Sorry I haven't put a blog up since the Europeans, I had quite a bit going on over Christmas as am sure quite a few people know now that I have moved back home to Farnham, there are various reasons for this which am not going to go into, however I am still be coached by Liz so that's good. Also I had to get ready for Altitude training in Kenya before start of January and as usual I left it all to last minute as I didn't want to get any injections until after Europeans. Which was a good idea because I had every symptom listed and on top of that then got ill so I apologise for not putting a blog up..so this could be a long one!!

Firstly am happy with my result from the Europeans although I did want a little more (top 5) but I just struggled a little on the last lap and a group of athletes got away from me. The race was very fast as it was under 4k but I went off hard and got myself into a position and just kept pushing which I believe was the right tactic because a few other girls went off slightly easier and never got through as it was a narrow course. My only little regret is possibly I went off a tad too hard because I did pay for it towards the end but it's hard to judge when all that's in your head is "this is short and narrow and I need to get in a position and hold it as much as possible". It was a good experience and will set me up well for senior competitions as that was my last international as a junior.

As I am now a senior I've upped my training at the start of 2011 and it has all kicked off well and am now in Kenya, altitude training until the end of January. I am really enjoying it out here, there's a great atmosphere and everyone seems to be training well. Not to mention the weather is AMAZING!! Although it has rained once so my rain jacket got a little outing but other than that it's been in the 30's everyday. Out here I'm doing a lot of mileage and tempo running and not speed work because when I get back I will be in the middle of my XC season still and have targets for it that I need to achieve before I start concentrating on summer work. There's various athletes out here ranging from 800-marathon but there's a few from every distance so people have people to run with which is good. The other day I did a track session (20x75seconds - because the track isn't exactly 400m and people's GPS watches are giving us different distances- with 60seconds recovery) with Helen and Charlene which was tough as the track is basically a dirt path which is rock solid and gives nothing back to you not to mention the ditches and stones on it.

It's easy to see why the Kenyans feel so amazing when they come down to sea level on a mondo track. For the first week all I had were steady runs whilst I tried to acclimatise to being at altitude but after a few days I started feeling really good and think I got carried away on 2-3runs so when Liz arrived she made me slow it all back down so I didn't ruin myself in the first 10days of the trip. During my first tempo effort Barry (physiologist) lactate tested me and my scores were horribly low which you'd think would be a good thing but it's not because I wasn't producing any energy so I've had to up my Carbohydrate intake so hopefully that sorts it out, as after another test it is increasing but its still too low. Am not complaining means I get to eat more :D !!

I will try and keep you updated whilst I'm out here but I can't promise anything with the internet connection being as bad as it is!! My next race is a 5k in Hyde Park on 28th January which is the day after we land back in UK so hopefully all will be ok and I am looking forward to racing and seeing what happens after being up here and travelling although I don't think I will feel benefits for few weeks at least but you never know. Well done to everyone at counties.... especially Surrey, hopefully we will have a good team at inter counties cross country!! I would love to say can't wait to come back buuuuuut I can't...sorry!