Training block

08 December, 2008 | 01:12

Day 5 summary

Calorific intake: 5,800

Fitness: None (day-off)

Andy's day off began down at Virginia Beach, Key Biscayne; a beautiful location but when you're filming your insert for BBC Sports Personality, relaxation is on the agenda for the lucky few who aren't about to get repeatedly buzzed by a helicopter with a camera attached to it...

With the SPOTY contenders announced, and the programme itself just around the corner, the BBC were in town to film the last of the featured athlete 'features': Andy's.

This isn't your run-of-the-mill 10 second clip on the lunchtime news, but a high end production involving a helicopter and a BBC producer who mentioned the film 300 as inspiration.

In a nutshell, the filming saw Andy stood on the rocks in a style that TV types would probably call 'moody and contemplative.' Then, flying in from around the headland came a chopper complete with nose-mounted camera to capture a scene that was quintessentially Miami...

On a beach normally frequented by day-trippers with a picnic basket, a jet powered helicopter is a scene stopper: especially when it swings in to get a tight shot of Andy pinging balls out into the ocean...

Law enforcement were on the scene throughout, as part of the BBC's filming permit.

They wisely decided not to venture too far forward, and just as well. A particularly close shot saw a ton of sand blasted over Andy and the producer. Mainly Andy actually...

Filming done, the rest of the day was theirs to do with as they wanted. First on the agenda was a relaxing paddle in the swimming pool (although an underwater breath holding competition slipped in, typically), followed by an afternoon on the Playsation...

Ross and Andy quite fancy themselves as crooners, hitting 9000+ on a couple of occasions, and sweeping everyone in their path. It's safe to say that REM's Losing My Religion' has never been sung so many times in one afternoon.

The rest of the team arrived at around 6:30pm, but because of a breakdown with the US immigration computers, they didn't make it back until late.

They're all on the track tomorrow.