Track and Field Blogs - Nick Willis

"Why blog after a two-year hiatus?" you may ask. Several reasons come to mind, but the primary purpose is to plug my brother's new running tourism venture - www.kiwrun.com (more on that later). I've been out of action for the whole of the 2009 outdoor season, rehabiltating from hip surgery (April 10th). Recovery took a while, but by June I was allowed to start jogging, albeit four minutes a day. Adding a mile each week to my daily runs, I was running ten miles a day by August. The freedom you experience running ten miles on trails pain-free is incredible… more »

Having just read Sully's blog, I felt convicted that I had promised flotrack to give them some updates in my '08 campaign.

Currently, I am in Tucson, AZ, nearing the end of a 5 week training camp. I have been joined by my wife, Sierra, and just recently, my brother and his wife (and child) have come from New Zealand to partner with us on our road to Beijing.
My brother, Steve, has joined my coaching team to aid Ron Warhurst, as Ronnie's time is mostly committed to the UofM track team. Basically, Ronnie writes my… more »

Since recovering from stress fracture in March, all my training has been geared towards this week. I have now completed my final workout, and am ready to take on the world!! wooo! it`s nice to feel fast in training to have my confidence high 5 days out.

Yesterday's workout is one I have done many times, the week before a major race. This was by far the best I have ever felt, which was really surprising considering how tight and sore my hamstrings have been since the flight.

It went as follows:
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After being intially sent into the "athletes village" (4 hotels in a 2 mile radius in downtown Osaka), I quickly found out that I was the only athlete in sight. The IAAF didn`t officially arrive until the 20th, so access to training facilities was going to be difficult.

I spent the first day trying to scope out the city for good running areas, food, massage and bottled water. Rumors about the humidity in Osaka were spot on. All the Japanese woman had unbrellas for shade, and the Men all fanned themselves with rolloed magazines. Few Locals… more »