An overdue update

So...it has been two months, unbelievably, since I last updated this blog...perhaps the 'quickest' two months of my life. As expected time seems to speed up, it is now 2012, Olympic year, and life is certainly very busy.  The World Cup season has started and we are nearing the end of the qualifying tournaments.  This blog is going to take the form of a diary so that you can see what I've been up to in the run-in to February.  

December

After returning from a good result in France it was back to training ahead of the UK National Championships.  The Nationals, happening in December as opposed to their usual summer date were a well run event and the Finals Hall was particularly impressive.  So too was my fencing in the poules as I came through what was a tricky group, recording several 5-0 victories as I had in St Jean, to be seeded #1 for the direct elimination stages.  I was given a bye through the first round and then beat club-mate Joe Nickel 15-0 in the last 32.  Unfortunately I started slowly in the next round and was edged out in the last 16, a great disappointment considering how well I had fenced previously.  I believe that the staging of this event at this period in the calendar is much better for the elite athletes as it fits with our periodisation, rather than occuring in the summer off-season; however the attendance at the competition was a little disappointing presumably because of the festivities around Christmas.  

There was no rest after the Nationals as later that week I was off to Grantham, back to the army barracks to eat army food in the cold for a five day preparation camp ahead of the new season.  The camp went really well as I continued my good form and continued to develop some new things I have been working on.  On returning home I did not rest until I had a couple of days away over New Year with friends, which was a short refreshing break before the jet-set began again in earnest.  

January

During January I was lucky enough to spend a week and a half at INSEP, the French National Training Facility, training with their centralised and funded squad of c.15 athletes.  It was a fantastic sparring opportunity and has really assisted my development.  Coupled with the first week I spent there, I competed in Strasbourg, a joint French and German ranking competition, in which five members of the world's top 16 were competing.  Again, I fenced well, losing two in the first round poules to Lopez (FRA) and Apithy (BEN) and continued this in the direct elimination fighting my way into the last 32.  There I fenced Lamboley (FRA) a finalist in last year's Budapest Grand Prix and a quality opponent.  Unfortunately for me, I snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and when tired, got stuck and lost 14-15 from being in a winning position of 11-4.  Although the loss was a shock, I was pleased with how I fenced overall and just needed to get over the line.  Later in the month I returned to INSEP for half a week training with the German as well as French teams.  

February

The month has started with the annual trip to Plovdiv, Bulgaria.  In all honesty the competition passed me by.  I think the stress of the occasion got to me slightly and I didn't perform.  Certainly I did not fence to the levels I expect of myself and watching my performance back on video was like watching someone else.  However, there were good lessons to learn, which I have done and I have now moved on and am looking forward to heading out to Padua, Italy tomorrow for the next World Cup.  We are now away every other week so there is not much time to adapt and reflect, instead a constant switch of focus is required.  Of course leaving Bulgaria is never easy (see my blog here) and again it was not this year as we were snowed in at Sofia Airport and had to stay an extra night. Also, whoever decided to schedule a World Cup competition on the outskirts of Venice on Valentine's weekend needs their brain checked, but these complications occur in life.  What I need to do now is put the distractions aside, focus and get the job done.  Here goes....

En France

To complete my winter preparation for next season's World Cups I recently ventured to France for the French ranking event, St Jean de la Ruelle.  Just like Amsterdam I travelled completely on my own, but unlike then I also stayed completely on my own, as none of my other teammates or club mates were competing in my event.  I have to say though, I found it quite rewarding and exhilarating, travelling around Europe on my own to fencing competitions.  It was as if I was on my own Odysseian adventure, although thankfully it did not take me 10 years to reach home.  

As for the competition itself I was delighted to discover Glenn Sancroft and his new fiancee Jennifer McMillan, from Scotland were there, whose French language skills were slightly better than my Del-boy level abilities..'bonnet de douche, Rodney, bonnet de douche'.  Seriously though, I did perfect one sentence, "pardon,  Je ne parle français".  While Chrystall Nicoll and Jo Hutchison arrived later in time to fence in the women's event.  

