Stormy Weather.

The weather has been terrible the past few weeks so getting out onto the road to train hasn't been possible. So, I took the training rollers out of my shed and had them transported to Harlow Sports Centre, along with my racing chair. Now I can just pop down there and do a session on the rollers any time I want, in the warmth! Mind you, its not an easy option because training on rollers is tougher than going out onto the road but I get a great sense of satisfaction when I finish a session, and its a vital part of my build up to the new season next year.
Today, Friday, I spoke at the launch of 'Rethink West Essex - Ethnic Minorities' at the Chinese Community Centre in Harlow. It's a charity dedicated to helping people overcome their mental problems and I was on the platform with local Labour MP, Bill Rammell. I was, as usual, very nervous before I spoke but the audience seemed to like what I said so I felt better at the end.

Journey to the Podium.

I had a very busy weekend with my family and then on Monday it was even more hectic. I had to prepare for a trip to Bristol for a modelling assignment then head for Harlow Sports Centre for a gym session with my personal trainer John Campbell. We had a good workout that was being photographed by Elaine Tribley for her project for the Team Essex 2012, 'Journey to the Podium' ,where artists are teaming up with athletes to produce artwork in the lead up to London 2012. I'm very excited by the project and also I feel very honoured to have been chosen. John is an excellent coach and he has really helped me to develop my upper body strength, essential for a wheelchair athlete. It was a great workout, and equally great to meet up and chat to Elaine again. She is a very talented artist.
My husband, Norman, picked me up and we headed for Harlow Town train station to begin my journey to Bristol. We had to get to Liverpool Street then head across London to Paddington. The journey was made more stressful because of a bus strike but fortunately the 23 bus was running and we made our way through the rush hour traffic and arrived in plenty of time to catch the 6.30pm train.
As usual, when we reported to the room where disabled people can get assistance we were told off for not giving them 24 hours notice. It really does annoy me that disabled people are supposed to be able to plan everything 24 hours in advance whilst everyone else can just turn up. Anyway, my journey was made much nicer by travelling with another lady in a wheelchair and I arrived at my hotel ready for a good night's sleep.

A Hard Road

On Saturday I did 10 miles on the road with lots of hills. I felt really good afterwards and know I'm getting into good shape for next year. I really want to do good times next season and improve on all my personal best times.
I had a rest on Sunday, then on Monday it was back on the road for another 10 mile push. On Tuesday the weather was terrible so I did a hard session on rollers in my front room. It's not ideal because I have to open all the windows and doors to get enough fresh air into the room so I can breath freely but that's what really hard training is all about. You have to suffer a bit if you want to do your best.
Yesterday, Wednesday, I went to the local track at Mark Hall school and did 4 laps as a warm up then did a lot of work on my starts. In wheelchair racing its essential to get off to a good start in sprints, and its in this area that I really need to work hard to improve my PB's. I'm feeling very confident at the moment that I can do this. I finished the gruelling session with another 4 lap warm down, then came home and enjoyed wallowing in a hot bath before having an early night.