Running Aimlessly Down Under - From 54 to 53 sec 400m

Good running in the 800.
I think that is the best distance for you if you ever set your mind to it.
It should be good practice for indoor 400s any way, especially dealing with breaking from lanes and holding your position in the final straight.

Wednesday: Gym

Training was cancelled due to the weather warnings, so I opted for the gym instead, and decided to do a session on my own then on Thursday instead.

Due to Christmas Day, New Year's Day, and then last week going through the next programme with the S&C coach, this was the first time I got a chance to do this session on the current programme, even though it's week 4 of it.

A: Front Squats (w/ heels raised, and low depth): 3 x 6 @ 25kg, 30kg, 35kg
B: Snatch Jumps (from below knees): 3 x 4 @ 25kg
C1: Flat DB Press: 3 x 4 @ 25kg
C2: DB Bent Over Row: 3 x 4 on each side @ 25kg, 27.5kg, 27.5kg
D1: Floor Hip Thrusts: 3 x 8 on each leg
D2: Dynamic Clam: 3 x 12 on each leg
D3: Heel Raises: 3 x 8 on each leg @ 14kg

First time I've ever done front squats so the weights started off low. The snatch jumps are a continuation from the last set of snatch jumps, but this time the bar starts from below the knee, rather than above the knee. Stayed at a low weight this week to get the technique right.

Thursday: Grass

Hectic day but managed to find time to get out and get the session done. Coach told me to do a 30 minute fartlek run, with intermittent running and jogging. Weather was beyond awful, with strong winds with some ridiculous gusts, along with pissing rain at times. I wore 5 layers as a result. The grass was very mucky and slippy in places so ran about 30-40% of it on paths. In total I managed 18 fast runs, and 19 jogs. The fast runs ranged from about 100m up to over 250m. At a guess the average was probably 170m or so. Tiring session, but because of the nasty conditions it was hard to run as fast as I would have hoped. The last fast run was 250m slighly uphill so that was a nice tough way to finish off. Overall, a good workout. Character building in such weather.

Monday: Massage & Gym

Massage followed by gym session.

BB Back Squat (with heels raised, with full depth): 3 x 6 @ 55kg, 57.5kg, 60kg
Bench Hops: 3 x 4
Split Squats: 2 x 6 @ 16kg in each hand
Standing BB Shoulder Press: 4,4 and 3 @ 35kg, 37.5kg, 40kg
Chin-ups w/ Shoulder Retraction: 3 x 4 @ 4kg, 5kg, 7kg
Bench Glute Thrusts: 3 x 8 on each leg
Straight Leg Raises: 3 x 15 on each leg

Did some core work afterwards. For the shoulder press I could only manage 3 reps at the 40kg. Hopefully next week I can manage the full 4.

Wednesday: Grass

Fartlek session on the GAA pitch this evening. We ran about one third of the length, then the full width, then another one third of the length. This adds up to about 190m, especially taking into account the fact we had to run quite wide coming around both of these tight turns. We would then jog the rest of the lap for our recovery.

Session was 5 x 190m fartlek. Times were:

31.0 - 31.0 - 30.1 - 30.2 - 31.1

Recoveries were:

1:53 - 1:59 - 2:00 - 2:02

I felt really good this evening. I was up close with one of the 52 second guys. Very happy with the times and the consistency of them, given they were on grass, in road running shoes, and with very tight turns.

Nice evening for it. Grass was very damp and a bit muddy in places. Cold, but no wind at all, so didn't feel it once warmed up.

56.97 in my first ever indoor 400m, at the Welsh Championships in Cardiff. Slower than I hoped but the track is a bit worn and the bends are tighter than Athlone. Also one guy got DQed so there were only 2 in my race, with the other guy running 50.6. Overall not ideal for fast running but good experience ahead of all the races in Athlone and hopefully quicker times.

Sunday: Slow jog

Coach told me to not do a session on Sunday, to recover from Saturday's race, and instead to do a slow jog. So I went for a short 17 minute run with my friend around his local area in Cardiff. He's run a marathon before, in 4:2x, and does a bit of running to keep fit. We ran at about 5:00ish min/km pace at a guess, as he said the loop we did is 2 miles on the button. He said that would be the pace he would normally run at, so it suited me down to the ground, as it removed the temptation for me to run faster. A nice easy jog to help flush out the lactic out of the legs from the day before.

Monday: Massage & Gym

Massage followed by gym session.

