After racing in London late last year and then placing 2nd in the 2009 City to Surf, I was forced to take a break due to an injury. During this time off, I asked Ted (my coach) if we could begin to prepare for some track racing, as I had only done road and cross country races for the past four year. So, since January this is what my training has been focused on.

Ted wanted me to just ease back into this type of racing, and my first race back was the 5000m ACT State Championships. I was very pleased with my run at this event, placing 1st and managing to run a sub 17 minute time in my first ever 5000m track race. My second race was a 3000m at Christchurch in the Australia vs NZ test match. It was great to be able to represent Australia at this event and was another great learning experience for me.

I then did a few local cross country and track races, before heading down to Melbourne to compete in the IAAF Athletics Meet. This was a 5000m race, and I was quite nervous beforehand as the calibre of athletes at this event was very high, with some international athletes also racing. I ran really well, running a 35 second pb and finishing really strongly.

So with 3 major races now under my belt I am feeling very confident leading into the Nationals in Perth. I will be racing the 5000m event there, and I am hoping to get as close to the Commonwealth Games qualifying time as possible.

So far in the leadup to this event my training has been going well, and last weekend I won the 1500m State Title in a great tactical race. Now Ted and I are just going to work hard over the next couple of weeks so that I am ready to race hard and hopefully get another pb in Perth.

I have been building back into training following a personal best and Commonwealth Games A qualifying standard in the Beppu-Oita Marathon on 7 February. My next major race will be the Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon on 16 May. The Commonwealth Games Marathon Team will have been announced by then which will influence where I race for remainder of 2010.

After missing season 08/09 due to injury Paul spent the winter rebuilding and returned to full training. He made his long anticipated track return in a Victorian Milers Club meet at Box Hill in Dec and came away with a modest victory. He competed in an interclub 3000m in Jan and will be looking to make his presence felt again on the national stage later in the season.

I finished off 2009 with a win in the 5000m track race at the Chiba International Ekiden in Japan in November and in December I won the Silver medal at the Australian 10 000m championships (Zatopek) in a PB of 28:05, a Commonwealth Games B qualifying time. I just started my 2010 racing campaign with a win over 3000m at the Hunter Track Classic, in 7:55. I will now be racing the 5000m in Hobart, Melbourne and Perth - with the goal of qualifying for the Australian Commonwealth Games team.

The year started well coming off some solid training at falls Ck in January. I competed in my first race for the year in Hobart - a hilly 10km road race. I was very pleased with the race, running 29.50 and coming 2nd to Lee Troop with Mark tucker 3rd. unfortunately after this race I had a very sore Achilles and consequently made the decision to have a blood injection into the tendon to help heal the area. It has been a slower than expected recovery, having had interrupted training for the past month, I look forward to a return to full workload in April and a return to racing.

I competed in the Reading Half Marathon (21st March) finishing 4th. This was my last lead in race before making my marathon debut in 5 weeks time in London. I was reassured with the result that my training is going well. The approaching National Championships are going to be the first I’ve not been involved in in the last 10 years. It will a little unusual sitting back and just watching for the results.

Nationals is 3 wks away and training is going great. I spent last year on the bike to give my legs a break from running and let my injuries heal. I missed competing though so i started racing in cycling events. I built some great strength and started jogging mid january 2010. I went to Falls Creek on the 8th Feb for almost 3 weeks for an altitude training camp. It went well and I came back feeling like a runner again. I did my first track race in almost 2 years last Saturday night (27th March), a 3km club race in Brisbane. I ran 9:51. It was a little slower than i wanted but a good start. My next race will be the national 3km steeplechase in Perth. Here i am chasing a Commonwealth Games Qualifier to secure a place in the Games that are being held in October in India.

The last few weeks have seen me preparing for the upcoming Nationals. I haven't competed since the 18th March in NZ where I ran a 1500m. I am confident that my training has been improving in the lead up to Nationals and now can't wait for them to arrive. It will be the first time that I am competing at a Nationals in a Commonwealth Games year, so I know that the competition will be fierce.

