Welcome to the Olympic Games. I thought I’d pen a brief jolly this evening as I now have two full training days before our semi-final. This will be the last time I put a blog up until the regatta is complete.

What inspired me to write was a question from BBC presenter John Inverdale in our post-race interview this afternoon. He asked me about social media (Twitter) and whether or not we should be using it at the moment. If you’re reading this then I’m sure it hasn’t escaped you that I pressed “pause” on my Twitter account (@PeteReedRowing) about three weeks ago having been very active until then. I decided not to tweet, but much more importantly, not even to log in to read tweets. Everything that came in was brilliant support but from time to time, you’d encounter someone’s two-pennies-worth about what we should do and what’s going on. Everyone is trying to help, but here’s the honest truth; there are only five people that really know which direction the M4- project is going and their opinions are the only ones I care about: TJ, AG, ATH, mine and JG.

As we move forward, it’s clear that Twitter is not the only unnecessary lead weight, but press, BBC coverage and even emails & texts play can play their part. It’s not out of control by any stretch, but as our moment approaches, I need to be making the rules about who I want to hear from and what I want coming in. Friends and family, some very close, some very distant, can easily be forgiven for sending something at the wrong time. By and large, they haven’t been to the Olympics and mostly aren’t sportsmen. How can I expect them know what to say, text, tweet, write or shout… even less, when to fire something over to me. I can’t possibly and don’t blame them if it isn’t perfectly worded or timed. So here’s the thing, ranging from a stranger I haven’t seen for 15 years to my girlfriend, I need to be in control of what I want coming in.

This is in no way a grumble or rant. I have consciously decided to keep a certain degree of two way traffic up until now and am hugely grateful for my messages. They are wonderful, funny, uplifting and it’s surprising who I hear from. Thank you all. Twitter took the first hit as it’s public and there are many fans out there who I don’t know personally. This will be my last blog for a while and as we go on, papers, emails and BBC coverage (regrettably, as it is amazing) will get the boot. Finally, in a day or two, the phone will go off.

Don’t be offended champs. Twitter will resume on completion, photos will come flooding in, two-way traffic will recommence and the doors will be open. However for now, all I need in my relaxed life are Tom, Alex, Hodgey & Jürgen.

We have greatest home crowd on Earth at Dorney lake. Please don’t stop dressing up and shouting. You guys have been electric. We see you in our peripheral vision, we feel your chants as much as we hear them, we see only red, white and blue and it makes a difference… just don’t be offended if we have blinkers on and don’t stop for a photo before racing.

Thank you for the support. The rest of this regatta is our challenge now and I wouldn’t have it any other way.