I had a very hard training week and I'm glad it is done. It all started on Monday in the gym. My first session doing the new phase of lifting, and when I woke on Tuesday I had a serious does of the DOMS (delayed onset of muscle soreness). I was not looking forward to what was coming on Tuesday morning.

I had one of those sessions where afterwards I had to be scraped up off the track. 450, 350, 250, and a 150. Serious running session. Nick wanted us to hit them hard, so it was going to hurt.

Overall I had a good session, I died a little on my last rep, but all my other run's were good, and I was hurting from Monday, so all was OK.

As I'm living with 4 other lads out here, we decided to chip in and rent an Xbox for the month, with FIFA!! Great craic, serious FIFA marathons going on, and as we all have that competitive instinct, it can get very interesting. I'm not the best at it, but im improving, and I've established a dream team with Richard Davenport, but he doesn't pass the ball sometimes, glory hunter!!

It can get abut boring out here, so it is good to have something that can help pass the time and stop you from thinking about athletics!

We had a rest day on Wednesday, and to be honest it was spent in front of the TV playing FIFA!!

As I move closer to the season, which will kick off in June, I am starting to do some fast sprint work in training. On Thursday, we had a sprint session on the grass, 12-second runs with short recoveries. I had a good session and tried to hit each run fast but at the same time stay relaxed and run smooth, but on Friday morning, wow, my hamstrings were singing as I hopped out of my bed. A small shock to the system, I just needed to be a little careful and make sure I stretch them out.

Friday morning was spent in the gym. Lifted really well considering my legs were tired, one of my best sessions to be honest.

Saturday was back on the track, again working on speed, running fast but trying to stay as relax as I can. It took me longer to warm up and I was been cautious about my tight hamstrings, making sure I felt loose and warmed up. I had short runs over 150m and 80m. Sounds easy enough, but when you hit them hard, 150 can be a long way.

All was good and Nick was happy with the work.

That brought my training week to an end, and I was looking forward to my rest day, I needed it. It was Rooney birthday on Saturday, so it was chill out by the pool for the afternoon followed by a BBQ. Not a bad life!!

Sunday. EARTHQUAKE. As I sat outside a café having lunch, everything started to shake!! It lasted about 90 seconds, very weird feeling, and it took a while to realize what was happening. I thought the old lady behind keep pushing my chair; I was about to tell her where to go...in my best Irish of course!!