It has been a few weeks since my last blog and it’s due to the fact I haven’t had the time to sit down to even think about writing one. So I apologise for the size of this one. I am currently writing this at Edinburgh Airport, extremely bored, however I did just bump into the band Rizzle Kicks in WHSmith. Which was pretty cool, although I was too embarrassed to ask to get a photo…anyways I will recap on what’s been going on.
Question of sport
Two weeks ago my mum took part as a panelist on ‘A Question of Sport Live’ show through at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh. I wasn’t too sure how the TV format would convert into a live show but it was a really enjoyable night. The audience got more and more rowdy as the night went on, shouting out answers etc and shouting out abuse but it was all just a good laugh. Afterwards we had the chance to go backstage to find my mum and take a quick picture with Phil Tufnell, Matt Dawson and a few others.
Also I took my mum and Howell to Nandos for the first time ever! Absolute weirdos…but they loved it. 10 points to Eilish.
SAF awards
The next weekend, Howell and me attended the Scottish Athletics awards dinner through at the Marriott Hotel in Glasgow. It was a really good meal/night however we left pretty early, as I was feeling pretty ill, suffering from a cold. I can’t seem to get rid of it. It’s been more than a week later and it’s still slowly killing me. Beechams sales must have risen in the last week purely by me buying them!
Roger Black was the after dinner speaker- extremely motivational and inspirational – we were lucky to get a photo with him at the end to which he recognised I was ‘Liz’s daughter’ straight away. I’m still adamant we look nothing alike. Unfortunately I didn’t win anything, although a big well done to Lynsey Sharp who scooped up all the awards.
Halloween/Howell’s birthday
My boyfriend’s birthday is the day before Halloween and so we decided to have a little fancy dress get together to celebrate. I hadn’t seen many of my friends in quite a while since being in hospital and so it was really nice to have everyone together again like we used to. I decided that because I was still wearing my massive moon boot, my only costume choice was an astronaut.
However I did not have the funds to replicate such a costume and so I went with a get-together I already had from previous years, a geek. The moon boot went pretty well. Again I was feeling quite tired and run down and so cut my night short and went home. Getting my blood taken on Monday to check what’s going on.
We decided to take my little six-year-old sister trick or treating around Carnoustie as she had never been. I said to Howell before we left that many folk will not answer their doors and most will just switch all their lights off in order to deter the children from knocking on their doors- he didn’t believe me, so off we went! The first 10 houses completely blanked us however we eventually found some very kind, children friendly houses who loaded my sister’s pumpkin bag full of sweeties and £2.50 in change. She was loving life.
Athletics wise
I have been retained on UKA’s development funding which I am extremely grateful for, as it gives me all the medical support I need in order to get myself fit and healthy again. I have been going through to Life Fit Physiotherapy in Grangemouth twice a week for the past fortnight. The progress, in just a few days, has been major and I could not thank them enough for David (the physio) work.
I am now back walking in trainers and normal shoes with no pain and the flexibility is increasing every day. I start back jogging next week- literally never been so excited about something. The current rehab program that I am partaking in, is just under two hours long, and contains tiny, mind numbing exercises but they have been making such a difference that I have been doing so, religiously.
It makes it slightly easier travelling all the way to Grangemouth, due to the fact we always stop off on the way home for a quick lunch at Costa. I have found, maybe the best tasting thing ever invented… Sticky Toffee Pudding Muffin – amazing.
I got my last MRI scan this week just to confirm how far the bone has healed and also got some blood tests to keep an eye on my iron levels to avoid any drop that may occur due to starting training again.
Loughborough meetings
This weekend I was down in Loughborough attending the Team GB Olympic athletes meetings. It was nice catching up with some of the girls again. The meetings were an insight into what things are going to be like at the Olympics, which was pretty good, although it did reinforce that the majority of people won’t have the chance to experience this. It made me realise how much EVERYONE wants to be there and how difficult it will be to gain selection!
Some of the main points were very basic, however the highlight of the weekend, for me, was an after dinner talk and a ‘question and answer’ session from the one and only Michael Johnson. He speaks and everyone listens, he has an aura around him that draws people in. It was truly amazing and I am very grateful to have had the chance to be there.
Nearly all the athletes had questions they wanted answers to and Mr Johnson answered every one of them with a detailed insight into his life. I couldn’t even raise my hand to ask a question in case he thought I was stupid or if I messed up my question! Haha..
Afterwards some of us were extremely lucky to grab a quick picture with him. My list of ‘photos of celebs’ is slowly getting more and more each month. This year I’ve had the opportunity to meet, Mo Farah, Usain Bolt, Carolina Kluft, supermodel David Gandy and now Michael Johnson – I’m doing well.
I also got a quick chat with UKA’s main physio Neil Black. He was also really happy with the progress of my foot and so I hope to be back jogging the start of next week.
Another important ‘point’ that one of the meetings was based around was Twitter. A BBC journalist came along to give us a quick chat regarding how some sports people have improved their profile in the sport and how some people have destroyed their own image by one, slightly silly comment. He went on to say how a small insignificant comment could be totally misconstrued by journalists to fill the pages of a paper.
Obviously it’s a massive worry to the more prolific athletes, but he stated that as it approaches the Olympics, more and more journalists are trawling through twitter all day trying to get a lead for the breaking story their looking for, and how it can be something so small. Social media is slowly taking over our lives. It’s maybe a good idea for top athletes to perhaps disconnect themselves from social media the weeks before the Olympics, however I don’t think my boring tweets will ever cause a stir. I am absolutely for twitter. I love it, and I’m so interested in reading about how celebrities/athletes live their lives and their personal opinions.
It has been an amazing but slightly busy last two weeks!
Coming up next… My 21st! And the Aviva athletics awards down in London on the 26th November.
Till then! X
well, I didn’t want to take it all away from them. I got to meet a few triathletes that had come down to say hi, and that was ace, hello to you all again. And thanks again to the BMW team and all the staff at David Lloyd.
