City Challenge success

After the disappointment in the UK Indoor Championships it was important to learn from my mistakes at that event, keep positive and confident and get a good performance in to boost moral before the end of the indoor season and the training block before the outdoor season. The City Challenge held in Cardiff, two weeks after the Championships, provided that opportunity, and I was pleased to put together my best performance of the indoor season and get the win. I sat in second behind the leader, not going wide as I had done in the UK Indoor Champs, and stayed patient, waiting till 300m to go to counter the move of Harry Harper and make my move in a more relaxed and gradual manner, thus meaning I was able to sustain the move to the end and not blow up. I didn't run quite as fast as at the Birmingham Indoor Games, one hundredth of a second slower in fact with 3.49.03, but felt great at the end and ran the right tactics to get the win which was the aim for the race. What was also very satisfying was my finish, which has been a weakness the last couple of seasons. A lot of work has been put into it over the winter and it was very pleasing to put together such a quick and relaxed final 200m, probably the quickest final 200 I have ever done in a 1500m.

The altitude training trip to Kenya, and the indoor season which has followed, has proved invaluable. I am still relatively inexperienced, this was my first real trip to altitude and first ever indoor season focusing on 1500m. However I have learnt a massive amount which will be incorporated into my training and racing in the future which will surely improve me. I am also still in great shape, and with a few alterations to correct for the mistakes I made in January and February (e.g. my tactics at the UK indoors) I will approach the outdoor season with great confidence.

Sheffield disappointment

Big disappointment in Sheffield, to be honest am completely gutted. Felt great when warming up, was very confident, but got my tactics wrong, and missed the final by one place. I believe I was good enough to get to final, but got too aggressive in race, ran too wide, attacked too early, and paid for it with one of the most horrible final 200m of my life. Guess got to learn lessons and take positives and will use pain to inspire me to better results in future races. However am definitely flat right now, and feel sorrow for my flat mates because am going to be well bad company for next few days.

Off to Sheffield

All the training has been done. The stamina, strength and speed base put down in Kenya, complimented by specific 1500m training and a couple of sharpening races on returning to England. And the last few days have been relaxing, making sure I am fresh for the big weekend, the UK Indoor Championships in Sheffield.

Now is time to get the train up to Sheffield. The heats themselves are tomorrow at 5.40pm, and then hopefully I will be in the final on Sunday at 2.55pm. I feel in great shape, and am very excited and focused about the upcoming races. Hopefully when I next post on this blog, I will be posting as a very happy athlete following a very successful weekend.

Link to race

Also, if anyone wants to watch my 1500m race, please follow the following link

http://www.athleticos.org/coverage/238365-2011-Birmingham-Games/video/449105-SM-1500m

Back in the UK

Getting settled back to life in the UK now, and so time to start up the blog again as I said I would. With only two weeks between returning from Eldoret and the UK Indoor Championships, the plan has been to get some sharpening work in following all the strength, stamina and speed work done in Kenya. This sharpening work started on the day after returning when I competed in the Welsh Indoor 3000m Championships (as a non-Welsh athlete). I decided to see how I felt following the journey, and as I felt good on waking up I decided to compete. This ended up being a great decision, as I felt great when warming up, and during the race. The first 2km felt very easy and so I decided to put in a strong final kilometre and test just what shape I was in. I pulled away from the field except for GB international Chris Warburton (one of my main rivals in the upcoming UK Indoors), who stuck with me and then managed to get ahead in the final 200m. However, without even considering the time and a comfy first first 2km, I ran a new PB, and felt fantastic just one day after a well over 24 hour journey. Just a bit of sharpening in the next two weeks and I will be exactly where I want to be.

And so in the week following I did a couple of speed sessions, including a visit to indoor 200m track with my coach Keith and fellow athlete Chris Dodd, mixed in with easy recovery runs. By the end of Tuesday I felt like I was flying, but then in the 2nd half of the week the reality of life back in the UK set in, as I had two PhD intervals, a formal one on Wednesday, and an informal interview with another potential supervisor who was visiting Bristol on Friday. These left me feeling mentally drained (even two interviews was a complete contrast compared to the complete relaxation following training in Kenya the previous month) and by the time the Birmingham Indoor Games game around on Saturday 5th February, my first 1500m of the season, I was feeling tired both mentally and physically. However I managed to pull myself around, and using front running tactics with an eye on the time as well as the position, managed to pull out the win and run 3.49.01mins, a respectable time, even if I was disappointed with it! However overall I was pleased. To have stayed confident beforehand, to have raced in the manner I wanted, and to get the win (including beating two potential rivals for next week) when feeling as I did beforehand was a good confidence boost before the big one next week. I also have a very relaxing, stress free week lined up next week (when not training), which should prove perfect preparation!