2012 Olympics | my sports thoughts

BOBBY WHITE: ENJOYING LIFE IN FRANCE

Posted on November 25th, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

I have been enjoying a nice settling in period with my new club Valence HandBall in France. We are currently seven wins from seven in the league and doing well in the League Cup competition as well. I have had to settle for brief cameos with regard to court time as our other keeper Yvan Clot has been in exceptional form and as the saying goes, if it is not broken there is no need to fix it. We are playing again in the cup this weekend so hopefully the coach will give me a much needed run out.

I am happy with what I have contributed when given the opportunity and as long as we keep winning I can have no complaints.

As I said in my last blog, I was due to meet up with the GB squad at the end of October where we would face Israel in a two World Championship qualifiers, once in London and once in Tel Aviv. It was really great to meet back up with the squad. There was a clear improvement in the mood of the players since our last camp in Nantes back in August and everybody seemed to be in good form in training. We would be going in as clear underdogs as is so typical for us, but we knew we could get close to them if we performed at our maximum.

The first match in London was a tight affair with Israel eventually edging us to a 29-26 victory. We played well enough to have chances to equalise in the last few minutes but some poor finishing ended our hopes of another emphatic finale such as the one against Bulgaria last summer. I was given 20 minutes at the end of the match and performed fairly well, I was satisfied with my performance and thought I had given myself a good chance of more court time if not a starting place for the return match in Tel Aviv.

Two days after the match at Crystal Palace and we were on our way to Israel, knowing full well that they would be a much harder prospect on their home court. Their previous results at home made some interesting reading for us as they had managed to come close and even beat some truly world class opposition on home soil.

It was a daunting prospect but we had proven to ourselves that we could compete however we were no longer an unknown entity to Israel and they would be better prepared for this encounter.

The first 28 minutes of the match were fantastic, we really took the game to Israel and should have gone into half time two goals to the good, however an injury to Martin Hare and some schoolboy errors meant that we were tied at the break. That final two minutes of the half cost us the match. We came out after the break and failed to play with the same guile and purpose and found ourselves up against the ropes as a result. We slumped to a 29-20 defeat which in the scheme of things isn’t to be sniffed at, but when we were competing so well, we can’t help thinking what might have been.

For me personally, I was disappointed in losing as always but also because my performance in the previous match had seemingly gone unnoticed and I was rewarded with only the final five minutes of the game but even in such a short space of time, still managed to make a couple of decent stops.

It is now well and truly back to the daily grind in France. I am really happy to say that I have been joined by fellow GB team mate Sebastian Prieto. It will make life in Valence much easier for me, not only having a familiar face but also one that is fluent in French!

Next up for GB is a tournament in Latvia on Boxing Day before we head to Austria for our second phase of the World Championship qualifiers. I am really looking forward to that one as I will hopefully be meeting up with some former team mates from my spell in Bregenz back in 2009, but as I said for now it’s back to business and hopefully we’ll still be top of the league by the time I write the next blog!

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Bobby White, Handball | Comments Off

LAURA TURNER: BIKRAM YOGA

Posted on November 24th, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

I was introduced to Bikram yoga by my training partner, Lucy. I went along to a class with her when I was last in Arizona in April. I really enjoyed it but didn’t go back as we were racing and time did not allow us to. As the 2011 season progressed my lower back was causing me more and more pain. I had heard that Bikram yoga was really good for backs, so I started to do some investigation.

I found a local studio in Chiswick and decided to start practising in my break from training, to see how it was and if I thought it would benefit me when I started winter training. Well, I did not know what I was getting myself into. I can say Bikram has become a vital part of my training, not only does my back feel better but I feel great and honestly think Bikram has had a massive part to play.

The class lasts for 90 minutes and takes place in a room heated to 40°C and 40% humidity. There are 26 poses performed in the same order every class. You can make it as hard or as easy as you feel comfortable with, but it does take a few sessions to get used to the heat. I have heard stories of people passing out and feeling sick but neither of these happened to me.