BB Back Squat (with heels raised, with full depth): 3 x 6 @ 57.5kg, 60kg, 62.5kg
Bench Hops: 3 x 4
Split Squats: 2 x 6 @ 16kg in each hand
Standing BB Shoulder Press: 4,4 and 3 @ 35kg, 37.5kg, 40kg
Chin-ups w/ Shoulder Retraction: 4, 4 and 3 @ 7kg, 9kg, 9kg
Bench Glute Thrusts: 3 x 8 on each leg
Straight Leg Raises: 3 x 15 on each leg

Did some core work afterwards. For the shoulder press I again could only manage 3 reps at the 40kg. Might be stagnating on this exercise. For the Chin-ups I wanted to do 7, 8 and 9kg, but couldn't find the 8kg dunbell so went to 9kg a bit early, and couldn't manage the 4 reps on the third set.

Wednesday: Grass and Massage

Weather was very cold, and with the wind picking up, we didn't waste any time, and got a very quick but intensive session done. We did our relay session again. 3 on each team. Distance was 80m, so it worked out as 2 x (3 x 80m) with 2 minutes between each set, and about 25 seconds within each set. By the time you've got yourself back in position after a rep, to start the next one, over half your 25 seconds is gone, and your teammate is running back towards you.

Massage afterwards.

Very disappointing day. Calf spasmed at half way and kept happening then so pulled out with 150 to go. Was running well until half way. Ecoli has a video of the race so I might be able to get my 200 split so I can take something from today.

The physio guys put some ice cooler spray on it after and have wrapped it up in bandage. It actually feels ok. A small bit tight but not bad because I didn't try to finish the race. I'll make a call on tomorrow when I'm down there. Warm up and if I feel fine I'll give it another go. I had no issues in the warm up today so the randomness of it is very frustrating. The other calf was the one I was worried about as it was tight after the Cardiff race.

Perhaps the issue is not having the opportunity to do longer reps on the track to build up strength in the calves, like 200s and 300s. It's frustrating that Irishtown resurfacing has been so delayed.

Well done!

You would have been even closer to breaking 56 if you had started at the 400m start line instead of the 200m start line (just noticed that on the live stream as you settled into your blocks). But those two lines are only about 10cm apart in lane 4, so that wouldn't have been quite enough to take you under 56!

The bends are the only part of the track where the lanes are different lengths, once you get onto the straight bit it's all the same, so once you get to the end of the second bend (150m-ish), the stagger is even for everyone. I suppose for the outer lanes, as you've said it's the cutting across to lane one that makes the difference. For lanes 2 and 3, the difference is probably so minimal that its less than the thickness of painting a new line.

A busy weekend, with two 400m races in as many days, my first attempts over my preferred distance in Athlone.

National Indoor League Round 2:

The Indoor League is a great concept, and the huge numbers for round 1 shows how popular it has been, particularly with the guest aspect. However, they definitely sold themselves short by organising round 2 for the same weekend as AAI Games, one of the biggest meets of the indoor season. As a result numbers were way down, and the atmosphere was pretty muted. As far as I'm aware a number of teams pulled out due to lack of numbers. Hopefully next year, there won't be any scheduling clashes, so this competition can develop the growth it deserves.

400m:

Was pretty early getting down to Athlone as got a lift with a club mate who was also competing, so had a fair bit of time waiting around. Judging when to start the warm up proved to be a little tricky, as they only give the start time of when the 400m starts for the first women's race, so it's guesswork as to when my actual race is on. There was also a delay before the start of the women's 400m. My warm up may have stretched a little long, but nothing hugely out of the ordinary.

There were only 8 of us who showed up for the guest 400m. The top 6 in all guest races qualify for the League final, so now there was the genuine possibility of a rather unwanted race next weekend, which I had not planned. I had no idea what sort of times the other guys were running.

I was in lane 3, the inside of the 4 of us in my race. Got out well, driving hard off the bend and down the backstraight. Pushed a bit going around the bend, and then tried to relax down the homestraight towards the bell. I felt like I was moving well and that I wasn't far down on the others, but having looked at the video after, I was about 2 and a bit seconds down on the other 3 who were all together. As I entered the bend to start the second lap I felt a small spasm in my right calf. I got a few more of these, before a bigger one at 150m to go and I stepped off the track, absolutely gutted, frustrated and confused. Moments later David "Big Red" McCarthy of all people comes over to me to help me stretch out the calf. I then go over to the physio people who put some ice spray on the calf, and bandage me up and give me a bit of advice on what to do to allow it to recover for the next day's race.

