We are well and truly into 2014 and a lot has happened since my last blog entry. I have competed in 4 competitions this indoor season and have tried to better my distance in each one, aiming to reach that Commonwealth standard. I started the year competing in a small competition at Eton, it was my first since taking a year out so I was extremely nervous. After months of positive training and with my expectations so high, I left the competition feeling a little deflated as I hadn’t jumped anywhere near the distance was hoping for. My coach and I continued to train hard in preparation for my next competition, the South of England Championships.
Going into this competition I was determined not to leave without a medal and was obviously aiming for the gold. I had a decent series of jumps and ended the competition winning the bronze medal. The following week I was at the same venue (Lee Valley Stadium) competing in the London Indoor Games. My aim for this competition was to win (obviously!) and jump over 13m. Whilst I didn’t win the gold, I did win the silver medal and jumped over 13m. I had a good series of jumps which included some big no jumps, unfortunately they didn’t count.
In February I competed in the British Athletics Championships in Sheffield. It was a tough championship as I was competing amongst the top triple women in the country, fighting for that gold medal and title of British Champion. Although it was my best day of jumps this year, I ended the competition placed 4th and with a season’s best jump.
Since February, I’ve continued to train hard in preparation for the outdoor season commencing in May. During my Easter holiday break from school, I will be heading out to Tenerife for warm weather training with my coach and training group. Warm weather training gives athletes the opportunity to focus solely on training where we can train at least twice a day in quality weather conditions. It will be my first warm weather training abroad and I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully I will reap the rewards by achieving qualification distance for the Commonwealth Games this year!