Without a doubt, 2018 has been the longest season of my life. From racing over 60m indoors to 200m and 400m outdoors at two championships around the world.

It all started with the Commonwealth Games in early April competing for Northern Ireland. Aiming to peak that early in the year was always going to be a big rush, but we managed to do it. I got faster in each round and won bronze in the 200m final.

Throughout my time racing in Australia, I was also managing a hip problem which was affecting the groin and hip flexor. Thankfully a cheeky mini break in Sydney aided my recovery, before a few races around Europe helped me to get back into things.

Competing at the British Championships was not in my plans initially, but I headed to Birmingham as they are always fast races, especially in the 200m at the moment.

I won my heat in a personal best 20.27 and finished in the final with 20.31, which was also an improvement on my previous best mark.

The focus then turned to the European Championships. I still had no country to run for and time was running out, while I waited to hear from the IAAF about my transfer to Ireland.

Two weeks later, and with the IAAF deadline getting closer, I still hadn’t had a meeting referring to my future.

Waiting and waiting for something to get sorted I went into the Irish National Championships blind, running in the 100m and 200m not knowing if I was going to the Europeans or not.

I won the 100m and 200m and had pencil stamped my flight to Berlin. Thankfully, a week after the nationals, and days away from the European Championships, I got a call to say that my transfer has been approved. It took immediate effect, which was awesome news and I was off to Berlin.

It felt like the first day at school

Berlin for me was a different one, with three days notice to fly out and compete for a new country among a new team, I felt like a new kid at a school not knowing many people.

The team staff were amazing. I felt included and they made sure I had everything I needed!

Once race day came, I was straight into the semi-finals of the 200m and with 30,000 people watching, including my mum, I went head to head against the world champion.

I ran well and he just dipped me on the line. It felt like things were going to plan, a good semi and into the final.. what could go wrong?

Well, a tight left hamstring popped up. Usually, these things go away after a good warmup and stretch but not this time. Some sort of nerve damage was coming from somewhere and I didn’t have a clue where.

Determined, I ran the 200m final with one leg, and although I finished seventh, I was annoyed because I couldn’t give 100%.

After Berlin, I needed a break, so I took four days off to get myself back together. The time also helped me de-stress mentally from the whole transfer situation over the last two and a half years.

Then boom back into racing in Sweden, followed by an outing in Croatia. I have one final race at the Great North City Games this weekend, racing over 150m, which will conclude an eventful season.

With everything that had been going on in my personal life and also athletic life, to make my first senior team and also my first senior final I’m pleased with how my season has turned out. But I am still hungry for so much more.

RELATED: A dream medal at the Commonwealth Games

Leon Reid features in the ‘Fast 10: class of 2018’ and over the course of the year will share his running journey. You can read Leon’s previous posts here and further information about the ‘class of 2018’ can be found here.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post It was a long season… but a good one appeared first on Fast Running.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind, from sulking in my hotel room after running 20.90 in my first race in Australia thinking I hadn’t done enough training, to crossing the line in fourth in the 200m final at the Commonwealth Games, before being moved up to bronze.

It was just unthinkable.

I had high hopes for the Games, but as Northern Ireland had not won a medal on the track in 28 years I would be silly to think that there was much pressure thrust upon us to medal.

And in fairness, our small country, with an athletics team of 12, was up against some of the biggest in the world and more than punched above its weight.

Throughout last year’s training and over the winter my coach kept saying to me: “there is a medal there up for grabs, but only if you want it.”

These encouraging words kept me motivated all season and by the time I arrived in Australia I was ready to step on to the track in front of 40,000 people watching my every move.

The big day

Training had gone well, recovery had gone well and now race day for final upon us. Heat one in lane five with Olympic bronze medalist Warren Weir in lane seven.

No matter how many times you stand in front of a large crowd the first time is always the most challenging. How you react to it is so important as the smallest of things can leave you distracted. Easier said than done though, I was shaking like a leaf of the start line and the 32 degrees sun beating down didn’t help.

But I composed myself and focused solely on the rabbit in lane seven that I was set on chasing down and catching.

However, that plan quickly went out of the window. I slowly came out of the blocks with an athlete from Nigeria on my inside trying to ruin my dream before it even started. Thankfully though in the last 30m I was able to hold my form and just pull away in time to take second place behind Warren Weir.

Semi-finals

My big day. This was it, this was the moment I was going to show up and not get caught in the blocks again. But first… food.

Before the race, I escaped from the athlete village for a while, which was great in order to help me stay relaxed and calm. My mum and I went out for lunch, me still tired from the day before sat in the shade drinking a glass of cold coke and enjoying good food. Bliss, but it was quickly time again to snap back into race mode.