My 200m split was around 26.4 to 26.5 hand timed, so not as fast as I first thought, or how it felt. I speculated what I could have run had I been able to finish, but it was all pointless really. I wasn't in the best form going back to Dublin, and it was a challenge to try get up for the next day's race, particularly given the fact I didn't know whether I'd be able to run or not. I had a hot bath to loosen the muscles, and used a heat pack a couple of times also. Despite everything, the calf felt fine. No obvious after-effects.

AAI Indoor Games:

Back down the next morning to Athlone. Similar story of getting there early, at around 11am, while my race wasn't until 3:40pm, so I relaxed and watched some of the other races for a few hours. To start I wasn't that nervous, as I wasn't sure whether I'd be running. I was thinking a lot about the day before. Thankfully my coach arrived and talked sense into me. Told me to forget it, to run the race hard, and if it happens again then so be it, and we'll deal with it. But if I race thinking about it, I may aswell just write down 57 now, not bother racing, go home and have a few pints. Excellent advice.

400m:

I took a shorter warm up this time. I hadn't planned on it being quite so short, but I sort of got my timing a bit wrong and didn't realise I'd be called to call room as early as I was. I did a few mini strides in the call room though, and to be honest I was as warmed up as I would be for all my training sessions. I think it can be easy to spend so long warming up for a race compared to training.

While waiting for my race, I watched the first couple of heats. I was perplexed how a guy who ran 56.5 managed to get into the top heat with Dara Kervick, Timmy Crowe and the others. Seemed like he belonged in my race, heat 4, the slowest of the 4 races.

There were supposed to be 6 in the race but the guy in lane 5 was a late withdrawal. I was in lane 4. The guy in lane 2 I raced once before back at last year's AAI Games outdoors, when I ran a terrible 57.00, and he was about 54.5ish. I knew it would be a lot closer now.

I decided I wasn't comfortable with the idea of running the first 200 almost like a 200m race, and then hanging on, so decided to run it like I do outdoors, by cruising quickly from 50 to 200.

Felt I got out well enough, but the guy in lane 3 ate up the stagger on me very quickly, before I hit the backstraight. Then not long later, the guy in lane 1 did likewise. I move hard around the bend but keeping relaxed, like I would outdoors. As I enter the homestraight and to the break I notice the guy in lane 2 has eaten up the stagger on me and stolen about 5 metres or so. As I hit the bend for the start of the second lap I up the effort levels, but it's on the backstraight where I really start to push hard. I can feel myself regaining closer contact to the guy ahead of me, and there is another lad in front of him who is not too far ahead. The top 2 are away and gone.

As I enter the final bend I am hoping that the guy ahead of me doesn't die until the straight, as I really do not want to have to run around him and use up extra metres. Thankfully he is still moving fine, but by the time I hit the straight I'm only about 2 metres down. I was a bit tense running around that final bend, but that's inexperience with indoor running right there, and it appears harder to keep relaxed running around such tight curves.

Down the final straight, my legs are tiring, but I know I am closing on him ahead, which spurs me on, and in the last couple of strides I just barely get by him, and I ended up pipping him by 0.05 to take 4th in the race.

Coach had hand timed me at about 55.7, so it would be touch and go to get under 56, and unfortunately I was on the wrong end of this mark, with 56.04 seconds, an indoor PB, and a 0.93 second improvement on my run at the tight Cardiff track last week. Overall I have to be happy with that result. David Gillick had a 0.75 second difference between his outdoor and indoor PBs, so I guess it would be about 0.9 for me, so I guess that run was the equivalent of a 55.1 or 55.2 outdoors, which would be my third best run ever. Hard to compare exactly, but it's definitely a good result at this time of the year, and hopefully I will go faster in the coming weeks. I have the Leinsters and Nationals planned, and I may run the Connachts as a backup, in case I don't get the result from the next 2 races that I am hoping for.

