Wednesday 18 December 2013

Zagreb Europeans 2013

4:15 am my alarm went off this morning, it is hard to think at that time let alone move and everything just goes to autopilot. This wasn't even for training but because we're heading back to Florida to finish our season strong, just 4weeks until the World Championships and effectively the end of the skating year. This Worlds is in London Canada and is our Olympic Qualifying event for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games. A big ask and a good time to step up our game, 4 years ago we stood up in Los Angeles. It was there we took our lucrative Olympic spot and became the first British Pair team to do so in 16 years.

Just after I posted my last blog we had another nasty moment where Stacey split her chin open on the ice. We were a little fatigued from a busy week and at the end of our free programme, Stacey landed the throw but then slipped off her edge landing straight on her chin. We went to a walk in clinic thinking they could patch it up but the wound was too deep and ended up in the Emergency room getting 12 stitches. Remember this was a week before the European Championships where we had to get the score to go to Worlds as we had missed every other event this season through injury. So like a trooper Stacey is back on the ice later that day. 

Europeans went surprisingly well, I mean we were still getting back to full fitness but Stacey nailed all the throws and the only major mistake was the side by side triple toes in the free. We got a lot of good feedback, judges and spectators alike seemed to enjoy our programmes. Zagreb itself was very chilly, it was the week a load of airports in Europe shut down from snow and there were a few logistical issues with the skaters. All in all a good event for us though and finished 10th in Europe! Had a quick break after and now time to dig deep for Worlds.


Best wishes

Sunday 3 November 2013

A New Year


My New Years resolution is to keep up with my blogging, I realise that I lead a rather unusual lifestyle and one day would like to look back and remember how it was. If you enjoy reading it too then even better! Europeans is now 2 weeks away, and we are coming back from 2 major injuries; I had a grade 2 right ankle sprain 6 weeks ago and Stacey tore her PCL in her left knee back in October. Only this last week have we been able to properly train so not expecting any miracles in Zagreb, Croatia where the Championships will be held. But we do have a firm goal set, we had to pull out of all our international competitions this year and haven't got the qualifying score required for the World Championships. This World Championships is our Olympic qualifying event so our goal of getting the required score is a very important stepping stone to our Olympic story. This season at our National Championships even with heavy injuries we managed to take our 10th British title. It's a privilege to skate for a living but it is an honour to train as British Champions.
I know its my resolution to write more blogs and have struggled in the past for free time living in Florida but will do my best to keep up. Our schedule and the intensity we train at here kind of eats up my time and in the evenings I have 2 huskies to look after. These days we start on the ice at 8:30 then finish in the gym 4pm with only 40 minute break for lunch. Its a tough schedule and the amount of concentration that goes in to training is intense but the coaching staff and athletes we train alongside really help motivate us to push through every day. When we had a bit of time in off season after Nice Worlds we crammed in some fun though and as much family and friends time as we could. Stacey's mother flew back with us and treated us to a trip to Discovery Cove, which I would recommend for anyone travelling
to Florida and is basically an all inclusive day at a beach resort where you swim with dolphins. And we visited Disney and met up with fellow team mate British ladies Champion Jenna, and her husband Kevin who is a Belgian skating legend. But then it was short lived and straight back into next seasons programmes. When the current season started it brought for us a change of coach who planned for us to start early preparations and get ahead of the field for this season. We competed in May in Fort Myers USA, where we would usually start competitions in September. For the first time ever this year we did 3 (also Liberty and Ellenton Classic) events before we'd even usually do one, its good because it took us out of our usual season routine and shook things up a bit. Hopefully that preparation and hard work will pay off in the upcoming weeks.

To round up then 2012 was an Impressive year for us, we had highs like skating at a European Championships in front of a home crowd in Sheffield, we won our 10th British title, watched some amazing live events at the London Olympics, and had family and friends come visit us in Florida. But also a few lows with our injuries, missing a big chunk of the season plus competitions and not qualifying for the free program at the World Championships last season in Nice. We can plan and work as hard as possible but sometimes things are out of our control, you just have to do the best with what you get dealt and I
think this year we had a good hand.
Thank you,

Our Olympic Season!!!

The Start to our Season 08/09