Athletics | my sports thoughts

LAURA TURNER: ONLY IN AMERICA

Posted on November 13th, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

So I have returned to my favourite place to train, Scottsdale in Arizona. I love it here so much. It is not my first visit to the USA and on my many trips over here I have noticed a few things that only happen in America:

The cockney accent is adored. Everywhere I go, people tell me how much they love my accent. I wish they could tell my mum that when she moans at me for sounding common. It is amazing, just start speaking and the English accent can get you all sorts of freebies.

Birkam yoga is a different kettle of fish over here. Even though Bikram yoga is the same 26 poses every time, the clientele differ greatly from the UK to the USA. In my first class here in Arizona I was next to a man with tube in his neck which was there for him to breathe though. In my second class I was behind a man with machine gun tattoed on his back. To confirm my first point, my Bikram yoga classes are free of charge for me out here.

Random people say hello to you on the street and you don’t think they are strange. It is incredible, people here are so friendly and it puts me in a good mood. I have to really stop myself from saying hello to strangers when back in London, could you imagine the looks I would get.

It gets to 21 °C and everyone is wearing coats. This temperature indicates winter and people get their winter clothing out. I was out today in a vest top and jeans and I saw someone wearing gloves! I suppose when it is 46°C in the summer, 21°C is relatively cold.

There is a drive through everything. From the ATM to the pharmacy and Starbucks! I wouldn’t want to suggest that my American friends are lazy but…

Watch back to back episodes of the same TV programme. I can watch four episodes of The Big Bang Theory back to back on TBS, two hours’ worth of Say Yes to the Dress on TLC – magnificent.

TV adverts that criticise rival brands in order to promote their own. I am sure there is some kind of law against that in the UK. They will just tell you how bad the other brands, name their rival brands are and why theirs is better, it’s hilarious.

I am sure there are lots more examples but this gives you an idea. It feels like home here, but it is different in so many ways.

Bye for now

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EILISH MCCOLGAN: MEETING IN LONDON

Posted on October 26th, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

Things have been a lot better this week. I am back walking about (almost normally) wearing this massive boot. I have even been able to start walking in normal trainers. However this has only been for the marathon distance of about five metres.

Went into university for an exam the other day and got a lot of strange stares due to my massive moon boot. It looks like an astronaut’s boot. To be fair, it’s not a great look. Putting weight through it, initially is quite sore due to the foot being so stiff and quite rigid. There is absolutely no flexibility in the forefoot or toes and so normal walking is a bit of a chore at the moment.

I have a meeting with a UKA Doctor down in London on Thursday. Hoping to fly down on the morning and fly home at night, bit of a trip, but I am sure it will be worth it. I cannot wait to get my rehab program started. I have started slowly replacing my pool sessions with cross training sessions. Things are going well so far, however my legs are already aching with just the slight increase in impact.

My last exam is tomorrow and I cannot wait for it to be over. As soon as it is done I will be free from University over the next few months to concentrate on getting myself back fit and healthy! I’m hoping to head over to Kenya for a few weeks at the start of January. I found out today that I have been included on UKA’s World Class Performance Plan. So happy to have been included on this program and I know that with their help and expertise I will be back running again in no time.

Currently as I type this blog, my boyfriend Howell, my flat mate Craig and his friend James are all upstairs playing Nazi Zombies. Listening to them get so excited over a game is hilarious although, I am a bit of a loser sitting downstairs on my own watching TV. I miss having girls as flat mates.

My little brother turned 12 yesterday, so a massive HAPPY BIRTHDAY to him! Although his hair cut is slowly becoming more and more Justin Beiber-esque. I have tried to persuade him several times to cut it but it’s obviously ‘cool’ for his age. Supposedly driving about on a tiny bike is also ‘cool’, he has told me this is called a BMX and is no ordinary bike as “it can do tricks and stuff” – I feel like an old woman, it’s horrible.

