Solid Start

What a weekend! It was great to compete in my first Great City Games in Manchester. Running the 200m hurdles for the first time was an amazing, different and exciting experience and it was good to be so close & involved with the crowd. The weather was fantastic but it was a shame I had to run against Andy Turner and Feliz Sanchez, two brilliant athletes who have had years of experience running this distance. Please see the race on the following link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7dP5Ftn62E I hope I will be asked again in the future, as I now know what to expect!
Running for England on Sunday was good and my performance was adequate and "solid"! This was my first proper competition of the year and I felt rusty, especially after all the excitement of the previous day. Every season the first major race is tricky, I felt uneasy and nervous. I usually start slowly and improve, hopefully reaching my peak in the major competitions - I hope I can do the same this summer?! Watch this space.......I am off to Belgium to compete next week, let's hope the sunshine returns.

Let the new season begin at the Manchester City Games!

The Hillier Training group in Spain - I am flying!!

After a long winter and great warm weather training in Spain for three weeks, the new season begins this weekend (17th & 18th May) with a bang!  On Saturday I am off to Manchester to compete in the Great City Games. I will be running the 200m hurdles. Manchester is a great city and it will be fantastic to compete on the streets in front of so many people! It will be my first time running a 200m Hurdles race. The hurdles are shorter than what I am hurdling at this moment, so it is going to be strange running a different stride pattern. This event is been televised on BBC1 starting at 1pm. My race will be on at 2.15!
After my race I'll be heading South to Loughborough where I will be competing for England at the Loughborough International on Sunday. I have been selected to run the 400m hurdles and 4 x 400m relay. I am really looking forward to competing for England. I hope the weather is good after last weekend!

Warm Weather training - Viva Espana!

400m Indoor PB in Slovakia

After a quiet winter where I just competed in two indoor competitions, I am off for three weeks to Spain for a much needed warm weather training!
It's a hard life being a athlete I know! This is my first time out in Spain with my new training group, so I am very excited to get out there and check out the new facilities!

For the first week I will be in Barcelona with the British Athletics team and then off to Murcia to meet the rest of my training group!  It is strange not heading out with my old training group, who are already out in Spain! Best of luck to my KTC family! I hope training goes well!

Training has been really good for the past couple of months, apart from catching a bug which put me out for a few days! My coach and I have really increased my weights in the past couple of weeks, can already feel a benefit on the track and in the gym!

England Team in Slovakia

As I mentioned, I only ran in two 400m indoor races. The first one was in Slovakia representing England. Ran an indoor PB but I was not pushed, but it was good to get a race during the cold winter training. My other race was a disappointing at the UK Champs in Sheffield. I was barged out of my race in the first round! I think people know how I felt about the incident!! Less said.

So I am looking forward to Spain, for the warmth and relaxed atmosphere, which prepares me physically and mentally for the up and coming season! Knowing that I have done all the hard graft all winter with the fantastic coach and backing team, I am really looking forward to the season ahead and meeting my targets!

Farewell 2013!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

As you may know 2013 was a very special year for me. I see this past year as my real breakthrough season and am very much looking forward to improving this in the coming season!

2013 ended with the an interview with Ben Holt at Juice Brighton FM and a night out to the Sussex Sports Awards, where I was nominated for Sussex Sports Personality 2013.

It was a huge honour to have been voted the Sussex Sports Personality and for my previous coach Steve King to have received Coach of the year made the evening extra special.! This year the awards ceremony was held at the Brighton Grand Hotel. It was an evening of glitz and glamour to celebrate the achievements of the county's most talented sportsmen and women, volunteers and coaches.  Active Sussex once again did a fantastic job. We had a huge table with my family, friends and everyone who has been a major support throughout my carrer so far!
It turns out it was a very memorable night with a double win! Steve King who has dedicated so much of his time coaching not just me but many top athletes, finally gets the recognition he deserves!
I am delighted to have won this award and to finish my 2013 season on a high! For me and Steve to share another moment together was very fitting!

See my interview http://vimeo.com/81349411
http://www.activesussex.org/sportsawards/sussex-sports-awards-2013

I would like to thank Ben and everyone in Juice FM for been so patient with me. I was late for my interview due to the world deciding to visit Brighton to shop! All the car parks were full! I was not able to take up Ben's challenge to race up the Juice FM staircase. Next time Ben!

I headed home for Christmas on the 20th of December. I have loved every bit of the last few months training and living in my new home in Bath, but I was so looking forward to heading back, seeing my family and friends, not forgetting my mums roasts and hot baths!!

Of course training does not stop over the Xmas period, so training moved from the luxury of the indoors in Bath to a very, very, very windy Eastbourne track! It is possibly the windiest track in the country but at the same time it is nice to be training where it all started! Brings back strange memories - high jumping, school sports days, long distance running etc! How things have changed! My Dad came down to the track to watch and keep me company the other day. He has been a huge driving force throughout the years and being back down the track reminds me of being a fourteen year old and my dad patiently coaching me!

I must say it is disappointing to see the lack of Athletes down the track training. I was down the track every other day and have only seen 3 other athletes once down there. Hopefully more athletes can be inspired to take up athletics. If there is any young athletes who read this blog, remember, just because it is Christmas it does not mean your training stops. If you want to reach your full potential then you must commit and put the hard work down on the track, you have to want it!

I have very much enjoyed my time in Eastbourne, and it will be sad leaving loved ones, but I cannot wait to get back to training in Bath again. I have missed my group and am looking forward to getting back to normal training! When I get back my coach, James and I, will be going through what indoor competitions we want to do this year. We are not focusing on indoors but will be nice to break up the training and have a blast out! Talking about training, see http://www.athleticsweekly.com/coaching/how-they-train-seb-rodger/ where Athletics Weekly have an article of my training schedule in Bath. Same article appeared in the AW December 5th issue.

A huge, huge thanks to my team for their support in the past year - my family, friends, physios, and of course Steve King. He may not be my track side coach but we have been through so much together he will always be a key part of my team!

I wish everyone the best of luck in 2014. 2013 will never be forgotten but this year is time to step it up again! Watch this space!

Many thanks all!

Cold Bath!

The winter has truly began! I am now training full time in Bath, a huge step moving away from family, friends and my training group!

With Steve in Finland

It was a very tough and sad decision moving away from my coach, Steve King and my old KTC group. Steve has done a fantastic job coaching me, he has been incredible, patient, positive and always been there for me when I was a decathlete. When I switched events to be a 400m hurdler he knew I had potential and believed in me & researched the best way to tackle my new training schedule, we have been a great team, but I needed to train with other athletes.

I am now training in Bath under Great Britain Hurdles coach James Hillier and my POC
is Malcolm Arnold. I have known James for many years and am very pleased to have moved here. He is exactly what I need to move up to the next level, I am in an environment where I am surrounded by other world class athletes which is what I thrive on! Also to top a great year, I have been rewarded by being put on national lottery funding! (Olympic Podium Potential) This is hugely helpful and allows me to live in Bath and do what I love full time! Another huge advantage being based here, is I have British Athletics support and the Medical and Physio team are available to me all the time before and straight after training. This is making a huge difference with improving recovery, mobility and weaknesses in my body, which can only make me a better athlete! I can now regularly take ice baths after training, no more long car journeys home to have a cold bath!
I have settled in so well with my new training group they have been really accommodating and friendly. It is great to have other top athletes pushing me physically and mentally every session!

I have been nominated for the Sussex Sports Personality 2013. It is great to be acknowledged after an  incredible year on the track! My previous coach, Steve King has been nominated for Coach of the Year, which he hugely deserves after all the amazing work he has put in with me and other athletes!  The Awards night is on Friday 29th November, so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

Athletics Weekly have nominated me for British Breakthrough Athlete of the year! I am against some pretty tough competition but please vote if you have a spare minute, your support is greatly appreciated!  Please go to www.athleticsweekly.com/news/awards-2013/

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

From Russia with Love!!

Following my amazing time in Barcelona and here in Moscow for the World Championship, I want to thank everyone for your support. Honestly can't believe the amount of support I have had! Loved the experience, did my best, more to come!

I will write more about my wonderful experiences when I am back from Russia. I'm still Buzzing!! :-)