Rocky

Last time I wrote I talked about myself going through a midlife crisis and signing up to step into the Boxing ring for Charity in aid of St Lukes Hospice. Well I did it......

Put me on the track in front of thousands any day, stepping into a Boxing ring to fight was the most nervous thing I've ever had to do, to say I felt sick is an understatement!! I did have good preparation going in as I had a nice massage before my warm up by Becky and then Dave talked me through what I had to do and then helped me warm up! When it was my time to step out I could have easily thrown up with nerves, I was about to step into the ring with another girl and we were to hammer seven bells out of each other!!

I entered the ring to Eminem Lose Yourself with my corner men Dave Smith and Dezzi O'Connor. As soon as the bell went for the first round adrenaline kicked in and so did the nerves and we went for it!! It was the hardest 6 minutes of my life, I was blowing come the final round, how anyone can do 12 rounds is beyond me I was dead on my feet I'm not designed for that haha. Did I enjoy it? Yes I did, would I do it again? Hell no!!
I'm a sprinter and i do not have the lungs for that. So what was the result? Well I WON ;-)

The girl I joined in the ring was 18 years old and I take my hat off to her, she had a great engine on her and I'm sure she could of carried on all night. It was a great night and everyone enjoyed the show and I'm sure a lot of money was raised for a fantastic cause. The next time I am asked to do the raffle I shall think twice about it haha I shall stick to training at Boxing not fighting I can officially say I have got that one out my system for sure it doesn't matter what anyone tells you to do when you step into the ring all that goes out the window when someone is trying to beat the living daylights out of you ;-)

Indoors Complete - So What's Next?

So last weekend at the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham was my last race of the Indoor season for 2011. My indoors didn't go as well as I would have liked but I still have some positives to take away from it. I ran quicker over the 60's than I did last year and my reactions from the blocks this indoors has been way off! Its been as though I have fallen asleep in the blocks every time. My reaction from the blocks at the UK Champs in my heat for the 200m was 0.311 what's that all about???? I found this very frustrating as I am normal a quick starter but this indoors it wasn't to be, and now it is something I have to work on and get right for the outdoor season and I'm confident I will.

I found the indoor season came around very quick and it felt like I didn't really have much of winter training base as the Commonwealths kept me competing later in the year than normal and then all of a sudden it was time to go again for the indoor season but I am now glad its over and I can get back to the hard work again. This summer season I plan to open up the outdoors later than normal and won't compete until May. I normally do a lot of low key meets to get me going and I start early April as it takes me a few races to get race fit but this year I am going to try something different and make sure I am in the best possible shape and good to go.

So what's next for me?! Well I have taken this week off from the track to recover, but it doesn't mean I haven't been working hard in fact I have been busy in the Boxing gym as for some stupid reason I have agreed to take part in an Amature Boxing match in aid of St Lukes Hospice. Its a Boxing - Wrestling night which takes place at the Plymouth Guildhall this Saturday the 26th!! Am I mad you ask?! YES! Haha plus I am starting to think maybe I am having a midlife crises at the ripe old age of 31!!! My thought behind it is its for a good cause, I was only meant to be going to draw the raffle but someone informed the organiser that I do Boxing Training and now I shall be stepping into the ring for the 1st time ever, nervous? MUCH! Ha. But I am sure its going to be a great night. I even have my own entrance music but I'm not going to share that with you yet.

I have also been asked on numerous times if its true I am going to be taking up Bobsleigh? All I am going to say is watch this space you never know what I may share with you ;-)

So that's it for now I am going to be busy getting myself prepared for my adventure on Saturday then after that who knows...........

week Of The UK Indoor Trials

So this is it.....its now the week of the UK Indoor Trials and now is the time where I get myself fine tuned and ready to roll on Saturday where I go in the 60mtrs and then Sunday I will step up the distance and take on the 200mtrs.

I've had a really good start to the week in the weights room where I managed to achieve 2Pb's in both my power cleans and bench press by 5k on each, I could have gone heavier but with having to race this weekend I didn't want to push it! I have not attempted any squats as I don't want to over do it on the legs and feel dead when I need to run fast. I've been fine tuning the block situation also and avoiding any dq's after my upset in Linz and I won't be making that mistake this time round. So the rest of the week will be about tapering down with some technical work and some fast runs.

I can't wait to race at the trials this year. I've not really been in the competitive mode yet this indoor season and run in a quality field, but this year I think will be the best 60m Women's line up seen in a long time. All the girls have posted some fast times and I can't wait to get in the mix and lay down my fast time which is long overdue in the 60's ;-) Then on Sunday I will do the 2's which I love running indoors, I shall be using the three rounds as part of my training and a bit of fun as the 200mtrs is not an event at the European Championships. It will all be about the 60mtrs and trying to achieve the 7.30 which is the standard for the Europeans, I'm going to have to pull out a massive lifetime best and run the race of my life but the good thing is I'm in the shape to do it!! :-)

On The Circuit Vienna and Linz

So I am composing this blog whilst stood in Check-in for my return flight home after racing in Austria. You wouldn't believe how much wifi and internet access keeps athlete sane when they are away competing its the first thing we look for on our phones and laptops as soon as you pick up an athletes head is down and the BBM is going constant! Life of an athlete ;-)

So my first stop was Vienna and this went ok I had a few technical issues with my runs which I need to address when I get back home, but a wins a win and I will take that right now. The good thing is I performed better than I did at the Southerns and I walked away in one piece. I opened up my heat with 7.43 but when I watched my race back I had no drive phase what so ever, and to top it off after my first stride out of the blocks its as though I pause before taking my next stride so this is a tenth I'm wasting!! Then onto the A Final which again I won but this time it was a very slow 7.46, my drive phase was slightly better but I just felt sluggish and thenb about 5mtrs from the line I felt my hamstring get a little tight so I eased up, but thankfully I didn't cause any damage like I did at the Southerns just had a tight back which was kindly fixed as soon as I stepped off the track!

Following Vienna we then took a bus ride down to Linz to compete. Whilst on the bus journey I watched Knocked Up this certainly helped the 3hour bus ride go quicker! Plus its a really good film gave me a lot of giggles and the rest of the bus who where busy leaning over to catch a glimpse.
Well Linz for me was a bit of a disaster to say the least I knew when I got up and went to the track and started to conduct my warm up I was going to go fast as I could feel it in my legs and mind set but when I got to the blocks it wasn't to be.....there was a disqualification for a false start, so it was back to the blocks again, it was really noisy when getting on your marks I thought about putting my hand up, then the starter said set, I went to put my hand up but I came out my blocks and got dq'd for a false start. I am a firm believer that these things happen for a reason it wasn't my time to lay down a fast time I am ment to be saving it for next weekends UK Trials, it wasn't my time to shine.
I am gutted but I am just grateful I haven't got injured I messed up but I now know that I won't be doing it again!! So now its back to the UK back to training and get ready for my Trials ;-)