Anyways if you are reading this Martin, you need a haircut and a proper bike. Haha. My little sister on the other hand is walking around the house like a little Paris Hilton, also very funny. I sort of miss living at home, however I do live so close to them that I can still see them every day, but can leave as quickly as I entered.

In other news… my mum has a brand new website. Have a quick look on: www.lizmccolgan.com

Will post another little update after my meeting down in London.

Eilish x

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JULIA HUBBARD: UKBFF BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP

Posted on October 23rd, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

The day before the competition I headed off to Nottingham for the UKBFF British Championships, I got some funny looks on the train as I already had my first two layers of competition tan sprayed on!

After a seven hour journey, I finally got to Nottingham. Competition day started early, after dieting for two months, I had a big breakfast and headed off for my final tan and hair and makeup appointment. After training twice a day, six days a week, putting all the hard work in, it’s finally show time.

Backstage, I got my bikini and heels on, pumped up, applied some oil and I was ready to hit the stage. Round one on Saturday is an elimination, to choose the finalists for the second round held on Sunday.
It’s a year since I was on stage and I was more nervous than I expected! I qualified for the Championships almost a year ago, so I haven’t been on stage for almost a year and had forgotten how nerve wracking it is.

All the girls are called onto the stage and line up, all in fantastic shape. The competitors are split into groups of five and brought to the front of the stage for quarter turns, which gives the judges chance to see your physique. Unfortunately as my group was called to the front of the stage to do our comparison quarter turns, I slipped on some oil on the stage and lost my composure for a second.

How you pose on stage can make a big difference to how you present your physique to the judges and when I slipped, I lost concentration, I reverted back to some old habits. After about five minutes on stage, we filed off backstage and waited to hear who had made the finals…and when the finalists were posted up, unfortunately, I hadn’t made the cut.

Although I had sought specialist stage coaching and had practiced posing in heels every day, I learned a harsh lesson that the practice I had done had not made my poses subconscious, so when I lost concentration, I reverted back to old habits instead of automatically going into my correct posture. I also need to work on my confidence and controlling my nerves.

So now I’m having a couple of weeks off, and then I will speak to the judges, get some feedback on how I can improve and then I will make a plan for what qualifying competition I am going to peak for this year and aim to qualify for next year’s National Champs, with the aim of placing in the final six.

The day after the competition, I flew out to Germany to work with the Great Britain Youth Bobsleigh Team… more on that next time.

Posted in Athletics, Bodybuilding, Julia Hubbard | Comments Off

JODIE STIMPSON: PODIUM AT BARCELONA BUT NOW FOR A REST

Posted on October 16th, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

So, after Dallas I came home to train for two weeks before heading out for the last race of my 2011 season in Barcelona. I have done this race for the past two years and have been lucky enough to take home the gold. The race is not like any other race because we start at the same time as the men, and we get to race with the men for all three disciplines, so if I can swim, bike and run with the men then I am on for a good one.

Mum is joining me on this venture which is nice, a weekend away with Mum, but the down side for her is that for most my races she struggles to watch due to nerves. Mom will normally go on a walk somewhere, have a coffee in a cafe, walk around the expo, and then we struggle to find her when I’ve finished! However, this weekend I’m being tough as she’ll have no choice to watch – never mind Mum.

So I flew with Mum on the Thursday and we got into Barcelona late on Thursday night, so by the time we got to the hotel it was ready for bed. We both woke up in the morning starving. One thing I do love to do in Barcelona is go for a run in the morning just as the sun is rising, so me and Mum decided we could wait 30 minutes and go for a run before brekkie, and I’m so glad we did. The sunrise was stunning, just as I remembered it from last year. Bliss.

Race morning was an early start, up at 5am for a coffee and Powerbar (it’s all I can stomach at that time in a morning) and then down to the race start in the pitch black. I did a run warm up and went in for a swim but suddenly I had déjà-vu, LA in 2009 I went in for a swim warm up and the waves were so big I couldn’t get back out, and today was the same!.

