Training in a winter wonderland!

It's strange to think that two weeks ago I was training in 35 degree heat, one layer of training gear on, swimming in the sea and chilling out on the beach in my spare time.

It's been a bit of a contrast the past few days with the snow falling down on good old England! I took a picture whilst I was in Aus of my view whilst revising. I was sitting in a small cafe on the beach side. I compared it to the view out of my bedroom window, whilst I was reading at my desk, two days ago - playing fields covered in thick snow and snow flakes tumbling down!

I rode early out on the road on Sunday so I dodged the start of the snowfall, but when I came out of swimming at midday the flakes had started falling and before I knew it the University Campus was covered! To be honest, I don't mind the snow, I quite like it! I think part of being a Brit is putting up and getting on with the weather, and part of being a British athlete is training in the British weather. That's why I didn't stay too long in Australia. I think it makes you stronger mentally as well as physically. I do love a bit of warm weather training though, learning to cope with heat and humidity is pretty important too, as I learnt last year.

Training has been going well since I've been back in the UK. I've been careful to wrap up warm. Two pairs of running tights and at least three tops has been standard training gear for the past week or so! Now I'm getting fitter I've started training with the guys in the Triathlon squad here a little bit more. It's great because I'm always getting pushed.

I'm still working hard on my running technique, Ben and I feel like I've improved technically from my season last year and from when I first started back training - but there's still a lot of work to do. Things like changing technique certainly don't happen overnight! We've been doing a lot filming over the past weeks and it's really interesting to watch it back and see what has and hasn't changed.

I've finished all my exams now, they finished last Thursday. I can never tell if exams go well or not. All I know is that I gave it my best shot - so I'll see what my results say in a couple of weeks time. My second semester starts on Monday with a whole new bunch of modules, so I'm pretty excited about that. If there's one thing I learnt from last semester, it's that I could maybe do with doing a bit more reading outside of lectures, just so I make sure I understand things fully.

So I'm staying put in Loughborough for the next few months, keeping things consistent. It really won't be long till the race season starts. I really can't wait to race again this year - still lots more training and hard work to put under my belt though before I get out on the circuit. The World Champion Series race in London has got me pretty excited - I reckon that will be great!

I'm off to the TCR road-show at Sandown Park this weekend, so if you see me about please come and say hey!

Take care,

Hollie