I was shattered last night so slept really well, the best sleep I've had all week. Think my snoring woke Justin though. Oops.
So far today I have just been catching up with Brett 'crash a lot' Crossley and Mark Conway, I spoke about both in my blog from the Great North Run weekend. The field looks a bit smaller than last year's, Sammy is the only girl, Pierre isn't here and all his wisdom will be missed, it's my first time abroad without Jenny too.
I'm writing this from the press conference which is at a fancy 5* hotel in Lisbon city centre. We are only 15 minutes into the speeches but the same extremely boring old man as last year is droning on in his monotone voice, I have no idea what he is talking about but it sounds like he is making an extremely long list. Each sentence is very short and has the same rhythm, he loves the microphone this guy.
Ah next up we have an over the top yank from Rock n Roll run series going on about Lisbon being the most beautiful city in the world; Lisbon is beautiful but Mr rock n roll definitely rolls this speech out in each city he visits.
Now it's another politician type droning on. I think they school politicians out here on how to be boring.
And another. ..
Now on to the athlete interviews, they interviewed one of the Portuguese lads and Sammy, thank god they didn't interview me as I would have done my usual trick of talking in Lancashire dialect. I' m not sure why I do that? Any time I have to talk on a microphone I go all Fred Dibnah! My brain is starting to ache with these interviews; soooo many athletes speaking in different languages and very strong accents. I hope the food is worth it!
Well I have just got in bed so I guess I have to complete the days doings.
The food was great at the press conference. Well worth sitting through the speeches. There was so much to choose from and I was so hungry that I decided the best course of action was to try it all, I had; sea bass fillets in creamy coriander sauce, tuna, octopus, beef, salmon, chicken, spinach, feta cheese salad, rice, potatoes and a partridge in a pear tree! Don't worry though, I left enough room for two deserts! I had a stodgy almond cake with an egg cream which was lovely and finished it off with chocolate cake. After stuffing my face it was time to head back to the hotel to change and get ready to train at Portugal's national stadium. I love training on this track, it is a tartan surface but an old one, it is worn smooth and has lost all of its bounce so it is very very fast for wheelchairs.
Once at the track I got in my chair quickly and got on with my 10 km push that Jenny had set me, it was meant to be done at varying speeds and I had to force myself to slow down. The track is so fast it is too tempting to push too hard. The surroundings don't help as it really is an awe inspiring place; built in the side of a hill so even the top row of seats are still at ground level. The race organisers were telling us the Portuguese cup final is played there and nothing else all year! What a tragedy! Such a beautiful stadium deserves to be used regularly. I was first to finish training and I took the opportunity to admire the stadium whilst the others finished up.
This evening all the British athletes ate together in the restaurant, I really like that. I think the social side of sport is just as important as the competition, if I didn't like the other athletes I wouldn't enjoy coming away with them. It's something Dan picked up on at the Great North Run, he mentioned one night at training about how well all the wheelchair athletes get on and he is 100% right (shh, don't tell him) we get along great for a bunch of people who's hobby involves beating each other. I think it is probably because we need each other, drafting makes pushing so much easier and faster so by working together we all get better results. There are some disagreements but nine times out of ten they are forgotten about within a few weeks. Disability athletics is a world apart from the cliques and in-fighting of able bodied athletics, some of the things the joggers do just make me cringe these days.
Right time for bed, more tomorrow when I have been training, had a look at the course and been to the technical meeting. Peace out!
So far today I have just been catching up with Brett 'crash a lot' Crossley and Mark Conway, I spoke about both in my blog from the Great North Run weekend. The field looks a bit smaller than last year's, Sammy is the only girl, Pierre isn't here and all his wisdom will be missed, it's my first time abroad without Jenny too.
I'm writing this from the press conference which is at a fancy 5* hotel in Lisbon city centre. We are only 15 minutes into the speeches but the same extremely boring old man as last year is droning on in his monotone voice, I have no idea what he is talking about but it sounds like he is making an extremely long list. Each sentence is very short and has the same rhythm, he loves the microphone this guy.
Ah next up we have an over the top yank from Rock n Roll run series going on about Lisbon being the most beautiful city in the world; Lisbon is beautiful but Mr rock n roll definitely rolls this speech out in each city he visits.
Now it's another politician type droning on. I think they school politicians out here on how to be boring.
And another. ..
Now on to the athlete interviews, they interviewed one of the Portuguese lads and Sammy, thank god they didn't interview me as I would have done my usual trick of talking in Lancashire dialect. I' m not sure why I do that? Any time I have to talk on a microphone I go all Fred Dibnah! My brain is starting to ache with these interviews; soooo many athletes speaking in different languages and very strong accents. I hope the food is worth it!
Well I have just got in bed so I guess I have to complete the days doings.
The food was great at the press conference. Well worth sitting through the speeches. There was so much to choose from and I was so hungry that I decided the best course of action was to try it all, I had; sea bass fillets in creamy coriander sauce, tuna, octopus, beef, salmon, chicken, spinach, feta cheese salad, rice, potatoes and a partridge in a pear tree! Don't worry though, I left enough room for two deserts! I had a stodgy almond cake with an egg cream which was lovely and finished it off with chocolate cake. After stuffing my face it was time to head back to the hotel to change and get ready to train at Portugal's national stadium. I love training on this track, it is a tartan surface but an old one, it is worn smooth and has lost all of its bounce so it is very very fast for wheelchairs.
Once at the track I got in my chair quickly and got on with my 10 km push that Jenny had set me, it was meant to be done at varying speeds and I had to force myself to slow down. The track is so fast it is too tempting to push too hard. The surroundings don't help as it really is an awe inspiring place; built in the side of a hill so even the top row of seats are still at ground level. The race organisers were telling us the Portuguese cup final is played there and nothing else all year! What a tragedy! Such a beautiful stadium deserves to be used regularly. I was first to finish training and I took the opportunity to admire the stadium whilst the others finished up.
This evening all the British athletes ate together in the restaurant, I really like that. I think the social side of sport is just as important as the competition, if I didn't like the other athletes I wouldn't enjoy coming away with them. It's something Dan picked up on at the Great North Run, he mentioned one night at training about how well all the wheelchair athletes get on and he is 100% right (shh, don't tell him) we get along great for a bunch of people who's hobby involves beating each other. I think it is probably because we need each other, drafting makes pushing so much easier and faster so by working together we all get better results. There are some disagreements but nine times out of ten they are forgotten about within a few weeks. Disability athletics is a world apart from the cliques and in-fighting of able bodied athletics, some of the things the joggers do just make me cringe these days.
Right time for bed, more tomorrow when I have been training, had a look at the course and been to the technical meeting. Peace out!
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