Trofeo Iberico & Sierra Nevada

Trofeo Iberico, Portugal

Everyone told me how hard 10,000m track races were, how much it is about keeping concentration and how hard it is when you see the laps ticking by but I wasn’t sure whether to believe them and wanted to go in to the race completely open minded as I knew I was in good shape from the winter. Speaking to Mick in the lead up to the race we had no idea what I could run for 10,000m but we thought it may be possible to run under 33minutes so we set a very casual pace target that ranged from 32.50-33.20 so that I would stay relaxed and not start too hard. Portugal was PERFECT! Not too hot, not too cold and the races were set up really well with over 60 entries in each the men’s and women’s races. As with most distance races the first lap and km were a little speedy but then it settled down to a more consistent pace. Although my second and third km’s were a bit too relaxed and I feel I may have lost time there, it's all lessons learnt and experience gained. It was one of my biggest fears about the 10,000m but I didn’t see any of the lap counters until 10 laps to go and then I was feeling really strong so I started to try and increase the pace to pull back some girls who had gone earlier on. I felt really strong the whole time so I am hoping that with a new mix of experience, confidence and specific training I can run faster next time.

This is the view from our apartment

 End of first week in Sierra Nevada

We're just coming to the end of our first week of altitude training in Sierra Nevada. It is absolutely amazing here; I’ve never seen scenery like it. We took it easy for the first few days but we all seem to be adapting fairly well so hopefully the next two weeks are the same and we can start increasing the intensity. The weather is really good and the snow on the mountains is slowly disappearing although our running routes have been clear the whole time which were all pleased about. We completed our first session on Thursday morning on the trails that run through the mountains. Everyone came through it well so that was really good and were all looking forward to getting on the track next week. Trying not to murder queues of caterpillars crossing the path always makes a session more interesting. Later on today we have more people joining us including Mick so we've explored the town trying to find the best places to eat but we've had to endure some funny looks whilst wandering  around in shorts and crop tops as everyone else is wearing ski clothes. The weathers been amazing we've only had one dodgy day when it rained although it took the humidity out of the air so no one complained too much.

Finishing a run on the track. Surreal experience running around tons of snow in crop tops 

We made some new training partners/friends in the shape of two pro cyclists from Team Garmin Sharp. Anyone who knows me knows that my whole family and I are HUGE cycling fans so this is a huge privilege to learn from such experienced and successful athletes. We’re hoping to go and watch the Tour de France start in the UK this summer which is going to be an awesome experience. I’ve been to watch the final stage of the tour in Versailles and Paris before and it was one of the best atmospheres EVER!!!

Next week those of us who have been out here a week will start doing some more sessions and quicker runs but were also potentially scheduling in some fun days as they have a toboggan run which looks fun. Jess and I are going to try and overcome our fear of the ski lifts that we screamed our way through the other day much to the skiers amusement as they casually made their way up the mountain minus the screams. 

This photo of the ski lifts doesn't do our fear justice I promise

I will try and upload more photos later. Wifi permitting. 

Hasta la vista xx