This one day was four years worth of preparation and nothing would get in my way.

The warm-up was okay, not great, but it went well, and then it was time! Final call for the third men’s 200m semi-final rang around the warm-up track and we were led out in lane order all ready to tear each other’s heads off to get one of the places for the final race that was on the following night.

BANG. The gun goes, and just like the day before so does everyone else, I’m sitting in fifth place coming off the bend but it’s not a 120m race it’s a 200m race.

Jareem Richards of Trinidad makes his move on the pack from fourth and quickly is ahead at the front and I follow shortly afterwards.

One step felt like a mile and the last 30m was a real fight for the line but I stayed strong with steady technique. Sometimes it’s about the person who can hold they’re technique longer and better than anyone else. Even if they are racing faster guys they will 9 out of 10 times come out on top.

Next thing I know the race is over and I am now in my first ever major final.

This is it

The day of the finals. I lay on my bed chilling, checking my phone as it had been none stop from the day before, still not trying to get caught up in the hype.

I had a small lunch as I hadn’t slept much from the day before and my body was slowly shutting down, I couldn’t nap and I couldn’t sleep so I just lay watching Adam [McMullan] playing Fortnite, while trying to prepare mentally for my big moment.

My coach is texting me, my mum is texting me, “have you eaten?”, “how did you sleep?”, “how do you feel” and as you can guess I wasn’t in the mood for talking so my replies were fairly blunt.

The warm-up was short and steady and my body felt like it had started to slow down. I was feeling tired and heavy but my coach knew this, I knew this, and all I could think about was… what if?

Let’s go. It’s call-up time

It’s quiet, but funnily you can always spot the insecure athletes that just want to make noise and talk to everyone, they don’t know, but you can smell the fear coming from their attempt at a conversation.

The gun goes, and this time so do I, with the fastest reaction time in the final I moved well with the pack then the pack started moving.

But it was do or die. I asked myself: “12 seconds left of running and you’re just going to let them run all over you?” No way.

I pick up a gear, I start to move my knees as high as they would possibly go and I crossed the line in fourth. At the time it was good, not great, just good. I was happy but then also disappointed as I was so close!

I was greeted by the media, “how was it?”, “you did well!”, then a flurry of people came running over “Leon how do you feel? you got third place, there was a DQ”.

I burst into tears, I was overjoyed, before being quickly ushered to the athlete’s collection point. There was a pause for a moment while we waited for appeals, but then it was finally confirmed.

Northern Ireland’s Leon Reid was a 200m bronze medalist at the Commonwealth Games.

What now?

Well nothing new, I am back at work, working my three jobs with minimal sleep.

No fireworks, no parties, no sponsors, no kit. Just a medal and a well done, but for now, I’m happy. I have a roof over my head and I am doing what I love, oh and my mum’s so proud of me and that is the best part about it.

So over the coming month’s I now hope to get in some fast races and then hopefully be in a place to represent Ireland at this summer’s European Championships in Berlin. This is just the start of Irish sprinting success.

Leon Reid features in the ‘Fast 10: class of 2018’ and will share his running journey every month. You can read Leon’s previous posts here and further information about the ‘class of 2018’ can be found here.

The post A dream medal at the Commonwealth Games appeared first on Fast Running.

It meant so much to retain by two Irish national indoor titles on the 18th February, especially after missing out on the chance to compete for the national outdoors due to my (still ongoing) transfer fiasco.

On the way to my achievements in Abbotstown, there were a few hiccups and a few idiots – to say the least.

My name was not put into the system to compete, my times were given to other athletes, I was not entered into the final, and not forgetting dodgy lane draws throughout the competition.

But that didn’t stop me.

I am the sort of person who takes the knocks and just moves forward, but, the behaviour that I experienced from some fellow athletes, no one should have to deal with.

This included spitting and shoulder barging before some of the races, which is really embarrassing and very immature on their part.

I have competed for Northern Ireland for years, and despite doing my utmost so I can represent Ireland, it is if I am viewed as ‘not Irish enough’ to compete for our country.

With my transfer from Great Britain to Ireland still not resolved, there has been positive and negative feedback, but looking at a bigger picture think how good we could be as a collective team – 4x100m team – 4x400m team.

But, hey, I am a high-level athlete and you cannot let these things get to you. I’m still smiling, and by overcoming every obstacle it just makes crossing the line first even sweeter.

I personally think some think I’m trying to take the number one spot in Ireland but I honestly couldn’t care about the ranking system, I want to put myself and Ireland in the same position as the rest of the world no matter the size of the country.

Back to the high points

People always ask me how I manage to keep going and even run PB’s in the finals after five or six races over a weekend. This all comes down to my training. We train for rounds, not just for one good race but a collection of good performances.

