We are not ladies who brunch... We are strong women who brunch

Following extreme disappointment last weekend in the England U23 champs at Bedford last week I decided to do things that I really enjoyed. I went for lunch with my friends, had a spontaneous lunch with Johnny, did my first Pilates class overlooking strangford lough, ran some different routes and topped it off with Sunday brunch at the little pink kitchen. 

    The table at Little Pink Breakfast Club 

I have 'liked' the little pink kitchen on Facebook for a couple of months now and I love when one of Sarah's witty posts pops up on my news feed. I was so intrigued by her Brunch club which is held in her home. The food looked like my kind of food and I jumped at the chance when she posted that some spaces had become available for brunch this weekend. 

I brought my friend Jill along and we were both a tad worried that going to a strangers house for breakfast... may be slightly dangerous.... But I feel this adds to the effect of food clubs along with the worrying prospect of making polite conversation with strangers. Luckily our fears were not met and we were greeted by the host with the most, Sarah's husband "Mr P". 

I don't think I was quite prepared for the group of women I was about to meet. We took our seats around a large communal table and were offered drinks and introduced to a few of our most intimate neighbours. Chat was polite and Jill and I had a lot of catching up to do so we did just talk among ourselves for a while. 

Apart from some oohing and ahhing as the menu board was brought out the chat was constant. All thoughts of awkwardness were forgotten and Jill and I loved sharing some stories with the women around us. 

             The brownie with tasty   

     chocolate sauce and sour cream 

                      SO GOOD 

Caroline from the popular Belfast Food Tours persuaded us to do the usual "tell us your name and a little bit about yourself...". This is literally my most hated activity in a room full of strangers. But after some encouragement of "women need to boast a bit more" we all shared a bit about ourselves. I always feel a wee bit embarrassed and I tried my best not to blush! 

I was surrounded by business owners, an academic, cancer charity workers, a teacher, a writer, bloggers and to top it all off woman of the year. It was possibly the most interesting group of people I have ever had the pleasure of being in company with. 

We talked about women in Northern Ireland, Airbnb, sport, adoption, cancer and of course food. I had a realisation moment that I was so very lucky to have been surrounded by an amazing bunch of people and how crazy it can be that our paths crossed. 

So thank you to my brunch group for opening my eyes and making me thankful for being alive!! This was more than just brunch, it was an experience I won't forget. I would truely recommend Sarah's little pink breakfast club... Although I can't promise your group will be as amazing as mine was!! 

Book here at 

http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/sarah-p-8042630061 or check out Little Pink Kitchen on Facebook for upcoming event details. 

What we ate- 

The food lived up to expectation and then some. I had run that morning and hadn't eaten yet so I was starved and wolfed down the whole lot. 

- shallot and thyme potato cakes 

- bacon 

- roast pepper compote

- sweet potato mayonnaise 

- slow roast tomatoes 

- rocket 

The potato cakes were more what I would call a rosti- they were crispy on the outside and perfectly cooked. 

Sweet potato mayonnaise- SAY WHAT? Such a revelation. Slightly sweet and creamy. I piled this on as I am a sweet potato addict

The pepper compote and roasted tomato provided the acidic tang that rounded it all off. I definitely ate more than my fair share of the compote, I am such a condiment and sauce fan. 

Bacon is well bacon and who doesn't like that!! 

The brunch was finished with a chocolatey brownie. The brownie was the perfect balance of chew and goo which is hard to achieve. The brownie contained ground almonds and hazelnuts (I think) and this is great for flavour and texture. 

The best way to spend a Sunday morning. Thank you Sarah! 

Experiment 1- Vanilla Cashew Butter

So last week I carried out an experiment for the cause of nut butter lovers out there. 

I love nut butters. I would class them as a stable food group in my diet. They aren't cheap and I spend a lot of money on them per week. So can I make my own for less money and does it taste as good as my favourite brand Keen Nutrition?

Lots of health food bloggers urge us to make our own nut butters because they will be "more nutritious", "no additives", "cheaper" etc etc. All well and good. But who has time to make their own? I certainly am not twiddling my thumbs on a weekend thinking- oh I must make some almond butter. With the amount I eat my house would need to be turned into a factory to meet my appetite for nut butter goodness! 

