Insight Out

A Short Story

2012-01-27T09:34:00.000-08:00

As you may know, one of the modules i'm studying at the moment is Creative Writing, as part of my degree. My second assignment entailed writing a short story of 2000 words. I personally find it cringe worthy and i'm not sure why I deemed myself qualified to write a Romantic story when i've been single for well over two years! Nevertheless, I scored a solid 76%, so can't complain. If you fancy a giggle, have a read!

One More Time
Despite it being a sunny afternoon in July, the sea was in turmoil, as the waves crashed against the Cornwall cliffs. In a quaint cottage nearby, mountains of boxes overflowing with memories circled thirty-five year old Sally Smith. It had been ten years since she had instructed that her belongings should be sent to storage. Now back in the country, her past was scattered before her eyes. Kneeling on the cold wooden floor, she felt her heart skip a beat, as she placed a trembling hand on a familiar, but now slightly crushed shoe box. Taking a sharp breath in whilst sweeping her fingers through her long curly blonde hair, she paused to consider whether she was ready to revisit the most important thing she left behind. Concluding that she had to face her demons at some stage, Sally blew the dust off of the battered shoe box and carefully removed the lid. A musty smell met her nose, as the contents hadn’t been disturbed for years. It was all there, she had kept everything from him, her first and only true love. Draped delicately at the top lay the napkin with his number written on in blotchy black ink, which he had purposely left on a table in the Cliff Top Cafe where she worked during her time at university. Slowly lifting the napkin to her lips, the memorable scent of coffee engulfed her nostrils causing her powder blue eyes to glaze over, she couldn’t believe she had given him up. Tears of regret streamed down her cheeks, as she sifted through the memoirs that lay dormant for a decade. Amongst the items; a cd of their song, valentine’s day cards, love letters and poems, tickets from their first cinema date and photographs of happy times. One particular photograph caught Sally’s eye, capturing them hand in hand at his brother’s wedding. Everybody said that they would be next. Letting out a deep sigh, Sally studied the picture more closely, smiling at his handsomeness and her youthful glamour. If only she hadn’t been so career driven, she taunted herself. It was totally her fault that they weren’t together, six years she allowed herself to throw away, just like that.

A little while later, the glow of the sunset shimmered through the open window situated behind Sally who could still be found sitting in the same place, reminiscing by re-reading all of the old cards, letters and poems. Mixed emotions filled her heart, as she laughed and cried at the keepsakes. Suddenly, the napkin grabbed her attention again, as the open window behind her let in a gust of wind. The snow white napkin fluttered elegantly across the floor, performing an intriguing dance. A teasing thought crossed Sally’s mind, as she pondered whether he still had the same number. Oh it was a crazy idea, the chances were a million to one and what on earth was she going to say to him if he did! He must despise her anyway or if not he’ll definitely be married by now and even have children. Sally kept toiling with the idea and based on the fact that the number would most likely no longer be in use she decided to give it a quick call.

Sally’s stomach jolted with shock when the phone line began to ring. She crossed her fingers tightly in the hope that if he answered, he wouldn’t immediately hang up when he discovered the caller was her.
‘Hello...’ his crisp voice filled her ears, he sounded exactly the same. ‘Hello...’ he repeated, as Sally froze with panic.
‘Tom?’ she found herself whispering in a shaky tone ‘it’s...it’s Sally’ she blurted out.
‘Sally who?’ Tom replied blankly.
‘Sally Smith’. There was silence. ‘Tom? Are you there?’ her voice shook with fear.
‘Are you ok?’ he asked with serious concern.
Relieved at this caring response, Sally relaxed somewhat and the ex-lovers talked about what had been happening over the past ten years. Sally explained how she was back from teaching in Africa and Tom relayed how he got married, but now was getting a divorce after his partner fell out of love with him. Eventually, it was agreed that they would meet up the following Saturday for old time’s sake, which excited, yet petrified Sally both at the same time.

Saturday morning arrived and The Cliff Top Cafe was bustling with a combination of tourists and locals. Sally was surprised when she entered that the same candy striped table and chairs occupied the cafe. Peering around the room there was no sign of Tom, unless he had considerably altered his appearance or aged so dramatically that he was no longer recognisable. Spotting a vacant table in the far corner, over-looking the sea, Sally pushed her way through the crowd to claim it. Now all that was left to do was wait.

Every time the cafe door jingled, Sally’s head shot up to see if it was Tom. After fifteen minutes of waiting, she started to become agitated, fiddling with the straps on her crimson coloured summer dress. He must just be running late she assured herself, he’ll be here in a second. Twenty minutes had gone by and Sally found herself torturing herself, thoughts of a no show must be revenge on her leaving him or he must have taken a single look at her and walked straight back out.

Half an hour later, Sally’s gaze was transfixed on the ocean, watching the waves gliding in and out of the bay. A warm hand touched her shoulder. Startled, Sally jumped out of her skin expecting to turn around and finally see his face again.
‘Excuse me dear, a gentleman has just asked me to give you this’ came the voice of the elderly waitress who had worked in the cafe long before Sally did, yet didn’t acknowledge that she remembered her.
Sally screwed up her face in confusion and took the napkin she was waving around like she was holding the tail of a dead rat. A single word was scrawled on the napkin ‘Sorry’. Without thinking, Sally scraped back her chair that screeched loudly causing heads to turn and the elderly waitress to let out a tiny shriek. She leapt to her feet, tottering as quickly as she could in her six inch heeled sandals. She wasn’t prepared to let him go again, at least not without a final goodbye.

Standing outside the cafe, arms flailing, Sally scanned the surrounding area. She had no idea what Tom looked like these days. The cliff side was heaving, couples taking morning strolls, groups of surfers ready to catch some waves, families with small children admiring the beautiful view. Then she saw it, in the distance striding at speed away from her, a dark haired man in a red t-shirt and jeans. It was the walk that gave him away, arms motionless by his side, as if he was wearing a straight jacket. Sally always used to make fun of this identifying feature about him, joking that he was the spitting image of a penguin, especially on weekdays when he wore a suit for work. At present, she was delighted that he had a trademark walk and began to trot in his direction. The July sunshine made Sally’s hair stick to her reddened cheeks, her mouth felt dry and her dress clung to her skin. As the striding figure enlarged, Sally took a deep breath in and yelled over and over again Tom’s name, as if her life depended on it. He was still too far away and didn’t turn around.
‘Tom! TOM!’ she screamed breathlessly in a panicked tone. Finally, he stopped dead and twirled around to face her. There he stood, forty years old, but not looking a day over thirty. Six feet tall, medium build, and chocolate brown eyes that melted Sally’s heart sixteen years ago and was doing exactly the same today. Sally tried to get her breath back before stepping any closer to him and at the same time was trying to think of what to say, whether it should be something witty like ‘I don’t normally chase blokes down the street’ or something serious. Before she had worked it out, Tom started smirking, giving him those cute dimples, which turned into a hearty laugh.
‘What’s so funny?’ Sally demanded.
‘You, look at you’ Tom stepped towards her and flicked her curls out of her face, sparking a thousand butterflies to flutter around Sally’s stomach and her knees to buckle ever so slightly.
‘Sorry I didn’t come in, I couldn’t do it when I saw you, the pain of you know, when you left and never came back hit me like a ton of bricks’ Tom confessed.
‘No, I’m sorry, six months turned into a year and before I knew it, ten years. I guess being out there with those kids in those appalling conditions, blinded my judgement, all I could see was that they needed me, forgetting that you needed me too’ Sally broke down as she spoke.
‘You did what you had to do’ Tom said with understanding in his voice. ‘Fancy that coffee now?’
Wiping the tears from her face, Sally’s eyes lit up like a child at Christmas and a broad smile followed, as she nodded to signal her approval.

Sitting back in The Cliff Top cafe where it all began, Sally and Tom ordered coffee and cake.
‘Let me guess, cappuccino with extra chocolate sprinkles and a slice of Molly’s Marvellous Mud Pie’ Sally announced confidently, she would be stunned if he ordered any differently, as he used to order the same thing every Saturday, Tom was a creature of habit.
‘Well, I’ve got to keep sweet somehow’ he winked cheekily.
‘What are those cakes with glitter on? They look pretty’ Sally asked pointing at a cup cake on someone else’s plate.
Raising an eyebrow, Tom replied
‘you really have been out of the country for a long time haven’t you’.

Sally looked up from her latté and let out a giggle at the sight of Tom modelling a foam moustache from his cappuccino.
‘It suits you’ she sniggered. Tom frowned. Sally picked up a napkin from the table and leaned forward towards him. She gently wiped the creamy froth from his upper lip. Their eyes met and the pair stared at each other intently. Sally felt overwhelmed by this exchange and was waiting for the let down from Tom. However, instead he took her hands in his, his warm touch made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge, then he squeezed them tightly. Waiting anxiously, Sally was convinced her bubble was about to be burst. She closed her eyes too scared to face the dreaded words head on. At least she had the opportunity to meet him again and share another precious moment with him she thought. Maybe it was time to move on and start afresh once and for all. Without Sally noticing, Tom had lifted her hands to his lips and softly kissed her finger tips. Sally’s eyes flicked open in response to this affectionate action, witnessing the passion in Tom’s face. He still cared, after all this time and no doubt the heartache she must have caused him. How on earth did she give such a good thing up all those years ago and why on earth did she deserve a second chance. Processing these questions in her mind, Sally pulled her hands free from Tom’s grip and slumped back in her chair feeling perplexed. Lost for words the ex-lovers sat drinking in silence for a while.

The elderly waitress came to clear their table and gave Sally a look that she interpreted, as don’t let him go again, maybe she did remember her after all. Tom requested another napkin, Sally assumed for him to wipe the crumbs from his mouth. Yet, Tom unfolded the napkin so that it was fully open and skilfully started to twist and twirl it, licking his lips, as he did so, deep in concentration. A few seconds later he sniffed his masterpiece with a thoughtful smile, revealing those dimples that Sally adored.
‘For you my lady, I’ve missed you’ he said presenting her with the origami rose. Sally willingly accepted it, allowing it to tickle her lips, whilst her body flourished with glee and she felt like the luckiest girl in the world. She had been given a second chance at love. She wasn’t certain she deserved it, but was definitely going to make the most of it and never let the man she let slip away once, slip away one more time.

Calvin the Con Artist

2012-01-26T09:26:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month Calvin had his annual visit from Guide Dogs, which I have to say I had to chase up, as hadn’t heard a whisper from them. It was due last November. Usually, because Guide Dogs tend to visit in the day, my mum is at work, but she happened to have an extra week off work after Christmas and so was home on this occasion. The trainer had barely walked through the door when my mum began to express her opinion on Calvin. She highlighted facts, such as when she sees other Guide Dogs that they are nothing like Calvin, as they are well behaved and not in their own little world and how he is a great pet dog, yet lacking in guiding skills. Don’t get me wrong, my family adore Calvin just as much as me, but similarly get just as frustrated. I could tell the trainer was panicked by this information, even though I’ve been saying the same thing since I’ve had him!

We went on a walk around the village with the trainer following in close proximity. Calvin did sniff here and there, walk me into the road once and went up a driveway, but this was outstanding work by his standards! The trainer did acknowledge that he does seem to ignore my corrections even when he is wearing a halty and I lift his front paws off the ground, as I tug him so hard. She suggested that I should bend down to him before correcting him and demonstrated this, much to Calvin’s disapproval who whimpered like a big girl! As soon as the trainer stepped anywhere near him after this, he acted all submissive. The funniest had to be when a slice of bread was deviously left in his track that he of course felt the need to gobble up, I correct him, no reaction, so the trainer came charging up to him and he tried to leg it, paws in the air claiming his defence, ‘I swear it wasn’t me!’ ‘what bread?! I didn’t see any bread!’ he was an absolute coward! Yet coming back to the correction, every time I did it, Calvin couldn’t care less, in short he isn’t scared of me at all!

The trainer came out again a few days later and I was determined to show Calvin at his worst. So we went to my local shopping area where there is a food court. I regularly find myself dragging Calvin across the floor, as he ducks and dives for loose chips under tables and chairs. To give you a picture, the seating area is in the middle and the various food places lined around the outside. Calvin’s challenge was to walk around the outside without deviating or getting distracted. He has never been able to do this, so I was confident he’d show his true colours! Little did I know that Calvin always finds a way of surprising me. I thought someone had swapped my dog without me noticing, as he walked casually around the seating area, not even clocking any food, focused on guiding me, even daring to navigate around the Costa tables, which stick out with no prompts. If only he was like that all of the time, I’d have nothing to write about, as he was faultless! Whilst I did admire that he can be an amazing Guide Dog, which I’ve always maintained he could be, I wanted to shake him! The clever sod knew he was being observed. Guess it’s similar to when people get audited at work and pretend to be perfect!

Following this revelation, Calvin was deemed fixed and awarded a thousand doggy points for being a star! Unsurprisingly, he’s gone back to his distracted ways and I currently have twofat lumps on my forehead thanks to Calvin allowing me to head but a door frame and clothes rail.

Calvin, one in a million, a love hate relationship!

Athletics Update

2012-01-19T13:46:00.000-08:00

I can’t believe we’re already over halfway through January! At the moment I feel like I never get a chance to breathe. If I’m not training, I’m doing uni work and if I’m not doing either of those things I’m busy with Calvin, grooming, walking, playing, feeding, spending, it’s non-stop! Tonight however, I find myself with some free time on my hands, whilst Calvin gnaws on a bone and the rest of my family are out enjoying their social lives! So I can update you on my athletics.

Talent Squad Training:
On 7 January I went up to Manchester for a UK Athletics training day. This was the third in the series, but the first I could attend because of my previous guide runner issues. I’ve been invited to the training days based on the fact that I scored more than 650 RAZA points last season in competition. RAZA points are worked out on how close you are to the world record in your classification, the more points, the better you are.

The day was split into three sessions. The first was a talk on psychology, understanding the commitment required to become a top athlete and how goals should be achievable. Nothing I’ve not heard before. The second session was gym based and we did a variety of core work, which I felt I excelled at. The afternoon was a full on track session, 6x60m with walk backs, 2 sets. Every run was timed and we were separated into groups by classification. Obviously there were no other T11 athletes, so I was grouped with two visually impaired athletes who run without a guide and a T38 athlete, who I’ve never lost to in a 100m race. I was immediately disappointed with my performance when I was coming last in the runs, each and every one I was left for dead at the start. It wasn’t until towards the end that my endurance shone through, as I started to beat the T38 athlete. Nevertheless, I was frustrated that I wasn’t closer to the other visually impaired athletes who boast PBs around 14.5secs. I’m often told I’m too hard on myself, but with the amount of training I’ve been putting in, I was expecting more, I felt like I deserved to do better than I did. On the up side, it was a good opportunity to train with the people I usually race and who are of a similar speed to me. I just don’t do last very well!

The next training day is on 18 February and I hope I’ll be happier with my performance come then, but no doubt I’ll find some sort of fault! I look forward to it though, the social side was enjoyable.

Media:
On 5 January I did an hour long live interview with BBC Radio Leicester, on the Carl Cooper show. It was mainly related to my athletics, training, goals and the Paralympics, although more general topics were discussed too. I’ve done radio a few times now, but never live. The experience was a good one, I’m pleased to report.

I also need to do a few more thank yous, as despite my funding campaign being quite a while ago now, I’ve had further support. So a massive thank you to:
Keith Smith
Helen Lapidge
Thomas Estley Community College (my old school)
Westfields Tennis Club (my mum’s club)

I really do appreciate all of the on-going support.

Well that’s all for now, as ever I’ll leave you with an inspirational quote, nothing has changed for 2012!

Some people compare life to a marathon, but I think it is more like being a sprinter. Long stretches of hard work punctuated by brief moments in which we are given the opportunity to perform (Michael Johnson)

Paralympic Year!

2012-01-01T02:29:00.000-08:00

2012. 2012! The year we’ve all been talking about forever has finally arrived. So, by the time I’m writing my New Year thoughts next year, my dream, ambition, aspiration, ultimate desire, my single wish, whatever you want to call it, would have either come to a bitter end or had a fairy tale ending. Whatever the result, I know for a fact that I would have done everything in my power to make it a reality.

2011:
As per usual it didn’t quite go to plan. I didn’t achieve any qualification standards for the Paralympics, I only ran a PB at the end of the season and I have had to change guide runners yet again. Talking of change, I’ve changed guide ropes and the side my guide runner runs on too. A positive to take away from the year has to be that I was more consistent with regards to the times I ran in competitions in comparison to other years.

I was pleased to score a third Distinction in a row at university, as I continue to work towards my English Language and Literature degree. Calvin’s still Calvin, enjoying keeping me on my toes. Other highlights of the year have to be going to Morocco, seeing Westlife, Bruno Mars and Katy Perry in concert, along with a girly weekend away in Bognor.

2012:
Well, I think it’s pretty obvious what the year will entail. Work, work, work! So I’m going to leave it there!

Thank you to everyone who reads this blog and here’s hoping that 2012 will be magical for one and all!

If you believe it, you can achieve it!

IPC European Championships

2011-12-28T02:12:00.000-08:00

The IPC European Championships are being held in the Netherlands in June 2012. It will be the final major competition before the London 2012 Paralympics. The championships were only announced in October, as it appears that finding host countries for disability events is difficult. The championships should take place every two years matching the mainstream version, but a host couldn’t be found for 2010.

The qualification standards were released in November and I was excited to find that I had achieved all of them:

T11 100m 15.08secs
T11 200m 33.01secs
F11 Long Jump 3.05m

However, this doesn’t automatically mean I get to go. Just before Christmas UK Athletics released their Selection Policy for the games. There were a few striking features of the policy since the games are so close to the Paralympics. They will only be taking a team of twenty athletes, no wheelchair athletes and athletes who competed at January’s IPC World Championships will have to justify why they want to go, as the Paralympics should be their main priority. This all looked very promising for me, yet when reading further down the policy it became evident that the qualification standards wanted by UKA had dramatically changed. To be selected, UKA want athletes to have scored at least 750 RAZA points by 23 April 2012. Meaning:

T11 100m 14.17secs
T11 200m 28.99secs
F11 Long Jump UNKNOWN, AS I ONLY HAVE THE TRACK raza SYSTEM

For the 100m at least they are asking me to run at least a second faster and in any case, quicker than the A Standard for the Paralympics, as the A Standard is 14.25secs.

So where does this leave me? Well wanting, as per usual I guess. The outdoor athletics season doesn’t kick off until April, so achieving the Standards in such a short space of time is a tall order. However, it’s not in my nature to walk away without a fight. So, I’m considering doing a couple of indoor competitions in February or March, and then come the outdoor season, I should be more race ready. It’s still a long shot, but if I can prove to UKA that I’m progressing, maybe they will take me anyway. I’m ranked highly in Europe and honestly feel I could win a medal. It would be gutting to watch athletes slower than me competing in an international competition.

A wish is a dream and a dream is just a wish...

Funding News

2011-11-29T13:24:00.000-08:00

Who knew that the media could be so powerful?! From one piece in the local paper and a brief radio interview, I’ve had an over-whelming response from people wanting to aid my Paralympic dream. At a time where all you hear about is cut backs, I’m pleasantly surprised at the public’s generosity.

A couple of week’s ago, I did the assembly at Danemill Primary School, before they were set to dress up as their favourite sporting star, all in aid of me. I couldn’t believe how nervous I got, as all of the little people trickled into the main hall. I spoke at a hundred miles per hour, kept losing my train of thought and was distracted by Calvin wandering around my legs, so have no idea if the kids understood anything! It was enjoyable in a strange way though, the funniest question was ‘how do you eat and stuff?’ and the sweetest comment was ‘everyone finds Calvin interesting, but I find you more interesting’!

A big big thank you to Danemill for all of their efforts and I also need to thank:
Chris Alloway at GBF
Jim Bingham
Pat Kitchen
Peter Barratt
The Dudhia family
Cosby TOC H
Klick Fitness

I honestly appreciate all of the support and can promise that the funds will help incredibly towards my various costs. Unbelievably, I actually have a couple of other funding opportunities lined up to.

Thanks again!

F1 2011 Review

2011-11-28T08:05:00.000-08:00

The 2011 F1 season came to a close yesterday in Brazil and as usual it was a fascinating and nail biting year. It was quite a surprise that the unlikely World Champion of 2010, Sebastian Vettel totally dominated the sport from start to finish. He was crowned the 2011 World Champion with four races to spare and just seemed invincible, much to the frustration of the other drivers. Nevertheless, he is a worthy winner; I just wish he drove for Ferrari and not Red Bull!

My team, Ferrari had a mixed year, finishing third in the championship overall. I was absolutely gutted that I wasn’t at the Silverstone grand prix this year to witness Fernando Alonso winning the race, that would have been really special. People say Alonso outperformed the car this year, but I can’t help think that Massa underperformed this year, as he never made the podium. This was partly due to some bad luck, as a certain British driver, Lewis Hamilton came together with Filipe no less than five times in the season. Each and every time being Hamilton’s fault of course, I have never been able to warm to that reckless driver!

Out of the British boys, Jensen Button, Lewis Hamilton and rookie Paul Di Resta, I feel that Button was the best. He finished second in the championship; often charging through the pack in races and making his tyres last longer than they should. It’s taken Button an awful long time to become one of the top drivers and demonstrates that persistency is key to success. Di Resta had quite a strong opening season, scoring twenty seven points in total and it will be interesting to watch what he can do in the future.

A driver that has been committed to motor racing for no less than nineteen years and was once a Ferrari man is Brazilian Rubens Barrichello. In recent times he’s been driving for Williams, but his home grand prix may have been his last, as he doesn’t have a seat for next year. Whilst I agree to an extent that it’s great to watch new talent develop, I think someone who is so passionate and dedicated to F1, as much as Barrichello should at least get one more year in the sport to make it a round figure of twenty years. It’s a little unsettling to hear that some drivers buy their way into teams, providing essential funding for them, yet they are not necessarily the most talented driver. What can I say though; money makes the world go round.

I’m very excited for 2012 and what the F1 season will bring. Surely Vettel’s reign can’t continue or will he become the youngest triple World Champion? I’m very much hoping that Alonso will be the next triple World Champion and here’s hoping Massa can rediscover his winning ways.

