The 2018 GO GOLD Podium Athletes aim to blog about their competitions and training sessions at least once a month to keep LRS updated on their progress.
Clicking on an athlete will also give you access to their individual profile and updates.
I can't believe 2018 is nearly over, it's been a year of change for me, but I couldn't be happier. This weekend we held our Christmas display 🎅🏻at Robin Hood, it was great fun and the Sheriff of Nottingham attended. I was selected to perform an individual performance on bars, I was a little nervous, as usually when you compete other gymnasts are performing at the same time, but this time all eyes were on me... thankfully I did a clean routine and was rewarded with cheers and applause 👏🏻😅 Happy Christmas everyone, and thank you Go Gold for your support this year.
I spent the last weekend down at Waymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy trialing a new boat to campaign. The Nacra 15 is a mixed youth class boat and is part of the Olympic pathway. I sailed with Hector Bunclark from Devon who has been in the boat for around 8 months. We had a great time and I learned so much from the experience. We both worked so well together and will hopefully start a worlds campaign in the new year. This decision has been made due to my previous 29er helm taking a step back from competitive sailing. I am very excited to see where this path may lead me. 2019 is looking like a very different but exciting year.
I spent the weekend at Grafham sailing club sailing with Emily. it was one of her first events in the 29er so lots was learned and we had many promising moments. It was also good for me to get back into competitive sailing after a short break ready for a NACRA 15 trial in Weymouth the next weekend.
Last weekend I competed in the British Judo Championship in Sheffield, the last main competition of the year. I won 2 fights and gained 10 points towards my black belt. I just need 90 more points to get to black belt.
The other weekend I attended The British Judo centre of Excellence in Walsall for an England judo Squad training weekend.
It was the last training session of the year before the British Championships held this Month in Sheffield.
It was great to train with fellow Squad members and improve my techniques.
Now all the main races are finished for this year we have started winter training. My training is going really well at the moment. My club has been doing a 9AM training for club members only, we do gates, full laps and sprints up the start hill. Afterwards, we do a level 3 coaching session straight after which is more advance. I've recently had my wheels rebuilt on my 20 inch so I've been riding my crusier which has 24 inch wheels on it. I rode that for the first time since the british championship which I came in 7th on the crusier in the final. I've been going to the gym twice a week aswell, pushing my self every time, giving 110%. I've got my club race on saturday I'm currently at second place and hoping i will just as well, if not better on saturday.
This month i have been asked train with the Loughborough lightening development team. I am really looking forward to it as it will push me too play better rugby
Winter training is well into full flow now. Big strength gains are being made to create a strong engine for the next phase of training. Every moment I'm out on the bike is cherished because that's the part I enjoy most, so although bike time is limited at the moment I make the most of it when it does happen and it's great to remind myself what all the training is actually for. Only another 4 weeks until the strength gets converted into power and speed. Motivation, Motivation, Motivation!!!
Saturday and Sunday between 9 and 2 none of my competitors are on Instagram. They are all doing the same thing; they are out on their bikes and they are out for around 4 hours or so. They are all doing this - all over the country there are groups of teenagers out at 9 and getting back hours later - sometimes cold, sometimes wet but always tired. We all know that if you post something on Insta on a weekend morning you should be doing something else - you should be on your bike - you should be out training because if you are not your going to get smashed when the racing starts. If you are not training when you should be - don't post anything, because if there is something worse than not training is broadcasting that you are not training!
So i'm well into my winter training program now and i'm starting to feel more physically fit and stronger due to the hard work i'm putting in. Today i had my first indoor event at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. I ran a 60m sprint in 7.19 seconds which was 0.04 short of my pb. But i was happy with this time as its a good marker to start the season off and i feel confident that i will be beating that time very soon. I also ran a 600m race which i havn't run before recording a time of 1minute 31secs. The purpose of this race was just to help improve my stamina for the 400m. Although i wasn't really concerned about the time, i was happy enough with the 3rd place i got.
