Double GB Champion

A dream come true and a bitter sweet end to my first indoor track season.

I’ve been quiet.

Unusually quiet.

I know many of you like my blogs on my training, my goals and my battles to fit in any regiume round family life and work. At the end of last year I noticed that when I am focused on a specific goal I become a bit of a hermit. I retreat into a somewhat protective shell so that I can keep those external voices of negativity at arms length (I have enough self doubt about myself without needing adding to it).

Following my success at the European Masters Athletics Championships in Venice last year I returned to the UK and decided that I really had found my true love of running again – as a sprinter. The one I found at the age of 13 and lost as family life took over.

I spent Sept-Oct recovering from my achillies sprain and then decided from November that I wanted to turn my training around and train specifically for the indoor track season with the finale being at the European Indoor Championships in Braga, Portugal.

I’ve been as consistent as I could with my training, my sprint coach from Reading AC has been so accomodating and understanding changing my training sessions dependant upon how many miles i’ve done, in fact most of my track training has been technique specific so i’ve still go the hard sessions to come! My PT, Kyle from KG Fitness and Combat, has been an amazing support, writing my gym plans so they give me the best benefit for sprint racing and also working with me on fitness and power and most importantly my mind-set. 

I kicked off the indoor season in Sheffield with new Personal best times over 60m and 200m at the begining of February.

Next up I became double South of England Champion over 60 m and 200 m, again in new PB’s.

That’s when it got tough. Just 3 days before the British Masters Championships I got the news that the European Championships had been postponed to January 2021. 

4 months of training. 4 months of build up … 

Yes I threw my toys out of the pram for 24 hours but then I knew that the British Championships was to be the finale so I had to go and give it my all there instead. 

Last weekend (7 & 8th March 2020) I became Double GB Champion over 60 m & 200 m and got another set of PB’s to complete my rather abrupt end to my first indoor season.

A dream come true and a bitter sweet end. I am not sure it has really sunk it still but I am sure over the coming weeks it will and I know the hard work is paying off!

What’s next is a question i am always asked after I’ve finished one goal. For now i am on active recovery for a few weeks whilst I sort a hamstring issue and an on-going wrist injury that I had been covering up so i could still compete (there aren’t many Master sprinters that don’t have some sort of niggle or injury they are running from so I’ve discovered of recent months. It really is a tough task on our bodies to maintain speed and power and keep injury free over these sprint distances).

Then it’s back on plan and looking to my first summer of track racing following specific training, staying injury free and seeing where the season takes me. 

Double GB Champion – Not sure it gets much better than that.