Tuesday 24 November 2015

2016: The Plan

Well, nothing too heavy for this blog, just an update about where I am and where I'm headed now that the dust is settling after the 2015 season. We've been through our review and planning process with the management team and once that's done, we know where we stand with respect to the programme, and the programme knows what we're intending to do. There is a limbo period between the end of races and the reviews, especially if things haven't gone as planned, but fortunately 2015 was a good year, even though we fell short of our dream goal of getting to Rio. So here's the plan:

First things first, I'm off on holidays! I am leaving to Indonesia for a 5 week trip, returning to the UK early in 2016. For the first part of the holiday, I'm going to be in Java, coaching the Great Britain Men's Raft Team at the Rafting World Championships. This will probably strike a lot of people as a 'busman's holiday', but I have a good reason to be by the river on my holidays! My wife, Georgie, is in the GB women's team, so she will be out there anyway, and I thought that hanging around watching wouldn't be as interesting as getting involved and helping a bit, as well as being on holidays with my wife. After that, we will hop across to Bali for a while, and then hopefully we will go on to Borneo island and see what we can see there. It's a long holiday, but I think I earned it, need it and now is the right time. I am looking forward to a good adventure and to seeing something quite different - it should be fun!!

Once I return, Mark and I will get back to C2 training to prepare for the 2016 season. Our main aim will be the European Championships in Liptovsky (Slovakia). We have been offered a place on a two week training camp to Dubai in the back half of January, which should be just what I imagine my doctor might recommend to get my carcass back into the C2 groove (although I should say I am intending to do lots of activities and running on holidays, so I won't need a cargo plane to get me home)! After that we will be getting stuck in on Lee Valley for a while. A huge perk of being Olympic reserve is that we get to go on a camp to the new course in Rio, so we know the place should we get called up. I don't know what to expect of either Dubai or Rio, they'll be new to me and it will be a great to see something new!

After the Rio camp, there'll be a few weeks of home preparation time, with an odd trip to Liptovsky to get our eye in for the biggest race of the year. Liptovsky is a cool place, home of the Great Martikan, and I haven't been there since 2007. It's hard to know what to expect of the Euros this year. For some, it is a desperate last chance saloon to qualify for the Games, and for others it is the major focus of the season and for others it is just a race on the way to bigger things. I just know that I am looking forward to it, and as ever, my focus will just be to do my best and see what happens...

A few weeks later, the first block of World Cups starts. Three back-to-back weekends of racing should be fun, with the first race in Ivrea being another site that I've never been to. After these races, we will just have sit tight and see if we get called up, and after that who knows? That's all for another day.

All in all, I am very happy with my plan. I can say that it is pretty awesome to have so many opportunities despite missing 'The Big One'. I think it is natural to be sore for quite a while after 'failing' to get what you want (read why I don't think it is really a failure in my previous blog), but the combination of holidays, training camps, races and getting to be on the road with my teammates I think will do the trick. I love training, travelling and racing, so 2016 will be a winner! Bye for now :-)