Feeling fast and fit and ready to go

Last Friday night in Oslo. This afternoon in London. On the way to Sydney these are more than just two mere roadstops along the way. The 1,500 metres at the Bislett Games in Oslo last week was an interesting test. I needed that race to see what sort of speed I had put into my legs in the past few weeks. I need today in London to see what my strength is like overall.

Oslo provided a strange but personally satisfying outcome. I finished ninth, but for perhaps the first time in a losing race I came away happy.

When you finish ninth you have no idea what you have done, what sort of time you have clocked. I came off the track pleased with myself - I thought I had run as hard as I could, but you don't know the detail till you see that time on a screen or a computer printout. When I heard I had done a 4:01 I was surprised. It hadn't felt that fast.

That was the only unfamiliarity. In Oslo everything seemed the same as when I left two years ago. I almost forgot that I wasn't there last year. I can't think of anything different about the Bislett Games except that they have a new airport which is further away than the old one used to be.

The crowds are still as crazy and as loud as ever. When Trina Hattestad, the local heroine, threw a world record in the javelin the place just went wild. The men's 5,000 was in progress and you could tell there wasn't a soul in the house paying attention to Mark Carroll and the boys. Mark ran really well by the way, and said afterwards that he felt strong and that he had better times in him. Myself, I felt good and relaxed on the start line and never really had a sense that the race was going to get away from me. I ran strong, and had that feeling runners always have after a good run. I could have run faster. Always you look back and think that if you'd known how strong you'd be in the last 200 you might have gone earlier or pushed yourself to take a second off each of the first two laps.

Coming off the track after a blanket finish like that is a nice experience. I know now there are worse things in the world than coming ninth in a race. In fact it was nice. I could get almost used to it - not finishing ninth, but running that fast and not having any fuss or any press attention afterwards. I just came off the track, did the warm down and sat back and watched the Dream Mile. Then I changed and went back out for another run. Last Friday night's was only a short race and I knew I had to do some training too.

The race itself was a good experience and a key part of the progress towards Sydney. We took off like thunder from the start and there was the usual bouncing and jostling. It took a while for my body to get used to the early pace, but once I settled I was pleased with how I managed to turn out the fast laps one after another and still feel strong. In a longer race I would hope to be able to do the same at some stage if necessary.

In the end it was a close finish and I think I paid the price for a little break in concentration. One minute we were all together and the next minute there was a little gap. It meant that I was coming from behind down the back straight. I felt strong, and if there had been another few metres I might have gotten past all those 4:01s.

I felt much better afterwards, stronger than after any other race so far this year. I've been doing less and I've been doing faster things, shorter sessions without changing everything else a whole lot.

I had gone to Oslo with a target time for myself. I was hoping for 4:03, maybe 4:04, so I was well under that. The 1,500 is a race which seems to get faster every second year for some reason, and to show you how fast this one was my time would have been in the top 10 in the world last year.

Everyone was everywhere as we crossed the line. I went inside quickly and Nick was in the mixed zone where the media hang around. He told me I'd run around 4:01. I thought not. There was a computer screen and they had the times. Times went down as far as five or six. Got ushered away and put my shoes on and came out to find it was 4:01. Suddenly 10 times happier.

BBC Radio were there and they asked if they could have a words. No problem. I thought I'd save on a phone call and tell Alan, my coach, that I'd run 4:01:70 . . .

"As fast as I could go tonight, Alan."

Naturally as soon as I got off the air I had to ring to see if he'd heard me. He was pleased, although it meant the end of his career as a soothsayer. He'd told me that he thought I wouldn't run 3:58 but I'd do something like 4:04. All season long he's been telling me before I go to track meets what time I will run, and every time he's got it right on the button. So when he told me 4:04 it was in my mind to run faster than that. It was nice to beat him for once.

How does it all affect my thinking in terms of competing in the 5,000 metres or 10,000 metres in Sydney next month? Not much. If anything it makes me think that I'd love to concentrate on the 1,500 again. There is something about running under four minutes for 1,500 that is really exciting and magical and I'd love to try that again. I felt after Friday night that if I concentrated on the event I could get down to around 3:57 or so this year. I don't have time for that this year though. If I were to run a few 1,500 metres races I would have to take volume out of my training. Maybe next year.

With regard to Sydney, I'm not fully decided in terms of sitting down with Alan. Am I thinking in terms of the 10,000 or 5,000? Both really. I'll run the 5,000 today and see how I go there, and then I'll have another piece of information to help me decide my programme for the Olympics. I don't know at this stage what sort of result will dictate my thinking. It will just be the right time to have the discussion with Alan.

It's not something which weighs on me too much at the moment. Last Saturday I was training in the park and Alan came with me on his bike. We were talking and I never even thought to discuss the Olympics or which event. I just forgot, and it struck me afterwards that Alan might have thought it strange.

It's more intuition that will decide the matter in the end. There aren't things I need to know about either event. At the right moment the right decision will just present itself in my mind. I just haven't talked about it yet. No real need to bring it on.

Looking at the calendar, it's possible to do both events, but I think you have to pick one event as your priority and go after that. The 5,000 metre heats are on September 22nd, with the final on the 25th, while the 10,000 metres heats are scheduled for the 27th and the final is on the 30th. Obviously if your best event falls first it's a lot easier to consider a double, as you have nothing to lose later on. If you are too greedy, though, you can fall between two events and come away with nothing.

At the moment everyone is playing cat and mouse. Nobody is doing anything in either event this summer that I don't think I can do. At the moment I really don't know who is running in which event, and I won't really, not until I get to Sydney and see them warming up.

All anyone can do at present is keep their heads down and mind their own business. I definitely came away from Oslo feeling that I'm back and running as well as before. The season had been a little up and down before then and I think I was leaving a lot of energy behind in my training sessions. It gives me so much more confidence to run fast and I feel like I'm doing all the right things at the moment.

Alan has made me cut about 30 miles a week off my training. He gave me mileage numbers for the different weeks and under pain of death I am not to exceed them. I was running a lot without realising how the miles were totalling up. Now I have a maximum. In the morning I run 20 minutes less and in the evening 10 minutes less. It makes a difference, and I fill in the extra time with stretches and sit ups and exercises.

Meanwhile, I've converted the back of the garage into a little gym and have got some weights down there. I go in and work out on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and do my sit-ups and weights. I haven't been too strict so far this summer on weight training, but the time has come to step it up. Just six weeks to the Olympics.

Oslo was also the cut-off line for eating things I don't need. I had to have some help and approval. I spoke to Alan, who was sceptical.

- Do you think I need to lose weight?

- No!

I insisted that I could be a little bit lighter.

- How do you propose to do that?

- Well, I can either eat less in the morning, just have fruit for breakfast.

- You can't abandon your breakfast.

So I said I'd cut out sweets, chocolate and biscuits. I don't know if it would make a big difference, but at least I'll know that I've covered all the bases, and if it all ends in tears I won't be able to blame Cadburys.

In conversation with Tom Humphries.