Will Clarke's Blog by Will_Clarke

Hello everyone. How are things back home? Actually I won't pretend that I don't know. The snow back home has even made it onto the news over here in Australia. So I've been keeping a close eye on the weather forecast and pictures that people have popped up on Facebook and Twitter, just to keep me motivated and realise how fortunate I am to be out here during that! I have to say it seems like a different world away for me at the moment. I've almost forgotten what the British winter is like. Most of my friends out here are all athletes, the better ones each year do a summer in Australia and then move over to Europe for our summer. Brad Kahlefeldt told me the other day he hasn't seen winter for 10 years! That's the life! Anyway enough on the weather…

I've had another good week, although it's been pretty chilled out because on Saturday I am heading down to Geelong near Melbourne for the Australian Sprint Championships. I wanted to get a decent race in because I've got some important races coming up that count towards our Olympic Qualification. There is a big difference between being fit and race fit. For any athlete the first race is usually pretty average as you turn up a bit rusty after a break. It usually takes 2/3 to really get going, so this race plays an important role in my form in April. We usually take about 30% off the usual training volume and bring in a bit more speed work.

I'm feeling in pretty good shape at the moment so I'm really excited to get out there and see if I can kick off probably one of the biggest seasons ever for me with a big result! It's 169 days to go until the Olympics now, and that's crept up fast hasn't it? Now it really is just around the corner. To be honest I'm really happy that I'm hiding away for this period on the other side of the world just knuckling down and getting on with the hard work.

Here in Australia it's just another Olympics, but back home it's just the biggest sporting spectacle ever. It's been made out to be the be all and end all for all athletes. Sure enough there are constant reminders about that, on the wrapper of your Cadburys chocolate bar, getting off the train in London St Pancras, newspapers, big countdown signs, shops opening up, building works, adverts, it goes on and on. Wherever you look, it's in your face. I'd love to be in the position now where I was already qualified, knew I was going, enjoying the build up and soaking it all up. But unfortunately I've still got another 4/5 months until I find out, just like most teams! It's an exciting journey ahead but also pretty stressful. I think it's good to get away from all the hype and just treat it like another year!