Hello everyone, here is my last entry from Commonwealths...

Race Day:

Got up around 9.30am went and had a decent breakfast. Then checked my e-mail and watched a little of the other sports that were happening to try and take my mind of my own race. I don’t want to start wasting energy on getting nervous due to sitting around and thinking about my race.

Around 1.30pm I went for an easy 2-mile run to get rid of any lethargic feeling I might have from sitting around doing nothing, plus I needed the run to wake my body up. After a shower and a late lunch (due to the time of my race!) I started getting my things together and making sure I had the essentials, spikes, vest, shorts, and numbers. I got the bus to the warm up track which was a track just opposite the competition stadium at 5.30 pm, race time is 8pm (first call up is 55 minutes before race start time, 7.05pm).

Once I got to the warm up track I sat down for a few minutes to take it all in. (Plus I was observing what the 1500m boys were doing, in particular Craig Mottram!). At 6.30 pm I started my warm up and stretching. First call up we were taken to a tent in the corner of the warm up track, where we had to sit with an official who went through our bags and taped up any illegal advertising, such as the Reebok sign on my socks. Once all my competition had their stuff checked the drove us in a bus to the stadium where we had a 50 m track under the stadium to run on this is where we were told to put our spikes on. Second call up was 15 minutes before race time we then sat in the final room just before entering the stadium. I was unable to see the 1500m final due to the fact that I was in the second call up and not out on the track. With 10 minutes to go we where walked out into the stadium and around the track the start line. As we walked round the crowd was very supportive and I was able to find my mum and family in the crowd as I went round.

The first lap was a 72 (too slow) so I went to the front and started hitting 68/67 then the Africans came by but it felt they slowed it down and boxed me in so I tried to get out but as I did they took off I heard some of the laps for the Africans were 61! (Way too fast). I then tried sitting on Micheal Aish (New Zealander!) but a Tanzanian got in between us so I went round him he then he went round me this went on for a couple of laps then he dropped out and I just felt so heavy and bad after this especially as I found myself all by myself. The race was just a tough race to be in but one I am glad I was in and like I said before this provided me with invaluable experience and knowledge about racing with the big boys on the international scene.

I finished 8th in a time of 29.41! I ran in spikes and the track was real hard which cause trouble with my calf’s, I think I need to run 10,000m in racing flats it seems like every time I run it in spikes I have problems.

I have learned a lot from this experience and I know that this will be valuable to my future.

Thanks

Gavin

Thanks Gavin and well done. Good luck with your running career.

Will you be staying around to let us know how you are progressing? Are you targetting the Europeans (Cup and Championships) later in the year?

Thanks for the insider insight Gavin

Well done again on your time and your place.

Other than changing the shoes is there anything else you can identify you'd like to do differently next time? Anything in training? In eating? In race strategy? Anything at all?

<Hollywood goes off to buy some Reebok socks in the hope that they'll make him faster...>

Perhaps if Gavin had made 50 posts and received his free X-socks.........

I will check the forum out as much as I can and give updates whenever possible. As far as this summer goes I want to try and get my times down that will be the main aim but I would also like to have a crack at the Europeans as I feel the experience of Commonwealths will give me valuable knowledge going into another championship such as Europeans. Europeans will also help me to learn more and put me a step closer to the Olympics.

There are a couple of things I would have done differently now that I have run in the commonwealths. I would go to Australia a little earlier maybe a couple of weeks earlier so that I could have got a couple of races in to make me sharper...maybe a 5k or 10k road race. The extra couple of weeks would have given me a little long to try and establish my usual habits from back home...such as getting back to eatting the way I usually do (being in the hotel and village it was easy to get carried away with eatting too much!). Also by going out there a little earlier I could have taken more time in over coming jet lag before starting back with hard sessions...I felt a little like I was rushing it.

Oh and of course I highly reccomend the Reebok socks!