Apologies if you haven’t heard much from me in the last few days. I’ve been travelling about for various family and work commitments, and then of course to a pole competition.

I wanted to write a diary entry for each day leading up to the competition. I always go through certain thoughts and emotions in the run up to a competition or performance, and wanted to take you with me on my journey – both the highs and the lows.

Each diary entry is written at certain points on that day and yes, my emotions were all over the place! I’ve been working up to this competition for over a year, so rehearsals have been going on for a while. Here goes…

Wish me luck!

Tuesday – 5 Days To Go

6.05pm: I don’t want to do it. I’ve been training for so long for this competition but nothing seems to be going right. My hands are so slidey (which they never are) and I can only seem to get half my moves right – even though usually they are fine. Nothing is coming together.

I’m working on two X-Stage Lites, so it’s really hard to actually come up with floor work that transfers well to floor to ceiling poles , especially when you have to be careful while stepping on and off of the stages.

At this point it’s not looking good and I’m wondering if I can do it, and if it’s worth it.

Wednesday – 4 Days To Go

5.30pm: I feel like I’ve had a massive breakthrough! I spent the first part of today’s session working on floor work at home… It’s finally getting somewhere. I feel like I’ve got a bit more of a performance rather than just going from one move to another…

I’ve gone over most of the moves, although ran out of time before I finished it all.

I’m certainly happier than I was and don’t think I’ll make such a fool of myself…

Thursday – 3 Days To Go

2pm: Well, I did the whole routine twice through and it went okay… I managed to get all the way through it and still remained strong to the end. Which makes a happy change from last year!

There was one move in particular that went wrong a few times so I went over and over it. I also filmed it, and one version was a lot better than the other.

I found that I was a bit slippery so it was 50/50 as to whether I could get through it. The first bit has the potential to be super slippery but the second bit is okay. I know that the performance poles are usually super grippy – so hopefully that will be my saving grace.

I know what other areas I want to work on, but I’ll save that for tomorrow.

In all honesty I didn’t do as much as I should have, but I did as much as my body could handle. I’m so battered and bruised from training recently that I’m in a lot of constant pain. At least I know I will be able to power through it on the day.

Friday – Two Days To Go

3pm: The bruises have gone down a little and so it wasn’t quite as painful as yesterday, although I’m sure I’m adding to it for tomorrow!

I finally became happy with the routine – and lucky I did as there’s not much I can do about it now! I did it 4 times in a row and then worked on individual bits.

I’ve filmed it as well so even if it doesn’t go to plan on Sunday, I’ll have a good copy of it 🙂

It’s hard to be objective about your own work. I’ve been working on these moves for such a long time that nothing about them surprises me – I can’t tell if the audience will think they’re strong or lacking… I’m hoping for strong 🙂

My transitions going from static pole to spinning pole also aren’t the strongest due to transitioning off of the stages – I have to look down to make sure I don’t fall. I’m hoping this will be easier on the day.

I’ve now got to travel to London so this will be the last full dress rehearsal. I’m quite happy about that! I get to have a bit of a rest tomorrow before the comp on sun!

5pm: At the moment I’m sitting on a train in a heatwave – there’s no air con and it’s very uncomfortable but I’m glad for the rest!

Saturday – One Day To Go!

9pm: Today has been spent travelling. I’ve just been to a two year old’s birthday party which was great fun. The bad part has been the 6 hours spent on trains (I still have some of that journey to go), mostly without air con, in 30 degree heat.

I’ve also had 2 hours of waiting time in the station. Normally that’s not too bad – I can get on with work and reading. I have managed to get a lot done but every 5 minutes or so I remember the competition is tomorrow and get incredibly nervous.

1am: (Technically Sunday) I thought I would get a little bit of training time at the end of the day, but having gotten home at half past midnight, I just can’t handle it! A combination of not so healthy food due to travelling, and a bad nights sleep will not make me feel better tomorrow. So good night it is!

Sunday – Competition Day!

12.30pm: So here it is! Today started with a very early start, but only a 2 hour drive. The nerves are kicking in quite a lot but I’m trying to stay distracted.

I’ve just had a feel of the poles and they are really slippery – although they haven’t been cleaned yet, so I hope this will improve! The layout is slightly different to what I thought, so I have to change the spacing for some of my floor work.

I’ve now picked my number and I’m first in my category, which I love! The longer I have to wait, the more nervous I get, so at least it’ll be over and done in no time.

I’ve just gone to put my iPod on to listen to my song, and my iPod is about to run out of battery!! I fully charged it last night but must have left it on by accident. I’ve been so prepared by bringing the track on spare CDs over multiple tracks, it’s also on my laptop and email, and I didn’t really think the iPod would accidentally be on all night! Oh well. I’ve managed to listen to it and go over it… so here I go!!

The Results…

3.30pm: I just got off stage and am immensely happy! The routine went well 😀 I was a bit slippery for some of the floor work, but luckily I don’t think it showed. No matter what happens, I’m really proud of this one.

7pm: Standing on stage waiting for the results is even worse than the nerves of performing. I’m very happy to say that I came in second place! 😀

I really can’t believe that I got through. It hadn’t occurred to me that I might get through, meaning that I go through to the finals… and have to do it all again! Eek. I best get back on the pole.

I hope that following my ups and downs on this competition journey has helped you to realise that the doubts and worries are all part of the experience, and no matter how you are judged, you should be proud of the performance that you did 😀