2010!

Well! I did my last xc season at u15 level... and i did go to the Uk Intercounties again... but it was at Birmingham so we travelled up on the day which wasn't as exciting! I still really enjoyed it. However i had only just got back to training (just before christmas) so i wasn't really at a good fitness.

And now...

the first year at u17!! It is the County Championships here again next Saturday and Sunday. Interestingly, i have entered the 1500m steeplechase for the saturday, and 800 & 300 on Sunday. Sounds good!!

So really, being basically self-coached i'm not doing too bad. I am realistically aiming for the cross country season, as i am obviously not in that good shape for track this season unfortunately because of the break, as result of my everlasting shin splints. I have confirmed that as i did a measly 5:20 for the 1500m on Tuesday this week, when my target was 5:10. But really i can't have really expected much better than that. Training on concrete? No track/grass sessions. Only a bit of solid endurance (long runs).

Patience. I shall have to be patient. Build up my core, lots of long runs. Because when, YES when, i can travel up to a track (which i shall be able to someday) i will be able to go straight into that. Building a solid base is so crucial. And thats why injury ruins everything, you come back and you are nowhere near the same fitness, and yet impatiently you expect your body to cope with the load you bung on it which you had managed before the injury, and hey presto! You are back where you started with another injury (don't laugh, i do this all the time!!)

Well, how time flies! I am 15, it is 2010! I am doing my GCSE's soon! R.E, P.E theory, Science, and two History exams. Life is good, music helps me so much, it drives me forward, motivates me, gives me ideas, helps me think things over and helps make me feel better :) Music is so important in everyones life.

Oh yeah, about how the steeplechase came about! I mean me, willingly opt to do the steeplechase? :L I did a 1500m sch at the South West League (Yeovil) for Newton Abbot. I didn't hurdle any barriers i just did the one foot and pushed off, and of course knowing me, on the water jump i basically just fell into it. I got completely drenched. But it was pretty funny, and really refreshing. And there is the proof (Above picture) i am the one behind in the purple vest, with the ginger hair! Literally falling in. Oh, but it is good to make a fool of yourself once in a while :D Its good to be able to laugh at yourself. My shorts were soooo wet for long after that. Next time i know now to bring spare shorts!! Because i started off slow because i was unsure as what to expect, i got 6 minutes 17. But the winner only got 6 minutes so not that far behind considering really.

I am looking forward to an enjoyable season!! And then the first year of xc at u17!!! woooo!!!


Peace & Love

"Our greatest honour is not that we never fall down, but when we do, we pick ourselves back up again."

"If you really do put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price."

Xcountry Uk Intercounties Champs 2009

Loved it!! I did apalling, but it was the fact we travelled up overnight and stayed in a hotel and then raced the next morning which was really exciting. I really hope i can go next year... and hopefully i won't have injury and will do better!! Last year of u15 next year!!

Phew...

Well... thankfully i didn't embarrass myself and come last in any of the races! On the Saturday, i still had sore thighs from the last minute training sessions which i did (stupidly). I am came 3rd in a poor time of around 5:20 when i should be breaking 5:10. But supposing I've been off for 2 months, it was OK. Then on the Sunday i did 800m came 4th in 2:33. It was OK i guess, but i pulled my Achilles and they ached so when it came to the 300m, i just ran in the heat and then we went home. I got sun burnt and watched some amusing and some excellent races. It was enjoyable but also sad because it was my last chance at u15, i go up to u17 next year so it will be a lot more challenging, but hopefully i rise to the challenge! :-) Alice xx

My Struggle with "Shin Splints"

Shins are just the same, i mean i haven't been running for two months solid, no training, just been going round the block on my bike, badminton & tennis at school, but even though I'm not running, from time to time if i just do a bit of tennis, i can feel it, and it is driving me crazy. Nobody cares, they just go "ah what a shame" or say "the best thing is rest" i mean what the hell? Can you ELABORATE a bit? Because i have been "RESTING" on and off these past three years, and not once did that rest do much good, and the pain just reappeared once again! Fabulous. If only i didn't have this stupid shin problem, i think I've got the natural "runner ability" it's just the actual training which always pulls me back. My PB'S aren't up to what everyone reckoned they should be, i let everyone down at the UK inter counties. I let myself down. I wonder why on all the websites for "shin splints" which the doctors diagnosed me with, why they all say rest, surely i don't have shin splints? Do they not see the connection? Obviously people with "shin splints" got better when they rested their shins, or else they wouldn't have put that on their websites, would they now? I can feel my shins slightly now, if you know what i mean. I mean, the pain which is there when i run, that irritating throbbing, isn't their, but i can sense them, feel them somehow itching for me to run and for them to scream out, burn like fire and make me stop. I love running. But all this pain is making it not lovable. I can handle the pain and exhaustion whilst running, feeling like your going to be physically sick, your whole body shaking, your words slurred. But the pain i can't stand is not being able to run, the pain of my shins. I'm putting on weight too, i suppose it may be also to do with the fact I'm 14, but i don't like it. All my muscle is turning into fat and the little "fitness" i managed to gain in between resting and trying to get in decent shape, has gone. The county championships are this time next week- and what am i doing? Sat here lazying around. I should be running, to hell with the shins! Lets hope i get a fracture, then somebody might realise that it's a bit more than just "common shin splints". I'm going to embarrass myself next weekend. It'll be awful. It's so unfair that all the other runners are out there now, training, they can eat all they like, they just go out run, no pain. I bet they don't have joints that constantly click and ache like an old mans? I wonder why mine do it? At least i can probably some time in the future look back and feel lucky that i have it no more. I wonder what the future holds. My shins have ruined the chances of me ever going to a national championship, but maybe, with my injury experience and knowledge, i could do physiotherapy for Athletes? I'd love to, but i don't reckon i am intelligent enough, it's such a competitive job, but I'm gonna try because i believe i could be really good. I would understand exactly what they're going through, both physically & mentally.

Pictures....

Its meeeeeee (: