Happy New Year and a big welcome to 2012 :)

Wishing everyone an amazing year of adventure, fulfillment and love!!!

I've waited a long time for this year, so waking up this morning I must say was pretty exciting!!! There's lots to do and lots of big plans...so bring it on. It was lovely to start an Olympic year in the beautiful (albeit very wet) Bay of Plenty.

What ever is on the cards for you in twenty twelve go after it with everything you've got. Life is short so make the most of it...that's certainly what I intend to do!

Here's to 2012 X

Happy heptathlon training over the holidays...

Second to last day of the year and a great way for me to close the year out with a solid strength session this morning:) I enjoy training at different venues over the Christmas break and it's always nice to mix it up. I find it funny in some gyms there is a big separation in what and where the men and women workout. The ladies generally are in the back room doing an exercise class and the men are throwing around free weights. So, in I go and join the boys! To the random man who spotted me this morning, thanks! I think he probably gave me more help than I needed and wanted but he was very helpful. Safe travels to those on the roads over the next few days:)

Merry Christmas!!!!

Christmas with family=dream result.  Poppa Joe (89) and me

Wishing everyone a blissful day with family and friends around the world. How lovely to come together with family and friends. I hope everyone has had a lovely day :)

The Jacko effect...

Yesterday I was joined in my throwing session by two young boys Zac, 8 and Tim, 11. The boys had come down to the track to practise throwing. Elena, my coach invited them to join our training session and gave them a few tips along the way. It was so awesome to see these two young members of our club and keen kiwi kids outside, active and doing rotational shot put!!! They were pretty dam good at it too :)

The boys had taught themselves their technique by watching videos on youtube. Elena gave them some key points to work on. It was great to see through the session their awareness develop and as a result the distance increased. Fundamentally these two boys have got the goods. Earlier in the day their throwing shoes they had ordered off the internet had arrived. It took me back to the times when I would get new spikes and the eagerness to get to the track and run.

So here's to Zac and Tim, two young boys inspired to throw shot put on a Thursday afternoon because a dude named Jacko Gill dared to dream and is delivering on his promise. It's exciting times and hopefully there are plenty more youngsters out there doing similar things :)

Recovery between heptathlon training sessions

Someone once said to me, "everyone can train hard but being able to train hard day after day is the key". With this in mind and the nature of a two-day multi-event such as the heptathlon, recovery is a critical part of what I do.

Fortunately at the National Training Centre where I am based we have a recovery centre which is fantastic. I'm a daily visitor to the recovery centre and in particular the cold pool. I've done all sorts of different recovery protocols in the past but last week a NZ Triathlete gave me another one to add to the mix! So, on Friday I tried a full body submersion up to my chin for 5 mins and then 1 min of dunking my whole body under. Usually I only go upto my hips...eeekkk

I'm glad no one was around to witness my reaction to going deeper in the cold pool. It really took my breath away and all of a sudden I was in ante-natal class panting my way out of it! I always find the first 90seconds of being in the cold pool the hardest so I knew if I could get through to 2mins I would last the distance.

Cold therapy for me is a dream result when you have had a hard session. The principle behind going deeper is to cool your heart and lungs. As your heart is a muscle it makes sense to my physio brain that it needs to be cooled as well. Kids don't try this at home but if you are a weekend warrior even getting the hose out after a run on your legs for a few minutes will hopefully make a difference so you can go harder tomorrow!

Training up a heptathlon storm in sunny Dunedin!

I had a great week in Dunedin, training up a storm with Angus, Becks and the other Dunedin based athletes. It turned out to be a bit of a warm weather camp which I am not complaining about as Auckland has soaked in rain. I had some great sessions, talked a lot about heptathlon and had great company to train with :)

Caledonian Track, Dunedin - Myself, Angus and Becks

Having competed at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Becks knows what it takes to be an Olympic heptathlete. Becks suffered a potentially career-ending injuries at the Delhi Commonwealth Games and has shown great tenacity and perseverance to be back on the track. It's great to see you Becks getting stronger and stronger with every session. She is a great friend of mine and you can follow her Olympic journey at www.rebeccawardell.com

Heptathlon training fest down south!

I'm currently in Dunedin for a training camp with my good friend Becky Wardell (aka Geezletron) and my strength coach Angus Ross. It's great to have a change up in environment from my base at the National Training Centre at Millennium and also train with some other pretty sharp ladies based in Dunedin. My time down here has turned into some warm weather training with sunny Dunedin turning on pearler days for training - thanks guys! My other strength coach Mike was also down in Dunedin today so that was pretty cool.

Bec and I - bit of cheese after a great day at the office!

PB 600m for me and PB clean for Bec = 2 happy heptathletes

It's great to have a different environment where like MISH athletes are going full tilt to improve their performance. Being surrounded by like-minded focused athletes has been hugely beneficial and a good pre-xmas boost!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBvcor_nOxg

The link above is to a youtube clip I recently was involved with the ASICS Why I Run? series. It was great to be part of the series with my long-time supporters ASICS. There are other athletes and runners who share their views on why they run? Check it out and feel free to add your two cents in too!

It was great to reflect on some key questions involved in the campaign. Questions such as, what are your favourite running memories? and what is your earliest running memory? certainly got my upstairs working.

I think reflection is a great thing. Often we do things 'just because'. Whilst 'going through the motions' is sometimes acceptable, the game I'm in is high performance. I want to be consistently and constantly on my toes! Without being too analytical and thinking far too much, it pays to have attention to detail and reflection. So in saying that, remembering my early memories of running through the Redwood Forrest in Rotorua with my family were pretty dam cool and most importantly remembering... why I run?

Purple points eater delivers...

Elena and I at Mt Smart after my javelin competition

It promised points and she delivered (yes my javelin is a girl) . Thank you! Great to have a personal best throw yesterday by 1.25m at Mt Smart. Lots of foot fouls so run-up practice is on the cards!!!!