Sierra Nevada Part 2

We're nearly at the end of our altitude training camp in Sierra Nevada. Am going to miss it when we leave, it has been amazing to train and live with everyone and have fun instead of just Tuesday and Thursday nights for a few hours every week. Not to mention the amazing scenery and the chilled out days which definitely makes training more enjoyable. The trails around here are awesome and my favourite is the one that became a regular on our mid length runs. It reminds me of my runs up the bourne woods back home which is my favourite place to run so it was a good find. Naturally most of the runs up here are hilly but looking on the positive side we can't complain of weak legs when we return :D

As well as a lot of training we've also had a lot of fun especially when us girls explored the toboggan ride down the mountain.  We were embarrassed when the guy on the ticket office recognised us as "the girls who were running up the side of mountain this morning" . I think we've got a bit of a reputation in town as crazy people as when we told a guy doing a tourist survey that we were here running he replied "is that normal?" ...thanks!

At the top of the toboggan ride we didn't realise/forgot that we were in control of the speed and we very quickly came to an abrupt halt until we figured out what happened...very scary! Not as scary as the moment we then realised than pushing the accelerator stick all the way down meant we then went down the mountain at break neck speeds almost flying off at the corners. Cue lots of girlie screaming! And funny photos...

We've tried not to make too many trips down to Granada because there's "too much oxygen" down there but a few guys went down in the second week to visit the Alahambra Palace which is absolutely beautiful and very popular -fully booked until June- so they walked around the free parts of it but it made for a very good day trip.

As a bit of a treat last Friday we decided to have steak night and all bought steak in town. However when we came to cook and eat it, it just wasn't the same which was disappointing but we've made up for it with evenings out at various restaurants, our favourite being Tito Luigis where we can order lots of 'Brit-Friendly' food such as Pizza, Pasta, Calzone, Salad and a strange pudding that consisted of custard with a soggy digestive biscuit on top. Mmmm yum!

This last week the weathers been hit and miss and we had 24 hours of being stuck inside a cloud; it snowed, rained and was really windy but then it would clear up and we would be outside in shorts and T-shirts applying (in some cases not) sun cream. So when the weather cleared we decided to walk to the summit as a bit of a trip to take photos of the amazing few where you could see for miles! At
2750m some people decided they had had enough and went back down but a small group of us decided to keep going and try and get to the summit. 90minutes of walking later and we were stood in the middle of nowhere, the road having finished a long time before. Most normal people would think 'this is dangerous lets go back'...clearly not a bunch of athletes. Danny & Rich decided they were going to continue climbing beyond 3000m the other four of us decided to slide on our bums in shorts and T-shirts over 300m down the ski slopes to the 'nearby' ski lifts only to be told that we would have to pay €20 each for a day pass for the 10 minute ride back into town. (Oops! The ski operators weren't impressed!) The other two got told off at the top (your not allowed up there without skis) and then had to walk/slide in similar fashion to the ski station and then proceeded to sneak onto the ski lift that the rest of us had given our arms and legs to get on. It was an awesome adventure and gave us some more great memories for the trip even if all of us did badly burn our faces (I understand the need for ski masks now)!!!

We all have some races planned on return so hopefully after all our hard work we will get some rewards and am looking forward to starting my new job next week so lots to look forward to and am excited for the rest of the summer :D

I hope you enjoy the photos on here, There are ALOT more on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram!

Gracias y Adios xx

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

Welcome..

So this is my first personal blog. I used to blog a little for a running site a few years ago but decided to stop for many reasons but recently i've decided I would like to start again, so bear with me...

I wondered for a while about what to write and couldn't decide. So I thought I would start by recapping on the last 12 months and what's next...

After the summer I was happy that moving to Mick was the right move and that the hard work was starting to pay off as I had achieved most of what I wanted in the summer - although I still had lots of areas that needed serious work (5k...) - I had run PB's in both 1500, 3000m and got a bronze medal at the U23 AAA's. However I feel that I really under performed over 5000m as my training had indicated that I would run quite a bit faster than my 16.11 PB.

