Happy new year everyone. I'm here in Monte Gordo on a 2 week warm weather camp. It's been a ritual of mine to get away in early January every year as it helps get refocussed and set up for the season ahead, not to mention a break from the bad weather at home.

Colin Griffin has his sights firmly set on the London Olympics next year as he targets qualification over 50km at a European Grand Prix event in Dudince in Slovakia in March. The time of 3.59.00 is something Colin achieved with relative ease every year since his first attempt at the distance in 2007 where he posted a PB of 3.51.32, but this year injury and disqualification prevented him from posting a 50km performance leaving him chasing qualification in early 2012.

Sorry it's been a long time since my last blog post. I've been quite busy on all fronts, but most importantly I've been putting in all the groundwork in preparation for the 2012 season in the hope of qualifying for the London Olympic Games. As Christmas approaches, I'll certainly be glad to see the back of 2011 and excited to begin a fresh year with new goals and targets, with some big lessons learned from the previous season.

On Tuesday 29th last, Colin gave a presentation at a Road Running Endurance workshop at the University Arena in Limerick organised by Athletics Ireland. Colin, a Level 2 certified coach with Athletics ireland and Level 1 Strength and Conditioning Coach, spoke about Strength and Conditioning and Functional Movement for Endurance Athletes. The presentation slides prepared by Colin are available here