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We were delighted to receive an update from grant recipient Jess Mayho, here she tells us what she’s been up to this summer…..
I thought I would send you an update from my July travels – Birmingham, Portugal, Ireland, Manchester and Southampton – it’s been a busy one!
The best result to date is most definitely SILVER at the British Athletic Championships with a season’s best throw of 62.51metres. Placing 2nd to Sophie Hitchon – Rio Olympics Bronze medallist, I couldn’t believe it , I was just on cloud 9 for a good week!! I had done a lot of physical preparation leading into the championships but also worked a lot on the psychological side too. In the past at the championships I have either been injured or let the occasion get to me, therefore this time I really wanted to attack the event both mentally and physically. Going in ranked 9th and finishing 2nd was a job well done, now onto the next…
A few days post British Champs I headed out to see my new coach Jorge in Portugal. It was really special taking my British Athletic Championships medal out to him as we had both worked real hard for this result. I was out in Portugal for 10 days, during this time I competed a couple of times with my best result being 61.70metres – I had a no throw of 64.84metres, it unfortunately landed just out of the sector. Leaving Portugal is always hard as I have such a great set up there but I knew I had completed a real good block of training to carry me into the remaining competitions in the season.
Next stop Ireland for the Cork City Games. I went into the competition ranked 4th behind 3 very talented 70metre plus hammer throwers. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side and the circle was an ice rink, meaning everyone underperformed – the 70metre throwers only threw 67metres for 1st place, 65m for 2nd and 62m for 3rd. I came away with a distance of 60.09 placing 4th, not the distance I wanted but I took it in my stride, enjoyed the occasion and returned back to England.
Last weekend was the English Championships which I was really looking forward to. I have never had such a good training week leading up to a competition before and knew I was in great physical and mental condition. In typical Manchester form, it was such bad weather! Wind and rain challenged every athlete out there but unfortunately I just didn’t put out my best performance and placed a disappointing 3rd.
Post England Championships I felt very deflated and disappointed in myself, as I just didn’t deliver when I needed to. However, this is sport and this negative mindset was not helping, therefore after doing some reflection I put it to bed and cracked on with the rest of the week building into this weekend. Southampton – 6 hours on the train later- I arrived to meet the rest of the team for the final match of the UK Women’s League Premiership Division match. I had a rocky competition – threw 65m throw but it landed just out of the sector- but finally managed a seasons best of 62.89m – 16cm off my personal best – on my final throw, which meant I won the competition. Definitely worth the mammoth train journey!
All in all I am healthy, improving with each competition, loving what I am doing and now ranked 3rd in the UK. I know I have a big throw in me, I’m in Scotland next week, followed by Manchester on the 14th and Bradford for my final competition on the 19th August, hopefully I can make it happen!
I have attached some pictures from my recent travels for you to check out and also below is the link to a radio interview I did:
I thought I would send you an update from my July travels – Birmingham, Portugal, Ireland, Manchester and Southampton – it’s been a busy one!
The best result to date is most definitely SILVER at the British Athletic Championships with a season’s best throw of 62.51metres. Placing 2nd to Sophie Hitchon – Rio Olympics Bronze medallist, I couldn’t believe it , I was just on cloud 9 for a good week!! I had done a lot of physical preparation leading into the championships but also worked a lot on the psychological side too. In the past at the championships I have either been injured or let the occasion get to me, therefore this time I really wanted to attack the event both mentally and physically. Going in ranked 9th and finishing 2nd was a job well done, now onto the next…
A few days post British Champs I headed out to see my new coach Jorge in Portugal. It was really special taking my British Athletic Championships medal out to him as we had both worked real hard for this result. I was out in Portugal for 10 days, during this time I competed a couple of times with my best result being 61.70metres – I had a no throw of 64.84metres, it unfortunately landed just out of the sector. Leaving Portugal is always hard as I have such a great set up there but I knew I had completed a real good block of training to carry me into the remaining competitions in the season.
Next stop Ireland for the Cork City Games. I went into the competition ranked 4th behind 3 very talented 70metre plus hammer throwers. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side and the circle was an ice rink, meaning everyone underperformed – the 70metre throwers only threw 67metres for 1st place, 65m for 2nd and 62m for 3rd. I came away with a distance of 60.09 placing 4th, not the distance I wanted but I took it in my stride, enjoyed the occasion and returned back to England.
Last weekend was the English Championships which I was really looking forward to. I have never had such a good training week leading up to a competition before and knew I was in great physical and mental condition. In typical Manchester form, it was such bad weather! Wind and rain challenged every athlete out there but unfortunately I just didn’t put out my best performance and placed a disappointing 3rd.
Post England Championships I felt very deflated and disappointed in myself, as I just didn’t deliver when I needed to. However, this is sport and this negative mindset was not helping, therefore after doing some reflection I put it to bed and cracked on with the rest of the week building into this weekend. Southampton – 6 hours on the train later- I arrived to meet the rest of the team for the final match of the UK Women’s League Premiership Division match. I had a rocky competition – threw 65m throw but it landed just out of the sector- but finally managed a seasons best of 62.89m – 16cm off my personal best – on my final throw, which meant I won the competition. Definitely worth the mammoth train journey!
All in all I am healthy, improving with each competition, loving what I am doing and now ranked 3rd in the UK. I know I have a big throw in me, I’m in Scotland next week, followed by Manchester on the 14th and Bradford for my final competition on the 19th August, hopefully I can make it happen!
I have attached some pictures from my recent travels for you to check out and also below is the link to a radio interview I did:
https://soundcloud.com/user-167911323/interview-with-local-athlete-jessica-mayho-on-drystone-radio