Tough times

Hi All

Well as usual things have been up and down. It always seems like there is at least one thing going wrong at any one time through this whole journey. As always though there are also some positives that I need to keep focussing on as well.

Health wise things have improved. It looks at this stage the heart thing was a once off affair. My knee is also responding to treatment and improving.

I am back on a training program from my coach in Canberra, John Armstrong. It is great to be back on a program after 10 days in limbo and know where things are headed. I am optimistic that I will be healthy enough to continue training to the program right through the games. It is really hard at the moment to know what my expectations are and what is a realistic goal and time to aim for. The major key to having effective training is consistency and I have certainly not had that much at all this year.

Penni and Matilda left yesterday after being here in Perth for the last 5 days. They stayed 5 doors down the road but I was able to spend some time with them. The highlight was going to the fun centre and crawling about the structure with Matilda. It her words 'it's a bit scary Daddy'. I don't think I would have been able to mentally deal with things without their support. It has been a tough week mentally dealing with some of the setbacks but having them here particularly this week was a real boost.

It looks like the next 10 days will be pretty tough both physically and mentally. To be honest my dream of coming back to compete in Beijing after all the setbacks is turning into a nightmare and I can't wait for it to be over. I guess it is sometimes like this when you put so much of yourself into something and build the pressure up that you then turn it into something that is just not fun. Still I get to let the release valve off soon and then have some time at home and doing some fun things like play with Matilda and maybe go mountain biking again.

MM