On the weekend of 20-21 February 34 of the female ‘On Camp with Kelly’ athletes met up in Birmingham for a get-together.

The Saturday afternoon was spent playing spectator at the Aviva Grand Prix, held at Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena, at which there were four OCWK athletes in action. 

After a night spent at the Village Hotel in Solihull, the athletes headed to Birmingham University on Sunday morning.  Upon arrival, Kelly initiated a discussion into what the 2010 season holds, highlighting key dates for all of the athletes and what they should be aiming for as well as emphasising the importance of ‘getting it right’ at the Aviva European Trials.

Training was next on the agenda and the majority of the girls took part in a group session of pyramid reps on the grass.  Kelly encouraged the athletes from the sidelines and even joined in on some of the reps!  Those athletes that are currently injured took part in a workshop with Performance Psychologist Dr Anna Waters.  Anna invited the girls to discus and share how best to mentally deal with being unable to run and how to maintain a positive outlook for the future, drawing upon the attributes that Kelly needed to win Olympic gold medals after seven years of injury struggles.  These athletes then headed to the pool or gym to do their training session, before everyone met up for a well deserved lunch break.

The athletes then spilt into two groups.  One of the groups looked at the Female Athlete Triad and a very interesting case study of Australia middle-distance prodigy Georgie Clarke.  While this was taking place, the other group spent time discussing and assessing their 2009 season and how they aim to perform in 2010.  Throughout this first half of the afternoon the athletes were also having one-on-one physio appointments with Sarah Connors and massage therapy with Lesley Bryant and Sarah Whitlock.

Another brief classroom session with Kelly was held, touching upon how best to prepare for warm weather training, before Kelly led an hour-long core session in the sports hall.

The weekend had a very relaxed feel about it, with the main aim being to train together and just catch up.  This was very positive as it allowed the athletes to have more time chatting with Kelly about any individual problems and to catch up with one another before they focus seriously on the upcoming months.

By Tara Bird

Photos Chris Smith