Returning 'home'

So....today I went home..

Back to the new and 'improved' Olympic Stadium to have a sneak peek around ahead of the Anniversary Games.

As a BT ambassador I was back in the stadium for a photo shoot, checking out the changes that have been made in the last three years.  Wow, I can hardly believe it has been that long!  The stadium holds so many memories and being back on the start line was amazing.

It was great to be able to have a run up and down the track, although I wasn't able to do much as there are still a lot of workers around finishing the stadium ready for the big weekend of Anniversary Games from 24-26th July.   It's changed quite a bit, so it's a different stadium now, but the memories are still there.

The London 2012 games changed the world of para sport and how we, as athletes, are viewed.  It's going to be great to celebrate that back in the stadium. So many dreams have been created here, including mine - so it’s fitting that this year we can celebrate in style.  I hope to see as many people there as possible.  I love the home crowd support, there's nothing like it.

#AnniversaryGames #London #OlympicStadium #Parasport 

Some Swiss sprinting

Apologies for the delay in updates recently - life has been a bit crazy!

Sunday saw the last day of the Swiss Nationals and the last day of competition out in Switzerland. We started with the 200m in the morning, and I was feeling pretty ready to go with more perfect racing conditions. I won the race, just off the PB time I had set just a week before.

4 hours later, we lined up for the 800m, and by this point, the sun was beating down and everyone was well past tired. The boys had all finished racing for the day, so it was lovely to see them still at track side, supporting their team! We pushed on.... Another tactical race, that I decided to try and keep clear of, so I took the pull from the start, aiming for a faster time than those we had previously recorded over the series. There was nothing to save energy for now, so I thought I may as well use up what I had left in the tank! No one really challenged me for the pull and the girls were more than happy to sit behind and let me do the work, up until the sprint finish. I managed to finish in a seasons best time, and finally take my world lead back! So we finished on a high and a race that I was very happy with!

After packing up and three hours sleep, we were back on the plane and on our way home. Big thanks to 17 Sports Management Limited for getting me to the airport in time on the way out and for picking me up on the way back, it was far easier than challenging the tubes with my luggage and on such little sleep!

Considering that I didn't feel 100% ready before we set out to Switzerland, I am SO pleased to have broken 2 world records, taken a world lead and of course, retained my unbeaten title whilst out there.

Also, a BIG well done to the British Athletics Wheelchair Racing team for such an incredibly successful series. Between us, 2 world records were broken, 3 (I think?) European Records were broken and countless PBs fell from almost every racer.  A big thanks must also go to coaches Jenni Banks, Job King and Ian Mirfin and of course Dave the physio, for keeping ourselves and our chairs in one piece and for putting up with us all for the 10 days!

Now, I have four more days in the UK, before we fly out to America to compete in the US Nationals and the Fast Cow meet. So, we're hitting it hard in training to make sure I can go faster out there! 

‬#wheelchairracing 

Becoming a role model

Back at the start of the year, I was approached to consider an opportunity to appear in a marketing campaign for a lingerie brand. Now whilst I am very confident in who I am, the thought of appearing in my underwear for a marketing campaign worried me a little. I'm a disabled athlete and its hard enough to gain exposure for me and my sport without being seen the wrong way. I want to be taken seriously as an athlete.

However, when the campaign was explained to me and I saw some mock images of what they visualised, I couldn't wait to be involved and am now honoured to have been selected.  I don't really see myself as a role model, I just do what I do and work hard at it, but if I can inspire other people along the way then I'm really happy.

Panache Lingerie have just launched a pioneering campaign to change the face of how women are portrayed in the media and by advertisers by creating REAL role models who women and girls can relate to and aspire to be like.  

Being part of the Modelled by Role Models project has been an incredible journey and I've met other completely inspiring girls along the way and heard their stories and what drives them. 

The photos were taken in March and we were all sworn to secrecy until the launch, which was held at BAFTA in London this week.  It was great to see all the girls again and to finally see all our photos and videos together.  It was a really empowering evening and I hope other girls and women will see the images and realise we are all different, yet we are all still beautiful.

#modelledbyrolemodels #myrolemodel #panache #inspirational #women

Racing through the year

Wow, where is 2015 going? I seem to have been so busy since the start of the year and now it's race season.

Since getting back from my warm weather training and competitions, I've been busy with my training and I've also had a chance to see some of my sponsors and be able to do some work with them as a way of thanking them for their support. I've also done some great photo shoots, which I love as it gives me the chance to be a 'girl' and look glamorous for the day and not just hide my hair under my race helmet and wear my training kit as is my look most of my days!

