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Athlete diary: Colman's been busy
Richard Colman today provides his second entry to the athlete diary.
Fresh from his victory at the Suncorp Bridge to Brisbane 10km wheelchair event in a time of 27:00:00 yesterday, Colman keeps you in the loop about his continuing competition schedule in the lead-up to the XIX Commonwealth Games.
ENJOY!
Entry 16: Richard Colman
So much has happened in the short period of
time since my last journal.
I spent 10 days training in sunny Townsville, where I completed
some the most encouraging training of the past two years but
personally I feel there is still plenty of work to be done. I am
now sitting in my hotel room preparing for this week’s Zurich
Diamond League meeting, where I will be racing my last 1500m* race
before the Commonwealth Games in India. The organising committee
here in Zurich have once again put together an elite field for the
wheelchair athletes who are all competing for the 1kg of gold on
offer for anyone who can break the world record.
Over the past week I have raced in an 800m
event in Lucerne where I finished second, followed by the Crystal
Palace Diamond League 1500m and finally a disability meet in
London. It’s been great experience racing the world’s best, gaining
plenty of experience of the different conditions, different pack
attitudes and unexpected happenings mid-race that make things just
that little bit more interesting.
As professional athletes we race so many times each year, and
against the same competitors that we all know each other very well
and each other’s abilities; at the moment Marcel
Hug of Switzerland is in fantastic form and is the
standout wheelchair athlete, and at times it feels like it is not a
matter of ‘if’ he is going to win ‘but by how much’ he wants to
win. I have come through the ranks of international wheelchair
racing alongside Marcel and it’s great to see him race so well; I
have done some training with him and I know how hard he works.
As the countdown to the start of the Commonwealth Games in India draws closer the pressure builds as the excitement of competing in my first Games grows. However, there is still a long way to go, with plenty of hard training sessions, and hopefully the end result will be worth it; bring on India.
'Till next time happy training and always remember never give up.
* Richard placed fourth (3:12.16) in Zurich.
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