I was in for my warm up and the race organisers moved the swim start, which in one way was a relief, but on the other hand not so good, as it didn’t give me time to claw back on Ainhoa Murua from Spain who had had a good start and was hanging on to the back of the men, and that start won her the race.

I chased as hard as I could into T1 seeing her leaving as I was coming in, and I did catch some time back on the long run out but not enough, she was with the lead pack of men and I was then joined by Nicola Spirig on the bike. We chased hard, but it wasn’t enough to bring back the main pack and we went into T2 with the leading pack having quite a big lead, but the race was not over.

I bolted out of T2 knowing that I was running well and pushed and pushed with Nicola never leaving my heels, I tried to drop her in the first 5km but then at 6km she came up onto my shoulder and pushed on, and I couldn’t push any harder. I tried to hold on but the gap grew between us.

I finished just over a minute behind Nicola in 3rd with Ainhoa Murua running away with the win. I would of liked to have finished on top of the podium today to make it three in a row but happy to finish my season with a podium, three Barcelona Triathlons, three podiums, but I’ll be back next year to get my title back!

Now I’m on a break. No training and it’s family and friends time. So my “to do list” will now consist of the following:

1) No getting out of bed before 6am
2) No going to bed before 8pm
3) Maybe having a few cheeky treats including carrot cake

I hope everyone has had as much fun as I have this year in triathlon and am looking forward to 2012.

Take care,

Jodie xxxx

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EILISH MCCOLGAN: SUCCESS IS FAILURE TURNED INSIDE OUT

Posted on October 15th, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

Found out that I have been nominated for ‘U23 Athlete of the Year’ at the Scottish Athletics Sports Awards. Think I actually may venture out of my flat for this, as it is 29 October and I would hope to be walking by then.

You get one complimentary ticket for yourself however if you wish to take a family member it’s an additional £40. Pretty lucky that my mum has also been nominated for ‘Coach of the Year’ and so it may be nice for the two of us to go along for a bit. Hoping that my boyfriend won’t be working and so he can come along too.

Lynsey Sharp has also been nominated and so will definitely be the favourite to win after she has had such an outstanding year. Both of us last competed at the Commonwealth Youth Games back in 2008 but then we both had a full year out the sport 2009/10 only to make a return this year. Very strange that the two of us have had the same time out of sport, due to injury, but both managed to recover in time to have a good year in 2011.

I have also been invited to attend the Scottish Sports Awards in Glasgow in December. Myself, my mum and my boyfriend are all going along. I can’t wait to get formally dressed up, three-course meal in a swanky hotel. It has been ages since I’ve been out for a really nice meal. Will post up pictures, if they’re nice.

On another note, a few years ago when I had a knee injury through growing pains, I decided to go over to visit Ger Hartmann. He was my mum’s physiotherapist when she was competing and has helped so many amazing athletes over the years. I was very lucky to be able to set up an appointment with him back at the end of 2009 and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

The only reason I am randomly mentioning this is because I emailed him the day before my surgery asking for advice. I was extremely worried about all the different outcomes of breaking my foot and I knew that Ger wouldn’t lie and I trust every word that comes out of his mouth. He has this collection of items in his ‘museum’ from all the athletes he has helped in the past.

Usain Bolts winning Olympic vest, hand written letter from Haile Gebrselassie, spikes from several Olympic and World Champions, even a top from Lance Armstrong! Anyways, after seeing loads of physios, Ger with the help of his second man (also named Gerr) got me back to training with absolutely no pain whatsoever. I don’t know how they do it – truly gifted people.

I am considering going over again if I have any serious issues starting back after my foot has properly healed. When I was last over he gave me a little poem called ‘Don’t Quit’, I still have it in my training diary so if I have time I will post it on here.

“Success is failure turned inside out.”

