As a runner, well as a human being, I sometimes ask myself "where am I compared to last year?". This time last year I had just come away from a disappointing European Cross campaign and was still feeling the effects of the illness I had there. I wasn't feeling too great going into 2009. But as you may or may not know, things got better from there.

2009 was, by far, the best year of running I've had, FULL STOP. If you were to take all my achievements from when I started running in 2001 up until the end of 2008, it wouldn't even compare to what I've achieved in 2009. I'm not saying what I've done in the past is irrelevant, they were crucial stepping stones, but this year was a big break-through year for me. Steve said to me if I were to make a list of all my results from 2009, I would probably shock myself. He said that I've had the best junior career he's ever seen from a British male. While this statement is VERY debatable, for it to come from a guy who's been in the sport so long makes me feel good, even if there is some slight bias to it.

Obviously everything wasn't perfect, I had my fair share of downs and setbacks, but hey, that's part of life. But even when things go bad, no matter how long it takes, you always come out of it. I suppose my main setback was the two week break I had in the middle of the summer. It wasn't ideal but I still came out of it running PB's and winning races. I had a fair few bad races aswell, fortunately  Maria was there to get my dummie (Leah's borrowing it at the moment) a couple of times. But those are the times you find out why that happened and you learn how to stop it happening again, so for next time I know how to avoid those mistakes. I think those are the moments I should take away from my junior career. Forget the medals, the trophies, the vests, if I want to be a good senior I need to make sure those bad times stick in my memory so they remind me I don't want to be in that situation again.

I suppose the natural question to ask now is what's in store for 2010? I've got a few races lined up but beyond that I'm not totally sure yet. There's every chance it won't be as rosy as 2009 and thing's will be a lot harder than before, but then again it may not be (unlikely). One thing I can guarantee is that I will be training harder than last year and giving it my all to compete at a senior level. But the overall aim will be the same as every year: while I'm still young and holding on to some speed, run faster.

See you in 2010,

Goolab xxx