Hi, I'm Jo, a sabreuse (female sabre fencer) and ranked number two in Britain.

Over the coming months you can follow me on 606 as I try to qualify for the Beijing Olympics later this year.

I've had a tough few weeks since I last wrote about my exploits at the London sabre competition.

I'll let you know a little about how I got on and my 22nd birthday celebrations, further down, but I want to start this piece talking about how I prepare mentally and physically for a tournament.

The season normally runs from January to June with the Europeans in July and the Worlds in September/October, and of course we have the Olympics this year.

Once the worlds have finished, we have two weeks off or so to rest, then the hard work begins with weight and cardio-vascular training as we build to January - it's pretty full on.

Ultimately, the aim is to get fitness levels so high that you only have to do little bits to keep you going through the season.

And when the season starts, it depends how many competitions I'm involved in as to how much training I'll be doing.

Recently I've been competing every weekend, so other than sparring every day and maybe a few weights, I won't do much else as I want to minimise the risk of injuring myself.

On the way to a tournament, I'll get myself lost in a book to help pass the time and then to help before a competition I'll listen to a bit of music.

I'm not a huge music fan, I just like something lively and it tends to be whatever I've downloaded off my brother's computer, legally of course!

When I first started it was difficult to get in the zone, but the more I compete, the easier it is becoming - I'll take myself off into a corner to focus on my next opponent.

In the preliminary rounds, it's first to five hits, so you have to come out ready for action so a sharp sparring lesson with my coach Ian Williams or team-mates is essential.

He tries to be by my piste when I'm fighting to offer bits of advice, but most of the time I know what I should do as I've done my homework.

The coach has loads of video footage on most of the other fencers, so when we know who we are fighting, he can call up some action of them and we can develop a gameplan.

All this has been working well recently and I've done well at the four events I've competed in since I last wrote.

In Orleans, France, I celebrated my 22nd birthday with my best competition of the year. I beat Leonnore Perrus of France in the last 64 which was a great achievement as she is an idol of mine.



I really admire her style and I've watched her a lot which helped when I fenced her - it was a shock win for me 15-8.

My birthday was on the first day of the competition, on the Friday, so we waited until the Saturday to go out for a meal and my team-mates had sorted me out a birthday cake at the restaurant which was lovely of them.

In Budapest two weeks later, I had a good prelim section winning five out of six, but I lost in the round of 64 to an unpredictable American fencer called Caroline Vloka - she has an awkward style and it was frustrating, rather than upsetting to lose.

A week later I was in Madrid and again I won five out of six prelims and drew a French girl called Anne-laure Berthier who I've never had any problems with before, but I lost 15-14.

It was a nervy match and I still relive the last hit of the match when I'm lying in bed at night, thinking what I should have done instead!

She's chasing me down the piste, right to the end and then I unfortunately hit her in the leg (off target) whilst counter attacking - very annoying as I had the timing perfect!

It was then on to Italy for a nervy weekend as the final Olympic qualifying gets nearer.


I lost my first two prelim fights and last year I would have lost it, but I'm stronger now and I came back to win three.

I then had to fence against Hungary's Edina Csaba, who used to be in the world's top 10 but is on her way back from a knee injury.

She wasn't moving much, but I still had to be cautious - I came through 15-9, but was whooped in the last 64 by Russia's Sophia Velikaia.

She hit me from every angle she could and I have the lashes to prove it - in fact she got a warning from the official for hitting me too hard!

This weekend, there is a World Cup in Algeria and the last chance of qualifying for the Beijing Olympics directly before the cut off in April.

Unfortunately this is not a position I am lucky enough to be in due to my current World Ranking which is 58 - I would probably need to be around 50th or higher to be have any mathematical chance or qualifying directly from a good result in Algeria.

I'll talk more about the Beijing qualifying next time as it's quite complicated.

I'm not competing this weekend, unlike my team mate Louise Bond-Williams, but I'm currently in pole position to be going to the Olympic Zonal Qualifiers at the end of April in Istanbul, which was my aim at the start of the season.

It's been close between me and Louise all season and I am slightly ahead - we've been finishing at the same level in recent competitions which is helping me keep my advantage.

It's been good for both of us though as she is pushing me to fight harder and I am sure I am pushing her as well.

I'll let you know how it all goes about the qualifying and how I manage a work-life-training balance next time.

In the meantime, keep your thoughts and questions coming.

Jo.

Jo Hutchison was speaking to BBC Sport's Peter Scrivener.