BBC Sport: Olympics blog

It's so hard to describe how it feels as we make the final preparations for Sunday's final.

We have spent the week working on all the aspects of rowing and our racing that we think could possibly give us more boat speed.

We were pleased with our heat, and it was a good win for us, but we know that the final will be on an entirely different level.

There is no way of knowing how the race will develop and unfold, so all we can do is prepare ourselves the best we can and take everything we have, all our strengths - old and new - and all our passion to the start line.

This is my second Olympic final, but I'm not sure that makes it any easier.

I know what is coming up, I know that I am going to feel ill to the pits of my stomach, that my mind will be playing games with me, the voices shouting from temple to temple louder than my head can possibly contain.

Often I feel that getting myself to the start line in the right state of mind is the hardest part of it all.

But between now and when nerves really start to kick in, all I can do is prepare my response to the questions I am going to be asking myself, and go over and over again in my head just how I am going to row, how I am going to make the first two strokes of the race.

There is a very fine line between doing all the preparation that I need to do, and doing too much.

We will have to be relaxed and focused when we race, not anxious or tense.

Once you get to the Olympics, everyone is physically and technically exceptional - no one gets a head start.

There is no advantage given for past form, it is all about the moment. I'm just doing my very best to make our moment the best it can possibly be.