Ten national titles!!!

I survived my first race of the season. I won nationals in 8.18 which is very average time wise but it is job done and a good starting point. Before yesterday I asked Sean what he would be happy with and he claimed anything under 8.3 would be good and anything under 8.10 would be some kind of miracle considering the lack of hurdles. I'm not a natural hurdler I have to work hard at being efficient over them so I have lots of work to do. After the race there was lots of press to talk too and then I got dragged off to drug testing. Because of this I didn't get to speak to Sean until late last night. He concluded that it was a good start but that I was hurdling badly, he did point out that I ran exactly the world indoor qualifier and that considering this I need to be happy. On top of this it was my tenth national title which is a nice little stat. I've always thought nationals was a really important competition so to have won it ten times is very nice.

The worst part of yesterday was drug testing, I did not need to pee at all and ended up taking two hours to go. The only saving grace was that Kelly Propor was stuck in drug testing with me so at least it was a bit of a laugh. I think Propor is great craic and she is an awesome athlete. Eventually we both were able to pee and got to leave.

I gotta go now as I need to be in the gym in a half hour.

Bye for now,

Derv

PS Hope you like the photo. It is from an ad campaign that I did for Trocaire. It is for the Trocaire fast this year. The whole idea is that you can give up anything for a day. I'm giving up the internet because I spend ages online fecking about most days! I guess no blogging that day...

Getting close to time to roll...

Hey all,

Well it's getting close to time for me to race in the Odyssey in the Irish national championships. Yesterday myself and Paul Hession did an athletics Ireland photocall and chatted to some press about how we are feeling for the weekends action. It was good fun, it's always good to hang out with the Hess and find out all the news with him. The same people report on athletics every year so it's not too much stress to chat to the reporters. It was nothing too tough just a cup of tea, a biscuit and a chat really! I think the best question I got asked was "What have you been getting up too when you're not training?" my answer "cooking and baking!". I'm sure the reporter wanted something far more exciting but that's the truth.

Training over the hurdles has gone from terrible to Ok to fine to crap to good during all my sessions this week. When I run well I feel good but my rhythm over the hurdles is way off because I haven't been able to practice much. All in all it's very rusty but I need to just throw myself into a race.

That's all for now,

DOR

new job....

I officially have a new job. I'm writing a regular column for the evening Echo in Cork. It's basically a diary about everything that's going on in my world. It's fairly similar to blogging online. I'm excited about it because Cork is my home town. No matter how long I've been away from Cork I always consider it my home and my plan is to live there when I eventually hang up my spikes. I think it's important to know your roots and when you're born and bred in Cork you are always a Cork girl.
Gotta go and write my piece....
Bye for now
Derval

New Talent=Rocky road cake

Last time I blogged I was talking about our group dinner. I was on dessert and decided to have a major chocolate theme, who doesn't like chocolate???? The dessert went down very well. I baked chocolate brownies and rocky road cake. Ailis did a prawn salad starter and Anna did a beef curry type main course, all very very nice. My boyfriend was going away for the weekend cycling and wanted to bring some rocky road. He was doing crazy cycling mileage (90mile cycle on the Saturday) and figured that him and all the other lads deserved to have rocky road cake after their cycle. Off I went making more and gave it to him. Now all the lads that he was cycling with (most of whom train in my gym in sportsmed) think that my actual talent lies in the kitchen not on the track. Who would have thought???!!! I wonder if they will give me a gold medal in Doha for cake making ability...I hope so.
In the world of running, it is going well. I'm back running over hurdles in spikes. It's good to be doing it but I feel very rusty. The last time I was hurdling properly was last September. I hurt my calf just when I was due to start hurdling which has meant that I only started yesterday. My plan is to race in the Odyssey next weekend over the hurdles. This is fairly ambitious considering the lack of hurdles sessions but I figure I need to throw myself in at the deep end and just race. What's the worst that can happen????
Thats all for now...
D

Running and Baking

Hello People

I've been having a great week. It's super to be back running. I have been getting back into full running this week after my little stint in on the side lines. I'm back running in spikes and doing hurdle drills so I'm hoping by the weekend that I will be able to run over some hurdles.

I love to cook and bake. Tonight my training group is having a group dinner. This means that everyone has a job to do and my job is dessert. When I make dessert for a dinner I never hold back and worry about the badness of it. I think everything in moderation is fine. This morning I got my apron on (yes I own and wear an apron I'm so uncool!) and I made a batch of chocolate brownies and then whilst I had flour all over me I also made a very chocolatey rocky road cake mix. One word for how it all looks and smells.....YUM!!!!! I can't wait to bring it all over to Ailis's house later and see if everyone likes it. In our group we have the pleasure of Ian McDonald as our main man. Ian is great but alas he is totally allergic to nuts so everyone is really paranoid about poisoning him! Thankfully I have avoided nuts in my desserts and I can't be blamed for any kind of Ian poisoning.

That's all for now. I will blog a dinner update!!!!

DOR XOXO

Back on track

3 and a half weeks of no running has finally come to an end. I'm officially back running. Last Saturday I went to the track to try running and see if there was any after effects on my calf. I'm happy to report that my calf was fine. It's such a relief to be able to run again. It hasn't been all bad in the gym but every hurdler girl has their limit and I had hit mine. Now Rome wasn't built in a day so I am starting back very carefully and trying to make sure I don't damage my calf again. I'm doing lots of strides in my trainers and hurdle drills this week. Hopefully by the weekend I will have the spikes on and will be able to run a bit faster. I'm planning on opening up in the Odyssey, it will be a bit rushed but I think it will be good to get a run under my belt.

I've been a bit busy as of late with a few other things. I recorded a t.v ad for the Trocaire campaign which will be aired from the start of February. It was really fun to do. The lead singer of the band "the coronas" and Irish goal keeper Shay Given are also in it. I attended the Irish Times sports woman of the year award and collected my monthly award. It was a lovely event and great to see how well all the Irish women are doing across the board in loads of different sports. Athletics had 4 women win awards in 09 which I think says great things about how well the women are doing. On top of this I'm back in college for semester two of my course.

Little Berlino is doing well and running around like crazy. She loves going to the beach and playing with other dogs. She is very happy at the moment because Peter and I are both around. The two of us were away at different stages in January and she is much happier having two people doting after her.

That's all for now,

DOR XOXO

Time to go home...

Yes I know it is late but I couldn't resist a quick blog. It is my last night in Portugal. As is expected with someone of my personality type I am obsessive. I mentioned that the girls and I started watching the first season of Gossip Girl, well we had 3 episodes to go and rather than watch it separately we wanted to see it together. Basically we wanted to be all girly and analyse and discuss our new obsession. It was so good. I loved it and cannot wait to start season 2. If you haven't seen it and are looking for a new guilty pleasure take my advice and buy season 1. Be warned it will keep you up late at night and if your like me you will develop a strange crush on a fictional guy called chuck bass!

I'm happy with how this camp has gone. I came here a little bit down and frustrated but now I feel like I'm doing very well. I have worked my bum off out here, I just have had to do things in a different way to usual because of my calf. Even though he has been giving me hard sessions I have to admit that Mark being here has been a huge help. I have trained super hard and despite having to take some time off actual running I feel very good. A photographer from sportsfile was here so here is a link to a couple of pictures of my alternative training in the past 2 weeks

http://www.sportsfile.com/more-images/PR1001008/

All that is left is for me to do one more session in the morning and pack my bag for home. I'm very excited to be going back but most of all I can't wait to give me little puppy a big cuddle.

Bye for now

DOR XOXO

''Close you eyes and tap your heels together three times. And think to yourself, there's no place like home."