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..the winter grind

Since my last blog, I have been putting in a lot of mileage and working on general body strength in the gym.
I always remind myself how lucky I am that I don't have to deal with the British weather here in Atlanta. However, the week before Xmas we had a cold front come through. At 8am at the trail it was 23 degrees Fahrenheit, that's -5 Celsius! Sean was away for the night with work, and my other running partner was taking some time off, so it was just me and the ipod!
Luckily it only lasted a few days and it was back to shorts and t-shirt weather by the end of the week.

We spent a week in Florida over Christmas with Sean's family.  I hit my highest mileage week of 2011 the week before Xmas, which meant i was on a down week during the holidays, which was nice.
I am starting to get into some harder workouts now, so the warm weather meant I could get in some good quality work.
I did a 7 mile progressive tempo, 9x800 and 6 sets of 300,200,100 whilst I was there.
All my sessions went well. It really makes a difference when you aren't fighting the cold and layered in clothing!
The mornings were perfect for a nice cool dip in the pool or even better, a natural salt ice bath in the ocean!

I have a couple more weeks of high mileage before indoor season. Since college, I have really progressed as each season has past with my mileage. I think if you want longevity in your career you have to be patient and look at things long term.
But now I am a that point in my career where I am hitting the peak. With London 2012 less than 200 days away I am training harder, longer and more intensely than ever before.
The past two weeks I have ran over 90 miles. I used to think 50 miles was a huge achievement in college. now even 70 miles feels like nothing!

We have just moved to a new house. We literally live less than 400m away from the river trail. We run there everyday, sometimes twice, so we are really excited to be so close now.
The river trail is the hub for all runners, cyclists and walkers, in an around Atlanta. The road into the trailhead is 2.5 miles long and each quarter is marked. The speed limit is 25mph and it is used as much for running and cycling as it is for cars.
On Sunday after my long run i was so happy just to stroll back to the house and get a big breakfast on!

Duke, enjoying the view from our back porch.


I received my first shipment from my new sponsor New Balance this week. I am proud to be a member of Team New Balance heading into 2012!

...winter training

I have gotten into a great routine with my winter training. This week my mileage was just over 80, that's 80miles not Kilometers! 
Today i have a rest day. I usually take one day of every 2 weeks. 


During my break and build up to normal training volume i was able to get out into the local running community. 
I visited a few schools around Atlanta to hand out running shoes for the "Girls on the Run" program. GOTR is a non-profit prevention program that encourages preteen girls to develop self-respect and healthy lifestyles through running.  
I am thrilled to have been asked to be the official starter of the GOTR 5k Atlanta race on Nov.13th. 

I also visited a couple of local colleges to talk about my experiences as college and professional runner. 

Most mornings my husband and I meet with my massage therapist, Robin Rogers and run at the Chattahoochee river trail close to our house. 

The trail is a runners dream. Soft dirt with quarter mile markers all the way, but i have my Garmin of course! We also have the option to run up in the wooded trails. I usually meet some local guys for a trail run on Friday mornings. 

Currently twice a week I have weights and 4-5 afternoons a week I have a 2nd run. 

I had my first workout last week, and pleasantly surprised myself with my tempo pace. Tempos are my weakness, so I was really happy with my workout. 

This week I had my first session with Chiropractor Dr.Josh.Glass at Georgia Sports Chiropractic. Dr Glass has served as the USA Track & Field World Championship Team Chiropractor at the last two world Championships and has been the event Chiropractor at the USA National Champs since 2004. 

I get a stitch/cramp quite often, and it really held me back in the Final at the World Champs this year, so i am looking to fix this issue with the help of Dr.Glass. 

My massage therapist works closely with Dr.Glass which is great as they can communicate my needs easily. 

I also have the use of the fantastic technology which includes the Alter G Treadmill and Pneumatic Compression sleeves. The NormaTec MVP provides pulsating compression to your legs to reduce swelling, muscle fatigue and stiffness.

We are extremely lucky to have such a good quality altitude tent. My sleep is not disturbed at all. Those of you who have experienced sleeping in an altitude tent know it can get very hot. We are currently sleeping at 12,000ft. 12hours a day at 12,000ft is said to be equivalent to 25hrs a day at 6,000ft.
I am planning to get in some altitude training between January and April next year in either Kenya or Font Romeu. 

