Dan Greaves: Back from South Africa and Ready to Roll

This time last year, I was very excited to see what 2011 had to offer, and now I am even more excited at the prospect of 2012.

I have already started 2012 with a bang. I've just finished topping up Vitamin D in sunny South Africa on a warm weather training camp in Stellenbosch. I am very lucky indeed, this is their summer and temperatures were at melting point, 40 degrees on some days and not a raindrop in sight made it possible to throw every day with backdrop of clear blue skies.

Heaven!

That was my second trip to South Africa, and it was amazing to go back to such a beautiful little town. It reminds me a lot of Loughborough, were I train full time, in the sense that it has a great sporting university that has made a name for the town and has some 260 international athletes visit every January to kick the year off with training in the sun.

I didn’t like the idea of another 12-hour trip, as I’m not small and the aeroplane seats are not the best for us discus throwers to fall asleep in, but fortunately someone must have slept in that day as I had two spare seats next to me which made the journey a lot easier.

Training is going very well at the moment, and despite the slight sunburn, I have been working really hard on converting drills in to my throwing. I think 2012 is now well and truly in the forefront of everyone’s mind, and for me this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to showcase my sport in Britain like it’s never been seen before!

South Africa is a distant memory, as I continue to churn out sessions in both the weight room and out in the field. Soon the season will be upon us, which is both exciting and a little scary to know that there is less than six months to go before the biggest sport event hits our shores.

For me, 2012 is a chance to push the boundaries of Paralympic Sport and take it to the next level.

I can’t wait to see what this year brings!