With less than 2 weeks to go until I head out to Delhi, the realisation that I have been selected for Team England is finally starting to sink in! The team announcement was made on Thursday 26th August, but since then it’s been all about getting my head down in training and trying to translate my road form into track speed. I’ve been hard at work, finishing off the final few end of season time trials and also putting together what I hope will be a fast 3,000m pursuit ride at both this week’s Nationals and eventually the Commonwealth Games.
Coming home from the Road Worlds it was tough to get back into the same rhythm of racing, and a below par performance at the British Time Trial Championships (BTTC) was only slightly improved on at the Chrono, and I started to wonder whether “that cough” i’d been struggling with since arriving at the World Championships in mid August, was slightly more than my asthma giving me a hard time.
A quick trip to the GB team doctor at the Manchester Velodrome confirmed that I had in fact been carrying a chest infection, and one that I would have raced with at the World Championships as well as the BTTC and the Chrono. It also explained why I was turning a bright purple colour after about 2 minutes 30 seconds of effort on the track. My body wasn’t getting enough oxygen due to the infection sitting in my lungs. The diagnosis also confirmed the infection would have had a negative affect on my power outputs, hence the lower than normal readings on recent races.
It was a relief to know I’d not mistimed training or was over the hill for the end of the season, and with some strong penicillin in my hands I left to attend a kit collection meeting! Collecting your kit for a major Games is always an exciting time. For the most part, it is the first time you get to see the uniform you’ll be wearing for the duration of your time at the Games, and it also allows the selection to start to feel more real.
My selection for Team England this year has added excitement, as I am selected for the able-bodied team, and to ride my best event on the track -the 3,000m Individual Pursuit, which will take place on October 8th. Wind the clock back 8 years and I had swum for Team England at part of a very small para-swimming team, which was fully integrated in the the able-bodied team. Whilst it was strange to be racing on a team with very few of my para team mates, there was a whole team of new friends to be made, and many of those will be there in Delhi too.
I’ve been asked what it means to me to be selected for the able-bodied team and it’s been hard to put into words. Over the past 2 years I have been the fastest English pursuiter, and I’d always hoped that it would be deemed good enough for me to be given the chance on an international stage. My event in Delhi will see some of the world’s best pursuiters battle it out on the brand new boards of the Velodrome that forms part of the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, in fact the event will be of the same quality as a World Championship final, such is the strength of the female pursuiters who represent Commonwealth countries.
For me it is very exciting to see how I fare on such a big stage, and with the strength and depth of the women’s Paracycling competitors, the experience of battling it out with so many competitors riding such fast times will set me up well for the Paralympic Games Individual Pursuit in London.
A big thanks goes out to all the people who have supported me with my training and racing over the past months, hopefully the upcoming Games will be a successful culmination of an exciting year! Watch this space for more news as I arrive at the Games and start putting the final touches to my training out there.
Sarah x