730AM – wake up to alarm, hot shower to prepare my muscles for a stretch out with some yoga. Get the back moving using some flows through downward dog and get the hips moving through some warrior poses. I sometimes throw a few press ups in for good measure (every day is chest day). I have some prescribed exercises and rehab therapy from my Physio at Welsh Athletics Adam Rattenberry that I must do every morning to keep my preexisting injuries at bay and maintain healthy tissues around my knee. I take a regular table spoon and some coconut oil and use it to scrape the quad muscles, knee tendon & calf on my right leg, this helps to improve slide and glide of the structures around the knee and helps to ensure the tendon is tracking correctly and not being unnecessarily overloaded.

8AM - single espresso, prepare breakfast today I had- omlette with pepper, mushroom, streaky smoked bacon, chilli, salt&pepper eggs & half an avocado. Pint of water. I avoid carbohydrates in the morning as on training days I find that protein and fats fill me up for longer.

 

9AM – drive 15/20 mins to Loughborough High Performance center.

920AM - warm up, 5 mins on the bike , 2 laps around the infield of the track jogging , low level running drills , some hip mobility , dynamic stretches – leg swings , accellereations into stride outs over 50m then we’re good to go.

10AM – hurdles and sprints blocks , 3 x 3 Hurdles from blocks, 2mins recovery (x 2) followed by 3 x 30m (6 mins recovery) flat sprint from Blocks. Working on the start of the race , reactions , acceleration phase and sprint mechanics / hurdle technique. We have this session twice per week as hurdles and sprints are a priority at the moment.

1130AM speed endurance session 3 x 120m 10mins recovery. Working on upright running mechanics and holding top speed with relaxed form. The last 50m of the 100m is all about not loosing speed, no one in the race is getting faster at this stage but it’s the athletes who slow down the least that will end up running the fastest times and winning the race. This sort of session is high intensity and you feel the lactic build up on each rep that’s why we have the long recovery to ensure each rep is quality and executed well.

12AM Wow butter buzz bar & water with SIS electrolytes. I always have a stash of snack bars electrolyte tablets , trail mix & sweets in my bag for the long days at the track, the buzz bars are the perfect size to snack on mid session they keep you filled up and taste great, I’m currently addicted to the wow butter bars and have at least 1 per training day. Its important not to let your energy levels drop throughout a training day, I need every session to be high quality so its great to have these in my training bag to maintain good energy levels and not feel hungry through the day.

1215PM shot putt session, Overhead throws with 4kg shot put for distance (between 21-23.5m) this is an extremely powerful movement and gets you prepared for the sessison , also I use it as a guide when Im fresh I can hit over 23m, on days where I only reach 21-22 I know my body is a little tired and can note that down in my training diary.

1-2PM short break , grab some lunch, today I took a short walk from the track to the students union on campus and had a chicken & avocado salad with a cappuccino.

3PM back to the high performance center for a gym session.(one of 3 gym sessions we do per week) Power Cleans, Squats, Bench Press, weighted pull ups, reverse dumbbell fly. All the exercises we do and to develop strength and power in the specific ranges for our events. We don’t train like body builders trying to put on size. Ideally we don’t want to put on any weight but get stronger throughout the year and power to weight ratio increases.

5PM drive back home & have a snack – greek yogurt, blueberries , raspberries, cinnamon , peanut butter & seeds. This is a standard post training snack, sometimes ill blend up a shake of similar ingrediants to get the protein and calories in after the weights session.

At some point in the evening ill hop on my foam roller and make sure legs, glutes and back are all feeling good for the next days training.