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Hi again,

Five weeks back into training and I’ve already completed some of the toughest sessions of my life.
Most of the athletes who train out of Lee Valley are back (training) again and there is a very positive mood among the British athletes ahead of London 2012. It may still be four years away but the London Olympics is a huge carrot and any athlete who can make an impact in London, no matter what the age, will definitely want to be there. I can’t see a lot of retirements between then and now.
It is also a positive place to be because of the success of the athletes who train out of Lee Valley. Four of the five athletes who won medals at the World Indoor Championships, including myself, train, at Lee Valley and with the likes of Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu also based there it has a positive impact.
I’ve been training well under my new coach Frank Attoh and at the weekend I carried out an old session, which shows I’m training better than ever. It is a fairly intense bounding session, which is on a football pitch at Parliament Hill, involving a 25m hop of my left leg, 25m high knees, 25m of bounding, 25m of bunny jumps, sprinting for 60m, then 25m on my right leg, 25m of bum flicks, 25m of tripling, then ankle jumps finishing by a 60m run. I’ve only ever completed four sets in the past but at the weekend I managed to do five.
I personally really enjoy the winter training. It is tough but I can really crack on with few distractions. There has been a tendency for some athletes in recent years to say, “less is more” in training but I believe you just have to get out there and do the hard work.
Lloyd Cowan, the coach of Christine Ohuruogu, has just come back from Jamaica and said the youngsters over there were training incredibly hard. It is no coincidence that Christine and Phillips Idowu, two of Britain’s most hard working athletes, are also two of the most successful.
Elsewhere, I’ve also been filling in my time by studying for a Level 2 coaching qualification. I’ve reached the age now when I enjoy taking up my time by doing something else. Coaching is definitely something I am keen on doing more of in the future and I sit my exam on November 23.
I’ve also managed to get out for a few rounds of golf lately, which I really enjoy.
I’m never going to become rich playing golf and although it is not going to turn me into a nine-metre long jumper I think the gentle exercise of walking up and down for four or five miles is quite useful conditioning. Well, at least that is my excuse.

Cheers

Chris