Sky Academy Scholar and athlete Jessica Judd ready for track after winter training
Friday 24 March 2017 12:14, UK
Dreaming of Rio must have been tough fighting through the mud and wind on all those cross country courses during the winter.
One of Britain's rising stars in the 1500m Jessica Judd has spent the last few months competing around the country building up her strength and pace for the outdoor season.
A trip to Colorado for training at Boulder will be the perfect tonic for the 21-year-old Sky Academy Sports Scholar preparing for the last leg in her qualification process towards the Olympics.
Here are Jessica's thoughts on her winter battles and preparation for her big summer challenges....
This winter has been really exciting and a great learning experience. I've absolutely loved racing over the cross country this year and never expected to do as well as I have.
I'm building up for the track but cross country just helps improve your endurance and provides a good foundation from which to add the speedy stuff!
I really enjoyed starting my season at the National Cross Country relays running for Loughborough Uni, and then steadily progressed onto the European Trials in Liverpool. They went well where I was sixth in the U23 race.
I was left off the European team which I was a bit disappointed about. It really motivated me to see how much I could improve by the end of the Cross season though!
After Liverpool, I got my head down and really focused on training and did a couple of Midland leagues before and after Christmas. They went really well and all my sessions were good, although I felt tired 100 per cent all of the time!
My next big race was in Cardiff which we saw as a trial for British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) cross country. That went so well and I couldn't believe that I came fourth.
It was a big positive for me and my aim was then to get to BUCS in the best possible shape.
But I was so disappointed. That was probably the most upset I've been all season. To go from feeling in great shape two weeks before to struggling in the mud and finishing ninth was horrible.
It took a lot of positive comments from my coach, family, boyfriend and team-mates to continue training that next week. I'd felt that I'd put so much effort into that one race and it had gone horribly!
However, I picked myself up after a couple of days and I aimed for the National Cross Country Championships after a brief stint indoors at the 3k.
I ran a pretty sensible race and although it was very tough on the hills I managed to come in 11th. It was great to bounce back like that and something I really needed.
After talking with my coach George [Gandy] after the race we still realised there were a couple of things I needed to work on.
We got back into training and prepared for the Inter Counties which was my last race of the year in the cross country.
I executed the race perfectly and managed to come fifth, probably my best ever cross country race to date! It was fantastic to finish the season on that course, with my dad and boyfriend cheering me on the whole way.
Now the training starts to change towards the track and I will be heading off to America. I'm so excited to really begin my track season there and get speedy again!
It will make all the 8k Cross Country races worth it. I am looking forward to having views like this when I'm training again. Fingers crossed training goes well and I'm excited to see what the summer will bring.......
WHAT'S COMING UP FOR OUR SCHOLARS...
MARCH 28 - APRIL 3: Jessica Judd, pre-season training in Colorado, USA
MARCH 19 - May 2: Holly Bradshaw, training in USA
APRIL 9/10: Sam Oldham, British Championships, Liverpool