I do have some past experience of making my own almond butter. I can tell you my previous attempts were not very successful and didn't compare on flavour or texture to Keen. Way back in 2008 , hereby know as "pre Keen", when alternative nut butters were in short supply (requiring pre ordering from my local healthfood shop I might add). I had an attempt at making some almond butter that resulted in a burnt out blender and an angry mumma Kirk. The final product wasn't even worth it! 

The first issue with making your own nut butter is the food processor. You will need a high powered one with a motor strong enough to turn the Nuts into a smooth delicious paste. These include brands such as magimix and vitamix which usually cost between £300 and £500. Forking out that large sum for a food processor seems like madness to me. Hard to say making your own nut butter is a cheaper alternative. 

The second issue is the time involved. The nuts do not magically become a paste after a minute. It can take over 20 minutes to achieve the right consistency. At one stage my other half was concerned and started shouting that it had formed a ball... This is perfectly normal. The time issue is also associated with your food processor because the longer it takes to release the oil from the nuts the more work the processor is having to do. 

Another issue is extra ingredients. I am most definitely an almond butter purist. Hence why Keen nut butters are my go to brand. They contain nothing else except some delicious ingredients for flavouring like vanilla, coconut and cinnamon to name a few. When making my own I have found the consistency wasn't quite right and had to resort to adding coconut oil to make it more spreadable. 

I did a bit of recipe research and settled on a cashew butter with some vanilla seeds thrown in for good measure. Adding vanilla is like magic! It makes foods taste sweet because of the sweet aroma that vanilla produces which is great if you are trying to reduce sugar consumption. When I'm going to make something for the first time I will look at about 10 different recipes and then make up my own based on a combination of these. My recipe was largely based on a cashew butter that can be found on the Deliciously Ella App. Although to be honest there isn't really a recipe to follow just a method which means it's really flexible! I will let you in to a nut butter secret... The darker the roast of the nuts the better the flavour. I have a confession... When I am buying nut butters I always turn them over and look at the base of the jar to choose the darker coloured jars. What can I say, I'm quite particular about my nut butter! That's what I love about Keen they definitely spend more time making their products and this means the flavour is far superior than mass produced nut butters (ahem... Meridian). So I suppose one advantage of making your own nut butter is that you can control the flavour and get exactly what you want. 

    [ Yummy dark roast on my cashew                                   

                            butter.]

I chose cashews because they are slightly softer than the likes of almonds, Brazil or hazelnuts and might put less pressure on my average food processor. I also tried to minimise burnt out processor risk by giving it a rest every 5 minutes or so. 

I was so pleased with my vanilla cashew butter. Even though I cook and bake a lot it still amazes me that the ingredient you start with is very different to the final product. I got such delight from making my own nut butter- but that might just be me! 

     [My jar of cashew butter in recycled           

                  Keen nutrition jar.]

I worked out how much the batch cost me to make. I used a pretty bog standard  200g bag of Sainsbury's cashews that cost £2.50. I also bought some vanilla pods , for the amount I used it worked out at 75p for half a vanilla pod. The amount This made didn't fill a standard Keen nut butter jar which I recycled for the occasion (if anyone wants some I am coming down with empty nut butter jars!!). In total my homemade vanilla cashew butter cost £3.25 for just the raw ingredients. Of course this doesn't include the electricity, jars or equipment. Keen normal flavours usually cost £3.50. So yes homemade may be slightly cheaper but for the sake of 25p and lots of time and effort saved I will continue to buy my locally made nut butter.  

Not only will you be buying a tasty product but you will also be supporting a local company that employs local people and if that isn't a good reason to spend an extra 25p I don't know what is! 

METHOD/RECIPE- Dark roast vanilla cashew butter 

Ingredients- 

200g unsalted cashew nuts 

1/2 vanilla pod 

Method- 

1. Preheat oven to 180•C. 

2. Place cashews on baking tray and place in oven for 15 minutes or so depending on how rich a flavour you want. Shake the nuts every 5 minutes to brown evenly. 

3. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. 

4. Throw in food processor. 

5. Cut vanilla pod in half horizontally and Keep half for next time. Slice pod in half length way, expose inside and scrape out seeds with the back of a knife. 

6. Add vanilla seeds to nuts in food processor. 

7. Turn processor on full for 5 minutes , scrape down sides with spatula and allow to sit for 5 minutes.

8. Repeat step 7 until nuts have been processed for approximately 20 minutes. 

9. First the nuts will be broken up to crumbs, then to a dust. You will start to see some "sticking" at the base of the bowl as oil is released from the nuts. 

10. The nuts may form a ball at some stage but don't worry just continue processing. 

11. When it starts to look creamy and liquidity I urge you to keep processing for an extra 5 minutes. Those 5 minutes are worth it to make the butter runnier and even more delicious. 

12. Spoon carefully into a sterilised jar (look up how to on Google- I usually don't sterilise properly. Just dishwasher then fill with boiling water from kettle and allow to sit for few mins then pour out water and air dry upside down. This is enough to kill the bugs don't worry.) 

13. Will keep for way longer than it will last. If you are really paranoid you can store in the fridge but I am a bit of a rebel and keep all my nut butters in the cupboard (Cold almond butter is weird!!). 

What to do with your cashew butter- 

It tastes like cake mixture so a finger or spoon is preferable. 

- eat with a spoon (generally my method of choice) 

- spoon onto sliced apple for tasty protein rich snack 

- stir into hot porridge 

- drizzle over yoghurt and fruit for breakfast 

- spread on toast 

- make my previous recipe of cashew energy balls 

- smoosh open a medjool date and fill with cashew butter- actual heaven 

- go back with the spoon for a third time that day... Yep that's me. 

If you come up with some exciting ways of using your cashew butter let me know and I will post some of your suggestions! 

[Cashew butter with some apple. Great       

                     wee snack.] 

UPDATE 

Really enjoyed doing a sports nutrition talk for Queen's University Belfast widening participation programme. The programme is focused on secondary school boys exploring how sport and leadership can be used to access university and higher education. They will come back for a week every year and do sport, education and leadership workshops. The theme of this particular year was American football and the boys were really enjoying exploring a new sport. I focused mainly on general healthy eating and introduced the concept of fuel and recovery. 

Next week I will be doing something similar for a group of first year boys from the same schools and I am really looking forward to it. Hopefully I can improve my presentation and make it more interactive. 

     [As usual lots of hand action when 

      talking! Hopefully I don't bore the 

              poor boys too much!]

I am taking a leave of absence from university for a year to focus on athletics and would love to continue to provide nutrition talks and information for schools, sports and youth groups. If you or anyone you know is interested please do not hesitate to contact me. 

I am also looking forward to the Queen's Sport Blues awards dinner tonight. It's a great night to get glam and have a laugh with some of the athletics team. 

Thank you for reading and have a wonderful rest of the week,

Katie. 

Keen Nutrition nut butters can be purchased throughout Ireland and the UK. Check out their website for stockists. http://keennutbutter.com

You can purchase the Deliciously Ella app from iTunes App Store. http://deliciouslyella.com

Keen Nut Butter Active April- Recipe for cashew and date balls.

As part of local County Down food company Keen Nut Butter's #GetActiveApril Campaign I am posting videos and tips every Friday in an attempt to encourage everyone to make this a healthy and active month. 
Check out my other posts so far this month on my Instagram and Twitter pages. 

I have been an almond butter fanatic for well over 5 years and discovered Keen at one of their first markets in Holywood in spring 2013. I literally stumbled upon their company and have been consuming kilograms (Literally) of their finest nut butter ever since. When I first started eating almond butters it was difficult to get my hands on and involved buying out my local health food shop of their nut butter supply every week. Then I discovered Keen. Aimee and her team have worked tirelessly to get their healthy alternative to spreads and peanut butters to local shops, markets and online- so it is now much easier to fulfill my habit! Check out their website here. If you are yet to try Keen Nut Butters I urge you to give them a go, there are lots of different nut butters on the market but Keen trumps all for quality and flavour every time!

