The Olympic Venue

Weekend "off" went by fast. Saturday morning/afternoon practice, followed by a regeneration session at the local pool. I'm not a swimmer but the idea of refreshing my muscles with a stretching session in the pool hooked me to go. Well worth smelling like chlorine the rest of the day.

Sunday morning we lifted for 1 1/2 hours, a good session complete with cardio and lifting circuits. By lifting early, it gave us enough time to travel to the center of London to catch our GB men play and also see World #1 and #3, Brazil and USA, battle it out on the Olympic match court for London 2012. The game went to 5 sets, the 5th being close the whole time. Brazil took it in the end, 18-16 (I think). Amazing to watch these two teams play. They are so precise and "text book" in their skills they make volleyball look simple. It's so much better watching these teams play live than on TV. Mainly because the British fans are great at doing the Mexican wave ; ) (If you've ever watched Wimbledon, you know how rowdy the English crowds can get. This is the same at volleyball games in the UK.)

On Monday the 18th and Tuesday the 19th, we, Great Britain Womens Volleyball Team, took to Earls Court to take on Japan and the Netherlands, #3 and #10 in the World. More to follow in my next blog about these incredibly exciting days. The 4 matches we played were the test event for London 2012 in Womens Volleyball.

Saint Mary's College is AMAZING!

Here is an article written by a friend and another journalist at St.Mary's. Thank you!

http://www.smcgaels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=21400&ATCLID=205182992

Why title a blog "The only way is Essex"?

If you ever get bored of American reality TV shows, there are plenty in England to catch up on. Although Hollywood is not here to provide a basis for "The Hills" or New Jersey for "The Jersey Shore", there are places like that in the country. Newcastle in the North of England provides the backdrop for the new reality TV show "Geordie Shore". Subtitles are used regularly because of their accents and their motto is similar to the cast of "Jersey Shore"...Gym, Tan, Laundry.

There is a reality show called "The Only Way is Essex" and it is and truly will always be, the only way. Essex stereotype is girls wearing short mini skirts and high white stilettos, men wearing jeans with a polo shirt tucked in and hair swept to one side. You walk down the main street during the day and people are dressed like they are ready for the night scene (clubbing, dancing, maybe a few drinks). It's a British Award winning reality TV show for a reason. Never watched it? Catch up on youtube or find something more productive to do.

The only way is Essex

Day 2 in Essex done. A morning session of defense and an afternoon session of blocking. An intense day of competing. I love blocking but in order to get there this afternoon, we had to first focus on digging. Oh my! Defense is great an all, digging balls up high for the setter to run the offense, but it tends not to be a middles forte. It's all about the fire and desire to want to get every ball up. So although I may not be technically sound, if I throw my body around enough like our Libero, I'm sure to get something up! Easy enough. ; )

Blocking a ball has to be one of the best feelings in the world. I love just roofing another player, feeling the ball contact my hand at just the perfect place for it to go straight down! Nothing like it. A reaction after a block is clearly natural. Everyone celebrates blocks in different ways...someone might run around in a circle after a block, others throw there hands in the air, etc but no matter what the celebration is, everyone is smiling and celebrating with you. Although I love the feeling of the ball hitting my hand, if my teammate I'm blocking with or just a teammate blocking in general, gets a block, it's so exciting I feel like I celebrate more for them then when I do. Needless to say, I think it's the best part of volleyball.

Many players were challenging each other more at training today. Even if they don't notice they are, I felt like the environment was more competative than previous training sessions. We had trash talking, hitters testing the block wiping off hands, hitting seems, hitting high, etc. All in good nature the trash talking, we are ladies, and it made teammates wanting to block the ball even more. An example? One pair was challenging each other on whoever scored the least amount of points had to wash the dishes after dinner. Others, giving them the stare down through the net. Amazing how much more competition we can bring to drills.

The only way is Essex

7 days left with my GB teammates. We wait all year to be back with each other again, and the time just flies by. Mind you, some times have gone by slowly, but as a whole, we've traveled so many places in a short amount of time that you forget what day it is, the date, sometimes even the month. I found it hard at most places without internet to blog. Just an excuse, I know, but I'm not geeky enough to figure out how to post a blog online without Internet. ; ) With all of our traveling around the South American and also just in the cities we stay, I found little time to write my blogs. If I did, I honestly was too tired to concentrate at 11pm (when we were free) to sit and think.

Currently in Essex, enjoying the dorm life again. This time, the beds are much more comfortable and the room set up is handy. How? Well, the toilet is literally in between (on top of ) the sink and the shower . I'm sure I could come up with a good time saving strategy.

These next 7 days are important to the development of the team. Although we don't have any big matches to look forward to, we have found motivation within ourselves and each other to continue to work hard and towards goals. It should be an intense training period before we head out to our clubs for the next 8 months.