and family back in Rotherham for a long weekend and it was brilliant to catch up with people we hadn't seen for months. We also had a night out at a comedy club in Sheffield which was compered (and owned) by two of the stars off Phoenix Nights. It was such a good night that I will definitely be going again.

It wasn't all 'R and R' though as the wife and I have renovated a house three doors down from our own. The renovation has gone well but there was plenty of long days where it was just me and the radio for company. I certainly didn't have to go to the gym to keep in shape because stripping a whole house of wallpaper gets the blood pumping around your arm muscles! Add that to the fact that I tiled a bathroom and wc, laid a patio and paving and laid laminate flooring in four rooms, and I was rather shocked that I'd put on weight when we got weighed on the first day back at Morecambe. Luckily we also had our body fat measurements taken at the end of last season and when we returned and they had remained the same, that meant that the weight I've put on is muscle rather than fat, so I escaped without a fine.

I have also been on the end of some rather revolutionary medical science which is uncommon even in the Premiership. Towards the back end of last season I really struggled with tendonitis in my Achilles. Having already had an operation on my left ankle, it was only a matter of time before I got tendonitis in my right. Rather than having an operation our doctor, Trevor Fleet, took blood out of my arm and re-injected it into my Achilles. This was repeated and although it was sore for a few days the transformation was remarkable. Before the injections my right Achilles was three times bigger than my left but the oxygenated blood has 'shrunk' it to somewhere near the same size. I'm certainly in favour of avoiding another operation on my Achilles as I got post-operative deep vein thrombosis and missed two-thirds of a season (instead of six weeks) because my blood had to be thinned and if I took a knock I could have internally bleed for hours!

Having been back in training for a week now I'm hoping that the Dr Fleet will be able to discover some other revolutionary new treatment that will alleviate the pain of pre-season running!

That's all for now but I'll be back early next week to tell you about the changes at Morecambe amongst the playing staff for the upcoming season and my views on the teams that will be right up there competing for promotion from Division Two.

Tags: David Artell, Division Two football, Morecambe FC