Archive for the ‘Eilish’ Category

Creating a culture of running in Scotland

By: Eilish

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I was extremely fortunate to be given the opportunity to head out to Kenya for 4 weeks of altitude training. It really was an amazing experience and gave me a real insight into how the Kenyan’s train and live.

For years the Kenyan athletes have been dominating the athletics world and after spending a month out there – it is easy to see why.

The whole culture is such a huge difference to back home. Running is normal. Back in Dundee, Scotland… running is not normal. You have to persuade people out on a run by claiming they can have a McDonald’s after it or that they can have a big weekend but not feel guilty about it – yet these little kids think running is a completely normal thing to do.

Out on my runs, there were loads of little kids jogging along beside us – no older than 5 years old, no shoes – yet these little kids are strolling!  Every single run I did there were always kids joining in, asking my name, what country I came from – a really unique experience.

I would literally have to throw my little brothers Xbox out the window to watch him run outside 2metres to collect it – yet these BABIES were out casually jogging alongside me.

The track in Iten is a completely open dirt track yet it has produced several World and Olympic Champions over the years. Another difference to back home, we moan and complain about facilities and yet these guys have the worst of the worst, yet the talent they produce is far superior.

Early on a Tuesday morning the dirt track was completely invaded with hundreds of kenyans all doing sessions – and when I say hundreds that is no exaggeration. In one separate training group, doing 20 x 1km reps, we counted 58 kenyan athletes. 58!!! You would be lucky to find 5 people willing to run around Dundee’s athletics track on a Tuesday morning – one of them,maybe, being me.

Kenya really has changed my outlook and reinforced that athletics is no longer just a hobby for me – it needs to become a lifestyle if I want to make any serious improvements. Fewer distractions, fewer worries – to try and live a simpler life – the Kenyan Way!

I’d encourage any of you to give it a try too.  It all starts with small, simple steps towards getting out there and doing it.

Eilish’s blog: Winter training….argh! : (

By: Eilish

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I thought starting back at University again would be a bit of a shock to the system but in all fairness, it hasn’t been too bad. The hardest thing has actually been starting back running again!

After a few weeks off – the past three weeks have been HARD! Fitness wise, it was a lot better than I had imagined it would be at this time of the year. In fact, my sessions have been going really well, however my easy runs have taken a bit of a hit.

With quite a large increase in mileage this year, every morning run has turned into a serious struggle. My alarm goes off on a Monday at 6.30am, I get up expecting to be bounding out of bed, down the stairs ready for my morning run – but in reality… My alarm goes off at 6.30am, I attempt to roll out of bed and realise that every muscle in my muscle is aching. I then hobble down the stairs like a 90 year old woman who’s been through the wars, hoping that my zimmer frame is at the bottom of the stairs to zoom me around Carnoustie but unfortunately there is just a pair of trainers waiting to take me around the cold, dark, freezing Carnoustie Golf Courses.

Although it is a struggle to get out the door – it certainly is not because ‘I don’t want to’ or ‘I can’t be bothered’. I LOVE running, clearly… and not many people are lucky enough to have their hobby as a ‘job’. Running for me, is not a chore. It has never been a chore. I get a buzz from doing every single run on my training program and feel a sense of achievement at the end of the week knowing that I gave it my all and couldn’t of done anything more. For me, every other competitor is training equally as hard as me – you can’t afford to give them a head start.

More soon!  Eilish x

Eilish: onwards and upwards

By: Anna

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With London 2012 now a distant memory the country is in the midst of an Olympic comedown. We all watched captivated as our amazing athletes picked up medal after medal, smashing record after record but,  while we hope the legacy and feel good factor live on, we’re all left with a big hole in our lives – our viewing ones anyway – as life returns to some form of normality.

Well, if you think you’re feeling the ill effects of the post Olympic gloom then spare a thought for the athletes. For every Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah or Sir Chris Hoy success story there’s those who maybe didn’t quite hit the headlines or quite achieve what they’d hoped to. It doesn’t diminish in any way their achievement in reaching and competing on such a huge stage, but how do they deal with the post-Olympic demons – could they have done things differently, could they have been better?

There will be a lot of soul-searching for some, but not so for Eilish McColgan. She was probably still slightly out of breath from running her heat when she was honest enough to admit publically her disappointment in her 3000m Steeplechase performance. But at the tender age of 21, and bearing in mind it was her first Olympics, she’s not going to beat herself up too much. For Eilish it’s a case of onwards and upwards.

“For me the Olympics was a bad day at the office, but nothing to be too down about,” said Eilish. “I’d competed well all year, but some days you just have an off day and that was mine. It was my first time ever competing in a stadium that size so it was a huge step up for me and I think I was just really nervous.

“With more experience, and the experience I gained there, that kind of thing won’t happen again. I’m 21 and that was the biggest championships of my life – I’ll never be fazed like that again.

“My mum and I have spoken about what I need to do to improve. I was on half the weekly mileage of the girls I was competing against at the Olympics so I need to up my training. I also need to start doing barriers and hurdles work in training. When I was in training for the Olympic Steeplechase I was just doing running with no technique or barrier work and maybe that showed, but due to injury I hadn’t been able to do it. If I can stay injury-free this winter then I’ll see a massive improvement come the summer.

“At London 2012 a lot of the athletes – if not most – were full time, there were only a few of us doing university degrees and working as well as being athletes. When I get the option to go full time and put all my efforts into training then I know there will be a huge improvement in my training and overall performance.

“I’ve got no time to dwell on things, I’m looking ahead to next season and my main aim for next year is reaching the finals of the World Championships – I think that’s definitely a realistic aim.”

Eilish doesn’t just talk the talk, she can walk the walk too.  Two weeks ago in Manchester she took 17 seconds off her personal best in the 3000m. Olympic hangover – not a chance!  All in all this season – which is one meeting in Italy away from finishing – she has set personal bests in the 3000m Steeplechase, 1500m, 3000m and 5000m plus made her Olympic debut. In anyone’s eyes that’s a pretty amazing achievement.

 

 

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