Hi guys, firstly id like to apologise for the massive gap in the middle of my season in which i haven't blogged. Its been a combination of suffering an injury and work commitments that have distracted my attention from blogging.  All of my focus had been completely on rehabilitation of the hamstring strain. I can gladly say i am now fully fit and back to full training which is such a relief! 

Going back to July i competed in a 1500m at the Leon Buyle Memorial which is part of the Flanders Cup. This took place at Oordegem in Belgium. I travelled over by euro star from London to Brussels the day before. As i arrived at the station i reached into my pocket for my wallet to pay for my train ticket, i also had a piece of paper which had the details of where i was going, after checking everywhere it donned on me that i must of dropped the information somewhere in the station so i had to go and retrace my steps and look for it which was a nightmare! trying to remember where id walked from the train i saw a small white piece of paper which i was praying it was mine. Getting closer i realised it was ripped and covered in foot prints but to my amazement it was my piece of paper! After flapping around Brussels train station for nearly an hour i managed to get on the right train to a place called Lede near Aalst. Still unsure of my whereabouts i came across a group of pole vaulters from the USA which put my mind at rest that i had made it with out getting lost! we were picked up from the station and taken to the venue to register for competition and eat dinner before heading to the hotel. To my surprise the 1500m field was mainly taken up by Brits which was good as i was bunking up with Steve Mitchell of Bristol and West. After chilling out watching trash Belgian tv we decided to call it an early night. Not racing till 6.30pm we had all morning and afternoon to kill. Arriving at the stadium it was obvious that the support and organisation of this event was of a very high standard. The atmosphere is always important, it helps give you that extra buzz and sense excitement. I don't think there's ever a race that i dont feel a few nerves jangling but once the gun goes they disappear instantly!

In the race we went through 400m in 56 which i knew was too fast so when the pace slowed i was more than Happy to let it glide along till i got to the bell. At 400m to go a felt it was time for me to move to the front and take it on if i had to. I was sat in 4th with Rory Chesser and a Moroccan infront with Steve Mitchell in the lead. Suddenly Rory and the Moroccan collided resulting in one of them flying into me knocking me into lane 3 slowing me right down. My reaction was to go hard down the back straight to make up ground on Mitchell. I managed to reduce the gap significantly but this left me with nothing to give with 100m to go and therefore no energy in the legs to kick so i had to settle for 2nd. All in all it was a good result and not a bad time.

My next race was the BMC A race at Solihull which i found myself interchanging the lead throughout the race finishing 4th in what can only be described a tactical race.

The plan at this point was to knuckle down to training in prep for the worlds trials. In my next session on the track i sustained a hamstring strain in the middle of a session which was best described as a twang to the muscle. My first thoughts were that the season would be over and i would have to wait till next year. After plenty of rest and ice i stubbornly forced myself to do some easy runs. After about a week i was slowly building confidence but knew i wouldn't be able to complete a fast session or race without any set backs. I continued jogging and picking up the pace in runs till a week before the aaa's. I managed a few long rep sessions and did a few strides no faster than 75%.

At the Uk champs and world trials i managed to reach the final for the first time. I did my best to go with the pace in the final but after losing the fitness i had previously gained from months of consistent training it was obvious why i didn't run as well as id hoped.