European Trials - Liverpool, Sefton Park

This race was important for obvious reasons with it being the European Trials so since my break the aim had always been to qualify and thats what I did coming 4th so am happy with that.

I knew the trial race was short but up until the Friday before I didnt realise it was only 4.4k... My first reaction was "going to be a sprinting" because i'd been training for longer stuff and not done anything in the way of 'speed' work. I had been doing Long Reps,Hills and Miles. Training had been going really well and I knew I was in shape but what I didnt know was how my fitness compared to the other girls which I think was a good thing as I was purely concentrating on myself and could run my own race. I was actually looking at getting a medal which obviously didnt happen but I think this was down to how short the race was as I felt I was getting stronger as it went on, so hopefully this means for the Europeans I will be in better shape and better prepared.

I didnt go in with a set plan as such, my only instruction from myself really was "qualify" no matter what happened and worse case scenario, I had to get myself in the top 6. So when the gun went I started quite conservatively and didnt rush to the front because I knew that we would just jog the first little loop then on the second bigger loop it would pick up so as long as by that point I had moved towards the front I would be ok. At the start of this bigger loop everyone I expected to be there was there and to be honest the only people I saw throughout the whole race were Charlotte, Emelia, Kate and Georgia. I dont remember seeing anybody else but I knew they were all there. I felt strong the whole way but particularly towards the end, I just wish I had another 1500m or so as I really think I could of challenged a medal but I didnt and came 4th. Which im happy with as it meant I qualified and that was the aim of the race.

I've only got 2 weeks until the Europeans so thats one week of hard training and then i'll start to taper for the weekend. We fly out on the Friday and race on the Sunday so not a long trip but also means I can stay in routine a little longer which is a good thing. I think we have a very strong team and could definately challenge for Team Gold and improve on our Silver Medals from last year!!

..x