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JODIE STIMPSON: DALLAS TOYOTA CUP MOJITO MAGIC

Posted on October 3rd, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

I arrived in Dallas on the Friday from LA and I have to say that there wasn’t much training going on at all. LA took loads out of me and it was only on Friday that I started to get the feeling back in my leg. So out last days out in LA were pretty much shopping, cinema, chilling and having lots and lots of giggles with Team Dillon.

On Friday it was a day of travelling, where Hollie and I were up at 7am to get our flight and we arrived in our hotel in Dallas at 6pm, just in time for the Toyota Cup dinner, yum! I have to say the Americans really took care of us out there, they put on a big dinner for the pros and the sponsors and some of the other athletes, which was so nice of them and then it was off to bed.

The day before the race I did a little bit of everything in training, which included a swim around the course. What a great place to have a race, lovely warm lake, no wetsuits – lovely. We had an early dinner and then got an early night as the race was to start at 7.20am, just as I like them.
Race day

Well last night I felt the sniffles coming on, worst thing that could ever happen is to get a bloody cold before a race, but hey ho, nothing I could do about it. I felt fine in myself, so just thought I’d see how I’d go. I put it to the back of my mind, got up out of bed, had my coffee and Powerbars breakfast = 4.30am, ready for the race starts.

I cycled over to the start and did a bit of a bike warm up, set up transition in the dark (always good fun), and then had a little jog and swim warm up just as the skies started to brighten. It was time to get this show on the road. It was a cold morning, with all the athletes freezing at the start (so much for the warm lake). It must have been a sudden change as we were now diving into deep water and yesterday it was shallow – how random.

I was not warm enough, and couldn’t get going in the swim until the far buoy and by this time there was a group away. I was left leading the chase group with Lisa Norden, so not that bad of company hey.

Onto the bike and I didn’t see much of Lisa after that, the machine dominated yet again and was gone. Congratulations Lisa you are a beast (in a good way of course). My legs didn’t feel as good as last week on the bike and were screaming all the way, but I just kept on trying to push on and I just couldn’t wait to get off the bike, even though I hadn’t got a clue how my legs would feel.

As the norm, I bolted out of T2 and was on a mission and even though my legs didn’t feel great I felt I was moving ok and was able to put myself in the hurt box which is what has been missing recently (apart from LA last weekend). I started on the run in about 8th or 9th position and found myself running through eventually into 4th position where I finished.

I could see Annabel Luxford in the distance but ran out of road to catch her and missed my place on the podium, gutted about that, but still a happy chappy and will be leaving the USA in good spirits, and very grateful for the organisers of LA and Dallas Toyota Cup races, for hosting a terrific show. I’ll be back for sure.

So tonight I’m going to party and let my hair down (for a change) and then fly back to the UK tomorrow to have a few weeks at home before my last race of the season in Barcelona.

Thanks for reading guys, my season 2011 season is nearly over

Jodie xxx

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LAURA TURNER: A LOOK BACK OVER THE 2011 SEASON

Posted on September 28th, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

I sit here, almost four weeks since I returned from the World Championships in Daegu, and I feel I am now ready to reflect on my 2011 season. It has been four weeks of eating what I want, getting up when I want and sitting on the sofa for as long as I want. I have found over the years that it takes me some time to be able to sit and think about the season I have just completed. I was disappointed with my performances at the World Championships, I am now ready to talk about this and my season on the whole.

My 2011 campaign started in sunny Arizona with a few local track meets. I left the USA with season bests of 11.52 and 23.91, my quickest ever runs in the USA. I was then straight on to the Manchester Street Race within five days of landing back in the UK. A rainy day in Manchester but a fun event, I ran the 150m and finished 3rd in a rather slow time of 17.43. I put this poor performance down to jet lag and moved quickly onto the next race in Loughborough.