That’s what I’m talking about! (Vettel, 2011)

Reflections

2011-11-23T02:25:00.000-08:00

I can’t say the last two years with Calvin have flown by, as I honestly feel like I’ve had him forever. It’s difficult to remember life without him. What on earth did my mornings used to be like? I have no idea! I don’t and can’t lie that Calvin is the world’s best Guide Dog, as he isn’t. I often wonder whether this is my fault, if I’m too soft with him, but I’m not. I find I’m constantly doing everything in my power to make him a better dog.

One of Calvin’s biggest problems has been his continuous desire to scavenge. This is something I just can’t correct. He wears a halty, which makes it slightly easier to correct him and pull him away from things, but he was immune to the spray collar and because I can’t see, he’s already picked up something before I know it. I have never given Calvin food off of my plate at home and don’t allow others to either and I always prevent him from clearing up crumbs in the kitchen. However, this doesn’t stop him when out and about, yet I get the feeling from Guide Dogs that somehow I am contributing to it. One of my friend’s Guide Dog’s gets very sick every time she eats something she shouldn’t, but because Calvin can stomach so much crap, the problem hasn’t been addressed more seriously in my opinion.

I sometimes tell myself that I don’t work or challenge Calvin enough and this is why he isn’t brilliant. I think it is important to teach your dog new routes, although I understand this isn’t always practical or easy. However, since I’ve had my sat nav and because I’ve lived in my local area all of my life, I can work out slightly different routes to take to go where I’m going or get home again. I hope this is more stimulating for Calvin. With regards to working him more, I don’t think Calvin is a city boy. He’s a fearless dog and has no trouble coping in crowds, but the amount of focus he needs wipes him out. When we go away with friends, I can tell that he is drained from the high work load.

Calvin often doesn’t get much credit from myself or others that meet him. People regularly tell me that he shouldn’t be a Guide Dog, which I laugh off and in fact find quite offensive. Ok so he’s a handful and I want to murder him much of the time when out, but at the end of the day, we get to places, he generally doesn’t walk me into things and he’s extremely good natured. Calvin has a very demanding job guiding someone who has no useful vision whatsoever. Most of my friends with Guide Dogs have not much, but at least some useful vision and I can always tell what a benefit that is. Just to see roughly where a doorway is or a set of steps are assists the dog, as you can cue them in more accurately and have an idea if they are going off course. I rely on Calvin 110%, especially in unfamiliar places. Calvin is a super intelligent dog like most Labradors and retrievers, it’s just a shame that he uses his cleverness for evil and not good!

I love Calvin to pieces and wouldn’t change him for the world! If he was a perfect Guide Dog, he wouldn’t be my Calvin, the one with the massive personality!

That’s it for Calvin week, thanks for reading and commenting and i’ll be back to boring you with my Paralympic dream soon.

Guide Dog Myths

2011-11-22T02:33:00.000-08:00

In the two years I’ve had Calvin, I’ve been told all sorts of things that he can apparently do and general assumptions about Guide Dogs. So, I think it’s time to clear up at least ten Guide Dog myths.

1. A Guide Dog helps their owner in the house. Truth, only if the Guide Dog has been trained to be a dual purpose dog, they are in fact a normal dog in the house. In Calvin’s case this is chewing bones, destroying soft toys and nudging everyone to play with him.
2. A Guide Dog knows when it safe to cross the road. Truth, a dog doesn’t really have any sense of danger, although they do have some traffic training. A Guide Dog will only go on instruction to cross.
3. A Guide Dog knows where they are going. Truth, a Guide Dog can become familiar with a route, but ultimately the owner is in charge of where they are going.
4. You can tell a Guide Dog to go to Asda or Boots and they will take you. Truth, a Guide Dog doesn’t know Asda from Boots, the owner knows the way.
5. You have to be totally blind to have a Guide Dog. Truth, you just need a visual impairment and prove how a Guide Dog will benefit you.
6. If you are male you get a male Guide Dog and if you are female you get a female Guide Dog. Truth, a Guide Dog is matched based on the speed they walk, personality and other factors.
7. A Guide Dog can avoid overhead obstacles. Truth, they are trained to deal with overheads, but many, such as Calvin can only deal with things at their own head height. I often have tree branches whip my face, but the worst incident has to be a set of fire escape steps that literally knocked me to the floor and my face was bruised for days.
8. A Guide Dog is perfectly behaved. Truth, a Guide Dog is quite well trained, but at the end of the day they are just a dog!
9. The owner name’s their Guide Dog. Truth, a Guide Dog is named at birth and the entire litter will have a letter associated with them, unless they are sponsored. So in theory everyone in Calvin’s litter first name begins with a C.
10. A Guide Dog is yours for life. Truth, most Guide Dogs have a working life of about ten years and after that if the owner needs a new dog, they often have to give their dog up. It has already been agreed with my family that Calvin will remain with my parents once retired.

Two Peas in a Pod

2011-11-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

They say dogs are often like their owners. There is no exception for Guide Dogs, Calvin and I are like two peas in a pod. Here are our ten similarities!

1. I have an obsession with brushing my hair; it’s literally the first thing I do when I wake up and the last thing before bed. Calvin loves a good brush too, he’s always super excited when he sees me get the groom brush and is probably the only time he sits still!
2. We both love to run! I’m super jealous of the speed he can generate; he can go from zero to a hundred miles per hour in the blink of an eye!
3. Calvin will eat anything, but is a massive fan of fish. I adore fish too and always feel his scowl when I eat my salmon sandwiches most lunchtimes!
4. Beautiful eyes! Slightly random, but we both get told we have nice eyes! I have no idea what his look like, but pretty sure mine are tinged with redness most days!
5. Potential. He has the potential to be a brilliant Guide Dog. I have the potential to be a great sprinter. Neither of us are at the minute.
6. Play fighting! Calvin and I enjoy a good punch up, he’ll head but and paw me, whilst I trap him against the sofa or pretend to push him backwards!
7. Competitive! Neither of us ever want to be losers. A game of tug can go on forever!
8. The sunshine! I really enjoy Calvin’s company in the summer, as we both like to sunbathe. During the winter, Calvin can be found snuggled up to the radiator.
9. The rain! Something we both hate. Calvin refuses to go out for a busy in the rain and if he’s dragged out, he refuses to go!
10. Early mornings. We never like to waste the day away in bed. A lie in for us is about 8am!

Beyond the Call of Duty

2011-11-20T03:45:00.000-08:00

Dear Guide Dog of the Year

I would like to nominate my three year old, Labrador, cross golden retriever, cross Labrador, Calvin, in the Beyond the Call of Duty category. I am aware that this category is usually reserved for Guide Dogs that take their work more seriously than other dogs, such as saving their owner from falling into a ditch or jumping into a river to save a drowning child, however, I feel that my Calvin takes his work to another level on a daily basis.

When I first applied for a Guide Dog and watched my visually impaired friends with their dogs, I was under the impression that they were extremely clever and well behaved animals. So, after nearly two years of waiting impatiently, I was excited that my life was going to be made a whole lot easier when out and about. Yes, at first I was slightly alarmed by Calvin’s size in comparison to me, as the first time he greeted me, his giant paws latched onto my shoulders! At this point, I had no idea that the Guide Dog I was being matched with was going to be, shall we say, a special case!

I should have known from that very first walk we had together. Calvin insisted on testing my reflexes, as he thought it would be hilarious to chase a squirrel. I was instantly reassured that this was out of character for him and I naively believed it. Turns out, Calvin loves nothing more than to chase things and is adamant that his sudden outbursts aid my ability to react quickly and effectively, which will ensure I’m always out of the blocks first in a race. Among his favourite things to chase are: other dogs, cats, birds, horses, runners, balls, Frisbees, leaves, floating litter and familiar people. Remarkably, there has only been one fatality, which was a poor pigeon, however, there have been countless distraught children after their game of football has been brought to an abrupt end with a burst ball. Calvin would like to take this opportunity to apologise for his actions, he’s always just as surprised as the children when the ball goes pop and naturally offers to replace it.

Many members of the public believe that a Guide Dog knows when it is safe to cross the road. This is a myth. Although Guide Dogs have some traffic training, they have little or no knowledge of safety. Calvin feels because he is unable to judge danger that it is important that I am kept up to date with my awareness. The first major test was when he casually walked across the train track when the barriers were coming down to indicate a train was coming. He has followed this up by crossing roads diagonally, not stopping at curbs and walking straight out, drifting into the road off of a flat curb, going when he feels like it over a road, stops in the middle to pick something up or sticks his head out a little bit too far. I am pleased to report that Calvin has enhanced my safety skills immensely and we’ve never been injured to date. There have been times where people have horned us or shouted out of their car windows though.

My Calvin is a dog of the community. He believes it is his duty to greet every person he sees in the street. This could be a slight pause as we pass by, a quick sniff of their crotch or if they smile at him, they may get a full blown cuddle, as he wraps his paws around their neck. They are often stunned by the latter, I can only assume because they are not used to seeing such a caring, sociable dog. Whilst working, Calvin multi-tasks as the local litter picker. Collecting wrappers, bottles, cans, twigs, horse muck, in fact anything that enters his path. Unfortunately, he usually swallows his findings, before a suitable disposal place has been found. Come bin day, his work never stops. He acts as the dustbin men’s little helper, as he stops by every box that is aptly around head height for Calvin, to check that residents have put the correct items in the appropriate colour coded boxes. Calvin is also a bit of an educator to the children in the community. He found a dead rabbit on the road side at the same time the pupils of the local primary school were heading home. He felt it necessary to give them a lesson in the circle of life, as we paraded the streets, unknown to me until we got home with him carrying the deceased bunny in his mouth.

As you can see Calvin always aims to take his work beyond its boundaries. When out food shopping, he enjoys helping out. He has been seen picking up fresh begets in Asda and recently tried to grab a Kinder Egg for the trolley, but ended up swallowing it whole, foil, chocolate, toy and all! He insists that it is unhealthy to rush, so takes our journeys casually, stopping to sniff lampposts and bushes. He’s an explorative animal, constantly seeking out new routes for us to take and obviously in search of new places to go, as we tend to end up somewhere unexpected. Finally, Calvin is a born leader. When out with others or with a group of Guide Dogs, he has to be at the front of the pack, guiding the way.

Some might think my Calvin is a disobedient nightmare, I think he is a legend! I’ve never met another Guide Dog that goes beyond the call of duty every time their harness is strapped on. Therefore, I hope Calvin can be awarded this prestigious prize and his hard work recognised.

Yours in puppy love

Selina Litt (proud owner of Calvin)

Top Dog!

2011-11-19T10:29:00.000-08:00

My Calvin thinks he’s the world’s number one top dog! Here’s ten new things that he does on a regular basis to affirm his position as the man of the house!

1. He never tries to get on the sofa in the day, but by night when everyone is tucked up in bed he makes himself comfortable on the sofa in the living room. Calvin has been caught snoozing several times when someone comes down for a drink in the night.
2. If I haven’t taken him out for the entire day, Calvin refuses to get in bed, instead he just stands beside it wagging his tail at me, to let me know!
3. If I’m getting ready to go out, Calvin will constantly nudge me with his nose, so I don’t forget him!
4. He’ll dive into bed when it’s time for his last spend and can only be bribed out with treats, as he plays dead.
5. If I’ve got my quilt on the sofa, he becomes really jealous and tries to get it off me with his paws. He can only relax once he gets a quilt to snuggle on!
6. Calvin will plonk himself down in front of you and expect an ear scratch. If you stop before he’s ready, he’ll either turn around and give you a dirty look and insist you continue or push his head back into you!
7. Calvin will start crying within minutes of arriving at the track, as if to say hurry up and find your group so i can go for my walk with your PA!
8. Calvin’s not much of a barker, but he’s getting more vocal these days and growls or barks at randoms in the street from behind the front door, just to let them know he can stick up for himself!
9. Calvin’s not allowed in my parents room, but now he’s brave, he often takes a few steps in and is gradually getting further and further in without being told to get out!
10. Now he’s three, he dares to mount any dog, never mind their age or size!

Poorly Pup

2011-11-18T09:47:00.001-08:00

Since having Calvin, I’ve been really lucky with him health wise. Yeah he’s thrown up the odd time in the night, as his stomach of steel has failed him, after he’s scoffed too many twigs, stones or eaten the fluff of his toys that he insists on destroying. However, this year he’s had two eye infections and just last week was struck down with gastroenteritis.

Being blind, I’ve found that I’ve struggled to know when he has been unwell, since there have been no obvious signs. For example, both times he had the eye infections, I hadn’t a clue until my parents told me that his eye looked red and gunky. Then there were the eye drops, not a chance would I have been able to do them myself, it took three of us to pin him down. He wasn’t too bothered about it going in his eye, he just wanted to eat the solution and kept his mouth wide open to try and catch it.

The gastroenteritis was new to me, I was home alone and he threw up four times within two hours. Only I didn’t realise, as I only found one batch. There was no indication that he wasn’t well, we’d been to the shops in the morning and he seemed himself. I took him to the vets once my dad got home and alerted me to the amount of sick, but the vet said he seemed fine and needed no treatment. I had no idea what to do when a dog is ill, so just took it. The next morning I trod in some more sick and was fuming that the vet said he was fine. This was the day I was meeting Jonathan Edwards and in an unfamiliar environment on my own with strangers, so Calvin was vital to me. I crossed my fingers that he would be ok when we were there and he was, but I felt guilty for working him and took him back to the vets straight after. We saw a different vet, he was given an injection, some rehydration powder for his water and some special food for the next few days. He was far from impressed that he had to miss a meal though!

It’s not pleasant knowing your dog is unwell, although Calvin has never seemed too bothered. He did make me giggle last week, he was obviously feeling a bit rough, but was dying to play at the same time, so he’d do a few moments of being hyper Calv and then flop down, realising that he didn’t have the energy. This occurred a few times, the blonde!

Calvin’s bouts of illness this year has reminded me of how valuable he is to my day to day life. It also concerns me that because of my disability I’m not always able to know there is a problem. It brings it home how important family is sometimes, even when you crave total independence. Here’s hoping my furry friend isn’t ill again anytime soon.

Morning Musings

2011-11-17T04:00:00.000-08:00

One of my modules as part of my English Language and Literature degree is Creative Writing. The first assignment required us to write a short piece of prose, which could be fiction, autobiographical or biographical. I ended up writing about Calvin and what our mornings are like. The majority is true, except for the ending, as Calvin certainly isn’t up for a snooze after stuffing his face! I needed to wrap the piece up though. I scored a respectable 77% for the assignment, which included more than this and I hope you enjoy it!

Morning Musings

I’m fast asleep dreaming of something sweet and peaceful. Gradually, my head becomes as light as a feather and I drift into reality once more. My eyes are firmly shut, feeling heavy from sleep, but suddenly my ears are filled with the sound of tiny feet charging up the stairs. I half smile and half grumble to myself, pulling my soft quilt over my head. The feet stop momentarily outside my bedroom door and then merrily tap dance in onto my wooden floor. I purposely keep still for dramatic effect and can sense a pair of eyes surveying the scene. I hear a sniff of satisfaction closely followed by a cold wet nose on my skin, as my cheeky Labrador cross Golden Retriever greets me. Letting out a quiet giggle, I stretch for my clock to find out the time. Although my eyes are now wide open they see nothing but blackness.
‘The time is seven twenty four a.m.’ announces the chirpy lady inside my clock, clearly more awake than I am.
‘Oh Calvin, you couldn’t wait six whole minutes?!’ I hear myself croak wearily. His tail begins to beat rhythmically off of my wardrobe in response, as if to say
‘rise and shine!’. Reluctantly, the covers are thrown off, much to Calvin’s delight, as he shuffles on the spot in excitement. Knowing my surroundings like the back of my hand, I gracefully and confidently make my way downstairs not stopping to turn any lights on in the process.

My first glimpse of the time of day occurs when I open the curtains in the living room that reveals the garden to Calvin and daylight to me. However, even though I can only see a sheet of white light that represents a new day, I can envisage exactly what the garden’s appearance is from my childhood memory. Immediately beyond the patio door is hexagonal paving, natural stone mixed with salmon pink slabs. To the left, the side of the shed can be seen, once with a white rectangular window, but more recently it was painted blue, yet I can only imagine the original setting. Directly ahead is the pond surrounded by the lawn, small trees and bushes. The water was always a disgusting looking green, as the little black statue of a man never spouted fresh water. It’s amazing to think that creatures can survive in the murky water that is probably closer to black these days. My garden isn’t an exhilarating illustration to the naked eye, but to me the picture is a masterpiece, embedded in my visual memory, the only vision that I have retained.

I slide the patio door open, stepping out into the morning breeze, unfashionably dressed with my pink paw patterned ‘wellies’ and knee high winter coat over my pyjamas. Shadowing me every step of the way is Calvin, the furry set of eyes that I have acquired. He’s not looking out for me now, far too focused on uncrossing his paws. I pull down on the entrance gate to his spending area that makes a loud clunking noise, disturbing the birds’ morning tune. I find myself fantasising that there are birds of every shape, colour and size singing in harmony; blue tits, red breasted robins, black birds and sunshine yellow canaries.
I command Calvin to
‘busy busy’ but being well trained he’s one step ahead of me and an unpleasant whiff meets my nose causing my nostrils to flare. Ecstatic with his achievement Calvin develops a swagger in his walk mirroring Danny Zuko in Grease. He licks his chops raucously which allows me to hear a ‘sloppy slurp’, as he communicates his hunger.
‘breakfast?’ I squeal in a high pitched tone, more awake due to the freshness of the air upon my face. We race inside, the change in temperature slightly burning my cheeks. Calvin sits poised waiting for the ‘take it’ command before he gorges himself, eating so vigorously just in case the food magically disappears before him. Stomach emptied and filled again, my furry set of eyes grabs a cuddly toy, snuggles up in his bed and begins to snore. He’s fast asleep, dreaming of something sweet and peaceful, whilst I’m fully alert, wondering if he’d find it amusing if I were to repeat his deed and wake him up!

Calvin Week's Back!

2011-11-16T04:07:00.001-08:00

To celebrate a year’s partnership with my Guide Dog Calvin last year I had Calvin week where I posted informative and light hearted posts daily. Today marks two years since we started training together and because I don’t update on him much these days, it seems fitting to have Calvin week once more! I’m running the week from Wednesday to Wednesday this time, just to be different, (tell a lie I forgot on Monday), so check back each day to be amused and educated!

Running Blind

2011-11-16T03:40:00.000-08:00

Running Blind is a documentary featuring visually impaired sprinter Libby Clegg. It begins in Gateshead in 2010 at the Disability Athletics Challenge, which I remember well, as I was competing too! It follows her journey to the IPC World Championships in New Zeeland that were held in January this year. I found the programme captured visually impaired running and visual impairment in general really well. It highlights just how important a guide runner is and day to day struggles that you learn just to get on with. I found that I could relate to much of what Libby described, both in the period where I lost my sight and even now as someone with no useful vision.

Libby now trains at Loughborough the same place as me and I often see her at the track. Lincoln Asquith who was her first guide runner appears in the documentary and has recently started to assist with my training. He has another son who is one of my new guide runners. After watching the programme I feel more confident that I have made the right steps to fulfilling my own athletics goals.

I don’t know how long the documentary will stay on BBC Iplayer, but if you get the chance definitely check it out! Just click the following link: Running Blind

You’ve got to fight for every dream!

Funding Update

2011-11-12T09:49:00.001-08:00

I’ve had a whirl wind of a week promoting myself as a Paralympic star of the future in order to get funding. I’ve featured in the paper three times, done a radio interview and had a networking lunch, which included meeting the legend that is Jonathan Edwards.

It all kicked off on Monday when the Leicester Mercury asked if they could do an interview with me there and then. They sent a photographer out that same day and I featured in the paper on Tuesday. You can read the article here: Leicester Mercury Funding Article

On Wednesday I was invited by Inspire Leicestershire to attend a lunch meeting with triple jumper Jonathan Edwards. He was visiting Leicester to see how we are preparing for next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games. My name was mentioned in the paper the day before and day after the event. Whilst doing my best not to act star struck, I had a nice little conversation with Jonathan and a useless fact for you is that he has a black Labrador. The meeting also sparked some possible funding opportunities, which I hope will be explored in the near future.

On Thursday my interview with BBC Radio Leicester was aired. A big thank you goes to Peter Barratt who has offered me some funds after hearing the programme.

I’ve also had a blast from the past, as an old teacher has contacted me. She has a few ideas to generate some more funding and sparked a thousand happy memories from primary school.

So things are on the move and despite all of these media commitments I’ve still been training hard, as at the end of the day funding will be a massive help, but my dream of competing at the Paralympics won’t become a reality unless I work for it!

Success is never perminant and failure is never final!

Bruno and Katy

2011-11-07T07:54:00.000-08:00

Last week was loaded with music concerts, as I saw both Bruno Mars and Katy Perry at the Capital FM Arena Nottingham. Bruno was brilliant, even though his production was quite different from what you tend to see at concerts these days. He didn’t have any dancers, made no costume changes and only sang his songs. However, he did play various instruments, hit notes out of this world and his interaction with the audience was impressive. Maybe if I could see I would have appreciated his winks, smile and pelvic thrusts that sent the women in the crowd absolutely crazy. I’ve been to a fair few concerts, but I think this was the loudest by far!

Katy’s performance was completely the opposite, yet equally as spectacular. I don’t think i’ve known an artist to have so many costume changes, she came out into the crowd in a ball of candy floss and I found her sense of humour compelling. She’s a little odd, but someone who would make a great friend! The video shown during her costume changes was quite amusing and I about lost my voice singing ‘Fireworks’ on bonfire night. The words to that song are really inspiring.

I’ve got a fair few concerts lined up next year including Jason Derulo, JLS, The Wanted, Steps and Westlife’s final ever tour, which is going to be traumatic! However, 2012 is set to be the best year ever!

Baby I’m a firework, I’m gonna show them what I’m worth; make them go oh, oh, oh, as I shoot across the line, line, line!

300 Days To Go!

2011-11-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

300 days to go until the London 2012 Paralympic Games, the time is really ticking now. My preparations have had a drastic shake up, but fingers crossed it’s all for the best in the end.