I started off practising three times a week to give myself a chance to get used to the class. I started to feel the benefits immediately. Walking out of the studio I felt great, I had more energy and no aches or pains. When I started back into winter training I implemented Bikram into my schedule twice a week.

At first I was worried it would detract from my training but it has been quite the opposite. I feel, as an athlete, it is important to relax and switch off and this is exactly what you do in Bikram. It is 90 minutes devoted to you, your body and your thoughts. I feel the benefits physically, mentally and spiritually – I never thought I would be saying that!

Attention all athletes, Bikram Yoga can greatly improve your performance.

For more information check out the studio I go to in Chiswick, a great place to practice.
www.bikramyogachiswick.co.uk

Go on, give it a go and let me know what you think about it!

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Athletics, Laura Turner | Comments Off

JODIE STIMPSON: THE FEELING OF GETTING BACK INTO TRAINING

Posted on November 20th, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

So, I’m just going into my third week back into training and having completed two full weeks back I’ve already found I need to listen more. Sometimes wanting to get back into training too quickly is not a good thing and having Michelle there pulling me back into line is what I needed. I am extremely lucky to be coached by Michelle. She always has my best interests at heart and in mind, so my first few weeks consisted of me just trying to remember how to swim, bike and run again, and it’s amazing how much you forget in just two weeks. It really does my head in.

On the weekend I did my first hard 5km run at Cannon Hill Park. It was the first time I’ve done one of these park runs and I couldn’t believe how well organised they were. I arrived at 8.30am to have a warm up and the 5k started at 9.00am, the 5km went around the park with marshals all around the course, which was one big lap and one small lap.

All I had to do before the race was register online and then print of a bar-code to take to the race and that’s it, done and dusted, a free 5km race, I thinks it’s brilliant and would recommend anyone to come and give it a go, I’ll be a regular, that’s for sure.

So the 5km race started and me being me was on the front with all the dudes ready to go and I ran with the lead men for most of the first lap and then with the last 2km in sight, I died a death and finished 7th in a time of 17.35. It’s a good starting point and it felt great to be able to run hard after so long, even if I did die death at the end.

On Sunday I went to visit the David Lloyd Centre in Bromsgrove as part of the Oldbury Sytner BMW team who were there doing some fundraising all day. The staff at David Lloyd were doing an awesome job with their activities starting at 7am till 7pm , they were doing things like the male staff getting waxed, gym competitions and then the one I took part in was the swim.

The staff were swimming 26 miles, so I helped out by swimming two, ha ha 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.

So back to training, starting back in my third week and with the swim distance is repping up and some intense work is slowly being brought into some of the sessions, and it was a shock to the system when I went to Loughborough for the day for a run test, but Michelle got me through it.

I had to do a test whereby the speed increased every 3 minutes, which was the sub max test and then after that had a small break and then did the max test where the speed increased and increased until I couldn’t go anymore. It hurt like hell…and I loved it!

I was also up there for some bloods to make sure all was ok on the inside and then Emma Deakin gave me another session on the TeamFKPro, the glutes are definitely pulsing after a day in the Borough.

Hope everyone is getting back into their winter training ok and are not getting to cold yet. Not long till Christmas

Take care, Jodie

Xxx

PS I would like to introduce the newest addition to our family, my cousin’s baby girl, Maisie xxx

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Athletics, Jodie Stimpson | Comments Off

WILLIAM SHARMAN: BIG GAINS ALREADY

Posted on November 17th, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

Good morning bloggers.

I’m sending this from London where I have come to see my nutritionist and have some blood tests taken. Pretty exciting stuff because we will set up a nutrition plan that is unique for me. However I’ve been fasting since last night and I was so hungry during the night I found it difficult to sleep deeply.

Training is going well. I’m hitting the strength stuff very hard at the moment and I’m fully capable now that my wrist is fully mended. Big gains are occurring already and I am eight weeks into my programme.
January will consist of a month of warm weather training which I am looking forward to. The aim is not to have an indoor season because the time of year that I will finish rehab will be too close to competitions indoors.

