Swiss Roll.

Phew!! A hectic few weeks now culminates in my final competition of the season here in Switzerland. I was at Crystal Palace last weekend but wasn't that pleased with my performance on a slow track. However, as always it was good to meet up with other racers.
I've been training hard and had some very good track sessions and some tiring workouts on the road. I'm feeling really positive about myself and feel in good shape to do well this weekend.
The journey here was very tiring, especially having to get up at 5am to get to Heathrow, but I'm now comfortable in my hotel room after having a nice dinner. I love coming to Switzerland because they really take their wheelchair racing seriously here, and they can't do enough to help the athletes who travel here. They really make us feel welcome.
Whilst I was at Heathrow a lady came up to me and told me I was her hero. She has had breast cancer and she said she'd seen the programme I did for BBC, 'My Story', and said how much it had inspired her. Imagine! I told her she was the real hero, my hero, for battling a dreadful disease and beating it. She really inspired me!
So, I'm going to train hard tomorrow and then go out on Saturday and really do my best to get some good times. Then it's back to dear old England to spend the winter training hard to prepare myself fully to try and earn a place at London 2012.

Have Wheels Will Travel.

It's been a busy time since my last entry and I seem to have done an awful lot of travelling, not to mention a lot of time apart from my family.
First of all I went up to Liverpool by train to take part in the Knowsley Disabled Grand Prix event. It was great to be back in the wheelchair racing fraternity and having the opportunity to blow off the winters cobwebs with some good competition. My only complaint is that it was too windy to get any seriously good times.
I barely had time to see much of my son Tim before I was packing again and on my way to Heathrow to fly to Zurich. I love going to Switzerland because it gives me the opportunity to pit myself against the best racers in the world, and it is such a beautiful country. It was great to meet again with one of the women who inspired me to start racing, Louise Sauvage from Australia, and also to do some serious talking with a Canadian racer called Michelle Stilwell. Mind you, the schedules were pretty gruelling, getting up VERY early to travel to the meetings, and getting back just in time to sleep. Anyway, it was well worth going because I managed to get A and B Standard qualifying times. I now need to repeat, and better my times during the rest of the season.
It's good to be back home. I've had a lot of time on my own to think and I feel I am in a much more powerful position thanks to positive affirmation, self belief, and personal motivation.