I now have three guide runners, yes three, as I can’t bear to be in the usual predicament of being left solo for a few weeks. This way, if one or two don’t work out, then I’ll still be ok, still can train and still feel like I’m on track. However, fitting three guide runners in a week has increased my training sessions, but this can only be a good thing long term.

All this extra training and guide runners cost money, so I was relieved to discover that I had been nominated for a Sports Aid Award for the third year running by UK Athletics. Inspire Leicestershire, who are basically in charge of making sure Leicester makes the most of the Olympics and Paralympics have also been searching for funding opportunities for me. Here is the article published on their website and sent to their media partners:

Article on Request for Funding

From this, I was contacted by a local primary school who are going to fundraise for me, which I’m so incredibly grateful and touched by. It will be brilliant to get the kids excited about Paralympic sport, enhance their awareness of disability and hopefully make them feel proud that they have supported a local athlete to a once in a lifetime event.

I’ve been a bit down for a while, but I’m so glad that things are looking up!

The future’s bright, the future’s London 2012!

Bognor Weekend Away

2011-10-12T08:17:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I went to Bognor Regis to stay at the Russell Hotel run by Action for the Blind. The long weekend was spent with four of my visually impaired friends, three of which also have a Guide Dog. We’d been to stay two years previously, but that was before I had Calvin.

After arriving on the Friday we took a stroll into town along the promenade where instantly Calvin was eager to get on the pebble beach. I’ve only been on the beach once with him and that’s when we met his Puppy Walkers last year. Being a beach boy for the first year of his life he obviously has a soft spot for the sea. Before dinner we allowed the dogs to have a play. Calvin is normally a loon on free-runs and I’m sure he was even more excited than usual, as he sprinted around the beach, dived in the sea and kicked all of the pebbles in his wake searching for treasure! He was the most ignorant out of the dogs on recall, desperate to stay for as long as possible!

On Saturday we took a trip to Brighton and I was surprised at how busy the place was, I would say even busier than London! Calvin was dying to get on the beach again as we walked along the peer, I had to battle him at every set of steps to persuade him not to go down! We grabbed some freshly made doughnuts in true holiday spirit and browsed the shops at leisure.

Sunday was meant to be a relaxing day, gym followed by swimming, a spot of lunch and general chit chat. However, the so called gym only had three pieces of equipment, not including a bike and the cross-trainer and rower didn’t work! So we quickly knocked that on the head and went swimming where the pool was relatively warm. However, some guy took up half the pool doing lengths, which made it difficult for us to swim freely. Since our Guide Dogs all walk at different speeds with Calvin being one of the quickest, we thought we would be more sociable on our trip into town and let the dogs leg it around on the beach whilst we strolled up the promenade. We did this on the way back too, much to Calvin’s delight!

Overall, the hotel is nice and accessible, the staff mostly helpful and the food edible. I particularly enjoyed Scottish kipper each breakfast time, which Calvin cursed me for, as he sulked with jealousy! It was a jam packed weekend and Calvin possibly enjoyed it more than me! Oh and after the four hour train journey home, I went to athletics training like a good little athlete!

It's as Easy as ABC

2011-10-06T04:46:00.000-07:00

I’m sure you have all seen my advert for a new guide runner, which came quite unexpectedly, but then again maybe I was foolish to be so complacent. I’m not really in a position to update on the situation at the moment, as things are very much still work in progress. However, I wanted to blog something and have decided to write an alphabet of motivation, since I’ve found myself doubting my ability and ambitions, which is not like me at all! In real life, I’m quite a quiet person in relation to my athletics training, but inside i’m mentally strong, never satisfied and always wanting more. I don’t want to lose that faith in myself, so here goes...

A is for ambition, never be afraid to dream
B is for brave, don’t ever give up
C is for confidence, have faith in yourself
D is for determination, if you’re not hungry for something, it won’t happen
E is for effort, don’t expect things on a plate
F is for fight, be fearless
G is for goals, big or small you can achieve them
H is for happiness, don’t be miserable in what you do
I is for I, be selfish, think about number one
J is for journey, it might be bumpy, but it will be worth it
K is for kick, kick some ass in what you do
L is for length, go to all lengths to get what you deserve
M is for motivation, keep your eye on the prize
N is for never, there’s no such word
O is for obstacles, climb over them or just smash straight through them
P is for pain, no pain, no gain
Q is for question, don’t ever question your ability, you can do anything
R is for rainbow, find that pot of gold
S is for success, the end product
T is for time, nothing happens instantly
U is for unlimited, don’t set limits
V is for visualise, view the dream in your head at least everyday
W is for welcome, don’t dismiss any useful advice or help from others
X is for excuses, there are none, just get on with it
Y is for you, don’t do it for anyone, but yourself
Z is for zone, stay in it, focus and succeed!

WANTED GUIDE RUNNER ASAP

2011-09-28T06:07:00.000-07:00

Hi.

I’m a visually impaired athlete in search of a sprinter who is able to train with me at least twice per week. Ideally, this would be on a Monday and Wednesday evening from about 6.30pm, as I train with Charnwood AC at Loughborough University.

What you need to know:
£9 per hour
40p per mile (for travel to competitions)
No experience required
Must be able to run 100m in 12.5secs
Looking to qualify for Paralympics 2012

My stats:
100m PB 14.91 – 2012 B Standard 14.80 – 2012 A Standard 14.25
200m PB 32.22 – 2012 B Standard 30.30 – 2012 A Standard 28.65
Long Jump PB 3.21 – 2012B Standard 3.30 – 2012 A Standard 3.80

If interested or for more information please contact me at: selinalitt@googlemail.com

Thanks

Selina

Morocco

2011-09-25T03:57:00.000-07:00

I stayed at the Pickalbatros Aqua Fun Club Hotel in Marrakech Morocco from 15-22 September. I have to say it’s one of the best hotels I have stayed in and I’ve travelled an awful lot. All Inclusive food can sometimes become samey, but they had a good variety. The only downside was that the free ice-cream was only for kids! Within the complex was an aqua park, which made the place unique. I’ve never been a big slide person, but dared myself to go down some of the smaller ones. They also had a wave pool, which you could just swim in or go on a small boat. I went on a boat with my dad and warned him that if we fell out I wasn’t sure if I could touch the floor, I’m not a very strong swimmer at all. Halfway around the waves seemed to get rougher, the boat spun around and one came in slow motion towards the side of the boat. Whoosh! It capsized and I went under. At no point did my dad attempt to save me, he was too busy saving himself! I could just touch the floor with my feet when the waves weren’t there, but it was a nightmare! Two life guards came to help us back in the boat, which was now filled to the rim with water. I was relieved to get back to the start and get out, but saying that on reflection, I did quite enjoy the experience!

Other entertainment in the hotel included mini golf where I got a few hole in ones, how I don’t know, free pool, a tennis court, which my parents always play and a kids playground (who doesn’t like the swings)!

The holiday flew by and we only ended up leaving the hotel once on the free shuttle service to the nearest town. It was another world from the hotel, Morocco is still very much a developing country. I lost count of the times I nearly got run over by a moped, which apparently don’t have to stay on the roads. There were also loads of people that travel by horse and carriage, which was quite surreal, as they made their way through the immense traffic. Here we have to slow down for horses, but no chance there! We did want to climb the Atlas Mountains, but the time just went.

Good weather, good food and great facilities made a brilliant holiday!

Paralympic Tickets

2011-09-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

Last Friday tickets for the London 2012 Paralympic Games went on sale and applications will remain open until Monday 26 September at 6pm. I found viewing the official timetable very surreal. For example, on Tuesday 4 September 2012 I could either be living my dream in the T11 100m heats or sitting in the stands kicking myself for not working hard enough, although I’m 100% certain I would have done everything possible to make my ambition a reality. Likewise, on Friday 7 September 2012, I don’t want to be wishing I was competing in the F11/12 long jump; I want to be doing it! I’m being more realistic about my chances of qualifying for the 200m, as I need to slash 2 seconds just for the B standard. What I did find interesting about the timetable, is that the visually impaired categories seem to be one of the hardest, as they have heats, semi finals and finals. Some classifications may just have a straight final, most likely because the event is still developing.

So, I will be applying for tickets for the above dates, in the hope my family can watch a miracle unfold! At times I find it challenging to keep my passion, determination and focus, as when people rightly ask ‘have you qualified for the games?’ I have to say no, but then feel like I’m defending myself when explaining I’m close. I am also a nobody in terms of the amount of top Paralympic athletes Great Britain and Northern Ireland have. Therefore, you’re unlikely to see me in the media like many other athletes, but I was given the opportunity to appear in my local paper. It was a comprehensive telephone interview, yet I only got two lines and was misquoted at that. Saying that I’m grateful to be recognised nonetheless. You can view the article here: Paralympic Leicester Mercury Article 09/09/2011

At the foot of the article there is a link to the official Paralympic ticketing website. Prices for tickets start at just £10, which include a day travel pass for London. Both my events can be purchased at this incredibly reasonable fee and if you have as much confidence as I do in myself, I urge you to apply. Hell, I urge you to apply anyway, as I promise it will be an amazing showcase of Paralympic talent, grit and determination!

When you feel like you’re at the end of the rope, tie a knot and hang on!

9/11

2011-09-11T12:10:00.000-07:00

Where were you ten years ago to the day? Most of us can’t remember what we did last week, never mind a decade ago, but some dates just stick with you forever. On 11 September 2001 I was thirteen years old. I should have been at school, instead, I was at home ill with my mum who was also ill and really must have been suffering to miss a day at work. Whilst I’m sure we were feeling sorry for ourselves, who would have thought that feeling ill could be made so trivial.

I clearly remember it being around lunchtime and we were watching Crossroads on TV. The programme was interrupted for breaking news in America. The first plane had already hit the north tower and we witnessed the second plane hitting the south tower. I remember I was lying on the sofa and had acquired the art of just listening to the TV, as opposed to sitting on top of it to see what was happening. So, I did not see any of the live images and definitely didn’t understand the magnitude of the attack. At the time I wasn’t emotionally affected by the events unfolding before me, I had never even heard of the twin towers, yet remained watching it all for hours.

Over the years I have watched the various documentaries about the day, the amazing survivor stories, the brave emergency services efforts and the tragic loss of thousands of innocent lives. It wasn’t until a few years later watching these shows that I learnt that there were two further planes, the one that went into the Pentagon and the one that the passengers gained control back and crashed it into a field.

Ten years on, I have been transfixed to the television once more, much wiser and much more sympathetic, as I’ve watched the various memorial ceremonies taking place across the world. For some reason this morning three thousand people who lost their lives didn’t seem to be a massive number. However, the roll call at Ground Zero put it into perspective. Listening to the endless names from every culture imaginable made 9/11 and its significance hit home. It’s impossible to comprehend why and how human beings would want to and did commit mass murder, suicide and general terror.

Where were you on this day ten years ago...

World Championships 2011

2011-09-04T08:23:00.000-07:00

The thirteenth IAAF Athletics World Championships took place in Daegu over nine days from 27 August to 4 September. The event failed to disappoint with its high drama and nail biting performances. The Aviva Great Britain and Northern Island Team had a target of seven medals including one gold and managed to surpass this by getting two golds.

The top podium step performances came from Dai Green in the men’s 400m hurdles and Mo Farah over 5000m. Mo also clinched a silver medal over 10000m, which could have so easily been gold, but a gutsy run nonetheless. Another athlete with guts was Hannah England who sprinted for her life at the end of a competitive 1500m to grab an unexpected, but well deserved silver. 110m hurdler Andy Turner controversially picked up the bronze after winner Dayron Robles was disqualified for impeding another athlete. Our final medal was picked up by Phillips Idowu in the men’s triple jump who despite leaping to a season’s best performance only came away with silver.

Whilst Great Britain achieved their target set, there were so many missed opportunities. 800m runner Jenny Meadows who medalled at the last games failed to make the final despite being in good form. Perry Shakes Drayton agonisingly missed the 400m hurdles final by 0.01secs. The most shocking had to be Christina Ohuruogu who false started in the 400m and got disqualified. Another false starter was the experienced Dwain Chambers in the 100m semi final. Tiffany Porter was unlucky to finish fourth in the 100m hurdles after clattering one towards the finish. On the infield, both of our top long jumpers went out injured and ever improving Holly Bleasdale no heighted in the pole vault qualification.

Elsewhere, the biggest shock of the games came from the most famous athlete in the sport, Usain Bolt who unbelievably false started in the men’s 100m final and was effectively disqualified. Oscar Pistorius made history by being the first amputee athlete to compete at a major athletics championship. The South African did well to make it to the 400m semi final and won a 4x400m silver medal despite being left out of the squad for the final even though he was the quickest of their athletes. Sally Pearson and Alyson Felix were the stand out athletes for me, Sally was just 0.07secs away from the 100m hurdles world record, whilst Alyson collected two golds, a silver and bronze from the relays, 200m and 400m. As a country Kenya were outstanding dominating the women’s distance events, as well as doing exceptional in the men’s. Perhaps I’m slightly bias there, as my dad was born in Kenya! One thing that niggled me in the championships that no world records were being broken, but thankfully and surprisingly, as Asafa Powell was injured, the Jamaican 4x100m relay team with the lightning bolt on the anchor leg smashed the world record powering to 37.04secs.

Channel 4’s coverage of the games had its ups and downs. The amount of athletics shown was immense, yet at times the commentating was below par. In my opinion the ex athletes, such as Michael Johnson and Iwan Thomas did the better jobs. Overall, an inspiring, fascinating and drama filled games, I can’t wait for next year’s European Championships and Olympic Games!

Daegu Delivered!

Olympic Ticket Care Success

2011-08-31T02:20:00.000-07:00

You may remember last month when I submitted an application for two free carer tickets to accompany my current opening day of athletics Olympic tickets. Well, after all the battling to get what I felt I deserved, I got a call from Ticket Care confirming my application had been accepted. So I now have four tickets for the first morning of athletics, meaning my entire family can attend the games. It also makes the £150 tickets feel less expensive, as at the end of the day, my brother and I aren’t going to be able to see a thing no matter where we sit.

However, I still maintain the opinion that the ticket process could have and should have been so much better. Not everyone will have been as successful as me, the guy on the phone expressed that how others didn’t explain why they needed a carer well enough, but mine was really clear. Tickets for the Paralympics go on sale between 9 and 26 September with exactly the same ticket process as the Olympics. I can’t be doing with the stress of Ticket Care again, so will be applying for four tickets. Hopefully I won’t need one of the tickets as I’ll actually be competing, but if not I want to watch the T11 100m heats and probably kick myself of what could have been!

Fight to the end!

August Injuries

2011-08-31T02:02:00.001-07:00

Now I’ve reached the end of my athletics season, my body has the chance to recover from any outstanding niggles or injuries, as I won’t start running again until late September.

Shins – Are about ok, but have been flaring up after training and competitions. The month off of impact upon them should allow them to fully heal.
Ankles – Again play up from time to time, but again the break from impact and constant rehab work should strengthen them for the winter.
Knee – This is a new issue, but thankfully nothing serious. Due to a tight IT band my knee has been getting locked and causing some pain. On-going physio treatment should sort it in no time.

I definitely don’t feel like I’m falling to pieces anymore!

1 Year To Go

2011-08-29T01:13:00.000-07:00

It feels like it was only yesterday when I was blogging about two years to go until the London 2012 Paralympics, but suddenly there is only a year left! That Paralympic Show’s third series begins on Saturday, continuing to introduce the public to disability sport in a fun light hearted, but educational manner. Channel 4 are also launching a documentary series called Best of Britain profiling our top Paralympic athletes, which will be coming soon.

Regarding my preparations for the games, my final competition in Gateshead saw me achieve two PBs, along with two wins. It was raining heavily for my 100m, which made warming up a bit miserable and I’ve never actually seen proper puddles on the track before. I had a poor reaction off of the start, which has been the same story throughout this season, but I managed to pick it up. I didn’t feel as smooth, aggressive or as quick as I did in training, so was relieved to run a legal PB of 15.06secs with a wind of 1.2. No qualification standard this year.

The weather cleared up for my 200m, but it was still quite chilly for August! Usually, I find myself drawn in lanes one and two or seven and eight. Strangely, I was in four and five, where I rarely practice running around the bend. On my inside was a world class athlete for her category and I knew she had run faster than me this year and had a better PB overall. Coming around the bend we were about level. As I attempted to straighten up for the final 100m, I misjudged it, running in god knows what direction and losing a couple of metres. With 80m to go I kicked for my life, but so did the other athlete. Rocking and rolling with 30m to go, I just kept it going as best I could to the line. It was her home track and the crowd were clearly all going crazy for her and not me, which made me more determined. A time of 32.22secs takes just over a tenth off of my PB of 32.35secs, but it was a good result, as I haven’t run faster than 32.92secs this year. Hopefully, with a killer winter, I’ll get the strength to get closer to the B standard of 30.30secs.

I’m having a week off training before starting back in the gym and doing a combination of circuits and cycling. It won’t be until the end of September that I start running again. My last two winters have been interrupted with injury and guide runner issues, so I’m excited to have a full, hard winter of training. I’m ready to throw up after sessions because I’ve pushed myself to the limit!

One year to go and I still have one goal, one dream, London 2012 Paralympics!

Sub 15, finally!

2011-08-18T06:17:00.000-07:00

I competed twice last week, Charnwood Open and in the Midland League, neither of which are disability competitions. I started to worry that the day would never come for me to run sub 15secs, but thank goodness it did, but how frustrating that the wind was illegal! I ran 14.91secs for 100m with a wind of plus 2.1. The most you are allowed to be deemed legal is plus 2.0. I know that I had a good race, but my body did seize up 10m to go again, so it’s reassuring to know that there is more in the tank. Now I feel within touching distance of the B standard 14.80secs.

On Sunday I raced in Nottingham, which is always a horrible windy track. My 100m was into a minus 2.3 and I managed 15.4secs, there was no electronic timing. The 200m was into a minus 3.0 and I got 33.4secs, but was quite disappointed with my home straight, as the wind gobbled me up and I had no kick finish. There were also no blocks available for my 200m, which was weird.

Positives:
1. I ran sub 15secs
2. I know there is still more to come
3. I’ve stopped running left
4. My starts were smooth
5. I’m improving with every race
My next and final race of the season is in Gateshead on 27 August. This is the track where I achieved my PBs last year and hoping for the same this year.

Climbing the ladder of success!

Olympics: Carer Ticket Application

2011-08-05T04:20:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I filled out the form on the London 2012 website to request free carer tickets for my brother and I. They suggested that you keep your explanation of why you require a free companion ticket brief, so I did to the best of my ability, making it nice and blunt too. It’s now less than a year to go until I watch the first morning of athletics. The closing date for carer applications was 31 July and I should hear the outcome by 31 August. However, they did say that they may contact you before then for further information, but I can’t see why they should. I name dropped the Accessibility Manager who did an interview on Radio 4’s Intouch programme on my case and if that isn’t good enough, I have evidence of the letter of complaint I sent them, which was responded to a few weeks later with an auto reply of possible questions I was apparently asking. That didn’t impress me!

You can listen to me and the Accessibility Manager on the link below. I was pleased with the editing; they kept a lot of me in!

BBC Intouch 05/07/2011

Big thanks to In Touch for putting so much effort into this campaign!

Stoke Mandeville

2011-08-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the Stoke Mandeville Disability Challenge where an international field were present. In my race alone there were athletes from South Africa, Cyprus and Australia. It was a fairly successful competition, but I always want and need more!

I didn’t get a brilliant start in the 100m, as I stumbled a little out of the blocks; however I picked it up and was surprised to be in contention with the field. At 90m, I made a final push, but my body just collapsed on me, which has never happened to me before. I think I must have been trying so hard that I tightened up too much. I came last, as expected, but ran a season’s best time of 15.24secs, just 0.02secs outside of my PB, which was run with a much stronger following wind, so basically it was the best race of my life, yet it was far from perfect.

Tucked in on the inside lane for the 200m I gave it my best shot to chase everyone down. It was by far one of my better bend runs, excluding the fact that I kept hitting myself with the arm attached to my guide. I wish I had a bit of a stronger finish, as my legs were burning with 30m to go. I still managed to run a season’s best of 32.92secs into a minus 1.5 head wind, which is pretty impressive. If the wind was the other way around, I would have run a PB for sure. To put it into perspective, an athlete who beat me by half a second in Bedford, ran nearly half a second slower than me, all be it in a race after mine. Oh yeah I came last again, but it is much better to chase than be ahead, it’s the only way I’m going to improve.

Positives:
1. I ran two season best times
2. I’m improving around the bend
3. I’m able to stay in the drive phase for a full 30m
4. My performances are getting better not worse
5. I know there is still more in the tank

So I still lack any qualification times or PBs to my name, but thankfully the season isn’t over yet. My next race is on Wednesday, Charnwood Open.

There can be miracles, when you believe!

Distinction No.3

2011-08-03T02:34:00.001-07:00

My third module with The Open University was A210 Approaching Literature. I have to say this is my most rewarding mark yet, even though I also achieved Distinctions on my previous two modules. Throughout my assignments I didn’t drop below 80% and peaked at 95%, which was just mind blowing. I gained an average of 87% for my assignments with just the exam to go. I never expected to score 85% on my exam, which would secure my Distinction overall and hoped that my mark would be bumped up anyway like the last two times. But I did it! I got exactly 85% and this beats any GSCE, A Level result or any other achievement in my life. To be one of forty out of one thousand and fourteen students who took the exam and managed a Distinction is amazing. I work hard, but never consider myself to be smarter than the average bear! Starting in October I’m doubling up on courses doing A215 Creative Writing and E301 The Art of English. I’ll then conclude my English Language and Literature degree with EA300 Children’s Literature commencing October 2012.

Full results:
TMA 01 – 80%
TMA 02 – 89%
TMA 03 – 83%
TMA 04 – 86%
TMA 05 – 95%
TMA 06 – 91%
TMA 07 – 82%
Exam – 85%
OCAs – 87%
Total – DISTINCTION!

August, the month of success!

July Injuries

2011-07-31T07:41:00.001-07:00

I don’t want to jinx things, but I think I’m pretty much injury free!

