Beginning of season update

I've been off here for a while, what with a heavy load of training as well as A-Levels and some kind of social life. Well, the winter training season seems to have come to a end so it is time for an update. First the good news, I was able to secure a SportsAid grant through the Dave Aitchinson Foundation which enabled me to buy my brand new carbon bike, complete with race wheels – beautiful even if it isn’t pink!

My first race was the National Duathlon at Loughborough. It was a very cold and windy day but I was looking forward to giving my new race bike its first outing. Sadly things didn't quite go to plan on the day, but I am going to wipe it from my memory and move on to the next challenge!
The following weekend it was off to Spain for a week training with the HPU team. I had such a great start to the week as within half a hour of the first bike ride I was on the floor and the brand new bike had its first scratches! All in all though, the week was fantastic. We had great fun and trained really hard. I only wish we had been caught by the ash cloud as I’m sure we would all have loved to stayed longer!

On returning from Spain I had the last of my winter running commitments, the London Minimarathon. I love taking part in this as the atmosphere is fantastic. We run the last 3 miles of the marathon course and the spectator support is amazing. I was pleased with my result because this was my last year in this event and 11th was a solid result, just ahead of my HPU team mate and training partner Armanni. For some reason in the heat of the moment I have decided to enter the ballot for the full event next year. Why, I have no idea!