Right back to my post for the day. Cashew and date balls. They are easy to make and super tasty. I make mine in a large batch and store them in a sealed container in the fridge or freezer and nibble when I'm hungry. It appears my family do too as the numbers tend to dwindle and disappear quickly. They are energy dense and high in protein which will help to keep you full and fight those afternoon hunger pangs which usually lead to grazing and poor food choices. Yes, you chocolate, crisps and biscuits I'm talking about you lot!

They are also really handy before a gym session or as a post exercise recovery snack. I will bring one to uni  to eat in the car on the way to the gym or in between training sessions on my double days. Sometimes I just need an energy boost and this does the trick for me. Some people turn to red bull and coffee... I chose Cashews and dates... we are all different but trust me these are pretty tasty.

Recipe- Cashew and Date balls
Ingredients- 

• 2 cups unsalted cashews  

• 2 cups medjool dates 

• 2 tablespoons of coconut oil

• 1 Tablespoon of Keen Cashew Butter  

Variations- 

• Roll in toasted coconut 

• Add 1tbsp protein powder

• Cacao nibs chopped

• Coat in melted chocolate

Instructions- 

1. Preheat oven to 200•C 

2. Place cashews on a baking tray, add pinch of salt and shake to mix.

3. Roast for 10 mins or until golden brown in colour- the darker you go the better the flavour.

4. Every 5 minutes give the nuts a shake to give even colour. 

5. Take out and cool slightly. 

6. While roasting nuts place dates in food processor and pulse until broken up. TIP It is easier to combine

     later if dates aren't in one mass/ball so don't over process and break up slightly with a spoon. 

 
7. Tip out processed dates into a bowl. 

8. Melt coconut oil and cashew butter in a saucepan over a low heat- until the oil is melted. 

9. Place the roasted nuts in the food processor leaving handful aside- pulse until it resembles breadcrumbs.

10. Add dates and remaining nuts to the processor and pulse for 30 seconds. If making one of the variations 

      above add these ingredients now too.  

11. Slowly pour in the coconut oil and cashew butter while the processor is on. 

12. Add a large pinch of crushed sea salt and taste to check there is enough. It should have a good sweet salty

      balance.  

13. Blitz until it just starts to come together. TIP The mixture might not form a ball in the processor and 

      look crumbly but dont worry!

14. You can make any size of ball you wish- I would use a half tablespoon measuring spoon and scoop the 

       mixture almost like ice cream. 

15. Roll between hands and place on parchment paper on the baking sheet you used to roast the nuts (less

      washing up.. YAY). 

16. Place in fridge to firm up for an hour before either coating in 70% dark chocolate or placing a sealed 

      container. 

17.  Place in boxes and put in fridge to firm up! 

I like mine straight out of the fridge but they can be stored in cool dry place. 

This might seem like a lot of steps but I would probably say I like attention to detail and I always 

consider how I would like a recipe.

I challenge you to try it out this weekend! Let me know how you get on.

Katie. 

New York and Boston 2015

I am writing this post travelling from Dublin to New York where I am racing at the Armory Track Invitational. Then the following weekend I will be competing in Boston at the New Balance games in a Team New Balance Ireland DMR. 

I will be running 800m at the Armory Track on Saturday 31st January.

And then 800m in DMR race at the NB indoor games Saturday 7th February.

The reason for writing is that this is the first time in three months that I have had to even contemplate a blog post. 
This winter has been a challenging one to say the least. During the cool down of my first session back I stood on a stupid tennis ball and wrecked my ankle. I was able to train on and off for a couple of weeks. Mixed with some cross training on the elliptical machine I was able to maintain my fitness and coming back to training wasn't difficult. I suppose it was just the feeling of panic that for me that was unsettling. I have of course had lots of injuries but nothing as silly as basically a badly sprained ankle. I felt angry with myself and constantly wished I could go back and change it! I was able to take out my frustration on the elliptical, but going to the gym day after day training on my own but still training hard could get anyone a bit down. I definitely tortured myself a little and in the future I would try and be a bit more relaxed about the whole situation. 
It feels strange to be discussing my ankle which seems like so long ago already. I was back to training by late November and a much happier girl for it. 