Shins – Get slightly inflamed after a tough session, but are generally perfectly fine
Ankles – Ache from time to time, but no big deal
Achilles– Marginal stiff heel, but doesn’t affect training

After a hurricane, comes a rainbow!

400 Days To Go!

2011-07-26T06:34:00.000-07:00

Today marks 400 days to go until the start of the London 2012 Paralympics. Instead of harping on about my aspiration to be there, I thought I would write a short post on why YOU should be there as a spectator!

Many of the Paralympic sports are the same as the Olympic ones, such as athletics, swimming and cycling, but may have slight modifications including a guide runner for visually impaired athletes, no diving into the pool for some physical disabilities and hand cycles for wheelchair users in order to make the sport accessible. There are also some events, which are exclusive to the Paralympics, such as goalball, boccia and the club throw. Likewise there are some sports, which are excluded for obvious reasons like the pole vault, synchronised swimming and wrestling!

If you are a fan of a sport that has a Paralympic equivalent, then there is no reason why you wouldn’t find it fulfilling to watch. You may not know the athletes by name, but you know who you’re supporting, Great Britain! Surely it would be fascinating to watch the blind football team’s amazing spacial awareness, as well as their advanced football skills. Imagine watching an athlete that can’t walk, but can glide through the pool at exceptional speed. Perhaps wheelchair basketball would take your fancy, as they can dribble as well as control their wheelchair at the same time. Then there are the amputee cyclists who are so fast that they have represented their country in the able bodied version. Wouldn’t it be spectacular to watch a bunch of totally blind athletes run full pelt in the direction of a sand pit and leap to massive distances?The list is endless!

Disability sport is just as competitive as able bodied sport and the standard exceptionally high. Athletes train just as hard as their able bodied peers and don’t allow their disability to hold them back in any way. Whether visually impaired, have CP,missing a limb, is a wheelchair user or have any other physical disability, one thing is for certain they all have the same hunger to succeed, pride to represent their country and self-determination to push their body beyond its limits!

Paralympic sport is unique!

23

2011-07-21T08:09:00.001-07:00

I hate odd numbers and now I have a whole year of being 23 years old! What an awkward age to be, not quite in your mid twenties, your twenty-first seems a million years ago, but your thirtieth seems trillions of years away! In athletics terms you’re considered to be a ‘senior’ athlete, a label given until you hit thirty-five when they decide you’re over the hill! I think the time between twenty-one and thirty will be the forgotten years, the early adult years, the years where you don’t really meet new people, the time in which you just get on with things. Or maybe that’s just true for me!

Yesterday I woke up feeling the same as any other day, only by the power of time I had aged a year. I had a quite low key birthday really, I can’t actually remember the last time I had a birthday party. I saw the final Harry Potter film at the cinema with my family, had tapas for lunch and saw The Sound of Music at the theatre in the evening, again with my family. Harry Potter was a great film, but I hate the ending when they jump forward so many years, it’s all just too final! Since The Sound of Music is one of my favourite musicals of all time, I had very high expectations and was disappointed in places. They muddled the songs up compared to the film, added in new songs, altered the storyline and well you just can’t beat Julie Andrews can you!

I got six cards, three from my immediate family, parents, brother and Calvin, one from my aunt and uncle, one from my aunt’s parents who I have never met and one from my neighbour. None from friends. None from all my other uncles, aunts and cousins, let me tell you there are allot of them too, as my dad is one of eight. I did however get lots of Face Book messages and made the effort to reply to every single one individually. It just seems no fun getting older!

Oh well, climb every mountain, follow every rainbow until you find your dreams!

One Vision, 2012!

2011-07-19T06:54:00.000-07:00

Three days of racing in one week and thankfully some positive results, but lack of consistency and qualification standards is frustrating.

Last Wednesday was my local club’s open and I did both sprint events. I was pretty disappointed to only get 15.72secs over 100m, as I had been working on my drive phase and managed to stay down for the full 30m. However, my stride length lacked length! It was such a long wait until the 200m and it wasn’t until 9.45pm that I ended up racing. Because I am eternally jinxed, on the first stride my new guide rope snapped! I wasn’t actually aware of this until my guide runner told me to stop, as it was her side that had broken. I was allowed to run in the next heat, but had to use my old guide rope that just let’s me run in the wrong direction. Surprisingly I ran a season’s best of 33.67secs.

At the weekend it was the English and Parallel Success Championships held in Bedford. I had never raced there before, but had heard about the windy conditions that hovered over the track! Long jump was up first and it was absolutely pouring it down with rain. Feeling cold, wet and miserable in my vest and shorts I couldn’t wait for it to be over. My practice jumps were a disaster; I found it impossible to concentrate with the weather and commentator talking about the track events. To be fair, the officials acknowledged that this was an issue for me and a flag system was used, so when the flag was up the commentator had to stop speaking for my jump. They also had to move the board forward, as it was 2m from the pit and effectively I could jump from 3m away and not even make the pit, this wasn’t just for me though, as the other disabled jumpers would have also had a similar problem. After my awful warm-up jumps, I really went for it on my first jump, just to commit and definitely get one in, though it petrifies me every time jumping into the obis! I veered left and only one foot made the pit, with the other leg hitting the safety mat and grazing my knee. This was still measured, as I made the sand and because I was a little shaken afterwards and trying to regain my focus for the next five jumps, I didn’t hear the distance. I wish I did hear the distance, as it turned out to be my best jump and I would have gone in straight away! My next 3 jumps were no jumps; getting more confident and stretching out my stride length I went over the board marginally on 2 and just ran through one, as I felt rushed with a race about to start on the track and commentator waiting for me. My final two jumps were around the 2 and a half metre mark and I was utterly disgusted with my performance! Then the results came up and it turns out my first jump was 3.21m 9cm short of the B standard for the Paralympics next year. I was awarded a shiny good quality gold medal, as I was the closest to my classification’s world record.

Thankfully, the rain stopped for my 100m where I was faced with a pretty strong field. The number one Great Britain T11 sprinter, Tracey Hinton was drawn in the lane to my left and double world junior champion in the T37 category was drawn in the lane to my right. Sandwiched by world class athletes, my aim was to try and keep with Tracey for as long as possible, as I’m only able to gage athletes to my left with my guide runner being on my right. However, I was a little star struck when the gun went off and Tracey was gone within the first stride. I maintained my composure and raced on with no idea where I was in the race and was pleased to discover that I finished third behind the two world class athletes and beat the other three athletes, two of which have run around the 15.5secs mark this year. To demonstrate the difference between Tracey and me, her being the number one Brit and I number two, she ran a phenomenal 13.43secs and I ran 15.30secs! After the points were worked out I remained in third place and got a nice quality bronze medal to accompany my gold. I really don’t know where I’m going to find half a second from by the end of August though!

The 200m took place on the Sunday and I was up against the same athletes. This time I knew I would struggle to finish third, as four out of the five other athletes had run quicker than me over the distance this year. Drawn in lanes one and two, I had no chance of knowing where I was in the race. I knew I had taken the bend far too slowly, but for once we sustained a good arm rhythm and I desperately didn’t want to mess that up, as it feels so awkward when it goes wrong. Coming off of the bend I picked up the speed and the arm rhythm was lost for a couple of strides, but regained again and I stormed down the home straight, knowing that I must be a million miles behind. My guide runner confirmed to me afterwards that I was dead last coming on to the home straight, but I made up two places and was quickly closing down for third place, but ran out of metres. I clocked 32.93secs a good seven tenths quicker than the Wednesday before and creeping closer towards my PB of 32.35secs. I’m pleased I’m progressing in the event, but know much more improvement is needed.

Good points to take forward:
1. I’m only 9cm short of the B standard in the long jump
2. My 200m time is rapidly improving
3. I am now able to sustain a longer drive phase
4. I’m getting better at running around the bend
5. I didn’t let the fact that I was left for dead by Tracey impact on my performance
My next race is in Stoke Mandevil on 30/31 July.

Who needs 20:20 vision when you’ve got 2012 vision!

Sight Village 2011

2011-07-13T07:23:00.000-07:00

QAC Sight Village is held annually and is a large exhibition of products and services for the visually impaired. I attended the Birmingham event, but it is also held in Manchester and London. This was my second time going, as I last went in 2009. There is a blog post about that buried in this blog somewhere with no useful label to locate it!

The first time I went I got a little bored, but this time, I wish I had more time to explore and absorb. The place was packed with people and Calvin successfully found every single Guide Dog in the building to greet, but I have to say, I didn’t come across a single friendly GDO, as they all seemed really narked by Calvin’s bright eyed, helicopter tail hello. I know Calvin is easily distracted, but surely he’s not the only Guide Dog to be attracted to other dogs in harness!

Anyway, here’s my opinion on some of the products and services I came across...

Vibrating Glasses:
I can’t remember the proper name of these glasses, but they are RNIB’s new favourite gadget to flog. The glasses are supposed to detect over head objects and should be used in conjunction with a cane or dog. Priced around £80 they are reasonable for a visually impaired product. However, they made me cringe, as they look like the stereotypical blacked out, dark glasses some visually impaired people choose to wear. The vibration on your face isn’t the most comfortable and whilst they vibrated I found I moved my face to avoid the object, but my body didn’t follow, so effectively I was still in danger. Testing them in such a busy environment probably wasn’t the best idea, but they don’t get my vote.

Ultra Cane:
All new and improved, oh and double the price too, now costing £635. The electronics have been moved to the inside of the cane for protection and any previous folding issues have been resolved. It practically appears to be like a normal white cane, but the handle is a little bulkier with two vibrating pods. The top pod is for over head objects and the bottom for obstacles directly in your path. I found that after a couple of minutes I was able to walk freely without bumping into anything by responding to the vibrations. It is much more specific and accurate than the glasses and less obvious that you are using specialist equipment. If I was still a cane user, I would look at investing in one. They can be loaned or paid for in instalments and even better come in pink, blue or yellow, as well as the traditional white. I love my pink cane!

Calibre:
Offer free audio books on a memory stick or mp3 cd. Previously, I paid for a Talking Books membership with RNIB to get some of my literature books for uni, but will no longer be doing this, as there is a free service.

Vision Hotels:
I’ve been to the ones in Bognor and Teignmouth. A group of us want to go to Bognor again, but the hotels are no longer just for the visually impaired and there seem to be less discounts too. I was trying to find out how we could get a good deal, but all they could offer was 10% off if you have a RNIB membership or if you book 3 months in advance. This would still cost quite a lot. Previously, we paid £99 for 3 nights half board. I find it strange that they are not encouraging the visually impaired to go.

Look:
Are a pretty good charity, I went to Berlin with them in 2006 on the International Computer Camp, which was a week of activities with other countries from mainly Europe. They had a kids zone and Calvin and I got our picture taken on a green screen. I wanted it to be him on his own, but he didn’t sit still. We chose a beach backdrop, which gets super imposed on afterwards. Check out Look’s Outlook Youth Project for people aged 9 to 25 years old, I keep meaning to get involved!

Guide Dogs:
I went to there stand, but nobody spoke to us, they all just stayed sitting at their table not doing a whole lot! I saw Delphie doing a demo in the sports arena, he was the dog I had a demo walk with two years ago. I watched the demo for a little while, thinking what a false advert that they were giving. The crowd were all commenting on how amazing Delphie was, but I was so tempted to try Calvin on the obstacle course and show more realistically what type of dog you’re likely to get! I’m not sure it’s very convincing when a sighted person is demonstrating too.

Overall, it is a great exhibition to attend, to get in the know. I’d definitely recommend it.

London

2011-07-10T01:54:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe it has been two weeks since I was in London for the weekend. Time is flying by lately! It was great being back in London for an extended period of time other than for a MoorfieldsEye Hospital appointment. At one stage in my life, London was like a second home to me. Getting off of the train with Calvin, I quickly realised this was the first time we had travelled there solo. I didn’t have any assistance booked and spent a while trying to figure out which way the mass crowd were going for the exit. When you’re in London, you don’t feel like you stick out like a sore thumb, as everyone is so interested in getting to places than stopping to stroke your dog or ask if you’re ok. I love that! Once through the barriers I met Beth and her new Guide Dog Connie who is a German shepherd and a little bigger than my BFG. Oh yeah and Connie is classified as a ‘fast’ dog, the quickest walking speed a Guide Dog can be, Calvin is a ‘quick mod plus’, but this meant we had to get our skates on a little. I’ve met Connie once before, so had a chance to practice my power walk before hitting the capital.

On the Saturday we went to watch the afternoon performance of Wicked in the West End. I was supposed to go the year before, but cancelled at the last minute so I could go to an athletics competition instead, surprise, surprise! I was concerned that because our seats were up in the heavens that I would find it difficult to concentrate with not being able to see the lights and thought the sound wouldn’t be very good, but in fact I could see glimmers of light and the sound was amazing. There was certainly no room for the dogs to join us, I could hardly fit my legs in the gap and I’m 5ft 2”! The dogs were left in a good sized room to relax/run around like wild animals! The musical overall was enjoyable, although I could see where they were trying to be funny and I didn’t always crack a smile. The storyline was also a little confusing, probably because I didn’t realise the Wicked Witch wasn’t really wicked!

On the Sunday we went to watch Glee Live at the O2. Again the dogs were left with staff members, but we didn’t get to see the room and apparently they were taken on a walk by the river, which I’m not sure they should have done, as there are so many rules you’re supposed to follow even when a Guide Dog is not working, such as walking on the left of a person, stopping at curbs and steps etc. Prior to Glee coming on stage there was a dance act for the support. I’ve never found something so dull in my life, the music wasn’t even great that they were jigging to! However, I realised how close our seats were to the stage, as without microphones I could hear them speaking. When Glee came on the atmosphere was electric, singing just as good as on the show and character roles sustained. There were video clips of Shooster and Sue on the big screen, which were amusing and The Warblers were there too and sang a few songs. The actress who plays Mercedes stole the show for me, I know she has a massive diva voice, but honestly listening to her hit the most complicated notes at the end of songs left me spell bound. I’ve been to a hell of a lot of concerts and I’ve never heard anything so incredible! The downside to the show was it was just over an hour long, so pretty short and sweet.

The next musical I’m seeing is The Sound of Music for my birthday. I’ve wanted to see this for years, as have watched the video and DVD a million times growing up!

Don’t stop believing!

I'll Get There...

2011-07-04T03:32:00.000-07:00

So it’s now July and I honestly thought by now I’d have at least a PB over 100m. Looks like I will have to wait just that little bit longer.

Yesterday I was racing in Birmingham, as part of the Midland League for Charnwood, so a mainstream event. I knew I had no chance of being in the mix, but it was nice to be in quick races. The 200m was first and haven’t done one since May. I’ve got a new guide rope to try and prevent my veering and aid my general running. From start to finish the race was a disaster. The arm co-ordination was lost and I physically couldn’t run properly, I apparently stepped out of my lane, which doesn’t surprise me, as I was certainly not going around the bend smoothly and to top it off my guide crossed the line first. Despite all of this I wasn’t disqualified, as they lacked electronic timing, wind gages and photo finishes. The time came out as 34.7secs, the most shocking thing of that is I’ve run two slower times this year when I was actually trying! However, it’s a good two seconds off of my PB and a further four seconds off of the B standard for 2012.

I was more confident going into the 100m, but appear to have some issues with positioning my hands on the start line. The new guide rope means I have to make a fist shape, as opposed to the usual going up on to your finger tips. When I went into the set position, I found myself balancing on my knuckles on one hand and thought to myself what an idiot! The race was one of my best this year, feeling smooth and quick. I seem to have my strength sorted over the short sprint and certainly don’t fade towards the end. Therefore I was hoping for a nice time, but was given 15.3secs. This isn’t awful since my official season’s best this year is 15.29secs, but I still need to find a half second from somewhere to get to the B standard of 14.8secs.

Positives to take forward-
1. Hand timing is not accurate
2. I wasn’t out of breath at the end of the 200m
3. I felt strong over 100m
4. The new guide rope prevented me from veering over 100m
5. I didn’t allow the faster athletes to intimidate me
Going forward, as going backwards is not an option!

June Injuries

2011-06-30T06:37:00.001-07:00

I wonder when you’re an athlete, pushing your body to the limit day in day out, whether or not it is possible to ever be injury free.

Ankle – had a follow up appointment with the sports doctor after the injection I had back in March. The regular ankle pain has returned, but it hasn’t stopped me from running. The sports doctor suggested surgery, implying that I would be out for 6 to 8 months, a ridiculous suggestion if you ask me for bearable discomfort! I’ll wait and see what his letter says.
Shins – a cause for celebration, as they are practically cured. The orthotics seem to have done the job.
Calf – well not my calf, but sort of apparently the muscle is called your perennials or something similar, nothing to do with plants! Well that muscle is extra tight and difficult to loosen off, which has resulted in some locking of my ankle reducing movement.
Achilles – Some discomfort has returned due to the above, as it has been too painful to do my rehab work.

You don’t always get what you wish for, you get what you work for!

Olympic Disability Discrimination

2011-06-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

My blood is boiling! From being excited about having Olympic tickets finally, I’m now livid at the discrimination London 2012 are showing to people who are disabled, but do not require a wheelchair.

Thankfully, in a previous post about Olympic tickets I linked to the disability information, which has been updated since the original post. There is a link to book blue badge parking, as well as the form to apply for a free carer or companion ticket. Ticket being the important word and not tickets! You are only allowed to apply for one extra ticket per application despite the fact that both my brother and I are visually impaired. The discrimination occurs, as wheelchair users were able to specify how many wheelchair spaces they required and so would have got a free ticket per space. Other disabilities were only able to advise of their additional needs, which assumed you could only have one disability, for example, you couldn’t select both visually impaired and hearing impaired!

I called London 2012 directly to see what could be done, but was told the same information. They have advised me to call back on 8 July when my payment has been confirmed. I intend to write an email of complaint, so my concerns are in writing. So was I expected to make two applications? Were my family not expected to sit together? Are groups of disabled people not allowed to attend the games together? Why wasn’t this information made clear before?

People wishing to apply for a free carer or companion ticket have until 31 July to do so and will be informed by 31 August whether or not their application has been successful. If unsuccessful, applicants have the opportunity to request a refund by 30 September or just keep the tickets they have.

The Ticket Care Scheme claims it is ‘inclusive and accessible’!

Olympic Seconds

2011-06-27T03:41:00.000-07:00

They say three is a magic number...

On Friday morning at 6am people who were unsuccessful at obtaining any tickets for the London 2012 Olympics were given what the organisers called an ‘exclusive opportunity’, to purchase tickets that did not sell out in the first round of sales. Instead of a lottery style draw, this time tickets were on a first come first serve basis, where applicants could only apply for three sessions and submit a single application. Prior to what was named ‘frantic Friday’, a list of what events were still available including price bands was published. The date I originally applied for was completely sold out, but I was relieved to see that a few athletics sessions had limited availability, as previously it was expected that it would be totally sold out.

I analysed the list and planned to apply for –
Friday 3 August – 2x tickets at £150 – opening morning of the athletics
Monday 6 August – 4x tickets at £65 – these were the cheapest left for athletics
Tuesday 7 August – 4x tickets at £95 – the session includes the men’s 200m heats and so the chance to see Usain Bolt

You may have noticed that on two of the sessions I planned to purchase four tickets instead of two, based on the fact that I have little faith in the Ticket Care Scheme where if you are not in a wheelchair, then free carer tickets are subject to availability. It was for purely financial reasons that I only went for two at £150.

Being blind and needing to use a screen reader to access the London 2012 ticket site, I was always going to be at a disadvantage to non disabled fans. The site is fully accessible, but you are always going to be slower when you can’t use a mouse or have a quick glance at the page and see where you need to be. I also feared with the site being busy that my screen reader would slow down and crash. The night before sale day, I logged onto the site and had a practice run where possible, finding out the quickest way to get to places and how to search with the fewest results on screen.

My alarm went off promptly at 5.30am and I was ready to go. I logged onto the site at 5.45am, signed in and prepared my search filter, ready to press submit at 6am sharp. This was fine and I selected my first ticket selection to be greeted with a message of ‘sorry we are unable to process your request at this time’. This unwelcome message appeared a few times, along with another stating that there was high demand and you should wait for the page to load. I never waited though and retyped the web address back in, knowing my tickets were saved in my basket. I think many people got caught out with that one. 33mins later, I had my 3 sessions selected and had a confirmation email sitting in my inbox. I felt I had done well and couldn’t have done it any quicker or better.

It was an agonising 48hr wait, but yesterday I discovered that I would be charged £306 between 4-8 July, as I had been allocated 2x tickets at £150 for the opening day of action. My third choice of event overall.

Now the news has sunk in, I’m excited to have some tickets and glad that I wasn’t one of the fifth teen thousand to be unlucky again. Apparently some sports sold out within the first fifth teen minutes of sales and knowing how popular athletics is and the fact that I took double that time, I’m really lucky.

However, I’m now going to have to make a third application, as I need two more tickets to ensure that my entire family can go. This means I’ll be putting the Ticket Care Scheme to the test and will find out whether I can get the two free carer tickets my family are entitled to, as my brother and I are both visually impaired. How I make this application, I have no idea, I don’t trust London 2012 to contact me first and will be researching of how to do this once my payment has been taken and tickets confirmed.

They say three is a magic number...

Baby Steps

2011-06-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

Since the last time I blogged I have had two competitions. Another Charnwood Open and a Parallel Success event (the important one for qualification). I can take good and bad from both of them.

The first I only did 100m, as I’m officially allergic to 200m after my -8.1 head wind encounter! I managed 15.29secs, which is an official season’s best performance, just 0.07secs off of my PB.

The Parallel Success event was part of the Welsh Champs and took place in Cardiff. I first did the long jump in the pouring rain, which I had no motivation for and on my final jump managed 2.87m, an increase of 9cm on my PB. I was slightly worried at one point, as I jumped 2.74m three attempts running, consistent, but frustrating! I needed to jump over 2.93m to move up a rank in the world, so was a little disappointed not to achieve that. On the bright side I’m heading in the right direction towards that 3.30m and it was only my second attempt.