However, my goal is the Olympics! If February comes around and I feel ready to have some indoor competitions I will do.

One step at a time and right now the focus is on getting strong.

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Athletics, William Sharman | Comments Off

EILISH MCCOLGAN: NEARLY THERE

Posted on November 14th, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

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

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Athletics, Eilish McColgan | Comments Off

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

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Athletics, Laura Turner | Comments Off

CIARA HORNE: POINTS RACE IN KAZAKHSTAN WORLD CUP

Posted on November 9th, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

My dad is very wise and when discussing whether or not to race the Points Race he said he had found this on the internet and thought it would be useful for me to read;

“Consider the cost of missed opportunities – the biggest risk that people fail to consider is the benefit they lose by avoiding high risk/high reward opportunities. The ideal career contains a wide range of job opportunities (some risky, some safe) that combine to form a relatively safe career with a high potential for growth. Taking high risk opportunities is essential because they offer the greatest reward: the issue is that without taking risk, you can’t exploit any opportunities. You can live a quiet and reasonably happy life, but you are unlikely to create something new, and you are unlikely to make your mark on the world.”

As soon as I read that, I knew I was going to race the Points Race. After our Team pursuit drama I was excited to race the Points Race as I wanted to use my good form and get rid of some aggression.

At European U23 earlier on in the year I had a pretty shocking time in the bunched events. I finished 11th out of 13 in the Points Race. The Points Race is one of the hardest if not the hardest race on the track and I’m sure a lot of people would agree with me on that one. Its go go go with not a lot of time to recover. If one person attacks and it fails another person counter attacks and it goes like that…. For around 80 laps!

I guess today was my lucky day… for numerous reasons.

At the start of the race all the riders were up on the track with their bikes. I was stood there like a lemon without mine. I didn’t have my bike because we were having issues with it making weight. Eventually we got it sorted and this was my first spot of luck as I’m sure normally I’d have been disqualified for wasting time.

The race itself was fast and I was glad to be on a bigger gear than normal so that I could follow any attacks and go with the fast pace. There were two crashes; both of which I don’t know how I avoided, but again, it was clearly my lucky day.

With 30 laps to go I followed the Australian rider Katherine Bates and went with her awesome kick which gave us a big gap from the rest of the field. Then it looked like she had sat up when I went through so I noticed the gap from the field and thought to myself, don’t hesitate (mistake I made at European U23) and went for it.

The score board was saying 29 laps and I remember thinking oh my God how am I going to get a lap on my own. It turned out after laps of trying and trying on around lap 23/24 I had a significant gap and was closing down on the field. Until I ran out of legs. I ended up taking the five points and then sat up waiting for the field to catch me for a few laps before sitting in and trying to make sure I got a good finishing position.

Overall I finished 8th which I was delighted with. Another step in the right direction…

Thank you to Brian Nugent for his help prior to and during the race. When I was away from the field he encouraged me to keep going and stay away and go for the points. Also a big thank you to Sinead Jennings and Julia Bradley for cheering me on throughout the race. Those laps on my own seemed to last forever so I was very grateful for the support.

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Ciara Horne, Cycling | Comments Off

CIARA HORNE: WE HAVE NO REGRETS

Posted on November 6th, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

I’m a massive fan of autobiographies, you name it and I’ve probably read it. The common theme throughout sporting autobiographies is the journey – the process in which athletes go through to achieve their dreams. So many of them think at some point ‘is this actually going to happen?’ or ‘is this realistic, am I kidding myself?’

But part of them inside won’t stop because they have that inner self belief that actually – it will happen, it’s just going to be bloody hard with a lot of highs and lows along the way. But as my coach says it’s the athlete who can deal with the lows and keep coming back stronger.

