David Greene of Great Britain celebrates his gold medal in the men's 400 metres hurdles final (© Getty Images)
World champion Dai Greene just returned from a training camp in Portugal and is looking ahead to his season opener in at the Rome Samsung Diamond League Meeting. Not without spending a few words on football and the challenging weather…
“Hi,
“I’m back in Bath again having spent 10 days or so training Portugal. The idea of training abroad was to enjoy a change of scenario and a break from the norm and in that respect it served its purpose.
“Yet the weather was not quite what I expected, it was so windy but I still put in some good work. I went over there with other members of my training group such as Andy Pozzi, Will Sharman and Tasha Danvers and I bumped into lots of other members of the British team when I was out there.
“I did have a slightly embarrassing incident, though. I realised about three days into the trip when I went to get my iPod out of my bag it wasn’t there. I quickly worked out I might have left it on the plane and after ringing the airline the airport had kept it for me. Malcolm, my coach, helped me pick it up. Mind, I didn’t dare tell my girlfriend until I picked up the iPod. I would have really been in the doghouse had I Iost it, as she’d only just bought the iPod for my birthday.
“I celebrated my 26th birthday on April 11, which was a nice day. I trained as normal in the morning and then my parents and my two brothers, Darren and Stephen, come over to Bath to celebrate and we all went to an Italian restaurant in Bath.
“I’m proud of both my younger brothers, they are both good footballers and Darren, a goalkeeper, recently celebrated the fact his team won the West Wales Cup 2-0. The final was played at the Liberty Stadium, the home of Premier League Swansea City – it seems as if the Greene’s are having a decent run of sporting success at the moment.
“On the subject of football, I’ve recently been enjoying watching a lot of the top games on TV. It is getting to crunch time in many of the competitions and as for my team, Man Utd, their performances have been up and down.
“I really enjoyed watching the Chelsea v Barcelona Champions League semi-final. In case you didn’t know Chelsea pulled off a major shock to defeat the defending champions. I went to a local bar in Bath to watch the game and although I’m not a Chelsea fan by any stretch of the imagination I found I was cheering on their success. It was some game.
“As I hinted in my last diary column I’m due to make my seasonal debut at the Rome Diamond League meeting on May 31. Am I looking forward and excited to the start of the new season?
“Well, yes and no. No, because I realise I still have a lot of hard work to put in before I’m back racing again. I don’t want to be too excited because I don’t want to get complacent about the challenges ahead.
“I’ve also changed my training a little bit this winter. I carried on my endurance training a bit longer and I’ve only just started my speed endurance work. I felt last season when I started my speed endurance a bit earlier I began the season really quickly but never got any quicker. This year I may start out a little slower but I hope to reach a peak when it matters later in the summer.
“Finally, I’m going to refer to the weather again. Last Sunday (APR 27) I think I experienced my worst ever conditions for training in Bath. The wind and the rain lashed down on the track and during a 350mx5 session, the wind was so strong it was blowing you out of your lane. Let’s hope by my next IAAF diary I at least have some better weather to report.”
Dai
“Hi,
“I’m back in Bath again having spent 10 days or so training Portugal. The idea of training abroad was to enjoy a change of scenario and a break from the norm and in that respect it served its purpose.
“Yet the weather was not quite what I expected, it was so windy but I still put in some good work. I went over there with other members of my training group such as Andy Pozzi, Will Sharman and Tasha Danvers and I bumped into lots of other members of the British team when I was out there.
“I did have a slightly embarrassing incident, though. I realised about three days into the trip when I went to get my iPod out of my bag it wasn’t there. I quickly worked out I might have left it on the plane and after ringing the airline the airport had kept it for me. Malcolm, my coach, helped me pick it up. Mind, I didn’t dare tell my girlfriend until I picked up the iPod. I would have really been in the doghouse had I Iost it, as she’d only just bought the iPod for my birthday.
“I celebrated my 26th birthday on April 11, which was a nice day. I trained as normal in the morning and then my parents and my two brothers, Darren and Stephen, come over to Bath to celebrate and we all went to an Italian restaurant in Bath.
“I’m proud of both my younger brothers, they are both good footballers and Darren, a goalkeeper, recently celebrated the fact his team won the West Wales Cup 2-0. The final was played at the Liberty Stadium, the home of Premier League Swansea City – it seems as if the Greene’s are having a decent run of sporting success at the moment.
“On the subject of football, I’ve recently been enjoying watching a lot of the top games on TV. It is getting to crunch time in many of the competitions and as for my team, Man Utd, their performances have been up and down.
“I really enjoyed watching the Chelsea v Barcelona Champions League semi-final. In case you didn’t know Chelsea pulled off a major shock to defeat the defending champions. I went to a local bar in Bath to watch the game and although I’m not a Chelsea fan by any stretch of the imagination I found I was cheering on their success. It was some game.
“As I hinted in my last diary column I’m due to make my seasonal debut at the Rome Diamond League meeting on May 31. Am I looking forward and excited to the start of the new season?
“Well, yes and no. No, because I realise I still have a lot of hard work to put in before I’m back racing again. I don’t want to be too excited because I don’t want to get complacent about the challenges ahead.
“I’ve also changed my training a little bit this winter. I carried on my endurance training a bit longer and I’ve only just started my speed endurance work. I felt last season when I started my speed endurance a bit earlier I began the season really quickly but never got any quicker. This year I may start out a little slower but I hope to reach a peak when it matters later in the summer.
“Finally, I’m going to refer to the weather again. Last Sunday (APR 27) I think I experienced my worst ever conditions for training in Bath. The wind and the rain lashed down on the track and during a 350mx5 session, the wind was so strong it was blowing you out of your lane. Let’s hope by my next IAAF diary I at least have some better weather to report.”
Dai