Unwatchable

On Thursday 29 March I attended the London Youth Games as a guest of UK Athletics. I had to get up very early for an 8am start but it was well worth it to see so many young people participating in sport. I was with long jumper J.J. Jegede and canoeist Anna Jennings, amongst others, and I think we all enjoyed the experience. It was also great to hear that Balfour Beatty have extended their sponsorship of the Games to 2015, meaning £1.1 million will go towards funding grass roots youth sport in the Olympic and Paralympic host city post 2012.The young people that we spent time with in London all have the potential of being the best athletes they can be.To be successful, you must surround yourself with people who believe in your dreams.

My training has been going really well and on Sunday I competed in my first race of the season, the St.Clare's Hospice 10k road race and I was delighted to be the first woman home. It's a great start and now I need to keep working hard to improve my performance because the season begins in earnest this month.

I watched a programme on C4 last night and I have to say it made me feel really uncomfortable. It was called,'The Undateables' and followed three people with different disabilities as they tried to find love. The title is awful. Does it mean that you can't find love if you are disabled? I think not but will reserve a proper judgement once the series has ended.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears.

The past week has been very long as I put in all the final touches to my training programme before my races this weekend. It has also been the same week which marked one year to the London 2012 Olympics, and this is the time when all athletes who want to earn a place in the team start getting butterflies and know they have to work extra hard to earn the privilege of representing Team GB.
On Friday I couldn't sleep properly because of all the nerves that come with racing the following day. I wished a friend would call or text me and tell me to relax, and that it would all be OK. They didn't but I eventually drifted into sleep only to be harshly awoken by the strident noise of my alarm clock at 6am, an unearthly hour for me! I did my usual panic of trying to remember everything I would need, and just had time to gulp down half a bowl of porridge before my transport arrived and off we set for the journey to Stoke Mandeville. Eddie has been my regular taxi driver for long journeys for years and we joked that he would soon be made 'redundant' because I'll be driving myself as soon as my new car is ready.
Stoke Mandeville has always been special to me because it's really the place where the Paralympics was born. We have a lot to thank Dr Ludwig Guttmann for because it was his brainchild.
As I was warming up for my first race, the 100m, I looked around and breathed in fresh air by lungfulls to calm my nerves. I didn't even notice the beautiful weather we were having as I sat in my chair on the start line, hands shaking, waiting for the gun, but deep within myself I felt strong and ready for a good race. I was pleased to come second and with a good time, a season's best!
All in all it was a successful weekend, I was pleased with my performances in the 100m,400m, 200m, and 800m. It's been a great weekend but I'm glad to be back home and see my son,Tim, and I always miss my own bed when I go away.

Driving to Success.

It's been an eventful week for me. Training has continued to go well, despite the bad weather, and I feel happy with my progress. I feel I'm in the process of rediscovering myself in many ways and learning who Anne really is once again. In the past few weeks I've been wondering, should I let go of who I am now so I can become who I am meant to be with full potential? Time will tell.

Well, I passed my driving test and I can now cross off another of the things I want to accomplish in life. It means I can now have a lot more independance with my new found mobility and I no longer have to rely on other people. I've already been out car shopping with a good friend of mine, and I'm so glad he was there because I know next to nothing about cars, and it was good to have another pair of eyes with me.

OK,weekend, Bedford, England Athletics. Fantastic track, fantastic company but truly awful weather for athletics. I managed some wins, no good times but a win is a win. I also had a go at an 800m, not my distance really, but I have to say I enjoyed it and managed a Silver. I think its encouraged me to perhaps try the distance again at a future event.

So, there you go, it's been a fairly hectic time but I'm loving it but I know I'll be needing some time off just to relax and "let my body grow".

Training and Training and More Training!

After the celebration of a 1000 days to the 2012 Paralympics I suddenly realised that it doesn'r really leave me with a lot of time to get myself in tip top shape so I went straight out onto the road on Saturday and did my usual session. My route has quite a few hills, and with the bitter wind blowing in my face and my nose running it is really exhausting. When your nose is running and you're gasping for breath you realise that being an athlete is not very glamorous. I have to push up the long slope past Parndon Crematorium and that's when it is really hurting and my arms feel like jelly. Sometimes I feel like taking a right turn and getting it over and done with! What drives me to keep pushing to the end is my determination to do well. The best bit is when I start to make my way downhill and I can see the road to my house. This is where my coach always reminds me to work on my arm speed so no coasting for me, just more hard work.
When I get the chance to 'glam up' I jump at it and so on Tuesday I attended a fund raising champagne reception in the Natural History Museum in London organised by Save The Children, a charity that has touched my heart. It reminds me of growing up in Kenya and as a mother myself I know how important childhood is in forming who we become as adults. There were so many stars there I thought I was in the Planetarium instead!It was a great honour to meet the Princess Royal. I also enjoyed meeting Louis Barnett because he is a chocolatier and had designed a Christmas Tree and Santa made out of chocolate which was to be auctioned for the charity. Hasbro had a fantastic tree also, made of small toy ponies. But the most amazing tree was one made by Ethiopian children who have benefitted from being helped by Save the Children. It was made out of sisal and was beautifully coloured. It was a lovely evening and it made a nice change from training.

1000 Days to the 2012 Paralympics.

On Thursday I attended a fantastic event at Mark Hall Sports College in Harlow to celebrate a 1000 days to the start of the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. There were a lot of disabled children there to try out a wide variety of sports and they all seemed to have a great time. Who knows, we might even see some of them actually participating in the Paralympics in the future. Harlow has already produced three Paralympians in Noel Thatcher, the late, great, Isobel Newstead, and myself and it would be truly fantastic if we could add a few more in the years to come.
In the evening it was back to the gym for another session on the dreaded rollers. My muscles ached after a really hard session but I basked in the afterglow in a hot bath feeling really good about myself and what I'd achieved. I'm feeling really positive about myself and feel confident that if I can remain injury free I will do really well in the coming season.
Of course, athletes have Christmas to celebrate as well and my eight year old son, Tim, has to be the centre of my attention so I'll have to take a couple of weeks off to enjoy his pleasure and excitement at the arrival of Santa in just three weeks time, not to mention having to shop for the toys to put in Santa's sack! Come the start of the year it'll be back to my routine of training 6 days a week.