As an athlete your life revolves around specific dates and performing on given days at given times.

The next step for me on the road to Tokyo 2020, is performing on the 15th July in Lucerne to earn the right to represent New Zealand in the single scull in Bulgaria in September.

As far as moments go, this is by no means the biggest or most important date I have faced throughout the past 18 years of representing my country. The four Olympic finals are by far the most significant, the trial v Rob Waddell (which turned out to be 3 dates) was more important, as an Olympic spot was at stake. I am sure there will be more significant, bigger occasions to come in the next two years as we approach Tokyo. But right now, while those future dates are at the back of my mind, at the forefront is doing all I can to be as fast as possible for about 7 minutes on the 15thJuly starting at 11:48am.

After taking a prolonged break after Rio (10.5months) I slowly built back into training on the 1stJuly last year. When I came back I was in the worst shape since my rowing journey began. Not only was I weighing in just over 120kg (the heaviest I had ever been) but I had also focused my efforts fully on being a full time Dad, meaning I was averaging under 3 hours a week of exercise. Initially progress was very slow and the task was looking near impossible. By October the weeks started to resemble something close to full time training and finally there were the first signs of actual progress.

A trip to Europe in early November including some tough weeks in the Alps and Pyrenees on the bike, kick started the weight loss and gave me some glimpses of form of old. I also did some racing while in Europe on the European long distance circuit in the boat which would start a battle with a word that has dominated my come back to date, frustration.

Why has it been so frustrating? Apart from the obvious and being in such bad shape, by November I was starting to be capable of producing some of the numbers I was used to seeing in training. This was very encouraging, but every time I raced I was completely out of my depth and couldn’t replicate what I was doing in training or produce anything that even closely resembled my speed of old, meaning I generally came in trailing the field by 15-20 odd seconds.

This year I have been back with Calvin Ferguson who coached me in 2007 and 2008. Dick Tonks who coached me 2005, 2006 and 2009-2016 has now moved onto Canada, as men’s head coach. I have enjoyed working with Ferg and we are very much still building our relationship, which takes time as we understand what’s needed and when from each other. At times I have certainly missed having Dick to bounce ideas off as he always seemed to have the answers immediately but I am sure that will develop with Ferg over the next few years.

As the summer progressed I was seeing more and more glimpses of my old form. Nationals went well with a bronze in the pair (just pipped for silver) and a silver in the coxless four. I had high hopes of a credible performance in the single after winning my heat and finally starting to feel more comfortable at race rate. Unfortunately I had a terrible race in the final followed by a week out of the boat with a neck injury which was very frustrating.

The selectors signaled in December and confirmed in January that Robbie and I would both be selected for the World Cup regatta’s and the winner there would be selected for the World champs. After the shambles that was the 2008 trial communication and selection process, it's great to see they have learned and evolved. I think this time they have provided a very transparent and fair process which both of us are aware of, with plenty of time to prepare and an understanding of what’s required which is all you can ask as an athlete.

After Nationals we have had two blocks of very solid training and finally the patience which I have to learn about is finally paying off and the frustration is slowly subsiding. My weight is getting pretty close to race weight down 15kg from my peak. I am by no means where I feel I need to be or want to be 70 days out from D day but I have managed to halve the margins of summer in the past 9 weeks and while I still am struggling with consistency I am seeing more and more glimpses of what I want to see and starting to isolate the changes needed to close the gap further.

This past weekend we had a winter series regatta where we all race each other within the squad under a handicap system where the slower crews get a head start on the faster ones. I had two really positive races and one shocker between the 2 good ones. The great thing about these races is I now have definitive margins of where I need to be. In my two good races I am about 14 seconds from being World dominant and 8 seconds behind Robbie, we won't talk about the shocker and put that down to experience!

I never thought I would be happy being beaten by another single sculler, especially when the margin is as large as 8 seconds, but I am happy with my progress and 8 seconds sure beats 15-20 seconds which was the case two months ago.

Overall I still very much have a mountain to climb and 70 days is not a long time to do it. I feel I have finally made it to base camp after a number of detours to get there. But base camp is at least part way there and ultimately my main goal is still over 2 years (810 days) away.

I need to make the most of every one of the next 70 days as it will decide if I am in full control of my destiny and will determine if I represent New Zealand in the single at the World Championships this year.

This weekend might have been a very small step but what it has given me is belief, I am making progress and I want more. It's now time time to put the head down and bum up and work hard toward the next racing at the beginning of June to close that gap a little more.

What ever happens the most important moment of my comeback so far will happen on the 15thJuly at 11:48am and by 11:55am we should all know if I have achieved the first step or not. That is the purity and what I love most about sport, being part of those big moments. All I can ask is I give my absolute best on that day. Hopefully the patience will have paid off and frustration is a word I never need to use again.