Top NZ Junior Cam Graves Blogs for RT from Colorado

Cameron Graves is one of New Zealand’s most exciting junior talents. He is currently training in Boulder, Colorado in preparation for an assault on the NZ Junior 3000m this season.

BOULDER DASH!

So here we are, finally pulled myself away from the many attractions that Boulder has to offer! Endless trails, fast tracks, Olympians, frat parties and a community of generally very active people. Did I mention the girls? Wow. Well, might as well get introductions out of the way, names Cameron Graves, born in 1992 in good old NZ. I’ve always been the sports fanatic, you know the kid that won’t sit still and has ants in their pants 24/7. Although my childhood dreams were to be the next David Beckham, running seemed to be where my heart was and always will be. I’ve run crossy at school since the beginning, and managed a 12th place at secondary school nationals off no training. Fortunately this was enough to attract the likes of Paul Hamblyn (4^th place Commonwealth Games 1500 from Melbourne 2006) - my coach, which must take all the credit for getting me to where I am today.

I have run a few commendable times but still waiting for a big break through! My PB’s are as follows!

1500m: 3:51

3000m: 8:12

5000m: 14:21

As much as I love studying at Auckland uni, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to skip a semester and head overseas for some solid training. I was fortunate enough to be invited to train with Nikki Hamblin as her training partner in Hong Kong to aid with her build up for Worlds in Deagu. Hong Kong was amazing and although the heat (32C 90% humidity) was a burden, training, sleeping, eating and hanging with both the worlds team and world uni’s team made for an awesome few weeks! After saying goodbye to Hong Kong and its concrete playground, I have headed to Boulder for 2 months of altitude training. I’ve been here for 3 weeks now and the place has had such an impression on me I think I would be more than happy to live here. Staying with Lorraine Moller - an Olympic medalist, has definitely made things easy, introducing me to Peter Snell, Rod Dixon and Jorge Torres (training partner).

Jorge has introduced me to the endless trails of Boulder that range from easy creek runs to savage 30 minute climbs up brutal paths that leave your quads kicking and screaming. Apart from having to look over your shoulder every km or so, for bears and mountain lions, Boulder is the perfect training pad for elite athletes who want to take their training to the next level. At around 5000ft elevation, the thin air makes any hill much more menacing and every work out that much harder. So all going well, returning to sea level will allow for some solid pb’s and national records. I’m planning on returning home for the Auckland half Marathon to compliment my 100mile week regime that I’ve been running here. Then the plan is to hit the track sessions big time for five weeks in preparation for the Zatopeck classic in Melbourne where I hope to break the junior 3000m national record of 8:01. Anyway I must go, Pearl St in downtown Boulder has a gnarly smoothie shop and I am craving a berry smoothie, catch you running fanatics later.

Peace,
Cam.

P.S. To all the Boulderites that keep asking me if I’m Australian, the answer is no, I’m from New Zealand. BIG difference.