This is always a busy day for me and this year was no exception. I won the 100m in 11.35 (wind +2.4) quite pleased; 23.69 in the 200m, what a disaster; followed by a win in the relay. After these UK based races I was off on the road again to Regensburg (11.54 -2.9), Strasbourg (11.43), Stockholm (relay), Cottbus (11.37 +2.6), Velenje (23.59) and La Chaux du Fonds (11.30). Phew!

I then needed a few weeks at home before I competed at the England Championships. I feel I ran really well here, winning the 100m in 11.23 and the 200m in 23.47(+2.5). I was pleased with my 100m as this was the qualifying time for the World Championships and the Olympics next year. The 200m was tough as the wind on the bend was so strong, making it impossible to run a fast time. It was great to win the double, at this stage of the season I was the double double champion (100m and 200m England and UK Champ!) The next stop was the UK Championships and World Trials.

With one week to go, disaster struck! I have an on-going back problem which flares up every now and again. Unfortunately my back flared up exactly a week before the trials, I was unable to move for three days but my physio did a great job and I was able to do some strides on the Tuesday, a session on Wednesday and then race at the trials two days later.

I finished 3rd in 100m which I was disappointed with. As athletes we want to win all the time, realising this is not always possible I was content with the fact that I had probably booked my place on the World Championships team. Who said lightening doesn’t strike twice? The following day I was warming up for the 200m and I pulled my calf. I was so upset. I had managed to go all winter without any problems then had two major injuries in the space of nine days.

I was picked for the World Championships 100m and relay and left for the holding camp in Ulsan, South Korea. My calf injury had just cleared up but unfortunately my back was still causing me a lot of problems. I was in good spirits as I knew I was in good shape. My run at the England Championships had given me a lot of confidence.

It was the day of the World Championship 100m heats. Despite refusing an epidural for the past two weeks as my back was quite painful, warming up for my heat I was in no pain for the first time. I was drawn in heat three with the first three from each heat to qualify with three fastest losers from all the heats. The gun went and I got out well, which is not unusual for me. The girl to my left had run 10.96 this season so as she started to move away from me I didn’t panic. I kept relaxed and held my technique well despite being under a lot of pressure.

I crossed the line in the 4th place with 11.45. I knew it would not be enough to make it through to the semi-finals. I was disappointed but not upset. I did as much as I could, I did not mess up the race as I have done in the past. I just felt like I couldn’t get out of 4th gear, I had lost speed and sharpness. When I looked back at my training diary I realised I had not run fast since the trials and the calf injury. I had de-trained and lost the speed and sharpness I had at the England Championships. My body let me down when I needed it the most.

A bad performance at the World Championships leaves you open to criticism about your performance and preparation. A strong athlete is able to ignore any comments from people who are not involved in their athletics career. A strong athlete knows the circumstances behind all performances, they know what they are working on and their long term plan and are able to keep their focus entirely on that. There will also be some athletes who may read or hear these comments and are quite upset by them. This is a shame as no one performs badly on purpose and the fact is that the athlete is competing at the Championships as they are the best our country has. It is very easy to pass judgement on others when you do not have the facts. My philosophy is to listen to the people who matter (coach, family, close friends) and ignore the others, especially if they are ignorant, thoughtless and senseless.

So, what now? First things first I am trying to keep myself afloat financially, with no sponsorship or funding I am making appearances and doing bits of work where I can. If there is a year worth the struggle, this is the one. I am making plans for the next year with my coach, starting with training in Arizona for most of the winter. Any of you who have read my blog before will know how much I loved training in Arizona in March and April this year. I am slowly but surely getting my body back together again, I do feel a bit like Humpty Dumpty at the moment.

I am looking forward to the next 10 months, I start my campaign on Sunday. It is going to fun, emotional, tough, painful and full of sacrifice. I cannot wait.

Till next time

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JODIE STIMPSON: HAVING FUN IN LA AND GETTING RESULTS

Posted on September 27th, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

I arrived in L.A. on Tuesday at 9.20am, which was kind of strange because I left Yokohama at 3.20pm on the same day. Time zones drive me crazy.