The 100m didn’t really go to plan, as I had an awful start, followed by my inability to run in a straight line. I don’t know what it is with me lately, but I just can’t go straight! The minus wind didn’t help matters either, I’m not sure what it was, but other races varied from -2 to -4.5. Due to the bad start I was chasing all of the way and if it was a 101m race I would have won! I lost by 0.01secs, note to self, I need to learn how to dip or stick my chest out! The time came out as 15.90secs, I was just glad it was under 16secs.

Positives-
1. I ran a season’s best
2. I got a PB in the long jump
3. I didn’t tighten up when I was losing
4. I felt strong despite the minus wind
5. In better conditions I would have jumped further
I’m next racing for Charnwood on 3 July, can’t believe they have asked me to run for the club, they really must be desperate!

I’m not there yet, but I’m closer than I was yesterday!

The Test of Time

2011-06-06T13:29:00.001-07:00

On Saturday I went to my friends’ wedding. They have been together since I met them in year 10 at school, so since we were all 14 years old! It’s rare in this day and age to hear of teenage sweethearts, but shows how love can stand the test of time. Not only has their love survived, but their friendships too. The best man (who happens to be my first ever boyfriend) and the maiden of honour (who I met when I was about 8 at summer play scheme and then our paths met again in year 10) have been best friends with the bride and groom since playschool! It was also refreshing to see friends from school since we finished our A Levels 5 years ago now.

Believe it or not, I’ve never been to a church wedding before and found it an interesting experience. I didn’t know you had to stand up for so long and at one point thought everyone is surely sitting downand I’m standing up like a muppet! I didn’t know all of the words to the hymns, but some came flooding back from primary school. Then in the parts where you say ‘amen’, I didn’t know whether to join in or not since I’m Muslim and not Christian. Something like that never crossed my mind at primary school though and I was probably the loudest back then reciting the Lord’s Prayer.

When standing outside of the church with Calvin whilst photos were being taken, I was finding it hard to control him. People weren’t even saying hello to him and he was jumping on them, I cringed every single time, hoping he hadn’t spoilt their outfits! It was like we were playing a game, every time he stood up, I said sit down. He was so interested in all of the people he literally couldn’t sit still for 5 seconds! However, the worst part was when someone threw a ball. I have no idea where this ball appeared from, but it happened twice. Calvin’s retriever instincts kicked in and I had no chance. I gripped his lead as firmly as possible, but the diamond lead he was wearing for the special occasion ripped the skin on my hands, which bled and are still killing me! I lost count of the amount of people asking me whether he’s trained or not!

I took Calvin home for the reception, which meant I had some peace, settled to be guided around all night by whoever was willing and danced for hours. Sometimes when I was dancing I was certain nobody was near me, but I carried on anyway! I’m slightly concerned that I can’t remember all of the moves to Steps 5, 6, 7, 8, but I redeemed myself with Superman!

Building on my last post about fashion, I was taking fashion to its limit! I wore a bright orange shift dress, pink smart jacket and the most amazing pink wedges, as they have Velcro straps! All bought from River island. If you’re not aware, orange and pink don’t normally go too well, but I assure you I looked great and felt great!

Here’s hoping one day it will be me walking down the aisle!

Olympic Disaster

2011-06-01T05:39:00.000-07:00

Last night marked the point where the majority of people who applied for Olympic tickets would know how successful they have been based on the amount withdrawn from their bank account. The official deadline isn’t until 10 June, but word has it, if you’ve not heard by now, you may as well give up hoping.

Just to remind you, I applied for one morning’s session of athletics, tickets priced at £95 the second highest band, I thought I would have a good chance. I also applied for only 2, in the hope that I could then request 2 further free tickets. However, with 20 million applications and only 6 million tickets up for grabs, it’s not entirely surprising on reflection that I’ve been left empty handed.

What I find most disappointing is that I eat, sleep, breathe and live for athletics. I’m a huge fan of watching it and have been for years. Then I also compete, knowing the enjoyment it can give. Yet a lottery system deems that I don’t deserve to watch the greatest show on earth! I didn’t want to watch any finals, which I knew would be oversubscribed, just a few 100m heats and witness the blade runner make history!

This also demonstrates that the disabled Ticket Care Scheme is a disaster too. How on earth are they expecting to offer free carer tickets which are subject to availability, when 14 million people have already been rejected tickets?!

Those who are unlucky, like myself will have priority on applying for resale tickets, but this does not include athletics, swimming or cycling, the three biggest events. I don’t want to see anything else!

In a striking contrast, when tickets for the Paralympics go on sale in September, they’re literally giving them away in a bid to fill seats! 50% of tickets will be £10 or less and this includes a free travel card for the day, which costs around £7 these days!

Great Britain’s greatest failure!

Dressing in the Dark

2011-05-30T13:11:00.000-07:00

I have very strong opinions on how visually impaired people should dress despite not being able to see. Reading a post on Jenny’s Guide Dog Blog about Keeping Up Appearances inspired me to write a post on the same topic.

Ok, so it’s very easy to think that just because you can’t see yourself why on earth do you need to make an effort?! People with this perception honestly break my heart and I don’t mean that in a satirical way! Everybody should take pride in their appearance because every man and woman should feel handsome or beautiful when they face the world.

Unfortunately we live in a society where we are judged on everything. The way we speak, move, look and breathe. Would you go to a job interview dressed in a tracksuit? Would you go to the gym in heels or a mini skirt? Would you wear a bikini in the snow? I hope not! These are some of the things we understand and accept to be ridiculous. I suppose when you are unable to comprehend colours then accepting that a rainbow jumper will look absurd with a spotty skirt is more of a challenge. However, it wouldn’t have to be a challenge if visually impaired people were educated, just as we are sub-consciously educated on what is appropriate at a job interview. Everyone should know that lines across make you look wider or if you have a long face like me, then a v neck just makes it look even longer!

I’m not saying we have to dress up to the eyeballs every time we go out, but we should at least been dressed in clothes that fit us properly. I’ve witnessed that lots of visually impaired people wear baggy clothes based on comfort, but I’m telling you straight, as I’m guessing nobody else has had the guts to, you look awful! You either look much fatter than you are, a general scruff or both!

Thankfully, there is a website dedicated to educating and enlightening visually impaired people on what to and what not to wear, useful tips on grooming and it’s not just for the girls! I’d love to write a blinkies guide to looking amazing, but I’m a bit busy trying to make my dreams come true, selfish of me I know! So, until I’m free check out Styleable’s Website

Be blind and beautiful!

May Injuries

2011-05-30T11:10:00.001-07:00

Dare I say I’m on the mend?!

Shins – Have been causing the usual pain every time I train, but have been prevented from getting any worse with Ibuprofen Gel applied four times per day. Also, I’ve had my orthotics assessed and the extra arch support seems to have eased the problem.
Calf – Generally not tight, but on my left calf towards the outside of the leg I’ve had a tight spot. It doesn’t hurt to walk, but flairs up in training now and then. I’ve had a massage, but it still doesn’t feel perfect. It’s related to a tight hamstring and glut, but I can only feel the calf.
Hamstring – Never had a problem with my hamstrings until now. When I had the massage a knot was found and it’s felt pretty bruised since, which is a good sign!
Ankles – Seem to be doing ok, occasional ache, but no big deal.
Achilles – Definitely fine now.

All in all not looking too bad!

Dreams are made too big, so we can grow into them!

Doggy Diet

2011-05-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

I’ve not blogged about Calvin in a while, mainly because I’ve not felt the need to! Now I’ve had my furry friend for a year and a half, there isn’t much new to blog about. Calvin is Calvin, the naughty little Labrador cross retriever who has the biggest personality and the ability to win everyone’s heart!

Labradors are known for their large appetites and Calvin is no exception to this trait of his breed. He loves to eat anything and everything! Sticks, stones, mud, other animal busies, his toys, wrappers, tissues, human food when he can get his paws on it, oh and doggy treats and doggy food go down nicely too. So, when his weight escalated to over 42kg, his maximum weight is 38kg, I wasn’t too surprised. However, a key contributing factor I believe is that Guide Dogs instructed me to increase his meals, as he lost allot of weight when I first got him.

For the past couple of months Calvin has been on a diet, prompted by me requesting a larger harness strap. I wasn’t too keen to change his food, as you hear about how they can get dodgy stomachs, but I wasn’t given much of a choice. The first food he was put on didn’t work very well, Calvin became a lean mean poohing machine, averaging on ten big busies per day! Calvin has always been clean on walks, partly due to the fact that he won’t spend on concrete for toffee when out, but the food meant he needed a big busy (he held it until we found a grass spot) on a half an hour walk. Logically, he was moved to a different food, which is really embarrassing to call up for. ‘is Calvin still on Obesity’? It always makes me want to say, ‘yeah, but he’s not fat’! The defensive parent!

I can only imagine that Calvin is finding this diet torture! He tries to make up for his lost calories with his instinctive scavenge reflex! It’s also been tough on me, as I have to bribe him with treats to get me to places, which I’ve tried to reduce, meaning we’ve gone on a few detours! So, after nearly two months of starvation, the dustbin on legs has only lost 3kg, meaning he still needs to lose at least one more to be at his maximum weight. Personally, I think he looks in great shape at the min, a really skinny dog would be rubbish for cuddles! Since I’ve been single for so long, Calvin often gets his ribs crushed and turns his head in utter embarrassment, like ‘mum, god get off of me’! It’s his fault for being so adorable!

So the doggy diet continues...

PB DQ -8.1

2011-05-23T07:18:00.000-07:00

The title of this post sums up my weekend of racing in a nut shell. I was at the Knowsley Disability Athletics Challenge in Liverpool, my biggest competition of the season so far as there were entries from Brazil who have a wealth of visually impaired sprinting talent.

The six lane mondo track meant that only three athletes could race at any one time in the T11-13 classification, as the guide runners take up the other lanes. I was originally drawn to race the world record holder, but they must have reshuffled the races in order of times, so I went in the B race. This left me with the number three Brazilian and a T13 British athlete.

Before the race began one of the officials were moaning at the Brazilians for not being in their respective lanes. After a few times of listening to them trying to explain in English that T11/12 athletes are given two lanes and it doesn’t matter which one the guide or athlete is in and the official still insisting on forcing them to swap lanes I spoke up in a ratty tone and the official just shut up! I thought they were supposed to know the rules! Anyway, whilst my reaction was satisfactory, I felt I didn’t get off to a great start. I gave my guide instructions to track the T13 athlete who I know has a PB of 14.6secs. Pretty quickly we lost the arm rhythm and after I couldn’t get it back I just drove with my left arm and relaxed my attached one. I finished last, but knew I had run quicker than my previous two races and was the closest to the T13 athlete I had ever been before. The Brazilian number three stormed ahead achieving the A standard for 2012 clocking 14.16secs.

When I went to collect my kit an official approached me and asked if I spoke English. I was like ‘yeah I am English’! He then proceeded to tell me that I had been disqualified as my guide crossed the finish line before me. My response ‘you’re joking?!’ I had half an hour to appeal the decision; I just wanted to know my time! My guide and I went down to see the track official and were shown the photo finish, which apparently pictured the orange guide vest that was absolutely massive on my guide by a millimetre cross the line before me. Because the vest was so big the wind obviously puffed it out and that’s what made it to the finish first. They at least gave me my unofficial time of 15.13secs, just 0.24 off of the B standard for 2012 and a tenth quicker than my PB from last year. However, I won’t get this time put next to my name and will get a big fat DQ instead, which is a bit gutting. It’s funny how the officials knew this rule!

The 200m was on the Sunday and I faced the same athletes. Warming up I knew it was windy and wasn’t looking forward to the race, as I knew it was going to hurt and I had no chance of running a quick time. Again I wasn’t happy with my start and ran into my guide almost immediately. The wind felt ok around the bend, but as soon as I hit the straight it literally gobbled me up! My arms and legs were all over the place and I felt like I was going backwards not forwards. With 30m to go I was actually just going to stop, it felt like torture! I was shocked my time came out sub 40 and I managed 38.63secs over six seconds off of my PB. I didn’t feel too bad, as the Brazilian was six seconds off of her PB too running over 34secs. I wouldn’t have minded a big fat DQ next to that performance and never want to run into a -8.1 head wind ever again!

Positives to take forward:
1. I ran a PB even if it won’t be ratified
2. I’m just 0.24secs away from the B standard
3. I ran nearly a second quicker than my first couple of races
4. I know I can go faster if I get a good start and keep the arm rhythm
5. I know I need to get stronger to run a decent 200m

My next race is on Thursday 9th June, which is just my local club’s open.

In every good is bad and in every bad is good!

Determined or Deluded?

2011-05-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was jam packed with competitions, as I sprinted in Liverpool on the Saturday and made my debut in the long jump in London on the Sunday. You may have already established from the title of this post that neither were a great success.

I left home at 7.30am on Saturday in order to arrive in Liverpool in good time for my races. Unusually the 200m was first, but I didn’t really think it would make a huge difference and if anything it was nice to get the leg burner out of the way! Considering we’ve been having pretty good weather for Britain, I was surprised with the swirling wind and ice cold conditions. I felt I got an adequate start in my 200m, but could feel the head wind fighting me around the bend. Nevertheless I felt stronger than my first race and whilst I still died in the home straight, it wasn’t as bad. However, I ran 35.80secs, over 3secs off of my PB and to top it off the wind came out as plus 2, even though in races before and after it was gauged to be -4.5 to -6.3!

It felt like an eternity until my 100m, which wasn’t helped by the fact that the schedule was delayed by half an hour. When I went into the set position, I remember thinking ‘oooh it’s windy’ and the next thing I knew the gun had gone off. So I had a sluggish start and whilst I felt loose and smooth, I knew I wasn’t travelling very fast. I was drawn in lane 1 and what I didn’t realise was that I veered to the left during the race and nearly hit the curb, this wouldn’t have helped my time either. It came out as 16.03secs with a plus 3.5 wind making it an illegal time anyway (the maximum wind behind you can be plus 2). So I ran even slower than my first race over both distances.

Come Sunday I was exhausted, but was feeling really positive about the long jump. Traffic meant it took double the time to get there, meaning I had less time to warm up than I would have liked. The long jump pit was adjacent to the stands meaning it was very noisy at times. They chalked the runway to make the board a metre long, which is supposed to allow a larger take off area for F11/12 athletes. In training, I’ve only been using the regular board though. There wasn’t much time to measure my steps to the board and this is one of the reasons it didn’t go to plan. My first 4 jumps I didn’t even make the chalked area and to this day I’m shocked that I made the sand and didn’t land on the track! Included in one of those jumps I veered off and had to start again when I wasn’t in any state to after crashing into god knows what, but didn’t want to miss a jump. Not that I’m stubborn or anything! On my sixth and final jump I leapt to my furthest distance of 2.78m. I was looking to jump a metre more than that and was fuming all of the way home. In training I’ve easily been jumping over 3m off of 6 strides.

So, am I determined or deluded? I’m sure people looking at my times and distances must think I haven’t got a hope in hell of even being considered for selection for 2012. And do you know what; if I was looking at my data I would presume exactly the same! However, I truly, truly feel that I can do it. I train 5 times per week, I’ve put on 1 and a half stone in muscle since last year and I invest my every last penny into the sport.

My 5 positives to take forward:
1. I won my races
2. I felt stronger in my 200m
3. I long jumped for the first time
4. I now know and understand the take off area better
5. I feel I can progress to 10 strides to the board instead of 6

My next race is this weekend in Liverpool again, where I’ll be racing the world record holder for my classification. I’ll also be racing some other girls from Brazil who are swift too. By far my biggest challenge to date and what better time to step up!

Who says the sky is the limit when there are footsteps on the moon!

First Race of the Season

2011-05-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

Last night was my first race of the 2011 season, my first race with my new guide runner and my first race with starting blocks. Yet I still had a good feeling that I was going to smash it! I suppose when you have such high expectations as I always do, there’s a high chance of failure. Does this mean I’ll lower my expectations in the future? Hell no!

The race was just my local club’s open and therefore whether I ran amazing or not the times are not eligible for Paralympic qualification or UKAs WCPP. However, it was an opportunity to see where I’m at and remember what it’s like to be in race mode.

My 100m was up first and my immediate error was that for some unknown reason I hesitated when coming up into the set position and therefore didn’t raise my hips high enough. The only explanation I can think of is that I might have panicked that the gun would go before I was ready. My reaction was adequate, but because I had already made an error, my drive phase was compromised and I felt the field immediately pull away from me. Instead of relaxing and set on catching them, I completely crumbled. My whole body seized up, I could feel I was running like a robot, but I couldn’t do anything about it. When I eventually strolled across the line in last place, I growled in frustration. I don’t believe I’m mentally weak and yet I allowed myself to be crushed. Unbelievable and let me assure you I won’t be making the same mistake again! I’m so used to chasing my group in training; it normally makes me more determined. My time came out at 16.00 and I actually burst into tears! Don’t worry it was for only about five seconds and then I became my usual hard core self, ready to murder the 200m!

It was a long wait until the 200m, the temperature had dropped somewhat and the wind picked up. Thankfully when you’re as slow as I am, you don’t have to wait too long for your heat as it’s graded in time order. I was down to race in lanes six and seven, but asked in my sweetest, poor little blind girl voice if I could run in lanes 1 and 2, as I didn’t want the pressure of having to chase again, I can feel the bend better on the inside and we had only practised setting the blocks up in those lanes! The stern ice lady nearly choked when she approved it and I was pleased to see my A Level drama hadn’t gone to waste! Anyway, I killed the start and when my guide runner called 30m to indicate to come out of my drive phase I was shocked that I had got there so quickly and it took me a bit of time to register it. I continued to execute the bend, which has been my Achilles heel since time began! Then, something had to go wrong! The transition off of the bend wasn’t smooth and I found myself unable to straighten up causing some co-ordination to be lost between my guide runner and I. In all the mayhem I didn’t hear or my guide runner forgot to call 80m for the kick to the finish and so I didn’t start to kick until it was 50m to go. My legs were completely like jelly at this point, my technique had gone out of the window, I was doing more of a front crawl swimming motion towards the end and the last call I heard was 10m to go. I didn’t feel my guide runner pull back before the end (they aren’t allowed to cross the line first), but guessed I was at the finish and slowed down. As soon as we stopped, I found the energy to ask if I stopped before the line, but was assured I didn’t. However, on reading the results I show as two seconds behind everyone else. That equates to approximately 12metres and I know I wasn’t that distant. My time came out as 34.15 and yet everyone else in my race ran sub 33. I wouldn’t have run a PB because of my poor ending, but I wouldn’t have been miles outside of it. Therefore I’ve learnt never ever to stop running until told, no matter how traumatic it is!

Enough of the negatives, I need to reflect on the positives and what I’ll be taking forward.

1. I came out of starting blocks
2. I made it to the end of both races
3. I ran the best bend of my life
4. I reacted well to the gun
5. I’ve learnt so many valuable lessons
I could be racing next Wednesday, but it’s not confirmed. If not I’ll next be competing on 14 May.

As an iconic song once said ‘I get knocked down, but I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down’!

April Injuries

2011-04-28T09:44:00.001-07:00

Living in pain is painful and getting rid of the pain is even more painful!

Shins – So much for them getting better, they are at their most severe! Continuing with my rehab and although I only had a sports massage last week, I’m getting another one tomorrow in an attempt to loosen off the affected area. The physio suggests weekly massages from now on, which means my Sports Aid funding will run out pretty fast, but fingers crossed it works!
Calf – Not as tight as they have been, but still quite tight, this could be contributing to the shin splints.
Achilles – Has been fine, but was slightly inflamed after training yesterday, thankfully no stiff heel today.
Ankle – Not convinced the injection has helped my left one and still recovering after unknowingly injuring the other one!

Just about in one piece and racing on Wednesday, bring it on!

Sports Aid

2011-04-21T08:15:00.000-07:00

Today I finally received my Sports Aid funding for this year. This is the second year I’ve had an award after being nominated by UK Athletics. Unfortunately it is only half the amount of last year, but they have provided me with a free gym membership as well, which I didn’t get last time.

Funding is such an important part of my Paralympic campaign, as athletics is an expensive sport, even more so for me, as I have to cover my guide runners expenses too. Costs include-
Clothing (fashionable)
Spikes (training, 100m, 200m and now long jump)
Club membership
Entry fees for comps
Accommodation for comps (for me and guide)
Physio (all my on-going injuries)
Sports massages (painful, but worth it)
Gym membership

Achieving the qualification standards for 2012 is a high priority, but similarly satisfying the requirements for the World Class Performance Programme with UK Athletics is an essential goal for the year too. The programme is divided into two tiers’, podium and development. It’s likely that I will have to exceed the Paralympic B standards to be successful in being recognised as a developing talent.

Strength, determination and commitment will get me there!

More Olympic Ticket Debating

2011-04-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

There are just six more days to apply for Olympic tickets and the debate continues with regards to only wheelchair users being definitely entitled to a free carer or companion ticket. BBC In Touch have done another short piece about the topic gauging visually impaired people’s response. Oh and one of those people happen to be me!

I was very unprepared when they contacted me and my interview was very tongue tied and generally awful! However, they managed to salvage enough so I could grab my 15seconds of fame! I bet the editor had never had to work so hard!

If you would like to listen you can do so here: BBC In Touch 19/04/11

The feature is after the DLA campaign for visually impaired people over the age of sixty five.

Enjoy!

Qualification Standards

2011-04-20T02:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the qualification standards were finally released for the Paralympic Games. The IPC press release gave me a mini heart attack when it stated that the A standard for T11 100m was 13.60secs. Thankfully it was incorrect, but scary nonetheless!

Here they are:
T11 100m A 14.25, B 14.80
T11 200m A 28.65, B 30.30
F11 Long Jump A 3.80, B 3.30

As you can see I was fairly accurate with my 100m predictions, but was perhaps a bit optimistic on the other two events. Now I know exactly what I’m aiming for it’s a relief in one sense and a mountain to climb in another! I have confidence that the B standard for 100m is within touching distance, but I need to slash two whole seconds off of my 200m PB and with long jump being a new discipline I can’t possibly judge it. I’ve got physio today to find out what’s wrong with my ankle and all being well my first race will be on 4th May.

Chasing the dream!