I have been in Brisbane for the past few days as part of a camp for athletics australias target 2012 squad, which was based around the Brisbane grand prix last night. I won the 110m hurdles and felt quite good.

I'm heading back to Sydney and I will get stuck back into some solid training for a couple of weeks, then I'm planning on heading to either Perth or the gold coast for a comp on the 19th/20th before the Sydney grand prix on the 27th of Feb.

Everything is beginning to fall into place and my times are improving each week so I'm looking forward to the next few weeks.

I opened my season with a bang! A PB and a Commonwealth Games 'B' qualifier of 52.81 in the 400m. At this point I was very excited about how I was running and was looking forward to a successful season. However for the next few races I struggled to find my rhythm and became quite frustrated which added to my problems. I realized I needed to take a step back and start to enjoy what I was doing again.

Next was NSW State Championships and with my new relaxed attitude came with it a relaxed race. I was back down to 53.1 and a 53.2 in the heat and final. I managed to win the 400m to defend my previous NSW state title win.

I am now feeling a lot more excited about nationals and really enjoying my racing again which for myself is an important key for running at my best.

I hope to run a 'B' qualifier at nationals and place in the top 2 in hopes of securing myself and individual 400m spot on the Australian Commonwealth Games team.

I’m currently on a break (between seasons). I’ll use this time to get my wisdom teeth out. My next training camp will be in Mooloolaba, QLD. This will run for 4 days over the Queen's Birthday long weekend. After that I plan on racing the Gold Coast Half Iron Man, the Shepparton Half Ironman and then the Wanaka Challenge Ironman in NZ.

It has been a long season & I have pretty well accomplished all my goals. In short I have achieved the following this year:

- 7 World Junior Qualifiers for 800m, with the fastest qualifying time by over 3 seconds
- Achieved my goal to run sub 1:48 with a 1:47.56 at the IAAF Melbourne Track Classic
- Won my first major Open race at the Briggs Memorial Classic in Hobart in 1:49.58
- Won National U20 Championships in the 800m - back to back also winning last year. I will be going for 3 in a row next year
- Ran 3 PBs this season

I am competing in the Victorian Open Championships this weekend. After this competition I will be having a couple of weeks off and then I will commence winter training. My next major goal will be to break the APS 800m record in October.

If you'd like more information about the New Balance Development squad or details of how New Balance support athletics in Australia from the grassroots up, please contact Joanna Van Den Hoek on 03 9582 5501 or email joanna.vandenhoek@newbalance.com.au

SWEAT UPDATE
2010 has started off at a hot pace at SWEAT in Sydney.

The elite runners have been flying, with 5 medals won at Australian open championships which doubled as Commonwealth Games trials. Ben St Lawrence came 1st in the 5000m and 2nd in the 10000m, Lara Tamsett came 2nd in the 5000m and 3rd in the 10000m and Tara Palm came 3rd in the 5000m.

Several juniors medalled at the national junior championships, with the best being Todd Wakefield who came 1st in the u/20 boys 1500m. Todd will now represent Australia in the World Junior championships in Canada. Zach Rea (11th) and Lauren Parsons (18th) represtned Australia at the World Schools cross country in Slovakia in April.

The beginners/intermediate squad has continued to grow, with over 100 regulars. The runner's goals vary from 5km fun runs to ultra marathons. They love attending the Tuesday , Thursday, Saturday and Sunday morning sessions and sweating it out with their training partners. Some of the faster runners from this group mix it with the elites on the weekend.

The Kid's Running group also has over 100 regulars. It caters for youngsters ranging in age from 4-15. The sessions are very informal and lots of fun. They are a mix of form drills, strength work, sprinting, stretchin, hill work, relays, games, middle distance, cross country and handicap races. Ability levels vary from chidren just trying to get fit to Australian champions on the track and over cross country. Some are looking at graduating to the elite gorup by the end of 2010.