As I look back to the last time I stood on a track, it was 31st July 2011. I was in Belgium surrounded by athletes and other New Zealanders who were all there for the same reason – because we have a passion for this sport! Here, I ran my 5000m personal best of 15.41, and on that day I did not realize how much this race would be my motive and hope to get back into running, during an injury that was about to be with me for the following year. As runners we all have our goals and dreams for our running careers. For me, as I returned from run...

So our adventures in Europe have come to an end. I am writing this last blog in JFK airport, New York, as Lucy and I wait for our flight on our trip home to New Zealand.    Looking back on the past five weeks, we both feel so blessed to have had the experiences we had over in Europe. Our last 10 days in Leuven were great - we had the chance to go into Brussels which was fun (walking through its Royal Palace was a highlight)! I completed my European racing on the 30th in Gent, Belgium, where I ran a 5k in a mixed race. With the help o...

Our trip to Italy went smoothly and we arrived at Padova late Friday evening. We were picked up at the airport by this Italian guy who didn't speak much english so the trip to our hotel was quite interesting! The weather here is pretty hot compared to Belgium, between 27-30 degrees C. I got lost running which was a bit of a scary experience considering not many people speak english! Luckily, I found a policeman who understood where I was staying and we communicated through hand signals...I thankfully got back to the hotel about 20 minutes later...

It has been another great week in Belgium! The food continues to amaze us...we grabbed a Belgium waffle on the way home from the track the other day which tops the list, it was amazing! Also, we finally found the forest everyone had been talking about so now most of our runs are in there! We seem to see a different pro runner on the trails every day....it is pretty cool running past the people you look up to! Today was Jenny Simpson, Molly Huddle and Kim Smith!  On Saturday I (Lucy) raced at the Kortrijk meet in Belgium. Unfortunately it w...

So we have been in Leuven now for six days and are having a blast! We are living "belgium style", in a little apartment that has three confined stories...great to be immersed in the belgium culture. We have been having a good time exploring Leuven, picking up fresh bread from the bakeries and locally grown fruit and veges on the way home. The food has been a major highlight...just cooked up a storm with fellow New Zealander, Malcolm Hicks, who we have been traveling and exploring Belgium with! Yesterday, the three of us ventured to our first ra...

Hey everyone, Sorry for the lack of blogging...however we are here to redeem ourselves and fill you in frequently on our Europe adventures over the next 5 weeks. Before we start, we thought a rundown of the past six months would help you gage where we are at. I (Lucy) have been pleased with my progress on the track this year. Indoors was a fun time for me as I was able to run some fast times. I was focussing on the 3000m during this season. I ran 8:56 and came 3rd at the NCAA Indoor Champs for this event. I was also able to get my mile time dow...

Hey Kiwis, We are so excited to hear all of the great results at NZSS Track and Field! Congrats to all those who are competing! We thought we would blog to you  all with a summary of our 2010 Cross Country season that has just finished, before we head into our Indoor Track season.  Our season started off with hard training in July where we got a good base of high mileage (60-70 miles per week) and endurance workouts (long tempos). Looking back to the beginning of the season, we now have realized how important that training was. To com...

Hey Kiwis, We have just completed our third year at Stony Brook University and have just arrived home for a three week break before we head back. It has been a good year for us both and we have been pleased with our progress. I mentioned in our last blog that we were heading to Regionals, in North Carolina, with the goal to qualify for the NCAA Track and Field Champs. We both achieved this and were off to Eugene, Oregon, a week later. We were both relieved and excited to qualify for Nationals as the pressure at Regionals was on everyone to perf...

Hey Kiwis, Thought I would give you an update on how the outdoor season has been going for Holly and me, as we are now in the full swing of things. We have both been very blessed with being healthy all season so have been able to get a lot of consistency and train to our full potential. I opened up my season with a 800m (2:11) and a 4x800m relay at a small track meet in Rhode Island which was good to get the cobwebs out. The following weekend I raced a 1500m in North Carolina, coming 2nd in the race in 4:17, which was what I needed to place a t...

Hey Kiwis, Well the indoor season has now come to an end...and the outdoor season is about to begin! The last time I blogged I had just run my first indoor race of the season, when I raced a 3km in Boston and ran 9.28. The weeks following this race, I was able to get good and consistant training, milage and workouts in to help me progress through indoors. Three weeks after Boston we had Conference where I ran and mile in the DMR and a 3k the following day. This weekend proved to be good for me where I was able to ran hard through trai...