May 19, 12
Well it’s been a very rewarding week having finally achieved Olympic qualification and overcome every obstacle and challenge put in front of me. I can now look forward to competing in my second Olympic Games and enjoy the build-up and home support in London.
In 2007 in my first attempt over 50km I achieved the qualification standard for the last Olympics in Beijing. This time around it took me 6 attempts over 2 seasons and on my last chance available before the selection deadline. You could not script a film about the whole experience. It challenged me in every way possible both physically and psychologically and I paid a heavy price for it too having lost my Irish Sports Council Grant as a result early this year, but I never doubted my ability for one second and it made my result last weekend all the more fulfilling and rewarding. I was in great physical condition (as I had been all of last season and early this season) and frame of mind going into the World Cup in Russia. I had done a solid 20km performance 3 weeks previously in Germany without receiving any red cards from the judges and felt I had turned the corner in my long run of misfortune.
After my previous 50km race in Dudince in March where I was Dq’d, a few key people pledged their support to me and offered to back me for whatever I needed and as I long as I needed it. These people included IIS Performance Scientist Caroline MacManus who looks after my physiological monitoring and testing along with her colleagues Antonia Rossiter and Alan Swanton who does my video analysis. Every key session I carried out in the past 7 weeks was videoed and I was able to see myself more often and work on strategies to maintain my form and technique while resisting fatigue. I also had the continued support of my Strength & Conditioning coach John Cleary and we changed a few things around in my gym program to ensure I was hitting my weak areas effectively. John who is based at the IIS in Dublin, came down to Limerick a few times to supervise my gym sessions and even the smalled interventions made a big difference. My physio Johnson McEvoy was also very supportive and on hand to help me whenever I needed him. My Yoga instructor Paulette Egan also played a key role. Mobility and felexibility has always been a weak area of mine and I’ve tried several ways of addressing it. I began working with Paulette last November and began to see obvious improvements in my mobility, but translating that into a more fluent technique in my sport has taken a while. As well as the mobility work that yoga involves, there is also the mindfulness work and breathing techniques that I had been working on with Paulette and that helped me stay calm and focussed in the heat of battle with so many external forces working against me. Of course I cannot overlook the huge support of my girlfriend Clare and that of my family and close friends too.
As has been well documented the conditions in Saransk were extremely hot and the course was challenging with a long hilly stretch on a good portion of the 2km circuit. It had been quite cold training in Limerick for the past few weeks and when I seen the long term weather forecast for the weekend in Saransk, I was slightly concerned that having not had time to acclimitize to the conditions that it could be a problem. But there was little I could do at that late stage only cope with it as best I can and I knew everybody else would be caught off guard too with this unexpected heatwave. I am usually quite good at performing in the heat so I didn’t worry too much. I received 2 red cards early in the first 9km which piled the pressure on me straight away. My first red card was for ‘loss of contact’ after 5km from a judge positioned at the top of the hill on the course. I don’t think it’s humanly possible for a race walker to lose contact with the ground going up a hill, but this judge gave me a caution after just 3 minutes on the first lap so he was obviously on a mission! My second red card was for ‘straight knee’ rule from a judge who has carded me before and looking at the panel of judges before the race he was the one judge I was most concerned about. Around the same time I recieved a caution from another judge (not a red card but the closest thing) so you could say that I was on 2 1/2 red cards and a fraction away from being DQ’d after just 10km!
All I could do at this stage was to change my rythm and pick up the pace as usually with me the faster I go the better my technique usually is. I did that after 10km, but to be honest I was expecting that third red card to come in at any stage soon. I got to 25km and was starting to feel more settled and when I got to 30km everything changed. The temperature had got up over 30 degrees and athletes in front of me began to suffer and I was feeling really strong. I was now banging out 4.30′s 1km splits and I thought to myself this is what racing is all about and something that I had been missing for some time. The adrenaline was in full flow and I was in my zone. I tried not to get too far ahead of myself and just followed my usual strategy of focussing on one 5km split at a time. My fastest 5km split was between 40-45km and when I got to 45km I began to relax a little and just enjoy those last few km’s. I crossed the line in 15th place in 3.52.55 over 6 minutes inside the Olympic A standard, a very happy and relieved man with all my Irish team mates there to meet me.
While my performance might be regarded as a breakthrough it is not really. It was my second fastest time for the distance behind my 3.51.32 50km debut in 2007. Back then I thought I had the world at my feet and that I would be consistently challenging for a top 8 position in major championships every year. That has not been the case and my confidence and reputation took a huge hit over the years since then as a result of events, but I have it back now and hope to build and capitalize on it. I am not getting too far ahead of myself though. Experience tells me that you are only as good as your last race and I’m acutely aware that one or two bad performances could knock me back to where I had been. But I will enjoy this week and the rewards that have come my way, but will keep my eye firmly on the ball as I now prepare for London. I am excited about performing in front of a home crowd and I want to enjoy the build-up and feed off the excitement and support in a positive way. At the European Championships in Barcelona in 2010 I went into the race less than 100% fit after overcoming a serious injury, but the 1km course was lined with Irish athletics fans shouting my name which kept me going and no doubt got me to the finish line in 11th position. The 2km circuit at The Mall in London will be even bigger with not only regular athletics fans, but people from home travelling over as well as those living in the UK and around the country who will take advantage of the greatest sporting show on earth right on their doorstep. I cannot wait!
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