It has been a busy few weeks since my last blog post while I was training in Portugal. After I got home I moved into a new house in Limerick, and a new office for my work with the Altitude Centre Ireland. Training has gone very well and I'm looking forward to kicking off my 2012 racing season with the Irish Indoor Championships in the Odyssey Arena this weekend.

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.

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.

Since my last blog following the World Championships in Daegu, things hit another low when I got disqualified at 48km in a 50km race in Germany just over two weeks ago, while I was well inside the Olympic qualification standard of 3.59.00. This was a huge setback. At the start of the season, I never thought I would be in this situation going into 2012 chasing and Olympic qualification standard, a standard I have comfortably achieved every year since 2007. While it is not an ideal situation to be in, it is not the worst either, as it has triggered me into making big changes to my whole coaching and training structure, as well as my support network and I will be going into 2012 with a greater sense of focus and motivation and a fresh approach.

I am writing this blog on my flight home from Daegu, where it has been a very disappointing World Championships for me.  I was disqualified after 30km of my 50km race, while I was inside the top 30 and moving up the field. Having reached halfway in 1.56.28, I was not for off my PB pace for the distance and well on course for achieving the Olympic 'A' Standard of 3.59.00. This is a very frustrating outcome after a whole years work preparing specifically for this event. It also puts me in a situation where I have yet to achieve the Olympic 'A' standard for London next year, and it may also have serious repercussions regarding my High Performance funding and support for next year, as I don't have an 'A' standard yet this year, or a major championship performance to meet the criteria. This would not be a good situation to be in going into Olympic year, when I need the High Performance funding support most.