Tearing my Piriformus muscle towards the end of June wasn't part of the plan but I have the St Mary's University physiology team to thank for getting me back in time for the end of the season and to salvage it with a new 1500m PB as they allowed me to use their Hypoxic Chamber to help bring my fitness back.

Finally it was my end of season break where I enjoyed a few 'well earned' nights out with friends and a girlie holiday in Gibraltar with my mum - Best daughter ;). I sat down with Mick to discuss the upcoming cross country season, what we would like to achieve and what my training plan would look like leading up to the European Cross Country. We decided that instead of starting a strength and conditioning programme we would continue with Pilates until Christmas and then review it as I felt it was keeping my previous back problems at bay and enabling me to do core without straining it further.

Summer Break 2013 (Bring back the tan!!)

Leading up the Europeans training and racing was going really well and I believed I was in with a chance of getting a medal. What I didn't account for was having a woman in the race who had run 8.30 over 3000m (I found this out less than 24 hours before the start of the race! Brilliant!) However I am a big believer that given the opportunity anything can happen. The race went to plan and I have no complaints as I executed the race plan perfectly and felt really really strong, there just happened to be 4 stronger girls on the day (2 on my own team!!). 

European Cross Country Championships in Belgrade (Tom Smeeth Photos)

I had a few days off after the Europeans just to recuperate and refocus. When I got back into training I was really struggling and had a few things on my mind however the fact that I had the BUPA Edinburgh Cross coming up made me change a few things and refocus. Training started to improve so I decided to have a run out at the county champs to try and put my body under pressure to see how it would respond... 8k around a drenched Denby Vineyards certainly tested whether I was ready to race so I was confident of a good performance in Edinburgh where I finished 7th against a good quality senior womens field. It was also great to win another County Champs title.

It was awesome to win the bronze medal at the National Cross Country Championships as it had been my aim alongside the Europeans all winter. I love this race and because of my parents I know and love the history of the event which makes it even more special to me. I know my mum has won the race twice. This is huge motivation for me...I can't have my mum beating me! My last race of the winter was the UK Inter Counties, this is a race I had won as a junior but since running the senior race I had had mixed fortunes. The first year I ran I finish 23rd and couldn't work out what had happened as I thought I was in really good shape. Then last year I had painfully finished 6th which meant that British Athletics left me out of the team for the World Cross Country Champs. Although this year wasn't a trial race it gave me huge incentive to want to run well and prove that if it was a trial race I would have to be selected so it was great to win the race after nearly dying round the last bend when I went to follow the motorbike down the wrong exit and then thinking I may have to hurdle the lady with the tape at the line!

I'm really excited to announce that I am currently in the process of becoming an ambassador for an awesome company called Fit Brands who have very kindly offered to help support me, it's still very early stages but i'm really excited and hope its go be something we can build on for years to come. Although I am still going to work full time it is great to have their support and it eases the burden a little as running is not a cheap sport when trying to compete with the best. After a lovely meeting with the guys at head office they very kindly gave me the opportunity to try some of the products from the brands that they work with and I have been trying out Newline Sport , Balega Socks and Soleus Watches this week which are all absolutely AMAZING and I highly recommend trying them as they are all products you can get in the UK!!

Finally looking ahead to the summer I have my 10,000m debut this weekend that i'm excited about (bit scared too- 25 laps is loooooong...)! I'm not quite sure how its going to go, but I have a time in mind and its a good quality field with the likes of 2010 European Champion Jessica Augusto toeing the line among some other strong Portuguese and Spanish athletes so will just try and get involved and see how the race plays out. I have Jesus Olivan and the Portuguese Athletics Federation to thank for getting me into the field and allowing me to run so fingers crossed I can run as well as I feel I can. Then its off to Sierra Nevada in the Spanish mountains for some Altitude training alongside my fellow Aldershot girls, so we are all super excited for that and I will try and post some photos and a blog whilst i'm  there.

Sorry for the essay, I will try and make them shorter in future.

Gracias xx