500 Days

2011-04-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

Today marks 500 days until the start of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. I was hoping to celebrate today with two new personal best performances, but due to a freak injury where I just stood up and found I couldn’t weight bear on my ‘good’ ankle, I haven’t been able to race.

A week on and I’m still unable to walk pain free. I have no swelling, full movement and no sore points, which is all very confusing. The only abnormal thing is that I have a clicking sound when I walk. I saw the doctor on Friday and he suspects tendonitis, but I will get this confirmed when I visit my physio on Wednesday. Of course you can never get an appointment when you need one!

I am pretty gutted about not being able to race, but I need to try and keep a positive mental attitude. This is just another hurdle of many I need to jump before making my ultimate dream a reality. It’s going to take something extremely dramatic before I give up. Injuries heal, guide runners can be replaced.

Possibly tomorrow, or hopefully sometime next week the qualification standards will be released. I’m excited and nervous about this, excited because I’ll know exactly what I’m aiming for, but apprehensive because they might be out of my reach. Earlier this week the events were announced and luckily for me there is female T11 100m and 200m, along with a mixed class F11/12 long jump. I still haven’t tried out the long jump; nevertheless believe it might be my best chance of qualifying because we have no F11/12 long jumper in Great Britain.

Here are my qualification predictions, let’s see how accurate I am-
100m B standard 14.8secs, A standard 14.0secs
200m B standard 30.5secs, A standard 29.5secs
Long Jump B standard 2.80m, A standard 3.20m

I can do this!

Twitter

2011-04-06T13:22:00.000-07:00

I’ve joined the Twitter community! God help me! Considering I can just about update my status on Face Book and write entries on here, I’m guessing the most i’m going to manage on Twitter is to write a basic tweet! I felt it was time I tried to get with it and find out what all of the fuss is about. Tell a lie, I clearly tried two years ago and failed, as my account was originally set up in April 2009! Like Face Book, the mobile site seems to be the most accessible for the visually impaired, but the main site doesn’t seem to be too complex. I’m completely baffled by all of these hash tags, at tags, mentions, replies, favourites and retweets, so when I get time I plan to read the help section! I wonder how many people admit to reading those pages!

If you have the urge to follow me, my user name is selinalitt, genius or what! For some reason I already have five followers from 2009, but I didn’t even post a tweet! Oh well!

That Paralympic Show

2011-03-31T13:10:00.000-07:00

The second series of That Paralympic Show will begin on Saturday at 1.25pm on Channel 4. The magazine style programme is part of Channel 4’s build up to the London Paralympic Games where they have won the coverage rights. It’s a light hearted look at various Paralympic disciplines and athletes, but cleverly introduces the public to disability sport. The last series was an enjoyable watch and I would definitely recommend tuning in whether you are sporty or not. Apparently, as part of the first show, professionals will be taking on our blind football team.

Olympic Ticket Care/less

2011-03-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

Continuing on from my previous post regarding Olympic tickets for disabled people I have done some further research. It turns out that if a disabled applicant is unsuccessful at obtaining the additional carer or companion ticket they request, then they are entitled to a full refund. This could still be a problematic and unfair situation. For able bodied people and those in a wheelchair (who automatically receive an additional free carer or companion ticket), when they receive notification in June that their application has been successful, they are certain to be attending the games. However, the visually impaired and those with a disability not requiring a wheelchair will then have to make a second application and play the waiting game all over again. I’m finding the free carer or companion tickets that are subject to availability the biggest flaw in the application process.

Until 26th April 2011 you are able to withdraw your application or edit its contents. After much deliberation (these Olympic tickets are causing allot of deliberations), I have adjusted my application. By ordering four tickets at £65 and potentially getting two more free subject to availability, I’m short changing myself, when only four of us want to go. On the flip side, I would have definitely had four tickets depending on whether my application was accepted and would be spectating at this once in a lifetime event. My new application is for two tickets at £95, which is the second highest band. Tactically thinking, I should have more of a chance of obtaining tickets, it works out cheaper than my original application and the seating should be better. Unfortunately, if I receive notification that I’ve been awarded these tickets, it’s not a certainty I can attend. I will then have to apply for two additional carer or companion tickets and cross my fingers very tightly. Logically, this price band should mean more tickets will be available, but we will have to wait and see!

To view the official ticket information for disabled people at the London 2012 games, you can do so here: Ticket Information for Disabled People

Olympic Ticket Debate

2011-03-30T02:16:00.000-07:00

Applications for the 2012Olympic tickets have been open for a few weeks now and close on 26th April. Tickets for the Paralympic Games will go on sale in September. Supposedly, to make applying for tickets fair, they have left applications open for six weeks, but one thing that is noticeably unfair is the discrimination towards non-wheelchair users. As a big sports fan and athlete the Olympics and Paralympics have been an exciting prospect for me, as I would like to watch the Olympic Games before competing in the Paralympics. However, buy 1 get 1 free tickets is only open to wheelchair users, which left me riled and confused on what tickets I should purchase.

Since I have the strong belief that I will be participating in the Paralympics, it meant I would be limited in what Olympic events I would be able to watch, as hopefully I’ll be busy in preparations. Therefore, long ago I decided I would like to watch a morning session of athletics that involves the men’s 100m heats, as although athletics begins in the second week of the Olympics, I know it’s always near the start of the athletics action. On Saturday 4th August 2012 the morning session of athletics includes the men’s 100m heats, men’s 400m heats, women’s 3000m steeple chase, women’s pollvolt qualification and a couple of women’s heptathlon field events. This looks like an amazing day of athletics with chances to see Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay, but hopefully witness Oscar Pistorius make history in the 400m, whilst having the opportunity to see Jessica Ennis on her way to glory. But wait, I’m not in a wheelchair, so what tickets do I apply for?!

Back in November I questioned London 2012 about this and received a vague email about them needing to know how many wheelchair spaces they would have to allocate. So, I assumed that by the time that tickets would be available that the issue would be sorted. Just before applications opened I heard an Intouch programme on Radio 4 talking about whether visually impaired spectators would receive a discount and to my annoyance they were just as unsure as I was.

So, when tickets were released I had several dilemmas. Do I purchase four tickets (remember my brother is blind too) and hope they refund my money at a later date? They state in their disability information that visually impaired people will be seated near to the action, so do I just buy the cheapest tickets? After much deliberation I decided to buy four tickets at £65 each, which is the middle price band. I desperately want to see this session of athletics and felt that I had more chance of obtaining tickets if I avoided the cheaper price bands. I also had no choice and had to purchase four tickets to ensure that my whole family could attend. Ideally, I would have liked to purchase two tickets at £95, knowing I would get two free and in the knowledge I would have a very good chance of being successful with my application.

Then last night Intouch were discussing Olympic tickets again. Apparently, if you are visually impaired or have another disability that doesn’t require a wheelchair then you should only apply for tickets for yourself and then if you are successful at a later date you can apply for carer or companion tickets for free. These carer tickets are not guaranteed and I would think for a popular event like the men’s 100m I have applied for there would be little chance I’d be successful. I read all of the disability information prior to applying for my tickets and at no point did I see this suggested hence buying four tickets. However, I’m not sure I would have risked only purchasing two tickets and potentially I could be left with not enough tickets for me and my family. On the other hand, I may end up with two extra tickets now or who knows I might not get any and just be bitterly disappointed.

Say a visually impaired person just bought one ticket and then was unable to get a free companion ticket they would be left with a variety of access issues. If they went alone; how would they negotiate the crowd? How would they find their seat? Once seated how would they find the toilet? How would they find food? How would they make their way out? How would they know everything that was going on? There will be commentary for visually impaired spectators, but what about the added extras like whether or not Usain Bolt is wearing gold coloured spikes or if Tyson Gay is doing his usual ritual before the start of a race!

Nobody is denying that wheelchair users should not get a free companion, but the discount should be readily available to all disabilities requiring extra support in order to make the once in a lifetime experience the best it can be! If you would like to listen to the latest Intouch programme regarding the ticket debate, you can do so here:

BBC’s Intouch 29/03/11

I believe the email they refer to is mine, which I sent them after the last show.

March Injuries

2011-03-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

Here’s my monthly summary of painful injuries, all in the name of athletics!

Ankle – Had my injection on the ankle I sprained over a year ago today. They have only injected local anaesthetic, as they are not sure whether my damaged ligament that showed up on the MRI scan 7 months ago and still showed up as a grade 2 sprain today, is causing my discomfort. I’m not a doctor, but surely that is it! I can’t run for 48hrs, which is a bit rubbish, but hopefully if this injection cures my pain for the short-term they might actually treat the problem. In other ankle news, I sprained my right ankle at the beginning of the month, by accidently standing on a hurdle leg during training doing drills. However, like a normal sprain it didn’t last long and is back to normal!
Calf – I managed to injure it without even doing anything! I got what I thought was cramp a couple of weeks ago, but the pain remained and the calf muscle just remained super tight. I’ve had two massages last week to loosen it off.
Achilles – I can’t tell whether this one has been cured or not. I don’t ever seem to have Achilles pain anymore, but sometimes have a stiff heel, which isn’t much bother.
Shins – Still have shin splints, but they are improving, as I’m managing to do full sessions with less pain each time.
A cold – This has to be the worst injury ever! No training all last week because of it, was pure torture!

Stats

2011-03-25T08:03:00.000-07:00

After I posted yesterday I thought I would browse my blog a bit. I’m not a very technical person, so you’ll never see anything fancy on this blog other than basic entries and the odd link now and again! I haven’t really got a clue about the various settings, but the stats link intrigued me. I’ve never looked at it before and was pleasantly surprised. Ok so I’m not rivalling Su Bo or Justin full of himself, but overall i’ve had 3434 hits since I began writing in August 2008. Today I’ve already had 5 hits, 11 in total yesterday and 307 last month. It appears my main audience is the UK, which makes sense since that is where I live! However, I can’t believe in the last week I’ve had hits from the USA, Japan, Iran, Moldova, Germany, Denmark, Hungary, Russia and Ireland. I’ll have to do a post on the Eurovision Song Contest this year, which I love watching! Anyway, thanks to everyone who takes the time to read my blog, there’s something quite exciting to know it’s worldwide! I’ve said in the past I write it purely for myself, but if others find it interesting or amusing, even better!

Just a Pass

2011-03-24T12:52:00.000-07:00

Last week I received notification that I had passed A174 Start Writing Fiction with The Open University. Originally, I planned for the module to count towards my English Language and Literature degree, but since I enjoyed it so much I have decided to count the longer, more advanced course, A215 Creative Writing to my degree instead. A174 was a 12 week course and worth 10 OU points whereas A215 takes a standard academic year and is worth 60 OU points. I need 360 points to complete my degree and by June I will be halfway there.

As I mentioned A174 was an enjoyable course, but as I predicted I did not do exceptionally well. However, I did learn how to improve upon my writing styles and this is something I would like to continue. A215 will begin in October and I will be doubling up on modules, which will be equivalent to full-time study. My other module will be E301 The Art of English.

Course Results:
TMA 01 80%
TMA 02 73%
OCAs 75%

What It Is To Be Three

2011-03-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

Today is Calvin’s third birthday and he has been spoilt with toys and 2 free runs plus a trip to Pets at Home still to come. Unfortunately for him there have been no food treats this year, as I’m working on getting his weight down after I had to call Guide Dogs for a bigger girth strap on his harness. He doesn’t look obese in any shape or form, but he is over his maximum working weight of 38kg. I have Guide Dogs coming out on Monday to assess him.

With my puppy dog growing up right before me, it made me think what it means when a Guide Dog reaches their third birthday. Usually, it means they have spent two consecutive birthdays with their visually impaired owner. It means this is the longest period of time they have spent with an owner. It means the owner knows their furry friend like the back of their hand, likes, dislikes, habits and quirks. It means a dog should be settled. It means the dog is no longer a puppy. But most of all it means that the partnership that Guide Dog and owner share is rock solid, in the knowledge that they have many more years together.

Gravity Tour

2011-03-17T10:03:00.000-07:00

Last night I saw Westlife at Nottingham’s Capital Arena for the fifth time. Apparently the band has been together for 12 years and this was their 10th tour. I suppose when you have been around for so long, it’s just not possible to perform every single hit and I noted they didn’t do Swear Again, My Love, Bop Bop Baby and Whatever amongst others. However, they did do tracks from their recent album Gravity, some classics, such as Flying Without Wings, Uptown Girl, World Of Our Own, When You’re Looking Like That and Raise Me Up, along with a bit of Lady GA Ga, The Black Eyed Peas and Rihanna. The special effects varied from giant apples, fake rain, under water and a few fireworks for good measure. We were seated on the floor about 30 rows back, so not really near, but fairly well. However, when they had the projected stage it literally came and stopped a row in front of us, not that that made any difference to what I could see! We missed the first support act, but the second was Wonderland again whose songs are growing on me, but not enough for me to purchase their album!

All in all a great concert where I danced and sang throughout. I’m not a big screamer these days, everyone else seems to make up for that though!

Blind Young Things

2011-02-24T06:40:00.000-08:00

In 2007 I featured in a Channel 4 documentary called Blind Young Things. Filming took place at the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford where I spent a year. It was my first and only experience of specialist education and I’m pleased I went to mainstream school for my main studies. At 18, having spent 8 years losing my vision, regaining some and losing it again, the documentary shows me losing my sight for the final time, my final eye operation and I believe my final moments of bitterness. I cringe to watch it back now, but it depicts a significant period of my life. Generally, I received positive feedback from the public, negative feedback from blinkies and personally I’ve never been sure about it. Obviously, I spent many hours filming and they only select certain parts, I’m not convinced anyone can be shown accurately when edited. The documentary also features two other students, Steve and Dan who take up the majority of the programme.

Anyway, I just thought it would be nice to have a record of the programme on my blog and if anyone feels the urge to watch it you can do so here:

Blind Young Things

Remember, my operation was unsuccessful and I haven’t been able to read, make out shapes or see colours since. They didn’t want an unhappy ending though!

Feb Injuries

2011-02-16T07:05:00.000-08:00

Since my body hates me, I often wonder whether the daily pain, energy and time I put into athletics is worth it. It only takes me a split second to remember why I’m doing it, one dream, one aspiration, one goal.

Ankle – Finally have an appointment for an anti-inflammatory injection on 29th March.
Achilles – Heal still stiff, daily eccentric loading exercises.
Calf – Seems to have calmed down after being massaged out.
Shins – Ouch! Now in both legs, icing, physio, massage, rest, extra daily gluts exercises.

Hurdle Jumped

2011-02-09T06:52:00.000-08:00

Thankfully, finding a new guide runner hasn’t taken as long as I thought it would. She starts today and is a similar speed to my previous guide, which is quick! It is going to take a while to get the technique right, but at least it is a step in the right direction. Let’s hope she’s going to take me all the way to 2012!

IPC Athletics World Championships

2011-01-30T13:18:00.000-08:00

The IPC Athletics World Championships took place in Christ Church, New Zeeland from 21-30 January. The competition is the last major event before the much anticipated Paralympic Games next year. Great Britain and Northern Ireland sent a 40 strong team and picked up an impressive 38 medals.

T54 wheelchair racer David Weir has grabbed most of the headlines, as he picked up no less than 3 gold medals over 800m, 1500m and 5000m, each time beating the world record holder to the top spot!

T36 runner, Paul Blake, also collected 3 medals, with gold over 400m and silver over 800m and 1500m respectively. On the female side, Katrina Hart, T37 also grabbed 3 medals, racing to victory over 200m and clinching bronzes over 100m and in the 4x100m relay. T36 sprinter, Hazel Robson was part of the relay team too and won a silver individual medal over 100m. Another member of the podium relay team was T37 Bethy Woodward who powered to gold over one lap of the track.

Demonstrating age is just a number, 40 year old T11 sprinter Tracey Hinton came away with 2 medals with a silver over 400m and a bronze in the 200m. Another great visually impaired performance was by T12 Libby Clegg who showed the world she was number 1 over 100m and took bronze in the 200m. For the VI guys, David Devine managed to secure a bronze in the T12 800m.

More gold success was delivered by T34 teenager Hannah Cockroft who pushed her way to the top of the podium in both the 100m and 200m. T53 wheelchair racer, Mickey Bushell claimed a silver and bronze in the same events. Finally on the wheelchair racing front, T54 Shelly Woods came third in the 5000m.

The youngest member of the GB and NI team, Sally Brown at just 15 years old came a well deserved third in the T46 200m to win bronze. Bronze medals over the same distance also went to T44 Stef Reid and T36 Ben Rushgrove. Both became multi medallists, as Stef jumped to bronze in the F44/46 long jump, whilst Ben picked up silver over 100m. T35 Sofia Warner, matched Ben’s medal colours, but got a bronze over 100m and silver over 200m. Rounding off the gold rush on the track, T42 double leg amputee Richard Whitehead stormed to glory over 200m.

There was also great success on the field, with the most outstanding performance by F44 discus thrower Dan Greaves who not only won gold, but broke the world record in the process. In the same event, Bev Jones won silver in the F37 equivalent and Aled Davies, bronze in the F42 class.

In the javelin, F57/8 gold was grabbed by Nathan Stephens. Fellow Welshman, Kiren Duke also picked up bronze in the F40 class. Ensuring the girls were represented in the event, F46 thrower, Holly Arnold claimed bronze.

On the opening day of the games, F34 Dan West took silver in the shot. Finally, in the club throw, an event unique to Paralympic sport, both Jemma Prescott and veteran Stephen Miller threw their way into bronze position in the F31/32/51 classification.

Overall, the GB and NI team had an amazing games, but how can anyone write about Paralympic sport without the mention of the blade runner, South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius! The all-mighty 24 year old didn’t have things all his way, as a breath taking T44 100m saw him miss out on gold by a thousandth of a second in a shock defeat. However, he tore the field apart over 200m and 400m to claim double gold.

Alexandra Burke

2011-01-30T09:41:00.000-08:00

Last night I saw 2008’s X Factor champion Alexandra Burke live in concert at the NIA in Birmingham. The support acts were annoying girl group Per aid and a Scottish solo artist Carrie Mack. The main show was pretty good with Alexandra performing all of her hits, songs from her debut album and a Destiny’s Child medley. I think I most enjoyed her ballads, as she belted them out passionately. I don’t really see many females in concert and I think it’s difficult for solo artists to dominate the stage, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I’m next seeing my favourite boy band Westlife in concert on 16th March for the fifth time and I can’t wait!

Hurdler Not Sprinter

2011-01-24T08:09:00.000-08:00

I was at training the other night and one of my team mates was trying to practice the hurdles before a race at the weekend. It didn’t matter how hard he tried, I kept hearing the first hurdle tumbling to the ground. When he did actually get over the first, he was only faced with more. Despite being determined and having cleared hurdles hundreds of times before, it just wasn’t enough.

This reminded me of life in general. It’s just one hurdle after another and sometimes it doesn’t matter how determined you are and how many other barriers you’ve overcome there will always be one more.

So to my latest barrier. No guide runner again. This barrier keeps coming back to haunt me, bigger and stronger than before. Unfortunately, through no fault of her own, my current guide has to give it up for health reasons. I can’t even begin to imagine how she must be feeling, as athletics is her everything. At least for me all I have to do is find a new guide and I’ll be off again.

I’m trying to stay calm about this situation. It is far from ideal and over the past few days I’ve been watching the IPC Athletics World Championships in New Zeeland, wishing I was there. Those athletes are living my dream and 2012 is just around the corner. But what can you do? Some things are just out of your control. I don’t know how long it will take me to jump this hurdle, but fingers crossed it won’t be too long and I’ll be ready to face the next challenge ahead of me.

It's a Breeze!

2011-01-20T02:11:00.000-08:00

I’ve never been a very technical person. I can just about send texts on my phone, update this blog and browse the net! I’ve also never really been a whizz at mobility, with a cane or my furry friend. So, finding a simple technical device to aid my mobility has been a nightmare!

At first I tried Way Finder, which works alongside Talks (the speech software) on your mobile. Somebody had to load this on my phone for me, but after asking around a few people nobody could show me how to use it! Apparently, if you know how it works it can be quite helpful, as you can type in a postcode and be on your way. The GPS software costs approximately £250.

Next, I tried the Kaptan. This is a small hand held device, which is charged via your computer and the software is loaded on that way too. When I originally got it, it was new on the market, so didn’t have the ability to type in postcodes, but you could do other addresses. Road names, house numbers etc. Like the Way Finder you have to wear headphones to hear the instructions. Kaptan is also voice activated, so I could be giving Calvin instructions and it would confuse the device. I found it difficult walking with an ear piece in, controlling Calvin and understanding its directions. For instance, it would tell you on your left were such and such street, but it would be in fact over the road and not directly on your route. This device costs about £150 and I’m sure is useful to some people.

Finally, my local society for the blind purchased a Trekker Breeze. After reading the description, I wasn’t very impressed, as you are unable to type in addresses and have to pre-record routes onto the system. However, I thought there would be no harm in trying it out. At first I tried walking with the device in one hand, but this proved annoying, as I regularly need to correct my perfect little Guide Dog, which I wasn’t able to do. So, in a moment of stress, I threw the machine into my back pack with the volume turned up to full. I was also frustrated because I kept pressing the wrong buttons to try and record a route. I didn’t realise that it would still let you know what road you are on or approaching. This was all the information I required, as I generally know where I’m going with Calvin, but he’ll sometimes zoom around a corner without me knowing. This way when I am about 5m away from a road crossing it will announce what road I’m approaching on my left or right. This gives me the opportunity to steady Calvin and ensure we stay on track. This isn’t what everyone is looking for, but it works for me and I can relax on walks in the knowledge that I won’t get lost or if I do I can work out how to get back on route. You can record landmarks, entire routes or just press the ‘where am I’ button as and when you need. I generally just have it in my coat pocket these days and nobody even notices I have it. As with any device it’s not perfect, as you might lose reception in built up areas or on a windy day it gets a bit confused! However, it’s great that I can just turn it on and be on my way! I managed to get funding from RNIB and VISTA, so have my own now, it costs approximately £500.

One satisfied customer!

