I am back training in San Diego and got to train for four hours today. Feels so good to be back putting in the hours again. Now I have declared for Rio I have five more years to train so rather than overtrain to make London and risk injury I have adjusted my schedule.

After competing at the SingTel Invitational in Singapore last weekend which was at the same time as the Visa Championshps (US National Titles since I did not qualify for them) I was able to get a reality check. I came Bronze on beam, Bronze on bars, 6th on Floor and Silver on Vault. Overall I came fourth in All Around. Just not at the level I need to be and this proved it to me. New focus. New goals.

I am still working hard on opening up my back up. Two weeks ago there was a significant change in my back structure. As a result doing 8-10 Back Walkovers in a row is normal now. I can clearly see it will not be long before I do 20 Back Walkovers in a row and then timed 20 Back Walkovers and then start doing series with my other leg. In fact I am going to focus on working on my off leg tomorrow.

I am working hard on backbends onto the beam and when I bend back and grab that beam and then arch into maximum back stretch it is an amazing feeling. Feeling the entire body at full stretch. You can feel it from the very lower as/hips right through the core, ribs and shoulders, almost like a elastic band at full stretch.

I feel like I am getting closer and closer to be able to kickover from that position and I think it is likely to happen in the next week if I stretch it every day. There is a risk of twisting if I do it incorrectly which is what happened when I used to do it on the floor so I am hesitant. I will probably push the stretch to the point that when I do finally do it, it will be easy, maybe not effortless but easy.

I am doing Level 3 Upslinkies which is great and will probably do 5/5 in the morning when I train. This is all assisting in opening up the back. I can definitely see the day when I will be able to grab my own ankles. My good friend Marina Pearson took 7 years for her to be able to do it. It will be a huge accomplishment for me when I can do it.

I am also working a lot on a variety of handstands, my jumps and my cartwheels. So many techniques are getting cleaner and while I was not getting personal bests I am moving back into the breakthrough zone so it will not be long before I am getting breakthroughs on everything I am doing.

I get to train with coach in five days which I am so looking forward to and also get a lot more training with him in September and October so I am going to make the most of it and make some serious progress. I should be able to complete Level 5 during this Sep/Oct and move fully into prep optionals.

Loving life, loving my champion Kenny. Go Heroes!!!