Since writing to you last month, I have had a brilliant opportunity to get a big block of training under my belt. About three and a half weeks ago, I finished my second year studies at St Mary’s University College in Twickenham and now with my free time, I have been able to focus all of my energy into being a full-time athlete! Wahoo!
The luxury of not having to commute to St Mary’s to get to lectures from my home town of Farnborough at unearthly hours in the morning has been a blessing. With a bit more time on my hands, I now have better time management to enable me to get more rest in the form of afternoon naps after my training sessions which also helps me recover quicker and feel ready for my next training session.
Since my last race in Warsaw, my only competition has been at the European Team Championships which were held in the picturesque town of Leira in Portugal.
Some of you may have seen the event as it was broadcast on the BBC. It is quite a prestigious event where 12 of the top European Countries compete against one another and athletes respectively score points for their country based on their finishing positions.
I competed for Team GB in the 3000m, an event which is not an official Olympic distance but is a great distance that combines speed from a 1500m runner as well as the speed endurance from a 5000m runner.
I finished 4th in my race against some hot opposition and picked up some valuable points for the team. Overall, Great Britain came third in the competition behind Russia and the eventual winners Germany, which was rewarding for all of Team GB to celebrate everyone’s performances together.
I was not totally satisfied with my race, as a new format was introduced for this year ‘Devil Take The Hindmost’, which only effected the distances over 3000m and 5000m. Unlike a typical race, where every athlete starts on the start line and crosses the finish line, the new format meant that the athlete occupying last position in the race with 5 laps, 4 laps and 3 laps to go had to drop out of the race!
Whilst the intention of employing this format was to encourage the race to go off at a faster pace from the gun and to add interest for the spectators, it was a very different race to the ones I am used to. Huge surges in pace before elimination swept the field of athletes together as athletes near last position would sprint to try to get to the front. This only served to encourage aggressive tactics, with elbows flying everywhere and lots of tripping over one another. I was lucky enough to not get too involved in this disaster zone but I felt the change in pace didn’t help me run to my strength I like to run a more even paced race and wind up towards the finish. Running economically has always helped me to run a fast time.
As mentioned in my last blog, I am racing in the Aviva World Trials over 1500m this weekend. I am really looking forward to the challenge and making the team for Berlin. My heat is not until 21.35 tomorrow evening which is very close to my bed-time so tomorrow I will spend most of the day relaxing by listening to my music and reading my book which is called ‘One day’ by David Nicholls. The final is on Saturday at 17.07 and before my race I will ensure I will have a coffee and talk tactics with my coach Mick Woods.
Once again, wish me luck and I will keep you updated.
Hopefully there will be some celebrations after the weekend!
Enjoy your weekend too!
Auf Wiedersehen!
Stephanie Twell
Xx LONDON 2012 xX
