I'm in the mood for racing at the moment. I've been feeling so good in training I want to go out and smash a race, taking myself to the max at the same time. Even if I was in a race I had no chance of winning, I just want to get back in that competitive environment. Cross-country, road even indoors, I'll take anything just so I can have a run out. Alas, in December I never thought I'd be in this state of mind so never made any plans to do anything, I believe that's what you call irony.

The snow eventually disappeared last week and I was able to jump back on the road for my runs. I've had a couple of niggles on my right foot though. First it started with my achilles. While running around the park last week a combination of tiredness and snow covering the ground caused me to put my feet in a few awkward positions it didn't want to go. Not being able to see the rough ground and pot-holes is the risk you take when toughing it out in the snow. This resulted in my achilles feeling quite sore at the start of my runs. Then on Wednesday I did a core session with the uni and there was an exercise I tried and it made my ankle a bit sore. The achilles soreness is gone but the ankle soreness is still present, but the pain isn't as bad and it goes after a couple of miles. Running on the grass is no problem at all so I was able to still do a grass session today, and I might have to integrate some grass loops into my long run tomorrow.

Next week sees the start of a new S&C programme. I had a catch-up session with Chris on Friday and he introduced me to the new exercises I have to do. Like last time the weights are quite low and it's just a case of making me that little bit more robust and efficient. He had me do a test where I had to drop off a box and bounce off a mat as fast as I could, and the mat would time how long my foot was touching it. Also, when you bounce off you have to try and get quite high, so you have to bounce as high as you can while keeping your foot on the ground for as little time as possible. He set me a standard of trying to keep my foot on for no longer than 300 milliseconds. Well on my left I averaged around 240ms, on my right 230ms and with both feet together my fastest was 161ms. He wouldn't tell me what other peoples results were so I'm not sure if that's good or not, but he seemed quite impressed. From the way I was bouncing apparently I'm also quite explosive. This is a good thing to develop as your feet spend less time on the floor, and more time rebounding off the ground and moving you forward.

During the run-through of the new exercises, he noticed on a specific one that my back wasn't as flat as it should be, so he's given me a prehab exercise to help make my back stronger. He says doing this will help my arm drive and open the chest and lungs up a bit so more oxygen can be inhaled. As a result of this back flaw, one of the exercises he had originally put in the programme has been ditched. The uni also want me back in the lab to do another sub-max and maximal test on a treadmill. This is so they can compare it to the other one I did in September and see if I've improved or fallen to bits. Once I tell Steve they want me to do this I'll arrange for it to be done, but I reckon the Thursday coming up could be on the cards.

In summary it's been a good week. I got new S&C stuff, I'm on top of my work and the absence of snow allowed me to get reaquianted with my old running routes. I did one the other day and I finished it 2 minutes faster than what I did going into the Euros, feeling easy aswell. Do I dare say it...I think I maybe, ever so slightly, be in better shape than prior to Dublin. There I've said it, and there's no taking it back. Mind you, now I've said it the ankle soreness will probably get worse and my foot will fall off by the middle of next week.

Peace,

Goolab xxx