The French events have a slightly strange format.  The top 28 on the French rankings (including any fencers in the top 50 of the world rankings) are separated from everyone else and fence in four poules of seven.  The rest (group B) fence their poules and then the results are amalgamated, with all of group A seeded above B (i.e. in places 1-28) and then the direct elimination begins.  I won 6/6 poule fights, which achieved my first target and was seeded 2nd out of 104, or rather 30/132 after the amalgamation.  As a result of this system it means that it is extremely difficult to break into the top 16 as the top seeds of B, will fence those of A who have done best in the last 32.  In fact one could argue that it is slightly easier to lose a poule fight and thus end up with a more middling draw in the last 32, of course though, it is harder to reach the last 32.  In any case, I fenced Haberer, an experienced French international, who unfortunately had too much for me on the day.  

However, I believe that the competition was a success.  I had achieved my two primary targets of winning all my poule fights and reaching the 32, and although 26th place does not sound all that good, I felt I had done well.  Before it was time to get the Eurostar back home I was able to watch Chrystall and Jo in the finals of the women's event, who came 2nd and 3rd respectively, which was good to see.  Most importantly the competition was good exposure for me to European fencing and is helping push me towards the big competition next summer.  Less than 7 months to go now, about 7 weeks until qualification resumes and let's just say its certainly very exciting....

Amsterdam

Last weekend I competed in the Amsterdam FIE Satellite Event.  This tournament was held on the same weekend as the Welsh Open, one of the largest UK domestic competitions, but for me, the choice to compete in Amsterdam as opposed to Wales was an easy one.  As I have mentioned in previous posts I have planned to compete in a few European events this side of Christmas in preparation for the second part of Olympic Qualifying.  This tournament therefore offered excellent practice of competing: in an unfamiliar environment, in a foreign country, against different styles of fencer, against (in general) a higher standard of opposition, and under the pressure of competing for World Cup points.  

As opposed to the ultimately somewhat lengthy trip I undertook to Belgium for the previous event three weeks ago, I decided to fly out late Saturday afternoon and return Sunday night so as to spend as little time away as possible.  To speed up my journey home in order to get as much sleep as possible before work on Monday morning I elected to use business parking at Heathrow T5.  Definitely the best parking experience I have ever had.  I had my own 'pod' to the terminal, and the entire transit was less than 5 minutes, with the service leaving upon demand.  I took a photo of the pod, here: 

 

And here is the link - very 21st Century. 
http://londonist.com/2011/09/heathrow-rolls-out-driverless-pods.php

The event itself had 74 entrants, meaning that the format was reduced to one round of poules, as a World Cup competition.  The field included fencers from Hungary, Italy, Poland, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Chinese Taipei, USA, Canada, Turkey, Spain, Israel, Austria, Switzerland, and several others.  In the poules I won all 6 fights, despite not being ranked among the top seeds, and I closed my fights out quite comfortably, feeling in complete control.  This resulted in me being ranked 4th after the poules, and so followed a five and a half hour wait until I would fence again! The draw was due to pit me against teammate Tom Mottershead in the last 32, however he lost to the Polish fencer, Cieszkowski in the round of 64.  I was able to convincingly beat Cieszkowski in the 32 and also an Italian in the last 16.  In the round of 8 I came up against Jo Polossifakis, a Canadian fencer, who I had beaten in the poule and who only last week had come 3rd at the Pan-American Games.  The match was tight, with both of us on top for periods in the first half but in the end I was edged out 15-14.  

Overall I was happy with the result. It was definitely a step in the right direction, post the Gent debacle, and I had fenced very well all day, especially in the poule.  I was able to maintain concentration over a long period of time and fenced as well as I had competitively in a long time.  The day was also good for Keith Cook.  At the same time as my event was a Men's Foil Satellite event, which Keith won (picture below), and I have to say it made a nice change to be at the event with the Men's Foil team, most of whom are centrally funded.  The competition also was a good experience for me as I was able to test out my new diet.  I have recently started seeing a nutritionist to try and squeeze that extra one or two percent out of my performance.  What I found in Amsterdam was that the foods I was eating did help my concentration, but did not provide me enough energy, so come St Jean in a couple of weeks I will have a new competition protocol as we look to get everything heading in the right direction before the serious business begins. 

Results of the competition:
http://www.fie.ch/Competitions/ResultsList.aspx?Key=A0E72808D46ECBA59CF8D1D169CD2ADC