TRACKSPEED1 TUNING UP FOR ACTION

Trackspeed1 athletes originally grounded by the volcanic ash crisis, finally made it to their pre-season training camp in Central Florida last week, and are already looking trim ahead of their fist competition next week.

Coach John Powell was one of the first on a plane following days of suspense waiting to see if the squad could actually travel at all, but was in a confident mood despite a week's worth of training being lost.

"The UK weather was actually quite good during the time we were waiting to travel," he said, "and so the sessions we would have done in Florida were still quite good quality.  But there's nothing quite like the Florida climate and the facilities over here to get an athlete on top of their game.

"Speaking from the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, in Orlando, Powell added: "athletes here can focus on optimising their performance 24/7 if they want to, and that is great preparation for summer.  This last UK winter has been a nightmare, and training in some decent facilities in brilliant sunshine is about as good as it gets!"






















James Ellington warms up for the first track session in Florida at the ESPN track facility.


Trackspeed1 kick off their season next Thursday (May 6th) in the University of Central Florida Twilight Meet, in Orlando.  Traditionally a high level meet, the likes of James Ellington and young prospect david Bolarinwa, will be among Powell's protégées looking to impress early on in the summer calendar.

The squad will also be fielding a 4 x 100m relay team to see if they can beat the hugely impressive 40.69 second mark set two years ago at the same meeting - a performance that ranked as one of the fastest by any British domestic team in 2008, let alone a training squad.

The team that year consisted of Wade Bennett-Jackson, Jason Hussain, Phillip Doorgachurn and James Ellington.  This year it will be selected from James Ellington, Dwayne Grant, Jason Hussain, David Bolarinwa, Jer O'Donoghue, and Set Osho, with a very real prospect of a time close to 40 seconds if the change-overs go well.

"In the States, meets always begin with the sprint relays, which is a great way of getting into things without the pressure of an individual event," said John.  "It'll be fun, but of course we're really there to focus on how everyone is shaping up for the season."

Trackspeed1 compete again just 48 hours later at the Florida Gliders Spring Classic Meet, in Altamonte Springs, on Saturday 8th May.

Jason Hussain receives intensive therapy from squad physio's Lucy Eggleton and Stuart Phazey!

LATEST UPDATE RE: WARM WEATHER TRAINING

Trackspeed1 athletes due to fly to Florida for pre-season training last weekend are still rooted in the UK.  The Icelandic volcano continues to frustrate their trip, as well as those of many others.

A multi-agency meeting of key agencies including the British Government is scheduled for 7pm today 20th April, and Virgin Atlantic are updating passengers via their website at 10.30pm.

Coach John Powell and one athlete are rescheduled to travel tomorrow 21st at 1pm.  "The good news is that we haven't been cancelled yet," said John, "but it's getting very tight again, and if we are cancelled again, it gets hugely complicated with other athletes on different flights potentially flying ahead and having to manage cars and accommodation bookings themselves.

"The next availability is Monday at the earliest apparently, so a further cancellation makes this a real nightmare.  Much longer and we would have to evaluate how beneficial a trip would be from a training perspective, although I suspect some athletes will want to travel whenever they can."

FLORIDA UPDATE FOR TS1 ATHLETES

Further to the last bulletin on this site, the following should be noted by TS1 athletes expecting to travel to Florida this week...

Virgin Atlantic are going to fly additional planes out to Orlando from 7pm tomorrow.  These will be overnight and in addition to those scheduled to help the 8500 people stranded in Florida.

These planes will be booking soon, and there will be a chance that the whole party can get seats on them.  Everyone therefore needs to be ready to go to Gatwick tomorrow afternoon should they need to.

It would seem the worst scenario now is that John Powell and Jason Hussain will travel no later than Wednesday, Dwayne Grant as scheduled on Thursday, James Ellington on Friday, and the remainder of the party on Sunday.

Everyone involved must have their mobiles available for updates, as if the bookings are changed, you will have to fly early or your booking is lost!!

Any queries, call John Powell on his mobile.

TRACKSPEED1 GROUNDED !

Trackspeed1 athletes, coach John Powell, and therapists Stuart Phazey and Lucy Eggleton, have been grounded after their pre-season training camp in Florida failed to take off following the Icelandic volcano eruption last week.

The group, who would have included British Senior Internationals Dwayne Grant, James Ellington and Set Osho, not to mention youth starlet David Bolarinwa, and others, were due to leave on Sunday.  The whole group has been rescheduled now across the next few days, but coach John Powell, along with one squad member, have been put on a flight on Wednesday, and are now counting on some rapid progress.

"We are really tight for time now," said John, "and we are counting on the fact that the volcano has calmed down a bit today and might actually see UK airspace open again in time for us to fly.  We now have Dwayne booked for Thursday, James Friday, and the rest on Sunday.  But of course all that assumes there are planes in the right place to fly on!

"It's a logistical nightmare, because if I don't fly first, all the paperwork and bookings have to go with the first athlete to travel, and if that's Dwayne, he isn't one of those in our party who has a hire car reserved, so the likelihood is that at least he would have to be rebooked again."

Meanwhile, the squad have defaulted to training back at Crystal Palace and, although there were a few discontented athletes there on Sunday morning (instead of sitting on a Boeing 747 jet!), at least the weather was perfect for a track workout originally scheduled for Florida on Tuesday!

"We've got some athletes in seriously good shape this year," said John, "so wherever we train I reckon we are on for a great summer.  It's just devastating to have a month's trip to the sun that we had all been yearning after such a terrible winter, snatched from under our noses at such short notice."

The latest update was from Sky News 4pm on Monday 19th April, saying that flights could resume in Scotland tomorrow morning, and in the south by evening, but this was dependant on the volcano (below) continuing to calm down.