Glasgow Bound.
Well this is it. The last leg. The home straight. I am currently on a plane flying back to Scotland. Just one day until I move into the Holding Camp, two days until the Opening Ceremony, four days until I move into the Athlete Village and six days until I compete. All the hard work, all the frustrating and tearful sessions, all the incredible highs of a new personal best and selection – it all comes down to the final week, the next seven days.
If I think too much like that though, there’s no way I will perform well! Now, I have to take each day as it comes and make sure that in those 24 hours, I do everything I can to put myself in the best possible position on competition day. I’m in the best shape of my life and now it’s a mental game. In some ways that’s the hardest bit – knowing that you are capable of performing well but then actually controlling your head and going out and doing it. It’s something I’ve worked hard on over the last few months and I’m confident that I can pull it all together on the day.
The last few weeks have been crazy. After selection, I had a few days away from training to rest and prepare myself mentally and physically for the next 6 weeks of Games preparation. This break did me the world of good – the selection process was emotionally exhausting for me and it took me a couple of days to de-stress and refocus on the real goal. I then went back into a period of hard training again which really helped me to reset for the final few weeks. The Team Camp was held over a weekend in Stirling which was a great opportunity to find out more information and meet all of the team. It was also great for me to catch up with some athletes from other sports that I know from the Commonwealth Youth Games in India 6 years ago! We all picked up our kit here as well – a bit of a stressful process with everyone trying it on in a small space but incredibly exciting all the same! We heard the newly recorded version of Flower of Scotland (amazing!!) and over the whole weekend it really began to hit home that the Games were just three weeks away!
Now, it’s just a matter of days. The training is done and I had my final competition yesterday. Despite only throwing 59.25m I’m happy with where I am. The circle was very slow and I was throwing into a headwind so I know I’m capable of much bigger distances! I can’t wait for the Opening Ceremony on Wednesday – it’ll be the Team’s first experience of the home crowd and I can’t wait to hear the noise as we all walk out.
My qualifying round will be on Sunday 27th July and the final will be held on Monday 28th July at 7:05pm. I hope you will be cheering me on! If you want to keep updated with my journey through the Games and get an insider’s view into an athlete’s experiences, please follow me on Twitter – @myraperkins.
See you on the other side!!!