The last few weeks have been super busy leading up to the UCI Junior Track World
Championships this week in Glasgow. Our recent packed schedule of training
camps and travelling resulting in the lack of blog posts, the routine of camps
leaving little energy to ignite the imagination and try to write something
worthwhile. It’s only now, lay in a hotel room overlooking the River Clyde, a
few days into our taper up to the Team Pursuit on Wednesday, that I have got my
head together to write something, and it still feels pretty boring!
It
has been a whirlwind few weeks, with thousands of laps of the track in both
Newport and Manchester all building up to the (hopefully) four and a bit minutes of
effort this Wednesday. But now as the training all but stops, bare a few short
efforts to keep the legs ticking over, and as the racing approaches, we have more
time than ever to think over how our training has all gone. Time to mull over how the race will
go and what it all means in the grandscheme of things. This is probably one of the
biggest tests of a riders mentality, the days leading up to a big event when
hour upon hour must be ticked off in a nonescript hotel room.
These worlds will without a doubt be the biggest races of our lives. The fact the championships is on
home turf making it all the more special, and these tests all the greater. Yet
if you handle it well, it simply isn’t a test at all. The usual nerves yes, but
nothing more. I guess that is something, riding my second major Track
championship and fourth straight European or World Junior Championships, that I
have had plenty of time to practice.
It’s
hard to really write about what has gone on aside from these most basic of
mental elements, of the actual training itself. Infact I have been struggling to think of something worthwhile to write, a rare situation. I don't think the track training is particularly romantic,
unlike the rich imagery of road miles and their surroundings and as such it is difficult to
build a great image of us bowling around the track. Although maybe that's a good sign of
the speed we are hitting?! I hope so... What I am sure of, is the pure and utter pain. It is very plain
and simple, always there, no matter how fast or nailed the team may be.
However the pain may be strong, the opportunity to ride in the Sir Chris Hoy
Velodrome, to represent GB on such a big stage, to race with the boys,
outweighs any sacrifices we have made and will ever have to make. For
now we have to hope the early mornings and double days of the last few months
will be reflected in our performance. That the work of all the support staff,
our coaches and us athletes, will be rewarded with a performance we can walk
away proud of.
I feel I should apologies
for the boring post. Maybe the four walls of the various hotel rooms over the
last few weeks have drained my creativity? I hope, if so, I am compensated with
strength in my legs to reward all the hotel time! Or maybe I am pooling all my energy into my legs? Away from my brain... Something like that.
Regardless,
this is the dream. I am nervous but I can’t wait to get racing!