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Quote: "Pain is temporary. Losing lasts forever".

Event: Cross Country, particularly the Waikouaiti course on the outskirts of Dunedin.

Run: The Loburn Foothills, North Canterbury

Hard Session: 10x'1km' hill reps, the Gardens, Dunedin

Runner: Chris Dagg

About me:

I am a medical student, originally from Canterbury, and have been living in Dunedin since 2001. My running 'career' got a slow start at school, where I began competing in 2000 before sustaining a stress fracture. I then spent the next two years living like a student ('glug-glug') and put on 12kg. In 2003 I made a decision on the cusp of the rugby season to give away my then-favourite sport and give running a serious nudge. Nic Browne, of OUHC, supported my decision and helped me integrate into running circles and was a great inspiration early on. From 2003 I was able to maintain a steady improvement in my running by training as hard as my body would let me, with programmes set by myself. A turning point in my 'career' occurred in the summer of '03-'04 when I led out a 1500m in Christchurch into a stiff North-Easterly breeze. I felt I had the race won with 300m to go but a broad shouldered lad from Canterbury thundered around me to take me down on the line. That began a trend, narrow losses to Matt Ingram were many.

From my base in Dunedin I was able to avoid losing to Matt too often, and actually started to win some races. In the 2005 winter I won every time I raced in Dunedin, but lost every time I faced Matt Ingram in Canterbury. Come the summer of '05-'06 I was exasperated; while my PB's continued to fall (8:37 to 8:31 for 3000m) Matt's tumbled like a fat lady down stairs (8:48 to 8:22). What was his secret?? Then after a track meeting, The Christmas Track Cracker, in Christchurch I discovered it. He had a super-coach.

I had known Craig for some time, and had occasionally taken advice from him for my training, but one piece I had continued to neglect: 'Get a coach'. I spoke to Craig that December and it was decided he would become my official coach. He sets me detailed programmes which are fluid and we discuss and adjust things depending on how I am feeling. I discovered that my propensity for smashing the sh*t out of my legs three times a week may have been as much a weakness as a strength and so we scaled things back a bit and improved my race build ups. What happened next? 5000m, January, Christchurch, the national T&F Champs - 4th place and a personal best!

My aim for the future is to improve my track times in the summers, and win a National XC in the winter. My eventual goal will be to run a good marathon one day. Craigs coaching will help me stay above the injury cloud (if I keep an eye out for sharp rocks in Fiji) while I gradually increase what my body is able to do. I will be making a move to Christchurch next year and look forwards to training with the Motley Crew boys full time and winning the National Road Relays in 2007.

Whoops....didn't intend to write that much.