I still have to figure out why my calf spasmed on Saturday as it was particularly random. Usually it doesn't happen in races, and when it does it tends to be in evening races after working all day. One possible reason could have been dehydration. I had drank plenty that day, but I was sweating quite a lot in my warm up, so I probably could have done with more, so I upped my intake of fluids the next day. Maybe my warm up was too long and I was tired going in, though this is unlikely as I have down warm ups even longer than that before. A real possibility could be lack of track time for longer efforts in training. With Irishtown closed, I only have one track day a week, which is usually for more top end speed. As a result I haven't had a chance to do longer reps like 200s and 300s on a track, so perhaps my calves haven't built up the strength to cope with these longer efforts yet. If thisis the case, then hopefully this weekend will have helped in that regard, and next weekend I'll have 2 track sessions, as I'm down in Athlone for a training session on Sunday.

There was the option of racing in Birmingham next weekend with a few of my training group, which could have been a good experience, but to be honest I need a weekend off racing, to regroup, and get ready for some important races to come.

This weekend was definitely a rollercoaster of emotions.

My race can be found at the 3 hour 45 minute mark on the below video:

Thursday: Gym

A: Front Squats (w/ heels raised, and low depth): 3 x 6 @ 50kg, 52.5kg, 55kg
B: Snatch Jumps (from below knees): 3 x 4 @ 30kg, 32.5kg, 35kg
C1: Flat DB Press: 3 x 4 @ 27.5kg in each hand
C2: DB Bent Over Row: 3 x 4 on each side @ 30kg
D1: Floor Hip Thrusts: 3 x 8 on each leg
D2: Dynamic Clam: 3 x 12 on each leg
D3: Heel Raises: 3 x 8 on each leg @ 14kg

Saturday: Track

3 x (120, 80) with walk back recovery within sets, and 4 minutes plus walk back between sets. Good conditions, about 7 degrees, and cloudy, with not too much wind. Wore the sprint spikes for this.

Sunday: Indoor track

In Athlone this morning for a session on the indoor track. The first time I've had back to back track days since last summer. Session was 3 x 200m with around 5-6 minutes recovery. Coach told me to do them in 27 seconds, so hard, but not flat out. There were 8 of us so we ran 2 at a time, and kept it continuous, so I don't know the exact times of the recoveries, but I doubt we were far over the 5-6 minutes. Wore the sprint spikes for these. Left hamstring was a bit tight after yesterday so was a bit more cautious than I would otherwise have been, particularly on the first rep. Coach also told us to try out different lanes, to get practice in more than one.

Rep 1: Lane 4, Three-point start, 85% effort, 27.8 seconds
Rep 2: Lane 2, Block start, 90% effort, 27.4 seconds
Rep 3: Lane 5, Block start, 95% effort, 27.3 seconds

Times were very consistent, and were all bang on the 27 seconds which I was told to run. The first time would have been closer to the other 2 had I used blocks for that rep. Good to get practice in lane 2, in case I get drawn that lane at Leinsters or Nationals. It was fairly tight.

Stuck around afterwards to do some volunteering for a pentathlon for the juvenilles which the club put on, so was working on the results for it. A great idea to put on such an event.

Good news from a non-running point of view. Passed the exam I sat in December, so that's 13 down, just 1 to go before I'm qualified!

Thursday: Gym

A: Front Squats (w/ heels raised, and low depth): 2 x 6 @ 55kg, 57.5kg
B: Snatch Jumps (from below knees): 3 x 4 @ 32.5kg, 35kg, 37.5kg
C1: Flat DB Press: 3 x 4 @ 27.5kg in each hand
C2: DB Bent Over Row: 3 x 4 on each side @ 30kg
D1: Floor Hip Thrusts: 2 x 8 on each leg
D2: Dynamic Clam: 2 x 12 on each leg
D3: Heel Raises: 2 x 8 on each leg @ 14kg

Did a 4 minute plank after. I reduced the number of sets from 3 to 2 for most of the leg stuff because of I'm racing at the weekend.

Saturday: Grass

Our track session was cancelled due to the Dublin Juvenille Indoor Championships taking place (not sure how you can have an "indoor" event on an outdoor track, but there ya have it.) As most of us are racing tomorrow, we opted to do a light session individually. So I popped up to Marlay Park and did 6 x 60m fast strides on a GAA pitch, wearing the road running shoes.

Leinster Championships are tomorrow. The 400m is at 10:25am, and then I have a long gap to the 200m which is at 4pm (assuming it all runs on time, which it almost certainly wont!).

25.66 in the 200m, just 0.24 off my outdoor PB, though that outdoor PB is a bit soft, and I was in the favourable lane 6. Very happy with the run though.

Long day, time for a beer!

