Hi, I'm Josh Cheetham, GB Short Track Speed Skater. I train full time with the rest of the British team at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham.

I hope you enjoy my blog, I’m writing it right before travelling out to the first of four Olympic qualifying competitions this year, starting in Hungary. I'm hoping to qualify for my first ever Olympic Games which will take place in February 2018 in South Korea. If you haven't watched Short Track before it’s an exciting and fast sport, we race individually and in a relay, which can look really hectic at times with lots of teams on the ice together.

Here’s a glimpse into what my training day in Nottingham looks like:

I wake up at 6:30am, giving me an hour to get ready. Breakfast consists of a bowl of Weetabix and a nice cup of coffee to start the day.

At 7:30am I head off to training on my motorbike, avoiding the rush hour traffic, and then I’m into the briefing session with the coaches and rest of the team by 8:05am where we find out what the exact plan is for the on-ice session that morning. 

Straight after the briefing we have our off-ice warm-up, that’s 10 minutes jogging, 5 minutes on the BackBaller (foam rolling), 15 minutes static and functional stretching, 15 minutes skate specific work such as cord, single leg dips and cushioning.

We then change into our skinsuits and get our boots, helmets and gloves ready for training. The blades we have are longer, thinner and sharper than normal ice skates to make us go even faster and round the corners smoothly. 

At 9:00am we get the pads on the ice - these are basically like crash mats around the edge of the rink, and as Short Track skaters can get up to speeds of 35mph, crashes can (and do!) happen. Once we’re on the ice, we get through a lot of laps at different speeds, practice starts as well as relay changes - a relay change in Short Track is basically pushing your teammate!

We finish on the ice at 11:00am, get the pads off and get ready for a debrief with the coaches. It’s an ideal time for a Banana getbzzing bar to refuel after the session alongside a pint of milk to boost my protein intake.

Lunch time is 12.30pm, that’s normally a healthy sandwich with fruit and a yogurt. We tend to get a couple of hours to rest and recover, or we might have meetings, I try and get a little bit of sleep when possible as it helps maximise recovery. We’ve got a quiet area with beds at the GB Short Track office, just up the road from the Ice Centre.

Then it’s back to training at 3.30pm. If we aren’t back on the ice then we’re usually in the EIS gym at Holme Pierrepont. Our gym sessions tend to be quite hard as  developing power is extremely important for our speed on the ice. Once we wrap up I can enjoy my Mint Choc High Protein getbuzzing bar.

After that it’s back home for a nice cup of tea and dinner. One of my favourite meals is Spaghetti Bolognese that's been in the slow cooker all day.

In the evenings, I tend to watch a film or chill out with friends. There will be a lot of travelling coming up in Europe and Asia so it’s good to have some quiet time at home before the competition season starts.

Find out more about Josh at: http://www.gbshorttrack.org/index.php?p=1_20_Josh-Cheetham

Follow Josh on instagram @joshc2692

Find out more about GB Short Track Speed Skating at www.GBShortTrack.org.uk

Images courtesy of GB Short Track