WELL, I’m here now and suddenly it has all got real. We flew up from Manchester on Monday and it was a very exciting but tiring day.
It took about 30 minutes to fly up – probably as long as it took me to actually get to the airport – and we all met up in Glasgow.
We had to have out bags screened, had a bit of a tour of the village and got our accreditation, the ‘magic’ passes that get us everywhere.
The village is absolutely fantastic. There are mini food stations all over the place and then there is the giant food hall which is incredible.
There is everything you want and everything is free. It’s a bit like being on a very sporty all-inclusive!
It’s funny seeing all these athletes wandering around. You can work out which sports they are involved in just by their size and shape.
The accommodation is great. We are living on what I suppose is a little estate and the squash girls are in with some of the table tennis and badminton players – not that I have seen any of them yet as we all have different routines.
Security, as you would expect, is very tight. I’m sharing a room with Jenny Duncalf – who is my doubles partner – and we were kept awake all night by helicopters flying overhead so I think I will be investing in a few pairs of ear plugs to last me the next few weeks.
Not all the athletes are here yet.
Team England has the biggest squad and I have had a chat with a few of the women cyclists and Bradley Wiggins has been seen riding around.
I’ve seen Sally Pearson, the 100m hurdles Olympic champion from Australia but there is no sign of Usain Bolt yet!
For me now, it is down to business.
I’ve tried to get in to my routine as soon as possible and have been training for the last few days ahead of my opening round match tomorrow.
I’ve been to the squash venue which is great and had a hit on the on the all glass show court to get a feel of it I’m up against a young player called Lynette Vai from Papua New Guinea and, to be honest, I don’t really know anything about her.
But that is the beauty of the Commonwealth Games.
You get players from the likes of Mauritius, Jamaica and Papua New Guinea – countries who don’t normally compete on the squash circuit.
I am going in to the unknown a bit but it is exciting and something I will be looking forward to. But I’ll prepare as professionally as I do for any match, whether it is against one of the best players in the world or someone I have never played before.
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