This month has been much busier than the last – though that isn’t saying much!!I packaged my parents back off to England and swapped them for some family friends and my athletics mentor. I felt like I was running a hotel!! I had a very busy couple of weeks with my mentor but very beneficial. I have decided to move up the distances and concentrate on the 400m and 200m; moving away from the 100m (however, I’ll still run some indoor 60ms and outdoor 100ms this year). So the time he spent with me was all about the step up in event and level. We started some 400m training which I must say gave my body a bit of a shock
but I’m doing better than I expected. I am enjoying the training very much and am greatly looking forward to getting stuck in fully. I’m currently on the base phase which will build me up some endurance. I’m busy learning how to pace myself – I’m sure I‘ll get there!! I’m too used to short sprint training!! I ran a 5km race too for something a bit different and of course to help me with my endurance. I must say it wasn’t the best experience I have had – it was an extremely hilly course which no one thought to tell me until afterwards!! Though I was the 5th woman home so that was an achievement for me!! And of course the free t-shirt and medal are always an added bonus!!! Haaa! We also did some psychology work which was very tough but good: I learnt a lot and have started putting the action plans into use. My mentor also took on the role of tutor for testing me ready for my PT exams – he was very good at it I must say!
In this period I also got my letter of acceptance to university!! I’m greatly looking forward to starting in October: I will be studying Geography and Psychology. I hope I manage to balance my studying and training!! The Uni is within 20min walking distance from home so that is very useful – I’m sure I’ll be powerwalking it some days!!I then had 3 days in between everybody leaving the flat and me flying back for my PT exams. I spent those 3 days with my head firmly in my text books! The first 3 days back home I spent on a course which had a theory exam too. We were only a small group which was good and I enjoyed the weekend lots. Fingers crossed I passed the exam!
The week was crammed packed as ever when I’m back in England – I hardly spent any time at home! On the Wednesday I had some biomechanical tests done which took most of the day. I went with my mentor this time which I found very beneficial and again another day I learnt a lot! At points they were chatting in technical speak and everything they said went over my head and they had to dumb it down for me to understand hee. We did a variety of tests, some of which I did last year too, this allows us to compare the results and tailor my training programmes accordingly. We plan to carry out a series of tests throughout the year which will again help tailor the training programmes as well as provide check mark points. I apologise for the fact I forgot to take any photos!!
I had my photo shoot whilst I was home too. I had a fab time!! It took us just under 5hours!!! It involved lots of clothes changes so I could get promo shots for all the sponsors and of my doing varying things. Including blocks, which was interesting as they weren’t actually touching the floor – by the time we had taken these shots my arms and shoulders felt like they had done a full workout!! The final photos will be on my website in due time which is currently under construction.
Whilst I was home I also had a huge unexpected surprise. When I was 10 we had a Ukraine waterpolo player to come and stay with us for 6 weeks and we became very close: much like sisters. We have managed to keep in contact on and off but hadn’t seen each other since then. The day before I was due to fly home my Dad got a phone call saying that she was playing in Manchester that very moment. At the time I was having a powernap!! So Dad came running to wake me to tell me she was in Manchester so we jumped into the car and drove to MAC. We arrived just in time to see the game: unfortunately they lost. After the game we spoke to her dad first (who is the coach) and he went to get her (she didn’t know we had come). When I saw her I ran to her and gave her a massive hug and she swung me round whilst saying “Little sister you grew big!!” It was like we had never been apart. It was fantastic!!!! At the moment we are planning to see if she can spend Christmas with us before her visa expires – fingers crossed we manage to sort something out!!This month has been a fantastically busy one and inspiring for me. Doing all the work on my training has made me even hungrier to achieve my dream of becoming a world class athlete. I know the next few months will be hard with starting uni and the change in training but I’m not one to be scared – Bring on the challenge!!!