A thorough warm-up is very important, as is being diligent after rounds, whether that’s stretching or being seen to by a physio.

Being indoors, with a lack of air and a lot of bodies makes it dry and hot, so keeping hydrated is also obviously essential.

The next adventure

Fast forward a week and I am sat on a 7-hour flight to Dubai.

I was lucky to be asked by the ‘Athletes in schools’ initiative to come out to this part of the world and help coach some young aspiring athletes from the tender age of five all the way up to 17.

It’s a great initiative to get more kids interested in sport and after the input of the athletes hopefully have been inspired in some way. And not just in athletics, but if I can pass on anything to them it is to work hard and not give up even when something doesn’t go your way.

After the period coaching it was down to my own training ahead of the Commonwealth Games. I had a period training at Nad Al Sheeba sports complex which is owned by the crown prince of Dubai. This facility is out of access to the general public and you cannot enter unless you have permission from the highest.

30-degree heat at 10am is not ideal but it’s perfect practice for Australia, so no complaining here.

Recovery was no issue at NAS as they have the best cryotherapy lab in the world, as well as indoor and outdoor ice plunge pools, underwater treadmills, magnesium baths and so much more.

You think of it, they have it. Put it this way, their tech is so far advanced that they don’t even use the game ready compression things anymore. They have tech that we most likely won’t see in the UK and Ireland for another four years.

After that good block of training and I have now made my way to Australia’s Gold Coast and meet up with the whole Northern Ireland team. To say I can’t wait to compete in my third Commonwealth Games, is an understatement, I’m excited, I feel like I am in the best shape of my life and I can’t wait to get out there and race.

Thanks for reading and I’ll let you know how I get down under in my next post.

Leon Reid is part of the ‘class of 2018’ and this year will share his running journey every month. You can read Leon’s previous posts here and further information about the ‘class of 2018’ can be found here.

The post You can knock me… but I’m still smiling appeared first on Fast Running.

Everyone might think that being a top-level sprinter must be fun and easy, we go to the track for a little bit, then maybe the gym, and then we go home and be lazy.

Then we get to travel the world doing fun things… I wish that was the case.

I hope to outline that it isn’t as easy as this and share a few things from my own experiences on and off the track.

Firstly I’ll walk you through a typical day in the life of Leon Reid.

8am: My alarm rings and it’s either stay in bed for as long as possible or get up and start making breakfast. So being the ‘lazy’ sprinter it’s always an extra 20 minutes.

10am: Training begins. This starts with a nice long warm up during the winter because as you know it’s usually very cold or raining outside.

I won’t be keen to run 3x300m off 10 minutes recovery anytime soon. So a very prolonged warm up is essential.

1pm: Lunch is always on the move as I have to rush home and get changed before I start my coaching job at a local primary school. This keeps be busy from to 5pm.

5pm: A bit of time to chill before I go to my second job that night. A quick shower and catch up on the day, get some good food in and fill out my training diary. If I can get a cheeky nap in too I definitely take it.

9pm: It’s back to work, from 9pm to 3am I work in a local nightclub.

It sounds daunting, but if I’ve had enough sleep and tactically napped in between 5pm and 9pm I’m usually all good to go.

3:30am: Usually a cold walk home praying for my bed and my electric blanket, hoping to not hear that 8am alarm anytime soon before repeating.

Although my life is busy and draining it doesn’t stop me giving 100% in training… and behind all the hard work on the track there is a person simply trying to be the best he can be. My coach and I work day in and day out to make this dream a reality.

This year is a big year for me with the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games only months away. It’s my second Games after competing four years ago in Glasgow.

That experience didn’t go as smoothly as planned and it reminds me to heighten the importance of having a great support system around you whatever you are doing. My mum is my biggest fan and I couldn’t do it without her motivation and support.

That year of Glasgow 2014, I had an accident in Belgium where someone ran into me and broke my cheekbone, nose, concussion an bruised ribs and shoulder – the whole works. In the middle of my Nan’s wedding reception, my mum dropped everything to drive to Belgium and collect me from the hospital.

When it comes to racing, she doesn’t always get to see me race, but she always makes the effort to come to the big events it will be great to have her there in Australia cheering me on as she did in Glasgow 2014.

Next for stop for me will be the Irish National Indoor Championships later this month where I am aiming to retain my two titles in the 60m and then the 200m. I cannot wait to be back on the track going for my third and fourth national titles – so look out for my next post where hopefully I will have some good news.

To finish here is an insight into what an average weeks training looks like for me.