This week Sean is working with New Balance at the New York Marathon, so it is just me and Duke (my dog). He enjoyed a nice bowl of Delia Smith's Yorkshire pudding recipe and gravy tonight! For those American readers Yorkshire Puddings are amazing and Delia Smith is an English Cook and the UK's best selling cookery Author. 

Look out for the launch of my website this week!

World Champs...making the final!

It's been a while...sorry! I am currently working on my website and should have it up and running by the end of the week.

Following on from my last blog in Daegu...

My pre-meet went really well at the track in the village the day before my race. It always helps to feel good the day before, and it got me really excited about the race.

I felt really good going into the heats, my warm-up went well and I knew what I need to do to make the final. I was 100% focused on making the final and really believed I would. 

I ran with confidence and stayed wide to keep myself at the front. 5 of us broke away but only 4 would qualify. Apart from getting a stitch with 600m to go, I felt great. I knew at the bell lap that my time would be good enough for a spot in the final, and I ended up less than a second off an automatic top 4 spot in my race. 

Going into the final I really believed I could be top 8, which would have gained me automatic selection for London 2012. However things just didn't go well on the day. 

The final is still a mystery to me! 50m into the race one of the Ethiopian's fell and I had to jump over her, which caused a gap from me and the rest of the field. From that point onwards I was never in the race and simply ran. Finishing 14th was not my goal, nor was running my slowest time of the season. 

I still had a week left in the village before retuning to England. Which meant another week of terrible food in the dining hall! I have never eaten so much pineapple in the space of 2-weeks in my life! Luckily I had fabulous room mates.

Since I was the first one to arrive in our apartment I managed to shotgun the ensuite! Hannah was pretty happy when she arrived. Our bathroom was the official ice-bath room! Holly Bleasdale wasn't having any of it though!

I took a day off following the race and then continued my training as normal. My coach and I were undecided on wether we would run anymore races following Daegu. 

Thankfully my roomie Hannah England won the silver medal in the 1500m 2 days later which lifted the mood! Being so close to someone who has just won a medal and seeing how exciting it all is, really made me want that success too. I couldn't resist a track invasion!!!

During the training camp in Ulsan my brother and his wife had a little boy, Jacob. He is the first baby amongst my brother, sister and I and was supposed to be born before I left. So I stayed home for a couple of days to see him before returning to the US of A. 

I was away for 3-months from husband and dog Duke, so it was great to back together again. 

My last race of the season was the 5th Avenue mile in New York City. It is the second time I have ran this event, my last outing being back in 2009. The event is organized by NYRR and is one of the most enjoyable events of the summer racing season. 

The entry list was one of the strongest ever, including eight olympians and four 2011 world championship finalists. Headlining the women's race, Gold and Silver medalists in the 1500m Jenny Simpson and Hannah England, 4:00 flat runner Morgan Uceny and the versatile 5000m Silver medalist Sally Kipyego. 

The race went out pretty steady and I was in the middle of the pack until about 600m in. The race goes uphill from 400m-800m and I didn't quite push hard enough which caused me to loose contact and the field began to string out. At around 1km I found myself reeling people in and I managed to gain a top 10 finish in a time of 4:31.7, only 1 second off my track PR (or PB, depending if you are British or American!)

Last week I had my first session with Sports Psychologist Stan Beecham. I first met Stan at Zap Fitness in Boone, North Carolina whilst I was attending a pre season camp with Florida State University. 

My coach and I decided my psychology during races is an aspect of training we needed to address. Both physical and psychological capabilities contribute to good performance and it is important to understand that on race day 50% of performance comes from both mental and preparatory decisions.

Training this year has gone very well and we  both feel I should be running a lot faster. So we are excited to see how this can help us with getting my times down going into London. 

Today was my first day back from a short break. I felt really fresh and I'm really looking to getting back into some hard winter training. 

Thanks to a local elite runner I have use of an altitude tent. I was really happy with my response from training in Font Romeu this year, so being able to sleep at altitude every night is something I hope to really benefit from. Thankfully we have Air Conditioning so it doesn't get hot in the tent at all.
I intend to attend camps in Kenya and Font Romeu this year in preparation for the track season, so this will help a great deal in my transition to sleeping and training at altitude. 

Until next time...