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It’s been awhile since I wrote anything for Runner’s Tribe, however the last time I was asked to blog I was under a fairly large injury cloud and the thought of writing anything running related was a bit depressing! However, I’m back into training now and loving it more than ever before.

This time last year I was just getting back from a pretty nasty injury that had caused me to have four months off running. To be honest when the injury was diagnosed I was ready to throw in the towel and call it a day. The last few years for me has had some great moments in running, but I just felt like any time I got to a reasonable level of fitness another injury would strike and I’d had enough. I stopped doing any form of training and started living like a normal person. It was great for the first couple of months, going out and not having to worry about sessions, travelling without stressing where I would be able to train. But soon enough I got over it, realized that I was really missing training and that I probably wasn’t cut out for the party lifestyle!

So began the tough battle back to fitness. It was not pretty to say the least; I couldn’t remember ever being that unfit! But it actually made me realise how long it had been since I took a break, and appreciate how tough full training is on the body. All through my junior years I had cross trained madly when I got injured- which can be more tiring than running half the time! Having those few months of complete rest left me really fresh and excited to come back and race again. Together my coach, Ted McLean and physio, Craig Purdam, formulated a new running program which I am still following and has worked really well for me over the past year. It’s focused on quality running, lots of strength work in the gym and a bit of cross training to complement my running sessions (see below for my current weekly program).

My first race back in 2011 was the Leonora Golden Gift, where I placed 4^th in the mile behind Kaila McKnight, Georgie Clarke and Lisa Corrigan. This was a big boost to my confidence as I had really just entered it for a bit of fun. I then had a few more months of good training before racing in the City to Surf, where I placed second behind Jess Trengrove who ran a really great race to claim the win. A week later I backed up for the Australian Cross Country Championships, which I won from my good friend Lisa Corrigan. After this I travelled around Australia doing a few road races including the Burnie Ten, which I was lucky to win after being hit by a motorcycle at around the 6km mark… I think the bump on my head was sufficient enough for me to not be able to thing logically and I decided to get up and keep running….probably not the smartest idea as I had to take a week off after due to a corked calf and bruised head- however I did get a very handy cheque at the end! (It was worth it). Next up I travelled to Japan for the Chiba Ekiden, which was a heap of fun in a great team managed by Sarah Jamieson. My last race for 2011 was the Zatopek 10,000m in which I won the Australian title….I won’t say I loved the race because 25 laps around the track in pouring rain is never fun, but it was a great way to end a year that had started on fairly shaky ground!

I took some time off after Zatopek and freshened up, before heading to Falls Creek for a couple of weeks. I stayed up there with Georgie Clarke, and I’m not sure if Georgie and I did more sun baking or running! But it was a good trip, I met heaps of really great people and I feel like I benefited a lot from the training I did up there. My next race will be the Adelaide GP, where I will run a 5000m. I’m really excited about the year ahead and hope I can continue to build on this past year. Although there will definitely be more setbacks along the way, it’s a part of elite sport, I’ve got a great team around me and I’m especially grateful to my coach Ted McLean who has stuck with me through everything over the past 10 years, the awesome group of guys in Canberra that help me out in every session and New Balance who have been terrific sponsors since 2009.

Here’s a sample of my weekly training program:

Monday:              AM- Gym (60min)
                                PM- Easy bike ride

Tuesday:              AM- Core strength or yoga
                                PM- Track session (eg. 4-6x1km reps)

Wednesday:      AM- Easy jog (60min)
                                PM- Gym (60min)

Thursday:            AM- Core strength or yoga
                                PM- Grass session (mix of intervals, usually shorter and fast)

Friday:                  AM- Easy bike ride or swim
                                PM- Gym (60min)

Saturday:             AM- Grass/Dirt session (mix of intervals, 500m-1500m, and hills)
                                PM- Rest

Sunday:                                AM- Long run
                                PM- Rest or yoga

All up I usually run around 80-90km per week, and every second week I will rest on Monday.

2010 has been an interesting year for me and although I haven’t achieved all that I set out to do at the beginning of the year, I’ve had some good races and learnt heaps about competing at the senior level. I suffered an injury in my hip in late 2009 which meant I had to have 3 months rest and rehab- not running for 3 months was really tough! Unfortunately, I wasn’t ready in time to compete in the world cross country trials in January, and was pretty disappointed to miss out on vying for selection in a senior world cross country team.

This year the main focus has been on cross country and road racing, and I have had heaps of fun traveling around to different races throughout Australia. Highlights for me were competing in the pouring rain in Launceston over 10km, and despite a shoelace coming undone halfway I still finished third behind Nicky Chapple and Cassie Fien. I had another good race in Tasmania in the Burnie ten, where I placed second behind Lara Tamsett. I also raced in Brisbane a couple of times as well as Sydney. I have been pretty happy with my training this year, as it has been fairly consistent and I have also managed to build up my mileage as well. Unfortunately a couple of niggles have just come at the wrong time and meant that I have had to take a couple of weeks off running. This was the case a few weeks ago in Noosa, where I had gone up to race in the Asics Bolt. I pulled up really sore after my session a few days before the race and despite getting massages and physio treatments beforehand it was still extremely painful to run and my coach told me not to race. Fortunately the severe pain didn’t last for too long and I was still able cross train and get back into running after a couple of weeks.

This year I also managed to get a couple of 5000m races done on the track, which was great as I haven’t raced much on the track for the last few years as I have done more cross country and road racing. I am really keen to get back out there for the 2010/11 track season and try and improve my 5000m track time. I am actually heading to Japan soon for the Chiba Ekiden relays which will be held on the 23^rd of November. I’m replacing Tamara Carvolth as the reserve (Tamara has an injury that she is rehabbing at the moment) and will get a chance to compete in a 5000m track race there. I’m not sure how I will go as I haven’t had a lot of time to prepare for the race after getting the call only five days ago, but it should be a fun trip nonetheless!