We organised a very last minute training camp to Portugal over the new year. Myself and my boyfriend Johnny headed out on Boxing Day for 10 days of a bit of sun and some hard work. 

New Balance trainers post workout in Portugal.

With exams looming there was no time for sunbathing but I was really happy with the training I got done. It was great to get some time to focus without distractions of Christmas celebrations and I was able to do my favourite thing.... Cook. Johnny and I cooked nearly every night and I love deciding what to eat and making some super healthy tasty food. Those who know me know that I love vegetables, try to eat well and that my favourite meal is my take on a tuna nicoise salad! Poor Johnny has to put up with salads and vegetables 24/7 but he never complains, but my dad can't stand "vegetarian muck" and he always let me know how he feels about it! Check out my Instagram page for some of the meals that I brought with me for the flight and travel. http://instagram.com/katekirky1/
My brother Conall was also home from college in America. He is on a track and field scholarship at Oklahoma State University. He has been injured for over a year and it has been tough for him not being able to run. It was great to have him home and have that gap filled in our family that happens when he is gone. It's really strange being the older sibling and still living at home while my younger brother made a big move to the other side of the world. When he left and I suppose this is the same for any other brother and sister, I was thinking if we were close enough to still have a good relationship with him. Luckily we were able to keep in contact well when he was away and Skype with the family every weekend. 

I have received continued support from Ford UK and I would be stuck (literally) without my focus.

My Ford dash on one of my many early morning training trips.

Being a student and athlete involves many hours spent in the car travelling from uni to training to massage and then doing it all over again. 
Queen' sport have also continued to support me. They recently hosted a series of lectures for all the queen's supported athletes. Hugh Campbell got us to imagine our biggest goals and began the exploration of using psychology and relaxation to improve performance. I would love to continue in this area further. I am admittedly hard on myself and sometimes slightly negative, but I do believe that in some ways  this helps with my determination.

A huge thank you has to go to My shoe and clothing company New Balance and Nic Bideau who have kindly organised this trip and made it possible.

I am really looking forward to racing this weekend. It will be an amazing field and undoubtedly the highest quality field I will ever have competed in.  

Three words.... Bring it on. 

Final Preparations for Glasgow 2014

The Countdown is on! It is now only 2 weeks until my heats of the 800m in Glasgow and the nerves are starting to kick in. All the hard work over the past year is coming to a close and training at the moment is simply general maintenance to ensure I maintain my form.

The final racing preparations have taken place, with the exception of the Irish National Championships which are being held this weekend (18th July). 

I raced at the Morton games in Santry and the Letterkenny AC Sub 4 Minute Mile challenge Event in Letterkenny last weekend.

Credit Kieran Carlin

Credit Kieran Carlin

The Morton Games is a fantastic event held every year, it attracts fantastic international fields and the womens 800m was no exception. It was the first time I have ever raced over 800m in a field of this caliber and it was an amazing experience. I did find the race quite physical which some people may find surpassing in female athletics and I think this was a great experience to have pre commonwealth games. I ran another sub 2.03 (2.02.86), my second fastest time this year. I was pleased with my performance although I did feel like my last 100 meters wasn't as strong as usual but I have put that down to being race rusty.

Credit Kieran Carlin

Thank you for Morton Games race photos Kieran Carlin 

It was on to Letterkenny on Sunday to the event hosted by Letterkenny AC. I recovered well and while the conditions weren't  ideal I felt good. I think my race went well but I was left feeling disappointed. Disappointment is not necessarily a bad feeling and it leaves me determined going into the Irish champships and commonwealth games. The event was brilliantly organised and from an athlete perspective it was a brilliant event. The club also provided hot meals for athletes after the race which is always greatly appreciated. It was great to catch up with Emily Dudgeon and Hanna Tarver on our cool down.

