My Olympic and Paralympic Dream - by Sarah Storey

December 16 2009

As athletes we are all always assessing and evaluating our progress in both training and competition to ensure that we move forward in the most productive and successful way. The process of doing this is immensely satisfying, whether to try a different approach when things aren’t going quite so well, or to be in the privileged position of being ahead of schedule. Regardless of the situation, the process also allows you to be brutally honest with yourself and even when things are going badly it gives you the chance to think of alternative ways of getting the result that you are after.

In swimming and cycling I have had my fair share of ups and downs, both with illness or injury and also when the coach at the club in my university town refused to coach me because I was a disabled athlete. On each of these occasions I have always taken a step back and looked at my options, then worked out a route back in to what it was that I needed to do. With each of the challenges there have been people, whether it be medics or the local council of the pool where I wanted to train, who have stepped in and helped out to ensure that I could get to where I needed to be.

It seems obvious that you would reassess and look at your options when things are not quite going to plan, but what about when things are going so well that you find yourself ahead of schedule. I think in that situation it is equally important to go through a re-evaluation and look at ways of ensuring that complacency never creeps in.

For me, after the results on the road and track in the competitions of 2009, I found that I was looking at myself in a light that I hadn’t expected so soon. I’d been striving all year to lay the foundations to become a better rider on the road and had also been hoping that I would be able to transfer that form, in some way, onto the track. There was an element of experimentation as the racing load was both increased and made more difficult and there was a sense that it was either going to be a case of, I’d over faced myself and fail or I would lap up the challenge and move forward quickly.

Thankfully the latter was the case and I was able to translate the additional workload and racing, into results. Weekend after weekend throughout the summer I was able to churn out fast time on the time trial events and also place well in road events. The road season culminated in World titles on the road for Paracycling, Masters and also a National Series joint winning place for Time Trialling in the UK. The idea was the big bank of road work would then, hopefully, translate into a stronger rider on the track. I gambled in not touching the track for several months, determined to start following more of a pattern of the most highly successful able-bodied riders. The gamble was that with my relative lack of cycling experience in the 4 years I have been a bike rider, I may lose the feel for the track and give myself more work to do.

Again, the outcome was favourable and I was able to turn the strength from the road, into super strength and speed on the track and the end result was a time for the 3,000m that was way faster than anyone had expected of me.

So the results got me to thinking about what the limits were for me as a rider. Where did I aim for, what did I aim for and just how fast was it possible for me to go, how much more could I improve??

In the end I realised that the limit is really only your own mind. If you want something badly enough, you really can just go out there and get it, providing you put your mind to it and are willing to make some sacrifices along the way.

My 3,000m time of 3.34.266 has only been bettered by four or five able-bodied female riders this year, putting me right up in the top of the rankings regardless of disability or not. After Beijing I came home knowing I would have made 7th place at the Olympic Games and so for me, these consistently fast times compared to able-bodied girls just tells me I need to go out there and race them, not just compare times after the events are over.

So my wonderings and decision-making came to rest with a few major changes that I intend to make in order to become an even better rider.

Firstly I’m increasing my road programme again and it’s just been announced that I have signed for a British Ladies Racing Team that is based out in Belgium. Sponsored by Horizon Fitness and Kona Bikes, the team will look to develop a strong work and race ethic in it’s first year and develop riders that will be able to hold their own in any women’s races. This move is centred around my need to further develop technically in a big bunch of riders on the road and will also allow me to pitch myself against some of the best riders in Britain and Europe, whilst working alongside some of Great Britain’s rising stars. As a result I hope to be able to both take the extra fitness back into the track and also improve to a point where I could get myself selected for Great Britain on the road as well as the track.

Secondly I have expressed a desire to ride in the Women’s Team Pursuit squad, an event that has just recently been added to the Olympic Track programme for London 2012, and an event that is not one I have the option of doing in the Paralympics. I have always loved working in a team, while I was a swimmer, so now that I have the speed on the track to challenge the best in the world, once my technical skills for team pursuit have been assessed I feel sure that I will become another asset to the already strong women’s endurance squad. Making the team for Great Britain, is one of the hardest team’s in the world to gain selection to, so I know I will have to be on the very top of my game in order to be considered. Riding a home Games is going to be such a buzz but if I could get the opportunity to ride in both Games then I am going to grab the chance and put in my very best performances.

Thirdly, although the Individual Pursuit has been taken out of the Olympic Games, it is still a popular and well fought event on the World Cup series and also at the able-bodied World Championships. Now that I’ve clocked the 3.34.266 and could challenge for medals at these events, I will be looking to put myself in amongst some of the best riders in the World. As the current second fastest 3,000m rider in Great Britain, I hope to be in line for selection to World Championships in March 2010 and also the Commonwealth Games in October 2010. Whilst there is no Olympic future for the event, the event remains in the Paralympic programme and I hope that by pitching myself against the fastest riders in the world, not only would I have a chance at a medal, but I would be ensuring I continued to improve in the run up to the defence of my Paralympic title in the event in London 2012.

Fourth and finally, for now, I want to set myself the target of beating the able-bodied world record for the 3,000m. The current time set by New Zealand rider, Sarah Ulmer, in Athens 2004, has not been challenged since that day. Currently standing at 3.24.5 this time is still a considerable way off for me, however it is still inside the ten seconds mark, which is less than a second per lap!! It would be a huge achievement to get down to a time such, so I haven’t set any time limit for trying to meet the challenge. It will always be something I have to aim for and if I ever do make it then I will just have to work out if I can go any quicker!!!

The best thing about targets like that, are they are fun to have and give you goose-bumps thinking about the idea that maybe, just maybe, they are achievable. Regardless of what you are doing in life, I think it’s important to have targets that do seem to be a little bit out of reach, it makes the journey trying to get to them more interesting and there’s not a chance of getting bored if you are always striving for that level.

Now that I have had time to reassess the goals and targets for myself, it’s time to get back into the business of training again. The end of season break consisted of two weeks complete rest from the bike and then there has been a gradual build back into normal training. A training camp during this last week before Christmas marks the start of normal training and that in turn marks the build up to the competition season of 2010.

In the first instance all my training will be road based, gradually increasing the load from last winter and getting myself even fitter. At the end of January I will start some team pursuit training so that the able-bodied team coaches can assess my technical skills. March will see the start of competition, so there’s not too long.

The journey is going to be interesting, exciting and very challenging. I am really looking forward to trying to become the very best bike rider I can be. However, whilst a lot of the new targets are focused on getting better within the world of able-bodied racing, I have by no means forgotten why I am on the bike in the first place. All my plans and targets within the able-bodied world of racing, are to ensure I can be the best I can be for Paracycling events. I want to make sure that in every race I ride as a Paracyclist, the result at the end is of the very highest standard it can be, regardless of disability. I know there are other female paracyclists out there working on being the best they can be and I want to make sure I can compete at the highest level alongside them.