Hey guys! First let me thank runners tribe for letting me do my first blog post for them. Here is a wrap up of my year so far….
Leading off my success of winning the 2012 Zatopec 10 1500m, 2013 was set to be a big year for me. After about a month of no racing I was itching to get back on the track. The hunter Track classic was my next big chance. When race day hit, I was crawling with excitement and nerves, I was ready and rearing to go, unfortunately the nerves were to get the better of me in the race. The race was a lot faster than I had experienced, I got in a sort of panic and when it came to tag on and follow the leaders I missed the opportunity and finished in 5th. The time was fractionally faster than my PB but I was in no means pleased with my race. I knew what I had done wrong and I knew that I would not do it again. I came home to Brisbane and spent the next week punishing myself in training. I made sure every single thing was done right and every stride counted. The next Saturday I entered a local race and decided to have a really good crack. I was easily the fastest in the race, so I was completely focused on one thing, time. I won the race and walked away with a 4.21.95 a time in my eyes that suited my efforts in training. I followed this achievement with a 3 second 800m PB the next weekend. I was back on track. Sydney was my focus now. I had another couple of weeks of training and I was feeling confident again in my running. Then injury struck. The Tuesday before Sydney I was really ripping up the track in my final fast session before the classic. I was on my last 150m surge and I really pushed the last 40m and I felt a pull in my left quad. I finished and warmed down and put it down to fatigue. The next day however it was still there, so I decided I needed physio. I love and hate physios. I love going there for a tune up and maintenance but I hate going there when you think there is something wrong. It must be something they teach them at uni, physios seem to be able to pick when there is something wrong just by looking at you; it is like they can sniff out an injury. And mine was no different she caught the scent as soon as I walked in and hauled me up on the table. She confirmed my fears, I had a slight tear in my quad. I couldn’t believe it. I had cross trained and kept of the track as much as possible to prevent something like this and boom it just happens. I spent the next couple of days icing and seeing the physio, I was determined to race. Pat and I made the call and we flew down to Sydney on the Saturday morning. Now there are many perks having Pat Clohessy as a coach, he was an excellent runner, he has what seems like a thousand years of experience, trained some of the country’s best ever runners and is all around the nicest guy on the planet. But what I was too soon learn was the best perks, were travelling with Pat. He only travels in style. As soon as we arrive at the airport Pat strides straight up to the Qantas desk (I was able to keep up purely because of the kinesics tape plastered up my leg). Pat flashes his Qantas gold card and we jump the queue at security, with another flash of the card we make our way to the Qantas lounge. To say that I was following Pat with my tongue on the floor was an understatement. When we arrive in Sydney we organise our taxi and take a rather scenic route to the IBIS at Olympic Park. However our stay at the IBIS is short lived, upon arrival we are briskly whisked away, with Porter in tow, and informed that actually we will be spending the night in the Pullman, the lovely 5 star hotel across the road. Now, if you ever have worries about injuries before a race go and rent a room in a 5 star hotel and spend the afternoon sprawled on a king size bed, your worries will soon evaporate. No but in all seriousness I have no idea how Pat wrangled our upgrade, all I knew was I was rested and ready to race. Everything seemed to be falling into place and all I had to do was remember to settle in, run on and simply forget about the leg. And settle in I did. The race saw me shave almost 7seconds off my PB and achieve the Australian World University games qualifying standard. My leg had held up well, only bringing me down in my usually fast last lap. But I didn’t care, I was over the moon!!! All that training had finally paid off. I returned to Brisbane on such a high, with my leg feeling much better, we started to focus on the QLD track classic. My aim was to have another good race but still remain in some sort of shape for the State titles later that week. I managed one of the two. My race was solid and I was ecstatic to win the race surrounded by the people of my home town. But the race had taken more out of me than I had intended. When state titles rolled around I knew it was going to be a big ask. I decided to only race the 800m and leave my next 1500m for Melbourne. I made it comfortably through the heats, but the final saw me expend too much energy early on, and I ended up second behind the much deserved Selma Kajan. So here we are one week out from the Melbourne IAAF World Challenge meet and two weeks from nationals. My goals for the next few weeks are to continue to run well and hopefully secure my place in the Australian World University games team. It has been a long season and the next two weeks will be a big one for everyone, so make sure you are trackside to experience it all!!!