Long Jump

2011-01-14T01:40:00.000-08:00

I was at athletics training on Wednesday night, warming up with my coach, as my guide runner has injured herself and he commented on how well I run on my own. I’m fairly used to sprinting by myself these days, with all the drama of last year being in between guide runners. I don’t always manage to stay in a straight line, veering to the left in most cases, but I would say at least 80% of the time I stay in a single lane. Anyway, I made a joke that I would be doing long jump next! I’m just so funny aren’t I, I don’t know where my humour comes from!

My coach decided to take the comment seriously, asking if it was a Paralympic event, what the qualification standards are and how I would be good at it, as I run faster on my own than with a guide. Since losing my useful vision at 18, I’ve never done long jump with the whole fear of not being able to stay in a straight line. The last time I did do it, remembering I used to run a phenomenal 17secs for 100m, took about 5 strides and saw the board about 1 foot away from me and never trained for the event, I managed 2.79m.

I looked up the qualification standards for the IPC Athletics World Championships starting next week and was surprised that the B standard is only 2.75m and the A standard 3.70m. I’m not sure about the A standard, but I certainly shouldn’t have had any problem getting the B standard. I guess for totally blind people to run on their own, learn the long jump technique and land on the board isn’t an easy feat. I’ve done various types of jumps onto a high jump bed in training and that split second being between the floor and the bed petrifies me! I happily do it, but I’m always glad when it’s over!

So, I don’t know whether I’m going to become a long jump superstar, but there would be no harm in trying it again, after all landing in the sand is at least sort of soft!

Injuries

2011-01-06T08:54:00.000-08:00

This is not a moany post, just a post to keep track of my injuries. My body is determined to give up on me!

Ankle – sprained February 2010, have been waiting 8 weeks and counting for an anti-inflammatory injection.
Shin – keeps getting very sore and has progressed to being sore on the bone too, lots of ice.
Calf – Very tight on the top inside, have full flexibility with stretches, very annoying.
Achilles – Wake up with a stiff heel every morning, have been given eccentric loading exercises to help ease the problem.

So apart from that I’m fine! I’ve managed not to let it stop me from completing full training sessions so far.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T03:24:00.000-08:00

So, it’s 2011 if you hadn’t already noticed! Time to look back and forward!

2010:
I’d say I’ve had a pretty tough year athletics wise and it’s been very frustrating. My ankle injury from February is still causing me problems and wrecked my season. I didn’t achieve the qualification standards for the World Champs or times anyway close to satisfactory. I also had trouble finding a guide runner, but at least this is one of the issues now resolved.

On the up side I’ve been doing better than I anticipated at uni, scoring two distinctions for my first two modules. I’ve been slacking a bit recently, but I plan to find some motivation from somewhere soon!

Calvin and I are still having a rollercoaster of a time. I do my best with him and work so hard to control him, but I fear it will never be enough. I have to accept he’s not going to be Guide Dog of the Year is not like most Guide Dogs and never will be.

Other than the above I’ve not really had an exciting year. My birthday was very low key; I saw JLS and Westlife in concert and attended my first hen do.

My love life has been non-existent. This is no big deal though, as I’m past the desperation years of being a teenager and can quite happily get a long being single. I also need to make the most of being selfish!

2011:
This is such a big year for me! My dream is to be at the Paralympics in 2012 and by the time this year is out I’ll know if I’m anywhere close to for filling my aspiration. I am seriously going to work my ass off, as I’m the only one who can make this opportunity possible. At the moment I find myself never happy in training, but only because I’m so determined to reach my goal. How can I be happy with coming last all of the time, blind or not, I want to be as good as everyone else! The qualification standards will be released in March and I truly hope they’ll be within my reach!

To be honest I don’t really care about anything else this year! Yeah I’ll continue to work hard at uni, try and become more independent with Calvin and life in general, but my focus is purely getting those all important qualification standards. I want to be and will be a world class athlete!

Thanks to everyone who makes the effort to read this blog. I write it for me, myself and I, yet also appreciate the comments!

2011, may you and I be the author of our destiny!

Distinction No.2

2010-12-22T11:34:00.000-08:00

Some good news! My second module towards my English Language and Literature degree with The Open University was U211 Exploring the English Language. I finished all of the assignments and exam back in October, but only just received my result. This was the first exam I have had to do since having no useful vision and I was beyond nervous. So, when I discovered I managed to scrape a Distinction I was really pleased.

My results:
TMA 01 78%
TMA 02 76%
TMA 03 80%
TMA 04 74%
TMA 05 80%
TMA 06 85%
TMA 07 85%
OCAs 80%
Exam 77%

So as you can see I didn’t reach the 85% Distinction threshold overall, but the OU were very kind to award me a Distinction anyway. I truly worked hard on the course, enjoying it and finding it challenging at the same time. I’m currently doing my third module and need six to complete my degree.

Egypt

2010-12-22T11:20:00.000-08:00

So, when I went to Mauritius in February I had tonsillitis and uni work to complete. Therefore, I was really looking forward to enjoying Egypt, ill and work free. However, I forgot I was having a bad year!

We were flying from Gatwick and to avoid the early start on Monday morning, we stayed in a hotel over night near the airport. We’ve never done this before, but seemed like a good idea. I never sleep well in hotels, but the fire alarm at 4am and the random phone call to the room at 5am made sleeping even more difficult.

Anyway, to the sunshine we flew, plane delayed by about an hour, but no big deal really. We arrived at the hotel in Hurgharda around 9pm exhausted. Yes, Hurgharda, so no I didn’t get eaten by a shark! For a 5 star all inclusive resort the food was disappointing, little choice and nothing seemed to match each other.

Next morning, we went to sun bathe by the pool and by lunchtime I was coughing up my guts! I couldn’t believe it, ill yet again on holiday. My symptoms throughout the week included; coughing, sneezing, fever, the runs, blocked nose and ears and I even threw up to round things off.

It was my mum’s 50th birthday whilst we were away and it turned out that all of us were ill for the entire holiday. Therefore, we literally did nothing, but eat and lie by the pool. Shivering in 30C heat is not a good look let me tell you! Ever since I can remember my parents have played tennis on our holidays. We can’t go to a hotel unless they have a tennis court. Yet this holiday they didn’t pick up a racket once, which has to be an absolute first.

Then when we were due to fly back rumours circulated in the hotel that the airports were closed back home due to snow. We were all dying to get back for days since we were ill and we were potentially going to be stranded. I suppose we were quite lucky we only had a 3 hour delay, but even so!

Overall, a rubbish holiday! The hotel seemed quite nice despite the food, but we were unable to make the most of the facilities! Cursed...I think so...

JLS

2010-12-12T01:54:00.001-08:00

Last night I went to see JLS live in concert at the Nottingham Trent FM Arena. Considering our seats were about halfway back, I could see the lighting really well, which always keeps my focus and adds to the enjoyment of the performance.

The special FX seemed really clever, as they came out in a car that hovered over the audience. They also had a dancing robot, revolving stage and a projected stage. I was a bit gutted that the end of the projected stage stopped right in front of our seats, but there was no lighting other than on the main stage, so I couldn’t even glimpse a shadow of them!

Of course they performed all of their hits, tracks from their new album and they also did a few Backstreet Boys and N Sync songs that were amazing.

Great band!

Guide Dog Visit

2010-12-11T08:41:00.000-08:00

I wasn’t going to update my blog about the Guide Dog visit yesterday, but thought I’d write a quick note. There’s nothing new to report really, Calvin impressed them with his sniffing skills, jumping up on strangers ability and his Christopher Columbus explorer instinct.

We did 2 walks, one with and one without the halty. He was pretty much the same on both, but they insisted I should always use his halty. I also got it in the neck regarding his weight, as he is 40kg. His maximum is 38kg, but when I took Calvin to the vets for his 6 monthly check up, they said he was fine, as he’s a tall dog. Guide Dogs disagree and I’ve been told to cut his food down to 10oz, which I refuse to do, as the poor dog will starve! They’ve also advised that I only give him raw carrots and not dog biscuits for treats.

So that’s it really. I’m off to Egypt on Monday for a week, Calvin is off to my friend’s house and on my return I will have my exam results for my last OU module that I finished in October!

To See Or Not To See, That Is The Question...

2010-12-08T06:54:00.000-08:00

There is always the debate of is it better to have seen and lost or have never seen at all and not know what you’re missing. Of course neither are ideal, but let’s face it, blindness is a disability and therefore in most cases can’t be cured.

For someone like me who was born fully sighted and perfectly healthy, becoming partially sighted at the age of 2 and eventually stripped of useful vision by the age of 18, I get asked all of the time don’t you wish you could still see? Can’t they do anything? God, it must be horrible!

Yes, being blind is an inconvenience, but just like the snow you have two options. You can either let it stop you from continuing with day to day living or fight it and get on as best you can. There was a time, when I spent 8 years losing my vision, getting some restored and losing it again that I felt being blind was the worst thing in the whole world! I hated not being able to see at night, not being able to find my friends in the playground, not being able to read and not being able to walk around freely. However, I eventually got over myself and accepted the fact that being blind isn’t that bad really!

This blog post has been inspired by meeting a mum of an old school friend whilst out shopping yesterday. Charlotte was one of my best friends at primary school and one of the few people who knew me when I had good partial vision and witnessed me lose a substantial amount in year 6. Literally, from the age of 6 I can remember always being around her house, she’s the one who introduced me to Brownies and I think we both had some great birthday parties. I remember her and her family were animal mad, having at least 3 dogs, 2 cats and other small furry things! Digby, was my favourite dog, a beautiful looking German Shepherd with his gorgeous black and brown coat and pointy ears. He was a hyper dog, but I can’t ever remember being afraid of him and he’s the reason why I would love a Shepherd as a Guide Dog. They also had a blind dog called Nelly. I can remember watching poor Nelly walking into things, but he never got frustrated and just got on with it!

Anyway, I have some great visual memories of Charlotte, like the bright orange diadora tracksuit she had that I begged my mum to buy me the same one, when she played a bear in our year 5 Christmas concert and her cool flashing trainers she wore with her Brownie uniform. If I hadn’t had lost my sight maybe I wouldn’t remember these things, but if I was blind from birth I wouldn’t have the opportunity to appreciate the detail of the memories.

I also have a difficult memory that will always stick with me. It must have been Charlotte’s 12th birthday party that she invited me to. After primary school we got split up at secondary school and didn’t attend the same school from year 10, but the first summer after being in year 7, we must have still been friends. Charlotte had a sleepover in a tent at the bottom of her garden. It wasn’t a massive garden, but you’ll understand why at the time I thought it was. It had been approximately 1 and a half year’s since I had a dramatic drop in vision. We were all in the tent comparing who wore knickers under their pyjamas when we had to go inside for cake. It was dark already even though it was August and whilst everyone ran inside, I blagged that I didn’t want any cake. I sat in the tent, peering out and can recall seeing the lights at the house, it couldn’t have been more than 10m away. After a few mins Charlotte came back to the tent and insisted I went inside too. We’re 12 years old, nobody explained to me what night blindness was, I could still get around fairly ok in the daytime, so how was she expected to know I needed help, if I didn’t realise or understand myself! She grabbed my hand and we walked in with no conversation and looking back it’s a great example of how children are more accepting of disability. Once I was inside and in the light, I was completely fine, the cake was 101 Dalmatians!

Losing your sight is a traumatic experience for anyone. People say it’s easier when you’re younger, but if me losing my sight was easier than a 40 year old I’d hate to be their age! If anything, to me it’s better if you lose it when you’re older, the visual memories you can retain are far more than what I have. Although, I wouldn’t change mine for the world.

For me, I can definitely say that it’s better to have seenand lost, than to have never seen at all. I can’t imagine not knowing my colours amongst a thousand other things. Losing my sight has also given me a determination I never would have had if I was partially sighted still. As they say in every bad is good and in every good is bad...

The White Wedding

2010-12-01T02:39:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was Beth and Graham’s wedding, which took place in Hartlepool, up north. Calvin and I arrived on the Friday afternoon after a 4 hour train journey. Calvin was pretty good between Leicester and Derby, as we had a table seat, but the long journey from Derby to Darlington was a nightmare. The other passengers found it amusing at first that he wouldn’t go in between the seats, but after a while people having to step over him were cursing him.

I always knew spending Calvin would be a nightmare, as he will only go on grass when out despite happily spending on concrete at home. I was hoping he would be bursting enough to let the river flow when we arrived at the hotel, as there was no grass in sight and a crunchy layer of snow instead. However, he didn’t go.

When shown to my room, I was a little, no scrap that, extremely concerned that I had no idea where I was and how to get back out! After unpacking a few things, Calvin guzzling a bowl of water and orientating myself around the room Beth called to ask whether I wanted to go down to her room. I agreed, but wasn’t 100% that I knew how to get back to the steps.

I knew I went through 2 doors to get to my room, but for some reason Calvin took me through 3 sets to get back to the steps. I basically let him take me, asking him to find the first 2 sets of doors I knew about and then asked for the steps. Although it wasn’t exactly the most direct route, I was just pleased my faulty dog found the way!

After Calvin did his necessary humping, playing and chewing we took the dogs out to spend again. Calvin was still being stubborn and eventually Beth took him off me and he spent where Sandie had been. Of course he was dying to go, I don’t know why he does it to himself!

That evening we went to Porto Fino, an Italian restaurant that I had never been to. Along with Jenny and Joe, we were with Beth’s family. It was a pleasant meal and pretty tasty too.

Calvin only did one more busy that day and I prayed he’d make it through the night. I didn’t sleep well at all, I’ve never had such a non sound proof room. I could hear clearly the music, singing and audience from the bar downstairs and I was on the second floor!

The following morning Calvin did a busy on Beth’s command, but usually does a big busy first thing, no chance of that here. He went again at 9am, not on my command of course and then he wouldn’t go at all the next few times.

Beth was getting married at 4pm on HMS Hartlepool ship, that I can’t remember the name of! She had a red dress hand made by her mum, which was stunning and Sandie was her bride’s maid dressed in a red diamante collar and lead. Unfortunately, I didn’t realise this and happened to buy Calvin the same diamante collar and lead in black, it was absolutely lush!

Prior to the wedding beginning, there was a panic that Calvin was lying on the aisle where Beth was going to walk down. Everyone tried their best to get him to tuck in, but he never did really. Besides, when Beth came marching down the aisle Calvin and Sandie thought it was appropriate to greet each other!

Beth and Graham’s vows to each other were more amusing to me than a tear jerker, although they were sentimental. Graham talked about Beth’s strange taste in pjs and Beth commented she knew it was love when they were standing outside of Game Station at 8.45am for the Nintendo DS to be released!

The reception was decorated thoughtfully, with each guest having jelly babies, a guitar plucker and ball ball name tag. It sounds quite strange written down, but trust me it made sense. Also, all those who attended the hen do received a photo book, which is a great memory.

They didn’t have a traditional first dance or disco, but it was nice nonetheless. Oh and I forgot to mention, since Calvin hadn’t spent since 9am, whilst we were trekking across the snow from the ship to the reception, me in open toe healed shoes Calvin stopped dead for about an hour whilst he melted the snow with a mammoth busy!

Before bed, a member of Beth’s family spent Calvin for me and I was so relieved to hear he had done a big busy! It’s such a stressful thing toileting your dog! The even better thing about it was that I didn’t have to pick it up! That night the music seemed louder than previously, as the kettle and cups on my side vibrated. Calvin didn’t sleep in his bed, but snuggled up to mine, except every time he got up to lie in a different position he flung himself back down and pushed my bed along a little!

By Sunday the snow was pretty heavy and I knew travelling back would be a nightmare. On the bright side, Calvin did his first busy for me on command, as Beth had already left for her honeymoon! After a few delays, I got home on Sunday evening, exhausted, but in one piece!

Calvin exploded when he got back, the amount of big busy he must have been storing was unreal and it can’t have been comfortable for him! I have no idea how to get him to spend when he needs to though. I was fairly impressed with his guiding skills over the weekend, always taking me back to our room, but he did pull a lot as usual and felt the need to say hello to anyone and everyone!

Due to the snow, Guide Dogs cancelled yesterday and hopefully they’ll be coming out next Wednesday. I weighed Calvin on Monday and was shocked to find he was 40kg, when 6 months ago he was 33kg. 38kg is his maximum, he exercises well and doesn’t look fat, he’s just a big dog. I have started cutting his food back though, after it was increased when he was under-weight. You can’t win!

On a final note, today marks 12 years since I started to lose my sight, which I won’t harp on about, as I did a blog post to mark 10 years. Time really does fly.

The Journey

2010-11-22T00:25:00.000-08:00

Application:
At the age of 16 I had been gradually losing my sight for about 5 and a half years with various operations in between. I preferred to struggle around school and when out instead of using a cane. Although I was pretty much against anything that labelled me as visually impaired. However, I was determined to get a dog believing that people were more accepting of them than canes and thought it would make mobility much easier.

Growing up, I watched my uncle who is blind with his Guide Dogs and seemed really independent in London and still is. So, as soon as I turned 16 I called Guide Dogs and had an information talk. They knocked me back immediately, saying I was too young, didn’t have enough routes and didn’t know what I was doing with my life.

On reflection, I still disagree and I think having a Guide Dog would have been the ideal transition when I turned 18 and had no useful vision. Learning routes where I could see entrances to doorways, curbs and other visual clues would have helped me understand where I was now.

Anyway, I’m not the type of person who let’s people say no and get away with it, so at 19 I reapplied. Again I was told a similar story that I didn’t have enough routes and didn’t know what I was doing with my life. However, this time I argued down the phone with the DM and they agreed to put my name on the list.

The Wait:
This has to be the hardest part of it all. You hear about other people getting a dog before you and just so badly want it to be your turn. 3 months, 6 months, a year, 18 months and then finally after 19 months I got the call. I remember it very well, being disappointed that Calvin wasn’t female, didn’t have a cute name, I didn’t know his colour and he was a massive dog when I hoped for a small one. Talk about ungrateful!

Matching visit:
I was petrified when this enormous dog jumped on me, as soft and cute as he seemed. He was a speedy walker and due to nerves and not generally being able to walk fast, I really struggled to keep up with him. I should have known from that point he wasn’t going to be the best dog, as he nearly pulled me flat on my face when trying to chase something!

He had no health problems, was lively but apparently this was only because it was a new place and was gorgeous too. So how could I say no!

The sleepover:
To check my brother wasn’t allergic to Calvin, he stopped over before training. I suppose he was still lively because it was a new place. Or maybe he was just going to stay like this forever! He ran around like a loon, legged it out of the front door and did a busy on the front garden and was the most excitable dog I had ever met. Remember, I hate dogs! So it was all very scary!

Training:
I trained alone with Calvin, 1 week in a hotel and 2 weeks at home in total. Not much compared to many others. It was an exhausting experience and I could wave goodbye to having a lie in ever again. After the first day we had the support lead taken off and I thought this Guide Dog lark was a breeze! Calvin made a few mistakes walking over curbs, finding things I didn’t want and having a busy on walks, but generally seemed amazing.

Going solo:
After training I understood why they said the first year was the hardest. Calvin broke big time, getting me lost nearly on a daily basis, started to scavenge, chase things more and more and generally do his own thing. I found taking him to athletics was a nightmare, as he cried, barked, jumped on everyone and couldn’t be bribed by treats. Just my luck to get a faulty dog, but all the time I was bonding with him as a normal dog, enjoying playing with him, grooming him and appreciating the affection he gave me.

1 year on:
The hardest bit is supposed to be over, but when I’m out with him I just think 9 more years and the torture will be over! He’s an awful guide when with other people and isn’t the easiest to deal with on my own. I feel like I’m forever correcting him, getting lost and that I can’t teach him new things in the fear we’ll end up lost. It shouldn’t be like this and for most people it isn’t, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who struggles to control my dog.

So is it better than having a cane? It’s like having a child, needing to spend, groom, feed, play and occupy 24/7. I still stand by my opinion that under 16s should not be allowed a dog, as it’s just too much work. It is however, I feel is better than a cane. The pace you can walk, the less concentration you need if your dog is on form and the less wary people are to approach you. It is a major responsibility, but I wouldn’t change Calvin for the world. I don’t think he’ll mature and calm down, he’s had a year to do that already. I can only hope that my hard work will pay off and one day he’ll lose the reputation of being a bad Guide Dog!

On 30 November we have Guide Dogs coming out for our annual visit and I can’t wait to tell them Calvin’s 101 faults and see what they’re going to do about it. Also, sorry for posting this late, I ruined my Calvin week, but turned my pc off last night and completely forgot about it!

From Cane to Dog

2010-11-20T01:01:00.000-08:00

When you’re in public with your Guide Dog, you’re not only an advert for the organisation in general, but an advert for visually impaired people too. However, when your dog is constantly playing up and you’re correcting like a mad man, you just wish nobody is around, as they think you’re the terrible one! Most of the time when you’re walking along, trying to mind your own business, you know all eyes are on you. This makes me very self-aware and you have to learn how to crack a smile at the drop of a hat, even if you don’t feel like it! Yes, the public mean well and are the ones who fund Guide Dogs, but sometimes it would be nice to know you’re not in the spotlight, especially when you’ve thrown on some tacky clothes and haven’t brushed your hair!

So, here’s what happens when you make the transition from cane to dog...

Top 10 – You know you’re a Guide Dog owner when...

1. You’re told on a daily basis ‘I bet he can smell my dog on me’
2. People ‘awwww’ at you as you walk down the street
3. You know where every dog lives in the village and know their names too
4. You learn people can’t read and stroke your dog without permission
5. Kids shout ‘dog, ‘doggy’ and other similar words over and over again at you
6. You start telling people you’re going for a busy instead of the toilet
7. You have no fear in shoving your hand down your dog’s throat to remove fluff from a toy, squeaker, twig or any other object
8. Everyone thinks you have a new boyfriend as you sign cards, ‘love Selina and Calvin’
9. Your pockets stink of dog treats
10. You have to tell people you’re blind, as they think you’re training your dog

Calvin the Comedian

2010-11-19T00:13:00.000-08:00

He woke me up early again! Calvin must have been a comedian in a previous life, because he makes me laugh more than any human could do! His muppet moments were one offs, but here’s funny things he does on a daily basis. I think you have to be there for the dramatic effect! One that isn’t on the list is when he dreams, tail thumping, high pitched barks, growls and then deep snoring! I think all dogs do that though.

Top 10 – I find him funny when...

