The view from breakfast in Aviz, Portugal.
Yesterday was four months until the games; how quickly time has passed. Within our team the initial selections for our pre-Olympic races have taken place and there is a definite "preparing" sort of feel to training.
Personally, I've had a nightmare first three months of 2012. Previous posts have documented a tough January camp and illness. I'd thought I had put these behind me, but during preparations in Portugal for our National Trials I fell ill again. Very similar symptoms to before, and looks like it was a re-occurrence of a virus I contracted. It meant two 10 day stints of little to no training within just over a month - this is rare. If I have a day off I get agitated, so 10 days was an eternity (to put it into perspective of my normal "time off" - from the end of last season to the next we got two weeks and I started training again in the second week).
There has been a huge effort to try and clearly define what it is that has caused me to be ill. Due to the huge list of differing symptoms, it has made it quite hard. Some aspects are very similar to glandular fever, but the test came back negative. It meant I was sent back to the cardiologist for more investigations. Again, this came back as abnormal but not of serious concern. It has meant we (the coaches, medical team and I) have treated this as something very similar to glandular fever. I've been building up my training - altering it here and there for when I am too fatigued. It has been a lot slower than I would have ever expected, but I'm hoping for a break through soon so I can get back into the full programme. Until I'm ready to fully train and race I'm not ready to be selected for anything. As I said at the start of the post, the Olympics are only four months away - I fear that time is ticking too fast.
Beyond rowing, all is well. My granny is in fine form, showing plastic Paddies how the real Irish do it on St Patrick's Day! My sister Charlotte is off travelling South Asia with her boyfriend Mark; I've been getting regular photo updates of random Vietnamese streets and Mark's burnt neck #livingthedream. My dad has been looking for a folding bike on Ebay, says it will save him £££'s in parking for work - what he saves in cash he will lose in dignity. My brother Paddy had a staring role in a Tyne Tees TV report on my school boat club (St Leonard's R.C. Comp. Durham), you can watch it here. My brother Ben is on training camp in Portugal with our boat club (University of London). UL had a great Eights Head (the most important time trial race on the domestic calendar) and Ben stroked the second Eight to a strong row, just missing out on winning their category. My little sister Emily has been on a creative streak, her latest creation was "Jeggie J" for the school egg decorating competition.
A final nod to my mum. A couple of weekends ago was Mother's Day, I'm sure she was felt the house was empty with only two of my brothers and sisters at home (I'm one of five). She gets soppy over the smallest of things, so I'll keep this short. She is a great mum who has, is and always will be there for all five of us. She's a highly respected teacher turned headmistress and we are all very proud of her!
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