Crazy Spring Training

Spring training, it was the perfect opportunity to get another big block of work in between Lugano 20k and the European Cup on the 17th May.
That was the plan any way.

After a solid performance in Lugano, I had a slightly lighter period of training to allow my self some recovery time from all the races. We decided not to do another more international 20k's this spring to allow my self a big block of training, to raise my fitness to the next level. By the beginning of April I was back in the swing of things ready to put in 6 big weeks of training. However, life sometimes gets in the way and I had the first disrupted weeks of training of the year. Little niggling pains and a very random cold meant I didn't get the most out of those first two weeks of training and, because I over think everything, I panicked thinking my season was doomed!!

Of course this is just any athlete always thinking the worse and after a week at home where I put in a decent week of work I was feeling far better. That week finished off with the British Athletics National 20k. I was not targeting this as a race, but planned to use it as a tempo session and do just enough to win. In the end my training pace was still enough for me to win the race by over 10 minutes. Which is slightly disappointing in terms of depth in British walking. However, with a strong group of juniors walking 10k on the day, and a few others having bad races for one reason or another, was it not for that my victory would have been much closer than it was.
I was happy with my time of 1:29:16, as that was my second 20k session in 3 days, both in the exact same time. A real indication that I am in fine form, after all 1:29:00 was my PB in 2011, now its my training pace! I was also very proud to lift the National trophy for the fourth time in my career. I hope to better the current record number of wins which stands at 6, by the end of my career.

I started off strongly and maintained my pace throughout the race, I even had the chance to enjoy my training session and make the most of the winning feeling!

Having done a total of 25k that morning (I did 5k before the race) I was pretty relieved when it was over, as I had put away the first big week of training since Lugano and my legs were feeling it. However, I still had time to do my celebratory victory dance as you can see above.

Getting my hands on the trophy again along with another British gold medal was a nice way to round off all the racing I had done through March and April.

This week of decent milage and high quality work was a springboard back into form and I truly felt back on track. I went on to clock another couple of big weeks of training from that meaning April ended up being a decent month of work, which we hoped for. Panic over!
The fatigue was building up from all the big tempo work we doing, and despite some painful sessions I didn't let the fatigue stop me and my resilience really showed through. It hurt a lot!! - as you can see here... #PainFace




Next week I head back to Torrevieja where I spent a month training back in February to prepare for my next race. It is close by to Murcia where the European Race Walking Cup is being held on the 17th May.
You can see the full GB team for the Euro Cup here... European Cup GB Team. This will be my fourth European Cup, I made my GB debut at this championships in 2009, in the Junior boys 10k, so it's pretty special to me.

It could be a bit of brutal race if its a very hot day, so it's important to have the exposure and I please to have the opportunity to head back to Torrevieja two weeks prior to help my preparation for the race. I hope to back up my 12th place finish from last years European Athletics Championships in Zurich in Murcia next month.

On a slightly more serious note, a couple of European race walkers recently have failed drugs tests and both admitted to cheating. I have been asked my stance on this. My stance is not up for debate, I have been asked a question so here is my answer. If you fail a test, serve your ban, return to athletics if you wish, but with a life ban on international competition, no exceptions, the same rule for everyone. Its the athletes own responsibility to know what they put in there body, there are many aids to help the athletes, e.g. the WADA app. That does not mean companies do not have a responsibility with their products. But if you have any doubt on a product, especially with supplements don't use it. I'm not sure why a healthy athlete would use them any way, the risk of cross contamination is high and there is always a far better, natural source of the supplement they are using.
Thats got that off my chest!

I'll update you all if a few weeks from Spain with my final preparations for the European Cup. I'll also let you know if I've got a tan of any kind. Fingers crossed.

For more information on me head to TomBosworth.com
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