1. You’re in the kitchen and he’ll drop his toy dramatically onto the wooden floor to let you know he’s there, making a loud bang
2. He plays dead
3. He runs around like a loon after playing peek-a-boo
4. He thinks he’s the bees knees after doing obedience
5. He nudges you with his wet nose
6. He slips all over the wooden floor
7. He throws himself to the ground with a massive thud when wanting to lie down
8. You get a present or parcel from someone and he sits so nicely waiting for you to give it him
9. He runs away at full speed from little dogs
10. He lies on his back holding a toy in between his paws and mouth and just stays there for ages

Calvin the Cute

2010-11-18T03:27:00.000-08:00

Even though Calvin woke me up before my alarm again, I can never stay mad at my gorgeous boy! Today, as I heard him racing up the stairs, I put my quilt over my head. He lifted it up with his nose and poked his head under like ‘woooo hoooo anyone home’! At times I want to strangle him, but I love him to bits too.

He’s got loads of nicknames; Calvie Coo, Baby Boo, Gorgeous Boy, and Softy are a few of the nice ones. With Nightmare, spoilt Paws, Dennis the Menace, Naughty Boy, call yourself a Guide Dog and Little Git being the more negative ones!

As I said I do love him and considering I hate dogs he doesn’t know how lucky he is! Here’s a few reasons why my Calvie has won me over...

Top 10 – I love him when...

1. He snuggles up to my feet
2. He puts his paw on my lap and tilts his head to one side
3. He puppy bites
4. He rolls onto his back when having a groom
5. He gets me to places in half the time I could with a cane
6. He finds the right way when I’m feeling a little unsure
7. He always greets me, as if he’s not seen me for weeks
8. He puts his head on my lap and lets out a big sigh
9. We get home after being lost and all is forgotten
10. Everyone compliments on how gorgeous he is

Calvin the Curse

2010-11-17T00:35:00.000-08:00

Ok since Calvin came bounding into my room this morning, tail wagging vigorously, wet nose and licks all before my alarm went off he’s getting it today! Since the clocks went back he’s waking me up early nearly on a daily basis!

I think a lot of Guide Dog owners are protective over their dogs, just like parents are with their children, but let’s face it; they’re not all cute and cuddly 24/7! I hate to say it, but this list was so easy to write and I could have easily written loads more! Of course I love him, but here are 10 things I hate about you...well Calvin anyway!

Top 10 – I hate it when...

1. I’m running late, grab Calvin’s lead and he legs it around the dining table
2. He’s knocked out, but I have to wait until 10pm to spend him so he doesn’t wake me up in the night
3. He sniffs and gets the munchies on walks
4. He rolls in fox or badger pooh
5. He won’t spend when out, when he’s clearly bursting
6. He follows me around the house when I’m getting ready to go out without him, making me feel guilty
7. He lies in the aisle of the train or bus
8. We get lost on a simple route
9. He chases things
10. He forgets how to guide when I’m with other people, not stopping at curbs or steps, walks me into things and pulls allot!

Calvin the Clown

2010-11-16T03:45:00.000-08:00

When I got a Guide Dog I didn’t realise that they could have such a personality. I have met a few dull dogs, but Calvin is certainly not one of them. Here’s a few amusing moments over the past year, unfortunately not enough space to share them all!

Top 10 – Calvin muppet moments

1. Finding a golf ball in the snow and swallowing it
2. Running onto the athletics track during a race, knocking me to the ground
3. Chasing a pidgin and bouncing off of a bin in the process
4. Drinking the entire river at Fosse Meadows and then having busys in public every 5 seconds, including in Fosse Park food court
5. Trying to pick up as many toys as possible at once, I think the record is 4
6. Being so excited to hear someone at the door that he grabbed my brand new Timberlands to greet them
7. Jumping onto the bus seat and sitting proudly instead of going in between them
8. Insisting that the arrival of a parcel was for him and wasn’t satisfied until he could snuggle up with some of the paper packaging and go to sleep
9. Climbing onto the dining room table, knocking off all of the items on top of his food container and stuffing his face
10. Deceiving me in thinking that he’s being really calm in a pet shop, when in fact he had his head immersed in a bucket full of treats!

Calvin Week

2010-11-15T00:09:00.000-08:00

This is my 100th blog post and tomorrow marks a year since I started training with Calvin. So, I’ve decided to dedicate this week to Guide Dog ownership. Check back daily to find fun and serious posts about mine and Calvin’s partnership.

This is not only a good opportunity to evaluate my first year as a Guide Dog owner, but hopefully enlighten others on what it entails.

See you tomorrow...

F1 Review 2010

2010-11-14T09:09:00.000-08:00

Today was the climax of the 2010 F1 season in the desert of Abu Dhabi. Going into the final race, there were four potential World Championship winners with my favourites Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso leading the way.

The double World Champion was looking to join a select group of eight that had won three championships or more. Unfortunately, an unexpected safety car, tyre degradation, watching the wrong driver and under estimating the mid field guys it all went wrong! All he needed was a fourth place, but ended up eighth.

So, the World Championship went to 22 year old Sebastian Vettel who flies the flag for Red bull Racing. The German youngster who has been pipped to be the new Schumacher since his debut made history by also being the youngest ever champion. Taking the crown away from Lewis Hamilton who previously stole it from Fernando Alonso.

All four drivers in the hunt for the championship, Vettel, Alonso, Webber and Hamilton have all had a rollercoaster season with wins, crashes and penalties. Last year’s champion Jenson Button was chasing the championship for a while, but couldn’t keep up finishing fifth overall.

For my Ferrari boys, Alonso and Massa made the best of a quick, but not quite quick enough car. They also caused controversy with team orders feeding a message to Massa that ‘Fernando is faster than you’! This meant Massa gave up his only potential win for Alonso who had more of a chance of clinching the title. Some will say Alonso never deserved it in the first place, but I can fully understand why Ferrari did it. This was Massa’s first year back after his life-threatening accident and I felt he wasn’t as feisty this year, but hope both drivers will come back fighting next year!

This season also saw the return of seven time World Champion and personal idol Michael Schumacher. He had a bumpy season, scored well in a few races, but was beaten by his team mate in many others. The legend is set to continue next year and word has it that Mercedes are by far ahead in development than the other cars.

Yet again Ferrari hit the final hurdle to win a championship, but nobody can deny that Sebastian Vettel wasn’t a worthy winner and I would love to see him in Ferrari colours one day!

Nominated

2010-11-05T01:37:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to confirm that I was nominated for Sports Aid funding by UK Athletics. Obviously very pleased with that since my performances were below average this year. I’ve had to fill out an application form, which was due back today and I’ll hear in the New Year the amount I’ll receive. Although I will stress I may get nothing, as only 70-80% of applicants are successful. I received £1000 this year and a similar amount would be really helpful. Time to play the waiting game!

Hen Weekend and Puppy Walker Meet

2010-11-02T10:22:00.000-07:00

I don’t seem to do many non day to day activities these days, but last weekend was an exception with Beth’s hen do and meeting Calvin’s puppy walkers.

Friday:
Calvin was obviously so excited after watching me pack our things the night before he decided to wake me up an hour early! I know I get anxious about missing trains, but would have preferred the extra sleep!

The hen do was taking place at the Cliffton Hotel in Teignmouth, Devon, which is an Action for the Blind hotel for visually impaired guests, but the fully sighted are welcome too. The journey would take approximately 5 hours with 2 changes at Birmingham and Exeter. The plan was to meet Katie on the train from Birmingham and Jenny at Exeter. However, true to form the trains got delayed. Thankfully I didn’t have to wait longer at Birmingham than necessary, as they put on an emergency train, but it did mean I arrived an hour earlier than Katie and Jenny.

I have of course travelled on the train with Calvin before, the furthest being Newcastle. However, since the last time we travelled I’m sure he’s grown! With his bum stuck underneath the furthest seat from the aisle, his front paws and head still seemed to be sticking out. At Birmingham New Street the assistance guy found Calvin hysterical. When getting assistance you’re always offered an arm to be guided or you can follow. In an unfamiliar, noisy and busy place like Birmingham I always get guided. The assistance guy was amused that Calvin was sniffy, picked up a leaflet and barked at some random person or thing. Excluding the barking, this behaviour is nothing new to me, but I was a little surprised that the assistance guy hadn’t come across any other Guide Dog like Calvin. They can’t all be perfect little workers, surely!

Anyway, we eventually arrived in Teignmouth where the hotel staff collected us. Beth wasn’t due to arrive until later, so I had the Coach House where we were staying in the grounds of the hotel to myself. When we arrived, I stressed that Calvin would be bursting for a busy, so they lead us to a spending pen. Once Calvin had finished he sprinted off, obviously distressing after the long journey and no intention of coming back! It was the guy’s fault to be honest for leaving the gate of the pen open. I had no treats or whistle handy, so couldn’t really do much when Calvin ignored my enthusiastic calls. He was eventually caught.

Since it was a hotel for the blind I was expecting the Coach House to be really accessible! However, the spiral staircase and far from simple layout of bedrooms had me baffled for a while. You couldn’t even trail the walls, as pictures hung there threatening to fall off! Calvin seemed quite stressed out, most likely due to the free run being cut short, but he also couldn’t understand what we were doing in this strange place that must have smelt of a thousand dogs. He panted and followed me adjitated. However, about an hour later when Jaynie arrived, he felt right at home.

Beth’s flight was delayed, but when she arrived she was greeted by pink balloons that made my fingers swell up from my rubbish attempt of tying knots, L plates and a bride to be sash. We played truth or dare, which was funny and eye opening at the same time! We also played how well do you know the bride, where every time we got a question wrong Beth got to open a novelty gift. The ones I bought included hunk soap, nipple tassels and ring for sex bell!

Saturday:
I was absolutely exhausted, as Calvin didn’t sleep very well, fidgeting as he obviously needed a busy and I took him in the end about 6am. We went rock climbing, which is an activity I love, but haven’t done for about 4 years. I was convinced Calvin would be climbing up the wall with me, but I supposed that could have happened if he hadn’t been benched to something secure. Sandie and Jaynie were fine being benched to a seat, but not Calvin who dragged it across the floor when I moved away from him! He was benched on his own for a while and when I was traversing (going across the wall, not up) he cried, but at least resisted from barking. When we moved to another room, he was benched with Sandie and Jaynie and after a couple of minutes was happy enough to play with them and ignore me. I’ve always been pretty good at rock climbing for some unknown reason and I was pleased to find I still had the natural ability. I raced up the wall, but had to stop and wait a few times as they couldn’t belay quickly enough. We only got 2 up climbs, which was a shame, but I enjoyed what I did get to do.

That evening we all got dressed up and went for an Italian. I was a buzzy bee with wings, head boppers, hair clips one in my hair one on my dress and stripy tights. I also tied a bumble be to Calvin’s lead, so he could look suitably silly too! We also had a butterfly, lady bird, fairy and an angel. Notice the wings theme!

Sunday:
Another rough night and Calvin needing a busy during it. I woke up with a cold, sneezing, blocked up and shivery. The plan was to take the dogs for a free run on the beach, but the tide was high and extremely wild by the sounds of the crashing waves. I wish I lived near a beach though, as I love listening to the waves! We strolled into town or in Calvin’s case dragged me into town. His guiding skills when following others is pretty poor. I understand he wants to keep up and be in front, but when we don’t know where we’re going it’s better to be behind. So, he didn’t stop at curbs or steps and I constantly used the double arm steady technique to try and keep control of him. We went into a few tacky seaside shops, but most things were closed on a Sunday. We then went for cream tea, however, I had soup! When we got back, Katie and Jenny went swimming, which I couldn’t do because of my ankle being strapped up, so I ended up having a nap instead along with Beth.

We had a roast for dinner, watched the X Factor results, bitched a little and then finished off by playing how well do you know the bride game again.

Monday:
I was up at 5.30am, thanks to the lovely Calvin who apparently is rubbish at crossing his paws and couldn’t get back to sleep. I was excited to meet Calvin’s puppy walkers, but nervous at the same time. I waited for them in the hotel bar and heard the receptionist bring a couple through. They came up behind Calvin, who for once when approached by people stayed lying on the ground. I said his name, he gazed at them for a few seconds and then the penny dropped with a big old splash! Calvin didn’t know who to turn to Dave or Sue and so jumped on them alternately. I was worried for a moment that he couldn’t remember them at all! We decided to go for a walk, so they could watch Calvin in action, plus the weather was gorgeous. We got out of the hotel and there were a set of steps to the left that Calvin immediately took me to. Apparently, if you went up those steps and walked through the park it would take you to the puppy walkers house! Calvin’s memory was on top form and was dying to follow the yellow brick road!

Instead, we walked up by the sea front, which made me feel like I was on holiday. Calvin took me to every set of steps so he could go down to the beach, but we had to walk up a way, as the tide was still high. He got a good run, dipping his paws in the sea, they said he never did like going in fully, but he was daring and had a little splash. We then went to a cafe that he always went to and knew the way of course. He was very lively and found it difficult to stay sitting down, but I think I can let him off just this once! From the cafe he tried taking me back to the puppy walkers house, but we made our way to the hotel. Since there was a little time before we had to catch the train we let Calvin off in the first park that we went by. Just before calling him back, Mr reliving his youth, dived and rolled in some badger pooh! The puppy walkers giggled that they forgot he used to do that! He still does it now! Other things he still does is hold as many toys in his mouth at once, malt a lot, jump up on people and chew his toys!

I also found out that Calvin’s original trainer was in Worcester not Leamington Spa. I knew he changed trainers after a month, but thought he was always at Leamington. They commented that he was a cleverdog from the beginning, remembering instructions first time. I think it was great for the puppy walkers, Calvin and myself to meet up for all different reasons.

I would leave it there, but have one final story to share about my journey home. I planned to use the toilet at Birmingham New Street, but found with an hour to go on the journey that I was bursting. I was waiting for the ticket man or catering trolley to come through so I could ask where they were and if they could hold Calvin for me. However, nothing. So, Calvin and I got up, went out one end of the carriage, but there didn’t seem to be one there. I couldn’t find the button to go through to the next carriage, so went back where I came from and out the other end. I could tell there was a toilet there, by feeling around, but couldn’t find the door. So, back in the carriage, asked the luggage holder if they knew where the door was, no response, so walked further up the carriage and asked a human! A nice lady put my hand on the button to open the door and I started to panicthat it was one of those stupid electronic toilets. I got in feeling frantically around to find the button to close the door, setting the automatic sink off in the process soaking my arm. I still couldn’t find the button, but the door eventually shut itself. I knew it needed locking, but prayed nobody would enter the carriage, as the sensor on the outside would open it again. Trousers were done up without any intruders, but then I needed to find the button to get back out! I found one that made an alarm sound, but kept feeling around and finally found the correct buttons. I opened the door to get out and the ticket man was standing there and asked if I was ok! I played it cool and said yeah fine thanks, rushing off as fast as I could with Calvin back to our seats! Whoever thought electronic toilets were a good idea need shooting!

Fingers Crossed

2010-10-27T00:41:00.000-07:00

Today, at UK Athletics they’ll be discussing which athletes will be given funding for next year. This year I received Sports Aid funding and I’m hoping for the same financial support next year. At the beginning of the season the aim was to get on to the World Class Performance Programme, but due to my guide runner issues, lack of competition and injury I’m fairly certain I haven’t met the standards.

A few weeks ago I sent a letter to UKA explaining my disastrous year and where I’m at now. I can only hope they will be understanding and still recognise the potential I believe I have, to make it on a world stage.

I don’t think I’ll hear the outcome today, but hopefully over the next week. My current situation with training is that we’re working on building up the strength in my ankle, although it appears strong when tested. I’ve had it strapped up for the past week and a half and will continue to do so until I’m pain free and sprinting again!

Just Updating

2010-10-17T01:05:00.000-07:00

Well what do I have to report. My ankle still hurts everyday and even the private sector don’t know what’s causing the pain. So, no running for me until god knows when, which is very frustrating, but out of my control. I’ve still been keeping fit, bike sessions for speed and endurance and regular gym for strength work.

Earlier this week I had my first uni exam and I can’t believe how stressed out I was about it. It went ok in the end and I get my results back in December. I can’t believe I’m starting my second year of uni already. I’m doing Approaching Literature, which has 10 books to read, such as Pride and Prejudice, The Color Purple, Frankenstein and a whole host of Shakespeare urgh! At the end of the month I’ll start a short course in ‘Start Writing Fiction’, which will test my creative writing skills, whether they exist or not and determine whether or not I do the Creative Writing module next year.

Calvin’s working behaviour isn’t the best at the moment, we’ve gotten lost twice this week, he keeps trying to chase leaves and is generally a nightmare. Hoping it’s just a phase, I’ve had him for nearly a year now.

Don’t really have much else to write, I did plan to do a review of the Common Wealth Games, but due to my exam didn’t take notes on all medals, dramas and highlights. I did enjoy watching it though!

Taking Calvin Home

2010-09-26T01:05:00.000-07:00

At the end of next month I’m going down to Devon for Beth’s hen do. Dawlish in Devon is where my Calvin spent his first year of life with his puppy walkers. Therefore, I contacted them and enquired whether they wanted to meet up. I believe the puppy walkers are the unsungheros of Guide Dogs, as without them people like me wouldn’t be able to have the amazing gift of a Guide Dog.

They replied promptly and said they would love to meet up. Apparently Teignmouth, where the hen do is taking place is only 5mins away and where Calvin did lots of walks both on the coast and main roads. I can’t wait to take Calvin down there to see his reaction, which will obviously be pure excitement no doubt! It will be great to meet his puppy walkers and find out a bit more about how he became the affectionate, playful, comical and mischievous dog he is today!

They also emailed me some photos of when Calvin was a puppy, which I’ll try and upload for everyone to coo at!

The Unexpected

2010-09-25T03:24:00.000-07:00

The latest theatre production I saw was Bustin’ Out. I only booked it because it was classed as a musical and sounded comical. My innocence therefore didn’t realise it would be two fat Australians prancing around topless for the entire show! The musical aspect was songs about boobs and whilst it was funny in some places, I cringed in others!

Calvin came along and when he got bored of crumb searching underneath the seats he would pop his head up and have a peek at the action, typical male! However, prior to going into the theatre, there was a small incident. Since my family and I had gone for a meal before the show I felt Calvin needed a spend before we went in. The theatre is connected to a park, but we just found a grass patch by the car park. Out of nowhere a dog appeared off lead and so immediately we decided to find another spot. Yet, the other dog followed with menacing growls. My mum tried to get in the middle to block the other dog, but I told her to move out of the way so Calvin could stand his ground. I dropped the harness and held onto his lead whilst they sized each other up. The loose dog went for Calvin, but he quickly moved out of the way spinning me in a circle. Seconds after the owner appeared and apologised unsympathetically and removed his dog. Calvin had a bit of a shake but was happy enough to continue working. It did get my heart racing, but I’m glad I didn’t panic and let Calvin stand up for himself. Thankfully no injury was done, but the following day when I worked Calvin in the village he did a little jog past any barking dog and when somebody slammed a car door he tried to leg it. He’s seems back to his usual confident self now though.

MRI Results

2010-09-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday I finally picked up my MRI results for my ankle. It only took the NHS 6 months to give me a scan. The physio thought I had synovitis, but this did not show up. The only thing that did was some bone bruising. It has been 7 months since I sprained my ankle and to still have bone bruising on a sprain that hardly had any swelling is strange.

The NHS had no useful advice and after I insisted I was still unable to run pain free and generally walk around these days without some sort of ache, he said he would refer me to a sports doctor. Only, he doesn’t know how long this will take, where a sports doctor could be found within the NHS and failed to be able to even use a telephone and Google. The nurse had to help him!

All of this is highly unhelpful and with winter training approaching and no idea of when I can run again, I’m feeling next year slipping away from me already. I’ve decided I can wait no longer and will go private to get a quicker and more informed answer with regards to my injury.

I really hope this all gets resolved soon, as I’m frustrated I’ve achieved literally nothing this year and want to prove my ability next year.

Libby Clegg

2010-09-11T03:32:00.000-07:00

Libby Clegg is a T12 athlete meaning she is partially sighted, but still needs a guide runner. She won Silver at the last Paralympics over 100m and hopes to repeat her podium form in 2012. She now trains at Loughborough, the same place as me and because of this I have benefited from the expertise of her guide and coach. She recently did an interview for UK Athletics and I thought I’d share it, as I feel it’s very honest, as well as informative. It raises some good issues regarding visually impaired athletics, as well as general VI day-to-day life. You can view the article here:

Libby Clegg’s interview for UKA

The Countdown Begins

2010-08-29T00:59:00.000-07:00

Today marks 2 years to go until the official opening ceremony of the 2012 London Paralympic Games! Of course it’s my dream to be there and participating, but that will require allot of dedication between now and then, which I’m willing to give!

To kick off the countdown a series of programmes are being shown on Channel 4 who have won the television rights for the games. It all started yesterday with ‘That Paralympic Show’, which will be on for the next 10 weeks. The aim of the show is to introduce the public to Paralympic sports and athletes. Tonight, there is a documentary called Inside Incredible Athletes at 9pm. It features 7 Paralympic hopefuls, including the blade runner, Oscar Pistorious and amputee Stefanie Reid who I’ve raced earlier this year. On a visually impaired front, Dave Clark from England’s blind 5 aside football team is also on the programme.

Regarding my plans for the next 2 years, I’m going to do everything I can to get there. Next Wednesday, I finally have an MRI scan booked for my ankle that I sprained back in February. The results of that will determine whether I compete in one more competition this year and winter training preparations.

Distinction!

2010-08-08T00:42:00.000-07:00

I recently received my grade for my first module at uni. I would say first year, but one module at 60points is equal to half a year, even though it took me a year.

Anyway, for AA100 The Arts Past and Present I gained a distinction, which is the highest mark you can get. So obviously I was over the moon!

Assignment Results:
TMA 01 – 85%
TMA 02 – 85%
TMA 03 – 81%
TMA 04 – 88%
TMA 05 – 70%
TMA 06 – 81%
TMA 07 – 88%
Average (OCAs) – 82%
ECA (OEs) – 86%
Total – 84%

You normally need 85 %for a distinction overall, but they gave me one anyway!