Friday Fave. Winter Leggings!

As the cold winter months creep in, the dark nights become a little awkward for us distance runners! Running around the paths and roads in the pitch black can sometimes be a little hazardous! It’s important if you are going outside and braving the cold that you are wrapped up properly.

I always find it much more comfortable being too warm on a run rather than being too cold! It definitely keeps me healthier too and illness free by not allowing my immune system to be suppressed in such cold conditions. Headband, gloves and a warm running jacket are essential.



These Nike leggings have been an absolute blessing! They are of a different material to my other leggings – very thick and so keep all the heat inside, plus they are super reflective which is much safer for you to be seen by cars! Nike Flash Leggings.

http://store.nike.com/gb/en_gb/pd/flash-running-tights/pid-1556597/pgid-10259696

Hurdle Drills

The biggest change to my training program has been the input I have put in towards my hurdling. I've never had the opportunity to really focus on it before due to previous injuries and then illness.

I have started to do hurdle drills under the watchful eye of Nick Dakin. So far it has been one of the most valuable things I have ever done. Previously, I had never done any sort of hurdle work apart from one or two sessions before major races! But now they are a consistent part of my training program - not only increasing the mobility of my hips but more importantly increasing my confidence over the hurdles.

 I used to only be able to hurdle off my dominant leg ONLY – but we are in the process of changing this through drills and I can see and feel a big difference already.

Drills are not just specific for steeplechase or hurdling. Many of the athletes i've seen down at the track - from sprinters to marathon runners - all do certain drills involving hurdles. They help strengthen the hips and glutes which is important for running any distance and really enforce the the correct movement patterns for running, driving the knee through!

Birthday Session!

Unfortunately for me, my birthday this year just happened to coincide with my normal Tuesday Track day. Perhaps even more soul destroying was the fact it was -2 degrees when I jogged to the track this morning to meet Gemma Steel for our session! The weather has taken a huge dip in temperature the last few days but for track sessions – I actually quite enjoy it – wrapping up in my layers like an eskimo! The air is much more crisp which is perfect for a hard track session.

This morning we were treated to a shorter and faster session due to the fact we are both racing this weekend. It was nice to get the legs moving, as this time of year my sessions are usually all done at tempo pace – long reps and short recovery – so it was nice to switch it up!

We started with 5x1000m reps but the session cut down to end on 5x200m's.