From Barcelona to Russia!

This really has been an amazing season!
At the start of the season my aim was to qualify for the European Under 23 Championships! I could never have dreamed that I would have won a Silver medal at the Europeans and in doing so run the World Championship A Standard! This is after running in the Olympic Stadium in the Anniversary Games against the best.

After my run in the Olympic Stadium

The holding camp in Barcelona was wicked, the perfect place!
It's a great athlete bubble, all we do is sleep, eat and train! The weather was hot and provided great conditions to allow us to train and prepare for Russia.
In Spain my coach Steve King came out, which was great to have him out there so we could continue our normal routine of training (well not really normal as the weather was perfect and the sky was blue nearly every day!).

After our last training session in Barcelona

We had a great set up out there, the team all got on and full credit to the team coaches, medical and Physio team, they all worked non stop for the whole time we were away. After every session I was thrown straight into the ice bath, which for anyone who has ever had one it isn't the most pleasant of experiences, but it really does work wonders on your body and speeds up recovery!
After 9 days of the Spanish sun, it was time to travel to Russia! It really began to creep up on me how big this is, this is the World Championships the biggest event of my career so far! We had a 4 hour flight to our destination, as soon as we arrive you get a sense of what Russia is all about, a lot of huge, epic buildings!

Ice bath time!

We arrive at the Crown Plaza, a huge hotel, also known as the Russian World Trade Centre. At the hotel we were greeted by big bald security guards and had to put our luggage through a security scanner, like at the airport! We had to do this every time! But with countries like USA staying in the same hotel the security had to be tight.
We got to the hotel pretty late, and I slept awfully the first night, the time difference just spaced me out! The 3 hour difference doesn't sound much but it took me a couple of days to adjust.
I was at the hotel for 2 days before my first round race! The days leading up to my race were pretty chilled, resting, light Physio work, wandered down to the warm up track to have a look around and a light warm up. The final preparation was all about mentally preparing and going through some final points with my coach Steve over the phone and a few comments from  Malcolm Arnold, our team hurdles coach.
The day finally came  of my heat! I was very excited to get out there and run! Walking out into the stadium it was great to hear the British support and amazing to know my best mate and fellow KTC athlete, Craig and his girlfriend Claire had made a surprise trip to Russia to see me compete!
I was drawn in possibly the hardest heat, but knew exactly what I needed to do! Was slightly off the pace through the first 250, but worked hard down the home straight and just missed out on qualifying in the top 4, I ran 49.66. After a very nervous wait I sat in the stadium and watched the next 5 heats waiting to see if I would qualify as a fastest loser, it turned out I didn't have to worry because I did qualify as the fastest loser and I had run quicker than the other two Brits!
I was so excited for the next days semi final! I knew exactly what I needed to do, the semi final was going to be my final. I knew I would have to run flat out! I didn't want to leave the track feeling I could have run faster!

 After resting, eating and preparing for my race mentally in the evening, I knew I just wanted to get out there & race again. After my warm up and some last minute Physio, I was feeling prepared!
Again I was in the first semi, and again was a pretty stacked heat with some top boys! From the warm up area to the track takes about 50 minutes as you have to take a bus journey with all the competitors in your heat! This is a long time to keep your self warm and switched on!  It's all about being able to relax and stay focused!
Stepping into the stadium that night was incredible, the atmosphere was electric, the champs have had some complaints about the stadium not being full but that evening with the likes of Russian superstar Yelena Isinbayeva vaulting the crowd were deafening! I knew this was my final as I was against the top hurdlers in the world. I ran a much better first 250 so much faster! This was great but at the same time I had the same issue I had at the Diamond League, I was running too fast between hurdles so I clattered the 4th hurdle! This set me back a little bit! I was able to get back in the race and only just came 6th with 49.32 my second quickest time! I worked hard all the way, I still felt a sense of disappointment and didn't want the experience to finish! But after talking to my parents and coach I realised I had made them proud, I had tried hard but my best just wasn't quite enough! But, I’ll be back!

This was an amazing and incredible experience, I loved every second of it, and this really makes me realise this is what I want to be doing, racing and competing against the worlds best! The hard work is going to continue this winter, so I can improve further!  The exciting thing is at the age of 22 and this being only my second full year of doing the 400 hurdles I have so much to learn, and know I can improve so much more!
The rest of the week I spent cheering on my team mates and enjoying the whole tourist experience of Russia!
Flying back to England was strange, but it was great to be heading home to see family and friends but at the same time, spending almost 3 weeks in this elite Athletics world, where you get to know everyone so well and live the perfect life, it is now weird being back in UK & the old routine!
I have a few more races lined up this season and then will have a much needed break!

Thank you for your support!

But huge thanks to everyone who has ever supported me, the support on Twitter and Facebook was overwhelming! Much love! 

One of my interviews http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_e_mRkptF4

Heat 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSHshoQno5o

Semi Final http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pztf5wDYjIw

BBC Interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA_ALxWkA18