Training progressing
Training has been going well here. The first 3 weeks back I cross-trained with a mix of running, cycling and walking and some gym work. I’ve also been doing Astanga Yoga to try and improve my mobility and flexibility before I get back into doing race walking technique work. There has been an obvious improvement in my flexibility, and doing Yoga in a group environment weekly really get me focussed and motivated to try and get that extra big of range in my exercises. I hope that this will have a huge knock-on effect in my technique in a few months time as I aim for better posture and greater fluency.
I have also been doing a weekly Circuit Training session with a group of athletes in UL on a Thursday. Again there is a good group of us including top middle distance runners Thomas Chamney and Liam Reale. The session which last 2 hours included a full dynamic warm-up, posture drills, a tough circuit, medicine ball work, and some core/abs work and finish with some light flexibility work. The session is put together and supervised by John Stacey, who is also my Physical Therapist. I have also begun working with a new Strength and Conditioning coach John Cleary. John is best known for his strength and conditioning work with the Irish boxing squad along with my physio Johnson McEvoy. So having John and Johnson working together and supervising my conditioning program is much more logistically convenient. The emphasis is on improving my posture in the pelvis/lower back area and the shoulders.
This week I have started to cut down on my cross-training while most of my training now consisting of race walking. With the different approach I have taken with my off-season I have found that I am starting into my winter training on a higher fitness level than this time previous year. I have also found myself involved in some extra-coaching work. Last Saturday I was asked to take the Munster Juvenile Squad for a coaching session in Limerick, which went quite well despite the terrible weather. That day I also tutored the Level 2 coaches on the Race Walking event module as part of their coaching course.
Next weekend I am due to give a presentation to the Connaught Juvenile Squad in Athlone on Sunday. I will also be attending the AAI Awards night in Dublin next Saturday, where I am nominated for Race Walker of the year, which I expect Olive Loughnane to win after her magnificent silver medal in Berlin. The AAI Awards is where myself and Clare first met 2 years ago!
At this time of year I am in the process of putting together my plans for next season including my budget to Athletics Ireland, who will present it to the Irish Institute of Sport. Obviously in the current economic climate funds will be limited, but I hope that there will be a strong emphasis on supporting potential performers at the London Olympics. I will be heading out to Italy next month to get some good quality training in before Christmas without the horrible weather we have been getting at home, and I hope to sit down with Sandro and plan out the year fully and confirm target races and important training camps. I have a good idea of what I want to do anyway so it shouldn’t be too hard.
Watch out for some changes to my main website in the coming week. Will keep you posted.