Monday: Gym

With Nationals coming up I did just 2 sets of the leg exercises instead of 3, and 1 set of the split squats instead of 2.

BB Back Squat (with heels raised, with full depth): 2 x 6 @ 65kg, 67.5kg
Bench Hops: 2 x 4
Split Squats: 1 x 6 @ 18kg in each hand
Standing BB Shoulder Press: 4, 3 and 3 @ 37.5kg, 40kg, 40kg
Chin-ups w/ Shoulder Retraction: 4, 4 and 2 @ 8kg, 9kg, 10kg
Bench Glute Thrusts: 2 x 8 on each leg
Straight Leg Raises: 2 x 15 on each leg

Wednesday: Grass & Massage

Easy enough session with Nationals three days later. 5 laps of the GAA pitch, sprinting the widths and jogging the lengths. So basically 10 x 90m, with about 90 secs recoveries. Didn't time these. Had a massage afterwards.

Friday: Grass

I skipped my Thursday gym session, with it being so close to a big race. However, I didn't want 2 days of inactivity leading into it, so I did a warm up routine with 6 strides on grass at lunchtime today.

So all set for National Indoors tomorrow. Going to try enjoy it as these days don't happen that often.

The main event of the winter, my first ever appearance at a National Indoor Championships, and only my second at any National Championships. Last time out, I broke that illusive 55 second barrier for the first time, running 54.88 at the National Outdoors in Santry last July. This time out I was after an equivalent mark indoors, a sub 56.

Build up:

The lead in to this event has been a big learning curve. Before December I had never set foot on an indoor track before. It was a whole new experience, and very different to outdoor running, particularly over 400m. After some good run outs over 60m, 300m and 800m early indoor season, I ran my first ever indoor 400m at the Welsh Championships, recording 56.97 on a tight track. Two weeks later was my first 400m race in Athlone, where I had to drop out on the second lap at the National League Round 2, due to calf spasms. The following day went much better, a 56.04 at the AAI Games. Then last weekend I recorded a solid, but very average 56.60 at the Leinster Championships. On this occasion, with it being Nationals, I was hoping to push on, and dip under that 56 second barrier.

Race Day:

I was nervous as always. It's like a pre-race ritual. However, I was determined to enjoy the whole experience at the same time. It's always a great experience to get to take part in the same competition as the very best 400m runners in Ireland.

I began my warm up a bit earlier than normal, to allow plenty of time for the call room procedure, to which I would be called to 25 minutes before my race. In the middle of my warm up the start lists go up, and I am in heat 2 of 6, in lane 4, so now I knew the exact time I would be needed in the call room. I was delighted with the draw. An early heat was preferable, as it avoided the need to drag out my warm up for up to another 20 minutes.

The call room itself was pretty uneventful. Not much chat among competitors, nor would you expect there to be. Dara Kervick was in the heat before me, and looked very relaxed, no doubt confident he was in top shape to do serious damage. The rest just appeared to be lost in their own little worlds, staring into space.

We got called down and as I walk towards the back straight, and the entry area for athletes onto the track, I catch a glimpse of my coach, who gives me very simple advice: Get out fast. I knew this anyway, but I kept the words in the forefront of my mind.

We had to wait outside the track, until after heat 1. We all stand there quietly; half watching, half concentrating on what was to come. Then comes a big roar from the crowd. Kervick hits the European Indoor qualifier with a 46.80. I'd be lying if I said this didn't give a very small extra lift.

400m:

As you would expect, the 400m was fairly loaded. Yes Brian Gregan, Thomas Barr, and Richard Morrissey were absent, but the overall depth was strong, and my heat was to be no exception. Paul Murphy was on the outside (eventual silver medalist). There was a lad from Crusaders in lane 2, who has been running around 51 seconds. The other 2 I didn't know anything about.

The gun goes off, and I feel my reaction time was a small bit sluggish, but I drove hard thereafter, and picked up pace nicely. The guy in lane 2 ate up the stagger on me quickly, but overall I felt I was staying relatively closely during these first 100m. After a flat out first 60m or so, I relaxed for a very brief period of about 20-30m, before upping the effort levels into the bend, to make sure to drive hard up that slope. A guy in lane 3 eats up the stagger on me at some point on the bend, but he's not overly far ahead of me. Perhaps I won't be running on my own like I assumed.

