As a London 2012 employee and Great Britain Paralympic hopeful, it's safe to say I'm pretty immersed in the London 2012 lifestyle.
By day I work in the LOCOG Licensing and Retail team, licensing out the rights to use the London 2012 logos, mascots and other design assets on apparel and other merchandise. And at ungodly hours of the morning and evening, I train for wheelchair athletics – both track sprinting and marathons on the road.
As we get closer and closer to the Games, I'm literally living, eating and breathing London 2012. From the second my alarm goes off before 5am and I stumble into my racing chair to do a session on the rollers or get some conditioning sets in before work, to the minute I finish eating whatever high protein-low carbohydrate meal I've cooked after evening training, I have London 2012 on the brain.
I'll admit that sometimes the London 2012 overload does get a bit much, but in general having a constant reminder of one of my goals is great motivation to get out on the track and crack the ice with my wheels while my friends are in the pub, or to see the sun rise from the road halfway through a pre-work training session.
I recently raced for Great Britain at the IWAS U23 World Games in the Czech Republic, and won a silver medal in the 400m and bronze medals in the 200m, 800m and 1500m. I was pretty disappointed not to come away with a gold, but after only a year racing it was pretty cool to be part of such a successful GB team!
We flew back just in time for 2 years to go until the Paralympics, which was a great way for me to mark my last competition as a junior and put my focus fully on selection for the 2011 IPC World Athletics Championships and, of course, the 2012 Paralympic Games.
Two years might sound like a long time away, but in reality it's only about 1,200 training sessions, and my results from September this year can count towards Paralympic qualification. That's a scary thought, but I trust my amazing coach Ian Thompson to make sure I'm on track!Of course, London 2012 is meant to be a Games for everyone – not just the athletes or the people who work here. If you'd like the chance to live, eat and breathe London 2012, why not consider volunteering as a London 2012 Games Maker? You can find out more and sign up at www.london2012.com/volunteering
