Week 1
I have been on such a high this week after placing second at Pole Art. It was exactly what I needed to give me a confidence boost going into my training this month.
This month is going to be all about polishing and perfecting my routine. Manning any final cuts and changes of what’s not working and making sure that I am completely happy with and confident in my routine. My compulsory form and music needs to be submitted by the beginning of September so it’s the last chance to change anything.
Time these past few weeks has been flying. October somehow feels so far away yet so close at the same time. I am getting more and more nervous and the reality of going to Worlds is really starting to hit me. At the beginning of the year it was just a crazy idea that maybe I’ll go to Worlds and now here I am, less than two months away from getting on a plane to Canada. I’m am so incredibly thankful that I have this opportunity and so excited for all the experiences this journey has given me, and I am so excited for what is to come!
Week 2
Training this week has been really good but also tough. My body has really been feeling the intensity of the training that I’m doing at them moment.
I went to gym and switched up my routine, adding in some new exercises from my biokinetisist to try and correct some of the imbalances I have, particularly my right leg. I worked really hard and was feeling super proud of myself, but by the time I got into bed my right leg was burning in pain and I couldn’t sleep because of it. I ended up having to take a muscle relaxant and put some cooling gel on my leg just to be able to get some sleep. I have also been struggling with neck and shoulder pain which has been giving me tension headaches. This was a wake up call for that as much as I am pushing my body I need to be resting and taking care of it, so I booked myself an appointment with the chiropractor and a massage.
The appointment with Sheena (my chiropractor) was very much needed and helped a lot! Sheena has also very generously offed to sponsor my treatments leading up to Worlds! I feel like this is going to be a huge help as I find getting treatments more regularly really helps stop issues from building up and causing really bad pain and symptoms like I’ve been having the past week.
Despite my body feeling a bit achy, training this week has gone really well! I had a session with Claudia to rework and add in some more artistic elements now that my pole choreography has change and I also had a session with Julie. We made a couple of final changes and have decided to edit my music to give me slightly more time to add in an extra bonus element. I am so happy with my routine and have a renewed excitement to work on it after some of the changes from this week.
This weekend we also had our Fundraising Showcase event and I went so well! I am so happy with how the whole event turned out and hope that everyone who came enjoyed it. Claudia and I managed to raise quite a bit of money for getting to Worlds and now I am officially over 50% of the way to my fundraising goal!!
Week 3
I am really looking forward to training this week! My performance at the Showcase went really well and I’m feeling really confident in my routine, but I can see the areas that still need some improvement and that is going to be my focus for the next few weeks.
My high hopes for the week were dashed in my training session on Monday afternoon. I hadn’t had a great day already and had forgotten that I had oil on me from a sports massage I had in the morning, so when I got to the studio to train I was tired and kept slipping on the pole. But bad days are a part of life one bad training session is not going to ruin my progress. And despite the struggle there were some positives! I was dancing to my new music edit and the timing seems to be working out a lot better which is great.
By the middle of the week training was going much better! I had a really great session on Wednesday. And then an okay session on Friday. The important thing is that I keep going and don’t let the bad days effect me too much.
And even when pole training isn't going too well, I've been making great progress in the gym and with my flexibility. On of my main focuses this month has been my stamina and I've been running on the treadmill on my non-pole days to try and help with that. I have improved so much and have actually really been enjoying the running and sprinting, which I didn't think I would. I am loving the challenge of trying to increase my speed and go for longer periods of time with shorter rest every time I train. My flexibility has also improved a lot and I feel as if I've made a breakthrough with it this month. I'm really happy with where my splits is and my right leg seems to slowly be catching up to my left.
Week 4
Spring has come early and with it my allergies. I’ve had a bit of a rough time with hay fever this week, and I need to make sure that I am staying healthy and not getting sick, as I can’t afford the time off this close to the competition.
I had an amazing practice on the 3.5 meter poles on Wednesday. The next four weeks my main focus is going to be getting enough time on the taller poles as it make a huge difference to a couple of my moves and combos having the extra height.
Pole Unity was on the 31st of August. I performed my Worlds routine, and although the performance itself went okay with only a few minor mistakes my mindset was not great. I put too much pressure on myself to have a perfect performance and go too in my head about doing each move correctly that I didn't actually perform my routine or engage with the audience. I also didn't enjoy the performance, which is completely unlike me. But even though I wasn't happy with my performance, I'm really glad it happened as I have definitely learnt some valuable lessons and will try and put them into practice when I'm in Canada.
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