HUSSAIN IN THE FORM OF HIS **LIFE**

It's been ten long years in Trackspeed1 UK for 28-year-old Jason Husain, and he's improved well in that time, but nothing will have given him more pleasure than his lifetime best 200 metres at Gainesville, on Friday, where he clocked 21.21 seconds - the fastest time of his life!

Jason Hussain - the longest serving member of Trackspeed1 UK ever,
cracked his lifetime best 200m Stateside on Friday (24th)

The Tom Jones Memorial track and field meet in Central Florida provided the stage for Jason to produce the most impressive sprint of his life, and yet it came from lane nine - a hugely wide bend which, physiologically could be said to pose an advantage, but with nobody ahead to focus on, a significant psychological impediment!

"Jason has shown every sign of being in seriously good shape this year," said Trackspeed1 UK head coach John Powell.   "He didn't execute the race particularly well, so there is definitely more there, and if he doesn't run sub-21 seconds this year, I will be very surprised indeed!"

It was the highlight of another good day for Trackspeed1 UK, who  produced a second personal best performance through Niclas Baker, whose 50.74s 400m cracked his previous best by nearly a second - all the more impressive after an injury-torn winter prevented him from training for long periods.

Elsewhere Dean Hylton produced the fastest opening 100 metres of his life for any one season, indicating greater things to come,  and Matthew Threadgold gritted his teeth in the 400m as a huge blister formed on his foot half way round, but he held on too clock 49.73s, just inside his performance at Clermont 6 days earlier.

Possibly the most impressive of the short sprints was again Emmanuel Stephens.  He would have been expecting a better performance than his 10.42s at Clermont a week earlier, but his 10.64s wind-legal time was a walk in the park as the opposition melted behind him in what was effectively a solo effort.

Emmanuel Stephens decimates the field in Gainesville
to cruise to a 100m victory

Nathan Gilbert and Chris Pope both also competed in the 100 metres, but were clearly not ready to return from injury as both broke down in their relevant races, but in the words of John Powell, are "95% ready to get back into things within the next 2 weeks".

"It sounds like a cop-out," said John, "but the heat has to be experienced to be believed, and it had a massive impact on athlete performances.  I am completely confident that we have a group now ho are posed to deliver some very impressive stuff this summer.

Trackspeed1 UK return to the UK on Tuesday, and will continue their preparations for the summer season at their London base at Crystal Palace.

PASSED WITH FLYING COLOURS

Trackspeed1 UK's training programme went full steam ahead on Saturday into their first test competition of 2015, and the 6 participating sprinters passed with flying colours.

Leading the charge was a superb performance in the 100 metres by Emmanuel Stephens, who was making a track comeback after an absence of 2 long years due to injury.  His 10.42s sprint, aided by a slightly illegal wind of +2.9, was marred only by his subsequent false start in the final.

As the gun went, Stephens flew out of the blocks in the first round and, by 50 metres, had gapped the rest by a clear three metres, but was caught on the line to eventually secure second in the race just one hundredth of a second behind the winner.

In the Women's 100m, Tope Nuga ran the fastest time of her life, albeit again wind-aided (+3.8), timing 11.67s in the final, having qualified with a 11.85s run, aided by a slight +2.3m/s breeze.

It was overall a really encouraging opener for the Crystal Palace-based squad, who have not been without their injury issues through the winter.

Jason Hussain, celebrating his tenth year in the group, opened with one of his fastest April efforts with a 21.66s run in the 200m, after a fine 10.77 in the 100m.  As the sun beat down, the wait for his 200m amid significant heat made his 200m performance all the more impressive.

"I simply had nothing left in the last 50 metres," he said, "I was worn out waiting over 40 minutes for my race to go off.  I'm in pretty good shape at the moment and I know I'll go a lot faster this year."

Coach John Powell was full of praise for the two therapists who have been working tirelessly with his athletes since arriving in Florida:

"John Allen is known as one of the best physio's in the business," he said, "he's been to Olympic Games and World class meetings all over the world, working with British teams, over several decades.  It's a massive compliment to have him with our group out here.

"Amara Tapson is our masseuse and she has really impressed both the athletes and myself with her work ethic and effect.  Together these two have bolted together a group who came out with some significant issues.  Now we have all but two athletes ready to roll in the next week or so."

The squad next compete this Friday at the Tom Jone Memorial Meeting, in Gainesville.

ATHLETES FACE THEIR FIRST TEST

Trackspeed1 UK haven't had the  best build-up to the summer season, but many of their number are looking pretty impressive just short of the first 2015 outdoor meet in the USA this Saturday - their first test of the year.

They open their account at their pre-season training venue, Clermont National Training Center, on Saturday.  Conditions are likely to be challenging with the Florida heat peaking mid-meet, but with a classy line-up from both Europe and the USA, the opportunity to perform will be ideal.

"It's very early in the day", said 'Trackspeed1 UK' Head Coach, John Powell, and I have emphasised to all our guys that this is very much part of their training programme only, but there again it will be a great indication as to where some athletes are at the moment.

"Not everyone is competing - some have rightly elected to wait until the following week when we travel to Gainesville for the annual Tom Jones Memorial meet, and there are likely to be a couple who won't open up until they get back to the UK.

"It's been a harsh winter, and residual injury issues have been rather stubborn in a couple of cases, and the last thing an athlete should be doing is looking to compete until he or she is fully fit."

The group return to London at the end of the month, and competition plans are already in place that indicate a very busy time in May for most athletes.

The opening British Athletics League fixtures are rapidly followed by the Loughborough International fixture.  Then there are meetings in Europe as an option to the County Championships, and the Bedford International Games round off a hectic start.

Meanwhile the training camp in the South East corner of the United States continues to progress well.  In addition to the climate and excellent facilities at the Clermont NTC, the group have the privilege of Dr John Allen as the group physio' - one of the most accomplished in his field in the UK, along with  masseuse Amara Tapson who, in the words of John Powell, has been "worth her  weight in gold" to the athletes between workout days.

Trackspeed1 UK masseuse, Amara Tapson, offers essential
massage therapy between sessions in Florida.