The flight was OK, a 10 hour flight is a 10 hour flight, surprisingly, I watched a film, had some dinner and then tried to sleep for the rest of the flight. But anyone who has experienced a long flight knows that that is next to impossible to do this, unless you’re in business class or something. Which I’m not . . . yet anyway! I am however determined to get in there one day and not have to just walk past the exclusive curtain staring through at them thinking “oh that looks so comfortable.” I’m collecting the air miles so don’t worry people, another 300 flights or so and I should be nearly there.

This week has been brilliant, it’s been really relaxed and chilled, just ticking over in training and recovering from jet lag which has given me and Hollie Avil time to do a bit of touristy stuff which we don’t usually get time to. Normally we arrive in these amazing countries and sit in our hotel room. So me and Hollie went on a tour which took us to Hollywood and Beverley Hills. Check us out! And we also discovered The Olive Garden (one of the many nice places to eat out here).

Michelle and Stuart arrived on Friday and time seemed to fly by and it was suddenly Sunday morning and the race was here. So, Sunday morning came and it was an early start. Up at 4am to have a coffee and a few powerbars before driving down to the race venue, setting up transition in the dark (bit like Barcelona), and just as the horn sounded the run from the beach to the sea began, and the sun started to appear. Bliss.

I was a bit slow running in, but got in fine and dolphined in for a while until we were clear of the waves, but my goggles were fogged up to the max and I couldn’t see a thing so I had to depend on other swimmers to take me round the course, which is not a good thing and resulted in me going the wrong way, but it was ok in the end and I didn’t lose too much time coming into to T1. Out onto the bike just behind Hollie, Lisa and a few others but Lisa didn’t feel like hanging around, and showed her power on the bike and in 1, 2, 3 – she was gone, never to be seen again.

I was hanging in on the bike for the whole 40km, my legs were feeling like they were going to explode. I must have looked like a first timer, no time trial bike, no time trial helmet, oh dear, not the best look on a non drafting course. So coming into T2, I really did not know how I was going to be able to run but in and out safety in around 7th place, I bolted out of transition and just thought I’d go for it. I really wanted to test myself and push as hard as I could for the whole 10km, so that’s what I did and I am glad I did. I managed to catch up to Hollie and Annabel Luxford, and then found myself chasing Mary Beth Ellis who was in 3rd, I caught her just before the first lap which was 5km.

The run course was good with a bit of a hill, a small out and back, and then running down the steep hill. Before I knew it, I was running in 3rd and saw Sarah McLarty in front of me running in 2nd. I was pushing and pushing and heard Michelle shouting at me. I passed Sarah before we hit the hill and oh my God I was in 2nd, and this is where I stayed. I finished in 2nd place and was so chuffed, and to make things even better I had the fastest run split with a time of 34.56, I’m still smiling now, from ear to ear.
Well done to everyone who raced, LA is such a great event and BIG congrats to Team Dillon; Hollie Avil in 6th and Stuart Hayes in 4th.

Now onto Dallas next weekend, I’m having a great time out here with the team and look forward to racing again on the weekend. I could get used to this USA living!

Jodie xxx

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EILISH MCCOLGAN: D-DAY

Posted on September 22nd, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

Today I had my meeting with the surgeon; I was slightly worried as this decided whether or not the bone had healed, six weeks from my surgery. My CT scan showed that the bone has healed by over 80%, however it is still not fully healed at the very back of it, meaning I can start pool running/swimming and spinning every other day. This is a massive step forward from doing absolutely nothing however I am still not allowed to start walking again for another two weeks.

Once it is fully healed I can throw away my crutches and burn that ugly moon boot! I need to start getting mobility back into the ankle joint as at the moment the foot is totally rigid. I absolutely freaked out at any slight movement I made in case I damaged it, but now I have been told I need to start doing slight movements in order to regain the flexibility back.

