So I want to say a few things after the NZ Schools' meeting in the weekend. Firstly, well done to those of you who were there. I think you competed well and most of you were able to achieve personal bests. Some of you achieved medals, some did not. If you did, well done, if you didn't I hope you have come away motivated to work hard for the second half of the season to see what you can achieve.

You can see that NZ Schools is a pressure cooker environment where you have to bring your A game, as if you don't you get left behind. The hard work from the weeks and months prior certainly helps you bring your A game when you need to so I hope this is a clear message for your future training and competition.

I also hope you came away from the weekend realising that you need to work hard to achieve at this level. You need to try and get as much out of each training session and not just go through the motions. Those athletes who turn up to training disorganised and don't do their rehab and don't eat and sleep well will never achieve their potential. They may be successful and beat others but that is not what this journey is about. We are all just trying to be as good as we can be but to do this we need to do all that we can to help our chances. This means no shortcuts and no half efforts at training. We do have fun and we laugh at GFS but we are not an amateur group, we are trying to do this as well as we can, and we the best we can, and that only comes from hard work and a consistently committed approach.

OK, enough serious words. The next few weeks are likely back into some hard work for the comps ahead in Feb and March so I hope you are keen to get into that! I also hope you enjoy the next few weeks with your families and eat some delish food (although not too much!) and get some time out to spend with your friends.

Be F ans S, always...