from Paul Hession I am just back from my training camp in Portugal. It was set up by Athletics Ireland and had a good turn-out from some of the top athletes, including 6 Beijing-bound athletes – myself, Derval O’Rourke, David Gillick, Joanne Cuddihy, Fionnuala Britton and Olive Loughnane. Training went extremely well over there. I just seem to be going from strength to strength at the moment and some of the sessions in sunny Monte Gordo reflected this quite clearly. Before I headed off to Portugal I took a much needed easier week at home in Ireland. As usual, I split my time between Galway and Dublin and this has been working out quite well to be fair. I was quite rested again by the time we flew off but I knew that I would need every bit of strength for an intensive 2 weeks.
The aim of the trip for us was basically to up the quality and intensity of the sessions while getting longer recoveries. It was a transition-type phase and I am delighted to get through it strong, as sometimes these changes of pace can bring unwanted niggles with them. There were some new weights exercises in the gym to look forward to also and a decrease in the number of sets of each exercise.
Week One began well with a fantastic speed endurance session with Nick. The times compared favourably with last year, which was somewhat of a surprise considering I thought I wasn’t quite as sharp speed-wise. Unfortunately, Allan picked up a bit of a cold so he looked on jealously at the times we were getting to run in the heat! A few degrees make all the difference, especially in technical events like ours, at this time of year. I got into the starting blocks with Brian and Paul mid-week to work on my bend work from the blocks. It went well and, as ever with the first session of its type for a while, took a lot out of my body. Still, with the help of the Irish physios and massage therapists, I kept in good knick and was ready for the next main session. This was another speed endurance session with Allan and Nick which also went well. All in all, it was a good tough week on the track.
Last year, at this very same camp, I did a fast (we don’t like the word “time-trial”) 250m. It was a breakthrough run for me in my last preparation for the season and showed me that the year to come wouldn’t be just a run-of-the-mill couple of months. This year, instead of doing a 250m, we decided to do a 300m. It would gauge exactly how much stronger I had become. The two 400m guys were doing a run themselves so I slotted in with them and the result was really good for me. I ran much faster than expected and showed the strength in the last 50m that I have been working so hard on. The other two ran well also so we were all happy after. I eased back (very slightly!) on my next track session and finished the two weeks with a blocks session with Nick and Allan that went well for all of us. I was in last place to 30m as usual but I felt that the sharpness was starting to return. The weights sessions that we did throughout the 2 weeks were solid and I am much more comfortable with some of the exercises that we are doing.
The place we were based is very well known among athletes. It is on the Spanish border with Portugal in the Algarve and has some of the best facilities in that part of the world. There were plenty of other national teams there as usual and I bumped into some of my competitors that I know. We had one rest day in the 2 weeks where we chilled out in the hotel and the local small resort town. The weather was ideal for most of the trip except the last few days were it got a bit cloudy and even rained one of the days. I think the weather at home was better at that stage which was a little weird!
It is now only 3 weeks to my first race of the season. If my plans come together I will open with a low-key 100m in Malmo on June 3rd, followed by a run at the prestigious Bislett Games meeting in Oslo on June 6th, which is one of the Golden League events. I will be relying on the help of my new race agent Paul Doyle to help me get into these races. It can be tough to just get into the right races and hopefully Paul will pull the right strings for me throughout the summer in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics. Getting the race-plan right this summer will be so important for my chances of success in Beijing. Both Brian and Nick open their race schedule this weekend in Loughborough so it will be interesting to see the results. Everyone in the group has put so much in and hopefully the rewards will be good!
Training went extremely well over there. I just seem to be going from strength to strength at the moment and some of the sessions in sunny Monte Gordo reflected this quite clearly. Before I headed off to Portugal I took a much needed easier week at home in Ireland. As usual, I split my time between Galway and Dublin and this has been working out quite well to be fair. I was quite rested again by the time we flew off but I knew that I would need every bit of strength for an intensive 2 weeks.
The aim of the trip for us was basically to up the quality and intensity of the sessions while getting longer recoveries. It was a transition-type phase and I am delighted to get through it strong, as sometimes these changes of pace can bring unwanted niggles with them. There were some new weights exercises in the gym to look forward to also and a decrease in the number of sets of each exercise.
Week One began well with a fantastic speed endurance session with Nick. The times compared favourably with last year, which was somewhat of a surprise considering I thought I wasn’t quite as sharp speed-wise. Unfortunately, Allan picked up a bit of a cold so he looked on jealously at the times we were getting to run in the heat! A few degrees make all the difference, especially in technical events like ours, at this time of year. I got into the starting blocks with Brian and Paul mid-week to work on my bend work from the blocks. It went well and, as ever with the first session of its type for a while, took a lot out of my body. Still, with the help of the Irish physios and massage therapists, I kept in good knick and was ready for the next main session. This was another speed endurance session with Allan and Nick which also went well. All in all, it was a good tough week on the track.
Last year, at this very same camp, I did a fast (we don’t like the word “time-trial”) 250m. It was a breakthrough run for me in my last preparation for the season and showed me that the year to come wouldn’t be just a run-of-the-mill couple of months. This year, instead of doing a 250m, we decided to do a 300m. It would gauge exactly how much stronger I had become. The two 400m guys were doing a run themselves so I slotted in with them and the result was really good for me. I ran much faster than expected and showed the strength in the last 50m that I have been working so hard on. The other two ran well also so we were all happy after. I eased back (very slightly!) on my next track session and finished the two weeks with a blocks session with Nick and Allan that went well for all of us. I was in last place to 30m as usual but I felt that the sharpness was starting to return. The weights sessions that we did throughout the 2 weeks were solid and I am much more comfortable with some of the exercises that we are doing.
The place we were based is very well known among athletes. It is on the Spanish border with Portugal in the Algarve and has some of the best facilities in that part of the world. There were plenty of other national teams there as usual and I bumped into some of my competitors that I know. We had one rest day in the 2 weeks where we chilled out in the hotel and the local small resort town. The weather was ideal for most of the trip except the last few days were it got a bit cloudy and even rained one of the days. I think the weather at home was better at that stage which was a little weird!
It is now only 3 weeks to my first race of the season. If my plans come together I will open with a low-key 100m in Malmo on June 3rd, followed by a run at the prestigious Bislett Games meeting in Oslo on June 6th, which is one of the Golden League events. I will be relying on the help of my new race agent Paul Doyle to help me get into these races. It can be tough to just get into the right races and hopefully Paul will pull the right strings for me throughout the summer in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics. Getting the race-plan right this summer will be so important for my chances of success in Beijing. Both Brian and Nick open their race schedule this weekend in Loughborough so it will be interesting to see the results. Everyone in the group has put so much in and hopefully the rewards will be good!