This week was essentially our last shot at London 2012. We needed a top seven result. The race itself, we allegedly false started. We didn’t and we had video proof that we didn’t. But we got on with our second attempt, everything was going well, we were very smooth, fast and controlled. When I went to the front for my second lap, I felt great, but noticed I was having to steer the bike more so than usual to hold the red-black (team pursuit line).

I didn’t think much of it – in fact I presumed it was due to the wind. Then I swung up to change – same change as always and ended up chasing on. I didn’t swing down like I normally do, in fact it felt like I wasn’t being allowed to swing down. I didn’t think anything of it, I got on and recovered behind my teammate Sinead Jennings. I then heard a noise and I thought ‘Oh my God Sinead is puncturing’ then I thought no she can’t be.

I thought maybe it’s her chain as I often joke with her about her chain making noise. Then before I knew it my bike was swerving all over the place. It was me who had the puncture. As soon as I realised it was definitely me I raised my hand and shouted puncture. Within a lap we had stopped.

We got straight on the rollers expecting to be back up at the end of the heats but after 10 minutes we were told we weren’t getting back up. I immediately burst into tears and my teammates were saying it’s okay we’re getting back up there so I got some energy drink and continued to spin my legs. Then a commissaire said ‘right you’re up’. We jumped up, ready to go and nail our performance. Then we were told by another commissaire that we weren’t racing.

That moment – where you suddenly realise your Olympic dreams are over is the worst feeling in the world. You feel lost, hugely upset and there is also a large amount of disbelief. It feels like a nightmare and you expect to wake up and it’ll be race day. We all kept our cycling shoes on thinking, ‘no it’s not actually over we’re going to race’. Then when the mens team pursuit started it was clearly not going to happen. We packed up and left.

I’ve learnt a lot about myself training with Caroline Ryan and Sinead Jennings. Sinead Jennings has become one of my closest friends. I am very lucky to have met her. I have a huge amount of respect for her after everything she has already achieved and her real fight and hard work ethic is hugely inspirational.
I personally don’t understand quite how hard it must be to be away from a 10 month old baby (as I don’t have a baby!) but anyone who is a parent I’m sure must realise how hard it is and for Sinead to have been away for weeks from her baby. As my mum said ‘what a woman’.

The other things I’ve learnt from Sinead; she never shouts about her achievements. She will say that she used to row…. She doesn’t actually mention that she was a World Champion in the single sculls. Or that she is a Doctor. Again I find that very inspirational. She is always looking out for me and is such a team player. I wish her all the luck in the world with whatever it is she wants to pursue next.
Caroline Ryan is my other team pursuit teammate. We have been teammates for the past year and have shared the highs and lows together. She has gone from strength to strength and is always pushing me on in training. She is very passionate about her cycling and is already achieving a lot after such a short time in the sport. I’m sure she will continue to excel at Elite level and hopefully we can be teammates again in the future.

Brian Nugent and Chris Davis have been coaching us and have been absolutely brilliant. I’m hugely grateful for their coaching expertise and continued support. Not many people would have stuck by us and tried to go against the odds, but hey, we can honestly look back and say we have ‘No regrets’ as we gave it everything to try and make London 2012.

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Ciara Horne, Cycling | Comments Off

CIARA HORNE: EUROPEAN TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS

Posted on October 26th, 2011 by mysportsthoughts

We arrived in Holland on Monday 17 October with three track days to get used to the Apledoorn track. The track itself isn’t very fast so despite our good form we needed to remember our splits were probably going to be .2 slower a lap and needed to hold a little back at the beginning.

Race day- we warmed up on the rollers, everyone feeling strong and good to go and do the job. We started off a little quick and finished in 3.32 – 7th.

If we had finished 7th and raced an almost perfect race I’d be happy with the result. But I know we’re better than that. Technically we weren’t as good as we have been in race efforts in training. Little mistakes add up and these were the sort of mistakes we cannot afford to make.

We know what we need to do and will come back stronger as we always do so watch out Kazakhstan World Cup…

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Ciara Horne, Cycling | Comments Off

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

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Athletics, Eilish McColgan | Comments Off