Oops, well, Weebly says I haven't written in two months - sorry! AND a lot has happened that I should really have blogged about. Olympic Selection. The British Open. The Scottish Championships. To be honest, I figure I spam everyone's newsfeed on Facebook enough that it keeps a very image-centred commentary going. But I really haven't done the events justice, for how much of an impact they had on me as an athlete. My excuse is fourth year of uni - coming back from London to finishing the first half of my final year was kind of like jumping out of a train, into an overwhelming pile of books, articles and web links.
Its impossible to summarise an event as high and low as Olympic selection in a few sentences. But I came out of the race absolutely happy that I had given 100% in my race prep, in my mental attitude, and performance. Sure, there were mistakes in my runs. But its canoe slalom. Its about learning from those mistakes and seeing where that puts you. I came away from those two weeks in London absolutely tired, but absolutely ready to start winter training. Because I can see what I have to do.
Quite often in the lead up to selection, and probably because I was being so obnoxiously public with regular photos and updates on everything in MY canoeing world, I would get messages from university friends. Just being lovely and saying good luck, but also commenting on how they were unable to see how I fit in my degree at the same time. To be fair, when I got back from two weeks away in London, the misty wall of panic set in when I realised how much work I had left to do! But it has never seemed unmanageable to me. In fact I would say I'm most productive at uni, and have the highest quality of training, when I'm doing both at the same time. This might be the curse of the obsessive compulsive; I'm actually not happy when I don't have something to do. But I think the calm, logical attitude of my university mindset benefits my canoeing, and the competitive, driven mindset of my canoeing does the same for university. Take one away and the whole system seems to collapse!
Its impossible to summarise an event as high and low as Olympic selection in a few sentences. But I came out of the race absolutely happy that I had given 100% in my race prep, in my mental attitude, and performance. Sure, there were mistakes in my runs. But its canoe slalom. Its about learning from those mistakes and seeing where that puts you. I came away from those two weeks in London absolutely tired, but absolutely ready to start winter training. Because I can see what I have to do.
Quite often in the lead up to selection, and probably because I was being so obnoxiously public with regular photos and updates on everything in MY canoeing world, I would get messages from university friends. Just being lovely and saying good luck, but also commenting on how they were unable to see how I fit in my degree at the same time. To be fair, when I got back from two weeks away in London, the misty wall of panic set in when I realised how much work I had left to do! But it has never seemed unmanageable to me. In fact I would say I'm most productive at uni, and have the highest quality of training, when I'm doing both at the same time. This might be the curse of the obsessive compulsive; I'm actually not happy when I don't have something to do. But I think the calm, logical attitude of my university mindset benefits my canoeing, and the competitive, driven mindset of my canoeing does the same for university. Take one away and the whole system seems to collapse!
Now its the lead up to Christmas, I have handed in my final assignments before I begin my dissertation, and winter training is in full swing. Building an engine like the one needed for canoe slalom is a long, cold experience. But I just came out of my best season so far. And I can see the mark which other people have set, with the difference that this year, I can clearly see the path to get there. Its not enough to just train as hard as you can. You have to train smart, and create the best environment for your mind and body to be happy. For me, this just happens to be feeling like I've done four gym sessions in a row then jumped in an ice bath. Followed by coffee and a few hours of reading and writing. I'm 100% certain that this absolutely does not 'do it' for other people. The enjoyment for me comes from feeling like I've earned the moments of peace between the next essay or session.
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