Friday 25 November 2011

Training in Florida, the Derby sports awards and a Paris match..

This last month can only be described as a huge whirlwind of changes and I am absolutely loving it!

First of all, I am writing this blog sitting next to a pool under glorious Florida sunshine, wearing a pair of shades and a good coat of Factor 20.


After coming back from racing in the World Cup Series in Berlin last month my confidence was sky high. I didn’t expect to race that well and managed to carry that form and confidence into this month’s training block.

Training intensity has really increased since the end of last month. We’ve tapered off the short, fast speed swimming and concentrated on the long hard slog that’s going to get me in the best possible shape for the Olympic trials in March.

I’m really happy with where I am at the minute.  This season’s racing has been good and training is going according to plan. Even though the countdown is well and truly on for the trials and time is ticking, there’s still a lot of hard work to be done.

Whatever happens in March I want to know that I’ve left no stone unturned and make sure that all of the i’s are dotted and all the t’s crossed. That way there can be no regrets.

Back to Florida....   Together with the rest of the training group from Loughborough, I’m here on the south-east coast of America for a four week training block. The motel we’re staying at is a stone’s throw away from the beach and although it’s a little windy at times, there’s wall-to-wall sunshine.

Swimming is a tough sport but times like these and racing at major competitions make it all worthwhile. Having said that, this is by no means a holiday.  In fact it’s the complete opposite. We rarely have a day off and when we do it’s all about recovery and no play.

Our base is an hour north of Miami and we’re training at the Pinecrest School. The facilities are world-class and the all-year-round weather makes it a perfect location to get away from the British winter! Getting away to warmer climes helps us avoid all the bugs and illness that start getting spread around during the wintertime at home. Each training session missed is a training session wasted.  By removing ourselves from that bug-ridden environment at home, we can minimise the amount of sessions missed through illness.

It doesn’t mean we don’t ever get small colds, but it’s a percentages game.  When 0.01% is the difference from an Olympic Gold to missing out on a medal, it’s obviously a game worth playing.

Out of the pool this month has been interesting to say the least.  I was lucky enough to be invited along to the Derbyshire sports awards and to co-present an award. It’s always a great evening and inspiring to see all the different sports people achieving great things. I was fortunate enough to present the junior sportswoman of the year award to swimmer Molly Renshaw, a 15-year schoolgirl who broke into the senior team at this year’s World Championships in Shanghai. A well-deserved award and of course it’s always nice to see other swimmers from Derbyshire doing well.

On a more personal note, a couple of weeks ago I took a little trip to Paris with my girlfriend, Claire. I asked her if she fancied a weekend away to London because I was going to Florida for 4 weeks: a kind of peace-offering for leaving her all that time, and for all the Christmas shopping she’ll do on my behalf!

I told her we’d go to London for a weekend and that I would sort everything out, maybe throwing in a few surprises along the way.  We travelled down on the train to London from Loughborough straight after training and everything was completely normal as far as Claire was concerned.  It was only when we arrived into St Pancras Station that I told her we were going to Paris for the night! She certainly wasn’t expecting that and didn’t believe me until she saw the passports, which I’d remembered to pack and hide.

Once aboard the Eurostar train I told her there were no plans for when we arrived in Paris and, to be honest, there weren’t. The only thing I’d booked was a hotel. I hadn’t planned what we were going to do, no restaurant, nothing. But I did have one other surprise up my sleeve!

It was around 5pm after we checked into our hotel, so we decided to get dressed up and go out for dinner. We had a wander around the Sacre Coeur, a beautiful church that looks over the whole of Paris, and when the sun began to set we caught a taxi headed for the Eiffel Tower.

Standing at the Trocadero, which overlooks the Eiffel Tower, we watched the sun fall towards the horizon and bathe Paris in an amazing shade of red.  It encouraged me towards my next surprise.  I got down on one knee and asked Claire to marry me! To my relief she said yes!

The next few hours were a blur as my fiancé and I walked the streets of Paris telling family and friends about our big news. A couple of hours later we found a cute French restaurant and celebrated quietly. The next morning we got up and had breakfast before making our way back to the Eurostar.

It was only a short trip to Paris – less than 24 hours – but I will remember it for the rest of my life. I was relieved Claire had agreed but also glad to share the news which I’d hidden from everyone for weeks. The only person to know was Claire’s father, who I’d visited to ask for permission before we left.   Wedding plans are underway but nothing will happen until after next summer at the earliest.

For now my focus is well and truly on the Olympic trials in March, and hopefully after that, the Olympic Games. Only once these are out of the way will I start to think about the Hog Roast!

Thanks you for your support. I hope you’re enjoying the journey.