I made the trip to Weinfelden, Switzerland to do some quality training on the banked track. Why train on track when my focus is on marathons? The answer is simple really. Speed and agility training.Our sport is called ‘Inline speed skating’. There are very few times that you can finish a race alone, so whether you are in a small break-away group or the main peloton, you have to be able to a make a fast sprint if you want to win.

My first sprint session on the track didn’t go quite as I had planned though. I had envisioned myself flying around the corners like I’m used to doing but in reality, I had the speed needed but I was not agile enough to make the corners at full speed. Several barrier kicks later I finished out my flying lap with only an average time. I obviously needed to this type of training.

What good is it having a fast sprint if I’m not agile enough to use it? So I challenged myself every time I skated on the track. I was there for 14 days and did a total of two road skates. I needed to do fast training and in a fast group. By the second week of training my flying lap had come down to a respectable time but better still, I skated out the lap without a single barrier kick!

Now it was time for Dijon. Although I had spent a lot time working on my speed and agility I saw an opportunity with three laps remaining to launch an attack for the finish line. This race ended up being one of those few times where you get to finish line alone.