I keep pushing around the bend, but when I hit the break I make sure to use the straight as my main cruise period of the race. I hit the bell about 7m down on the guy in front of me, and by this point the other guys are not even in my frame of vision. As far as I'm concerned now, it's me versus this random guy. I have no idea who he is, but I don't care. As I cross the half way mark I see 26 on the clock. Now this could be 26 high for all I know, but I really did feel like I went out hard, the hardest I have done to date.

I begin to kick coming around the bend at the start of the second lap, and I notice myself beginning to gradually get closer to the guy ahead. As I hit the straight with 150m to go, I am beginning to hurt, but I hear my coach shout out "focus". I drive hard down the backstraight and am now really reeling him in. As I hit the bend I am beginning to feel jaded, no doubt suffering from the faster first 200m. But I also know this guy is for the taking. He is falling back now, and I am caught in two minds: Do I sit in behind him and wait until the final straight to go past him, so not to run extra metres, but risk slowing my pace, or do I try go around him. What I opted for was the latter, but rather than moving out into lane 2, I edged my way to the extreme end of lane 1, so to minimise the damage of running extra metres.

I move past him coming off the final bend and I know there is no way he will respond down the straight, and I end up taking him by a comfortable 0.7 seconds. The last 20m of this race was a bit bizarre. It was like my brain left my body briefly, wasn't focusing, thought the race was over, while my body just pushed as hard as it could on autopilot. It is hard to explain, and it has never happened before. Perhaps a sign of how utterly shattered I was in the closing stages.

I was in complete agony afterwards, head hurled over the edge of the advertising hording for about 45 seconds, before I somehow managed to move myself, so heat 3 could get going. I moved into the inside of the track and threw myself to the ground. In my hazy state I looked around for my water and sports drink, as well as my spike bag and t-shirt, all of which I just dumped inside the track interior before my race. I couldn't see them. I was confused. Then I see 2 kids walking around holding baskets with my stuff in them. I tried my best to signal towards them in the English language that they were mine, but it must have come out sounding like a mixture of Icelandic and Korean, as they had no idea what I was trying to say to them. Eventually they got the point, and I relieved them of the baskets.

I knew I gave absolutely everything, and at first I thought I had to have nailed the 55 because of how hard it felt and how fast I went out. But the more I thought about it, I also felt I slowed more on the second lap that previous weeks, and this may have been hidden by the fact I passed that other guy out. I felt there was a period coming around that final bend where I could have pushed a tiny bit harder, but fatigue stopped me from trying.

Coach told me it was a good run, and he reckoned high 55, low 56. The results confirmed this, a clocking of 56.04 seconds, equaling my indoor PB from 3 weeks ago at the AAI Games. My initial response was of frustration that I recorded the exact same time, and that I again missed out on sub 56 by a stupidly small margin. But once I took a bit of time, I was pleased overall. I ran a good race, attacked it hard, and ran a very fast time for me, in one of the showpiece events of the year. I still think 0.9 to 1 second is a reasonable difference between indoor and outdoor 400m, certainly for me, given my inexperience indoors. I've twice now shown that I am in low 55 shape, which is not far off my PB, which has to be a good sign at this time of the year.

I however, don't want to give up on the indoor 55 just yet, so I will have one last go at it next week at the Connacht Championships. If I get it, it will be a lovely end to the indoor season. If I don't, I won't beat myself up over it.

Overall I finished 25th out of the 26 runners, although one guy ahead ended up being DQ'ed, so I guess I was 24th, not that I would be claiming that as a victory. I wanted to finish ahead of a few athletes, so to sort of show I could be competitive at the back end of an event of this quality. I'm a little disappointed that I just got ahead of the one guy, as there were guys in other heats who ran 55.98, and 55.50, but I was close to them, so happy with that. It's nice not to come last in Nationals!

A very random fact also about the men's 400m. I was actually the oldest of all the competitors. At a few months before my 30th birthday, I don't consider myself old, nor have I felt younger and fitter ever to be honest. But the fact remains, I was older than every single competitor in the field this weekend.

It was a great 2 days of competition. We had a couple of medals in our training group, in the women's high jump and women's 400m, which I got a good kick out of watching. There was also the complete randomness of Asafa Powell hanging about for the two days of competition. I have no idea why he was there. Nobody was even looking at him. He was just wandering around by himself, not really knowing what to do. He looked like a lost puppy. I actually felt a bit sorry for him. I'm not sure if I should have, but I did.

So another great experience, and so nearly a perfect result.