Monday – Gym
Overhead squat: 3×10 with weight
Hip thrusts: 4×8 building up the weight
Full clean: 5-4-3-2-1 getting heavier each set
Single leg squats: 3×6 with steady weight
Bench: 3×6
Optional upper body

Tuesday – track
Warm up: 30 mins (jog, comfort stretch, foam roll etc)
Activation Work: 30 mins
2 x 3 x 20m from blocks
4 – 5 x flying 20’s (30 – 20)
1 x 90m
Power development (1 x 5 SLJ, 1 x 5 Block Jumps, 1 x 5 SLJ arms behind back 3 x 10 Throws – 1 x 10 Jump forward throw back, 1 x 10 jump back throw forward, 1 x 10 vertical throw)
Warm down

Wednesday – Gym
Sand drills
Hurdle walkovers
Glute circuit
Light FAST weights
3 x 6 step ups (low box around 20cm). As fast as possible
.
3 x 6 reverse lunge taps into a high knee then a step up with the other leg 
3 x 10 lunge switches with a light weight on back (75% BW)
Upper body – 3 x 8 diagonal cables, dumbbell bench press, push press (in front and behind neck), hanging leg raises
Sit up circuit / sit ups / core

Thursday – track
Warm Up: 30 mins (jog, comfort stretch, foam roll etc)
Activation Work: 30 mins
1 x 4 x 30 blocks
2 x 220m (@ 400 race pace)
Power development (1 x 5 SLJ, 1 x 5 block jumps, 1 x 5 SLJ arms behind back 3 x 10 throws – 1 x 10 jump forward throw back, 1 x 10 jump back throw forward, 1 x 10 vertical throw)
Warm down

Friday – Gym and then track afterwards
Usually, a heavy gym session that almost kills us before the track. Then it’s an hour for lunch and then to the track to warm up for a technical session. For example blocks or foot positioning.

And that’s a general week for me, not including the Sunday session, but that is usually a lactic buffer as in some 300’s or 250’s fast!

Leon Reid is part of the ‘fast runners: class of 2018’ and during 2018 he will share his running journey every month. You can find out more about Leon here and further information on the ‘class of 2018’ can be found here.

The post The life of a sprinter is not so ‘lazy’ appeared first on Fast Running.

The 23-year-old Birchfield Harrier reached the 200m semi-finals at the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and will make his second appearance at the Gold Coast Games in April.

For the year ahead, the Bath sprinter aims to have an injury free year, conclude his transfer from Great Britain to Ireland, break the Irish 200m record, as well as improving his own Northern Irish 200m record.

Profile

Name: Leon Reid
Age (Jan 2018): 23
Hometown: Bath
Club: Birchfield Harriers

Main discipline: 200m
Other disciplines/events: 100m
Full-time athlete/work/studying: I work three part-time jobs; bar work at a nightclub, coaching at a primary school and store manager of a supplement shop

Goals for 2018

1) Stay injury free
2) Get my transfer completed from Great Britain to Ireland
3) Break the Irish 200m Record
4) Break my own Northern Irish 200m record
5) Be able to secure some funding, so I can sleep more than 6 hours a night

Career highlights

1) Northern Irish 200m / 4×100 record holder
2) European Under-23 200m silver medalist
3) European Under-20 200m silver medalist
4) Commonwealth Games 200m semi-finalist

Personal bests

1) 100m: 10.33
2) 200m: 20.38
3) 400m: 47.06

Interesting or fun facts

I can put my legs behind my head, but don’t ask how I learnt how to do that.

I love movies and I love gaming.

Enjoy chilling with friends, but enjoy my own space too.

Why do you run?

It’s the thrill. No matter your background, No matter your education or upbringing. When the gun goes bang we are all equal and trying to be the best we can be.

Favourite training session

120m runs. Just something about the distance is awesome. Use that bend and drive down the home straight.

Least favourite training session

350s. My coach makes me do them and I think he’s secretly trying to move me into 400m which will not happen while my heart still beats.

Favourite pre-race food

Coffee, orange juice and porridge to keep my energy levels up throughout the morning. Then I can nibble before a race, but breakfast is my favourite.

Favourite post-race food

Nandos! Or any wings, they are the key to my heart.

Favourite runner or runners

My favourite runner is USA sprinter Trayvon Bromell. His start is lightning and so beautiful to watch.

At the minute my starts aren’t that great, so I watch videos of his start and try and replicate it the best I can.

Chosen charity for ‘fast runners: class of 2018’

St Johns Foundation – It’s a charity that works hard supporting people to improve their lives; from independent living solutions to funding support to community activities.

These guys looked after me while I was on the brink of destruction, and don’t know where I would be without them.

Leon Reid is part of the ‘fast runners: class of 2018’  and will share his running jounery every month throughout 2018. More information can be found here.

The post Fast Runner: Leon Reid appeared first on Fast Running.