Blog – entry #1 (23/08/13)
Today I left the Uk to head to albuquerque, New Mexico to train with the NCAA d1 school, the university of New Mexico. I have mixed emotions, I am setting out on the experience of a lifetime but leaving friends and family at home until Christmas. To date, the longest I have been away from home was a 3 week altitude training camp in font Romeu, France. However the squad in albuquerque looks strong and hopefully I can progress as an athlete, student and in other aspects of life too.
Currently I am not in the shape I would like to be in heading to one of the most competitive platforms the sport offers. The year started off great with a pb indoors over 1500m as well as regaining my national u20 cross country title. This was followed by more injury-free months filled with target specific sessions and a drive to make the European u23 team. However tonsillitis struck in early April resulting in 6-7 weeks of zero or little training. This was followed by weeks of feeling lethargic and racing at about 80%. Later in the summer I found the root of the lethargy, the Epstein Barr virus. This was more than likely a post illness virus linked to the tonsillitis and would require a structured diet as well as iron supplements to control and hopefully overcome the illness. The addition of altitude could also prove problematic in recovering from the virus if training isn’t monitored/controlled. The head coach Joe Franklin is aware of the situation and seems to have plans for the coming months so hopefully we can work together in returning to my best form.
The last 2 weeks have been on/off training due to plantar fasciitis, an injury caused most likely as a result of my increase in mileage. The heel pains seem to have subsided so I am hoping to be able to get straight into the training phase when I arrive. I am living with 3 other students (2 of which are also runners) in an apartment owned by the university. The weather very hot (30+ degrees) and classes start 3 days after I arrive, so not much time to get familiar with the campus. My first race is scheduled for the 4th of October, what kind of shape I’ll be in then I have no idea but hopefully I can perform to a good level and move on from there to the bigger races later on in the year. The bigger picture is still the Glasgow 2014 commonwealth games and this year will see me choose between the 1500m or the 5k. In an ideal world I would have had the qualifying time for the 1500 by now and round about 14:00 for 5k however this season has been a bit of a nightmare so the times will have to wait.
I will try to update the blog with posts every month with my progress and any race results.