My summer season race season started on Sunday 3 May, where I raced over 100, 200 and 800m in the British Wheelchair Racing Association Championships at Stoke Mandeville, Bucks. As expected for a bank holiday weekend, the rain came down and conditions were pretty horrible!

All races at the BWRA Championships are mixed classification, so I was super pleased to come away with a win in the 200m and a 3rd place, first t34 to cross the line, in the 100m and 800m. And the times weren't all that bad considering the conditions. A definite improvement from this time last year!

From Stoke Mandeville it was then on to Bedford on Bank Holiday Monday for the British Universities and Colleges (BUCS) Outdoor Championships, where there were fortunately much better conditions for the race! I was only competing over the 100m and am proud to have won Coventry University's first gold medal of the championships and to be wearing their colours!

I'm now looking forward to racing again at Stoke Mandeville next weekend.  The season is well and truly underway.

#wheelchairracing #BWRA #BUCS #CoventryUniversity

Catching up on myself

Well, since being back from my winter training in Australia and the competitions in UAE, I have been crazy busy!

I'm just finding some time to catch up and see what I have been up to in the few weeks I have been back.

I was honoured to be invited to speak at The Queen's Club Patrons' Dinner in London along with World and Olympic Champion Christine Ohuruogu at the beginning of the month.  I had only been home a couple of days, so I really hoped that didn't show with my speech!

I then really enjoyed taking part in a panel discussion with some other inspiring women at the offices of KPMG in London and also attending the Womens Sport Trust photographic exhibition there to promote interest and awareness of women in sport, there was even a photo of me!

Other things that have been going on are meetings with some potential sponsors and I've taken part in something that is still top secret but was great fun. All will be revealed soon on that matter! 

I'm really grateful to to my team at 17 Management for keeping me organised and making sure I am where I am supposed to be when its busy like this.  Now it's a change of focus and back to the training.

#athletelife #sports #training #sponsors #motivationalspeaking

Ribbon Cutting at Fairburn Chase, Castleford

I am often asked along to events and openings, many of which I have to sadly decline due to my busy schedule of university and training. Fortunately, this week I was really honoured to be able to open Fairburn Chase in Castleford.

Fairburn Chase is a new purpose built specialist care facility, built to provide individualised physical disability care and enable younger adults with a physical disability, neurological conditions and complex health needs.

I had a really lovely time meeting some of the staff and those also being cared for at Fairburn.  It's really great to see a modern purpose built facility for disabled adults.  I even managed to cut the ribbon first go!

 

You can see the entire range of photos taken on the day at the link below.  There are some great ones, including me comparing my gold with the Mayor!

Fairburn Chase Official Opening Photos

Thanks so much to the team at Fairburn Chase for inviting me to open the facility and making me so welcome on the day.

www.fairburnchase.com

Warming up in Winter

The Christmas break seems a long time ago already as the start of the year has been all about getting ready for the long season ahead. 

I've just come back from a six weeks spell of training and competition overseas, where I spent four weeks training in the warm weather in Perth, Western Australia. As the temperatures were climbing to over 40c during the day, we were often up at 5am and training by 6am, covering distances up to 16 miles per session, with plenty of gym sessions thrown in between too. 

Perth is a great base for winter training, the weather is fantastic and there are miles and miles of cycle paths, so I can train safely. I did manage a little bit of down time, which gave me an opportunity to visit the city, the nearby port of Fremantle and some chill out time at the beach.

On the way back from Perth, I was lucky to be able to take an opportunity to visit Doha and look at the facilities and try out the track in advance of the IPC World Championships being held there in October.  The temperatures there will probably be similar to that I had been training in, so hopefully I will get accustomed to it.

It was then on to the UAE and some races in Dubai and Sharjah. Having come off a heavy block of winter training and done no speed work as yet, I was very pleased to win all of my eight races, over all distances. I'm hoping the experience I gained racing in these dry dusty conditions will be invaluable come the World Championships.

Ready for the road.....and track!

I am really excited with a new partnership that I've been able to make, and am delighted to welcome Chain Reaction Cycles to the Hurricane support team! I've been using them as my supplier of tyres for a while now and they're great.

Chain Reaction Cycles will be supplying me with my training and special racing tyres throughout the season. 

Chain Reaction Cycles provide everything a cyclist (or a wheelchair racer!) could ever need. Have a look at their website to see what I mean www.chainreactionhub.com