Question of the week:

Nick Ball

Will, if you could be any flavour of ice-cream what flavour would you be and why?
I'd be vanilla because people say i'm dull and plain looking.

Will says

Never really thought about this one until now. I'd say I would be Hagen Daas Praline, because i'm nice in small doses and slightly nuts.May 27th.

Here I am in Ostrava, Czech Republic (East). There is a heavy contingency in the line up tonight including World Record Holder and Olympic Champion Dayron Robles. He ran the world record on this very track 2 years ago.

Andy Turner from GB, Petre Svoboda, Arthur Noga and a sprinkle of Americans. All of these guys have had a few races under their belts and are in pretty decent shape. I will have to have my witts about me if I want to put the pressure on.

The weather is below 13 degrees C i'm guessing and cloudy but i'm feeling good. If fireworks don't happen here, they will happen soon.

Stay tuned on Eurosport, I run @ 18:30 GMT.


Race number one: It has is my been a lovely day weather wise with perfect conditions for sprinting. I won my race comfotably with 13.60 wind 1.4. This is encouraging because it is my fastest season opener ever. Last year I think I ran 13.74 at the same meet. Furthermore, Friday I was vomitting as a result of a 24 hr bug I caught and this morning I woke up with a sore back. I think a combination of my squats session the previous day (still training hard) and sleeping awkwardly.

My Coach had a target time of only 13.70 which I surpassed so I am pleased with the job I did today.

I am looking forward to the next race... Ostrava May 27th!!



Question of the week:

Faye Judges

Is it ever possible to achieve perfection in terms of hurdling style? Who comes closest to perfection in your view?

There is a technical model that most hurdlers try to follow, it is a biomechanically sound model that would be demonstrated in most literature. Rarely will any one look exactly like the stick diagrams in these texts due to differing ergonomical attributes among athletes, but it is possible however to demonstrate a perfect hurdling style in my view. One that maximises horizontal velocity across the barrier and one that demonstrates the required and fundamental movement patterns necessary.

Perfection of course is subjective and many would argue that a slight imperfection is perfection because the absolute does not exist.

Athletes past and present who have shown what I beleive to be perfect hurdling styles are Guy Drut, Dayron Robles and Lui Xiang. There are more but these three would be the highest profile

As many of you will know I am on a pre-season training camp in Formia, Italy. The days are passing by quite quickly because my room mate 400mh Rhys Williams is entertaining. Skype helps too. Italy is a lovely country, serving various forms of pastas, healthy Pizza and Risotto on a daily basis.
Below is a picture of Coach George, Rhys and myself stopping off for a quick bite whilst we toured Rome:













18/4/09
AVIVA SPORTS HALL ATHLETICS FINAL. LG ARENA.



I'm finally home and settled after an exhausting day of cheering on the most athletically gifted athletes from across the UK. There were some astonishing performances throughout the day from from a large percentage of individuals, including a new national record by a young lad who vertically jumped 78cm! This was definitely the performance of the day in my books.



Willy G
During this training camp Willy G has been notorious for throwing a spanner in the works. An admirable character that always causes an accidental fuss over nothing. Let me give you an example: We had been walking around all day during the city centre. To rest our tired legs we decided to finish off our shopping spree in the world famous cake shop of Adam Sowa! We all stuffed our faces but it wasn't until we had already left the building that Willy G piped up and said he wanted to buy a cake to take away....

"WHAT! Why didn't you order that when we were at the front of the mile long queue? Or being served at the table by the waitresses?"


Another example was walking a mile to the physio centre, having treatment, and then piping up saying he had left his wallet in the room and needed to go back for it.

O well.. How we will miss all this when its over.

TRAINING CAMP:
The first session was difficult. Mostly because I had too much to eat for breakfast and hadn't had a long enough time to let my food digest before the session started. After having quite a long period away from doing track work, I feel as though I've lost a little bit of co-ordination in my running. I'm not worried about this however because I am a quick learner. The rest of the boys Joel, Leon, Paul and Willy G, are all pumped and looking ripped every session. Stay tuned.

An Unusual Day:

Today at training was a bit different. At the HI PAC (Hi Performance Athletics Centre) there were two Pigeons stuck inside the enormous glass building. The Pigeons had been trapped inside the building since the a.m. and were making quite a bit of debris fall from the window ledges and pillars down onto the trackside. I had arrived for an afternoon track session. Upon my arrival came a tiny man; no more than 4'9" with black case over his shoulder and pest control written on his cap.

Within minutes a rifle had emerged from his shoulder case and he shot straight through the Pigeons one by one with a plastic round, to make sure he didn't crack any of the windows.

The birds were still alive after this and remained perched so the pest controller had to climb some ladders to retrieve the stunned birds by hand and then dispose of them.


There were many different reactions today and it made me think whether that was the best way to handle the situation in the middle of the afternoon in a training environment? What do you think....? post your thoughts on my Facebook wall groups: "William Sharman."

Wrist update:
My wrist is far more mobile than anyone expected it would be. I am able to get into a start position, albeit very painful. I can not do power cleans because I can't bend the wrist far enough back and doing any kind of upper body weights is a real struggle for my left arm. I just grit my teeth and do it!



I needed a little break after all the struggles going on  I went to Tenerife for a while to catch some sun rays and put my feet up. Tenerife did everything it promised and the temperature was always up in the mid 20's. I got myself a little hire car to bezz around the Island on and do my shopping. I wouldn't advise anyone as tall as me to buy a Toyota Yaris but because the petrol gauge hardly moved all holiday, it suited my wallet nicely!

Last week I was also hit with man flu and a 24 hour bug! I just made good health in time for Tenerife.