My surgeon Mr Pilau showed me the first scan I had taken and I couldn’t believe the size of the break (obviously scaled bigger on the scan) but it was still a lot bigger than I originally thought). He then went on to say in his own words that, he could imagine “this type of injury in a motorcycle accident” rather than from running and that the “bone had splintered in several parts and some of the surrounding bone was like mush.” Due to this they inserted a metal plate around the bone to make it stronger, which I keep in my foot unless it disrupts my training. Yes, he honestly said “like mush” and bone definitely should never be described as mush! But I have followed everything he has told me to do and thankfully it is on the way to recovery.

The other day I had a little stumble coming out the car, attempting to carry a water bottle, strawberries, heat magazine and a bag. It looks as if the surgeon had removed my foot and put it on the wrong leg. Pretty horrible. It is looking better than ever now though! Mr Pilau told me that the metal plate is casted (originally) from America and so; it has actually changed the shape of my foot into what a normal generic foot should look like. I’ve had a little foot lift. But in all seriousness it is actually looking nicer than my other ugly foot.

I was hoping to be going on the UKA camp to Kenya this year but unfortunately my application has been declined due to my injury. I’m hoping that I will get accepted on the second camp which starts in January, as I really feel being away at altitude would kick start my fitness.

Aside from my injuries etc I have been busy revising for my university exams. It’s killing me, but they have to be done soon within the next three weeks. After these are done I have the full year out to concentrate on getting myself back fit and healthy. My boyfriend has decided to take over my room with some of his belongings, which I am totally fine about apart from the biggest poster he could possibly find… of Einstein! I have no idea, but against my will, it is on the wall.

On another note, I have been asked, as part of a group of athletes, by the Winning Scotland Foundation to take part in their Champions in Schools initiative. I am very excited to be helping out and can’t wait to get started. Think my little brother, who has just started high school, is already cringing at the thought that I may appear in front of his class. Apparently it’s not cool for your older sister to do such a thing.
Disadvantage of having a metal plate in my foot: I will beep through the security at an airport all the time. Advantages of having a metal plate in my foot: I can kick people and it will probably hurt. I will add to this list when I can think of anymore.

Anyways, not sure there will be much to update until my next meeting with Mr Pilau, who I will start calling God if this all goes to plan.

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WILLIAM SHARMAN: READY TO GET GOING FOR NEXT YEAR AFTER WORLD CHAMPS

Posted on September 21st, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

My trip to the world championships was turned out to be a relative success.

I arrived in Ulsan at 2300 hours local time, the team bus departed from Loughborough at noon the day before. That’s a lot of travelling. As I arrived at the hotel and was given my room key, I had no idea who I would be sharing a room with. Even though I often like to have my own room, it’s also nice to have a new roommate on these occasions to keep your mind off the big championships. Someone in the team who I often see around but don’t really know a lot about would be perfect. It was a lottery ticket and I started the holding camp with a winning number.

Abdul Buhari throws the discus for Team GB. He was thoroughly entertaining when I needed him to be and was also very laid back at the same time. At 6ft 4in and 130 kg Abdul seems like a gentle giant but having said that, you wouldn’t want to cross him – very much like myself!

Even though big Abs is older than I am, I proved a useful roomie to him also by sharing my championship and track and field knowledge with him. For Abs it was his first major Champs. What’s more, I have never roomed with a Muslim before, despite having many Muslim friends, so it was also very insightful and inspiring at the same time for me.

I kept myself entertained with a few books and my iPad – invaluable.

Well it’s been an injury plagued season and whilst in was at the world champs I was able to see my physio on a daily basis and my coach for that matter, both of whom had only seen me for bursts during the year. We put a good training block together and 5th place was the final outcome. It turned out to be a great ending to a very painful year.

I am looking forward to hitting the gym immediately and beginning my rehab phase.

William

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