Credit Kieran Carlin

Credit Kieran Carlin 

I was also very excited to find that there was a food festival at the same venue as the athletics meet. For a foodie like me it was amazing to have a wander around food stalls and steal a few samples... perfect recovery food! I also found a stall called Lazy Day Foods LTD (http://www.lazydayfoods.com) that sold dairy and gluten free buns and tray bakes so i was very happy and even bought a few treats to take home.

I was asked to be an ambassador for the Go Run For Fun (http://www.gorunforfun.com) event. The first GRFF event in Northern Ireland was held in Belfast, the event also marked the 25000th child to cross the event finish line. It was a brilliant day and i really enjoyed encouraging kids to run and get active.

With Ethan the 25000th participant and mascot Dart

I have been very lucky to be selected as an athlete ambassador for Ford UK (http://playyourpart.ford.co.uk) for the Commonwealth Games. As well as providing transport for the games Ford is also supporting 8 athletes in the run up to the games. Over the past few weeks I have done a number of photo shoots, interviews and filming for Ford which has been very exciting and enjoyable. The images and videos will be used on social media throughout the games so keep an eye out for these on my twitter. Their campaign for the Commonwealth Games is based around the hashtag #PlayYourPart. Show your support by using the hashtag on social media throughout the games.  My first vine of the campaign has been released you can watch it below https://vine.co/v/MQbXiOJxUB3

Very Excited beside new delivery

Few Snaps of My Ford Focus Ecoboost- Including the first selfie 

Three Races, Five Days.

I spent 5 days last week in England to run the Watford gold standard BMC meet and England athletics U23 championships in Bedford. Watford was my first race back after taking 4 weeks off from 800m racing and I was really excited to get back on the track and race over my favourite distance. 

A girl can never have too many shoes...even trainers and spikes.

I admit I did have high expectations of myself going into the BMC race on the 18th June- after all the last time I raced on this track I ran a big PB and Commonwealth Games qualifying time. I was eager to repeat the performance, the weather was good and I felt nothing could go wrong. Unfortunately the race didn't go quite how I imagined it would. Reflecting back now it was another stepping stone to Glasgow and every race develops me as an athlete so I have to be happy with that. 
Excuse me while I get a bit philosophical... 
Athletes are often disappointed with performances, we are a very hard bunch to please. I feel it is really important to manage expectations and to go into every race with an open mind that anything can happen. No one is perfect and we all can't run well all the time. If I have a not so good race I try to move on as quickly as possible...easier said than done.

It was brilliant to have my mum and brother in Watford watching and hanging out with us. We became regular customers in our favourite spot 'Fred and Ginger' (http://fredandgingercoffee.co.uk) in Kings Langley for amazing breakfasts, lunches and coffees. My mum rarely travels with me and she pointed out that she sees how it can be difficult to find athlete friendly food when away from home with no cooking facilities. I can usually find something that suits me wherever I go but I have to admit I have had many dodgy pre race meals in. If only there was a Fred and Ginger cafe everywhere I went. I generally find that most restaurants are accommodating for my weird dietary requests but if in doubt head to Nandos!! Really can't beat chicken and vegetables.
The day after the race and after a wee recovery run the whole family headed into London for a few hours. When away racing there is little time to sight see and time is generally spent lounging about hotel rooms and doing very little. So it was lovely to get out for a few hours and walk around which really does no harm.

The heats for the England athletics U23 championships were held on Saturday 21st of June. After my disappointment on Wednesday I wasn't particularly confident but excited to race and take in the atmosphere. This was my first British age group championships since 2011 and it is amazing to be back at a championship which I usually perform well at. 

Getting my gear ready pre race.

I thankfully got though my heat safely and didn't have to push too hard or waste much energy. The winning times for both heats were slightly quicker than I anticipated but it was good to put two races in quick succession together for commonwealth preparation. The heat was crucial as I feel that it helped me get over a flat feeling that admittedly I experienced on Wednesday, but on reflection, this was to be expected when I hadn't raced in over four weeks. The conditions on both days were perfect PB weather with Sunday being ideal as the wind and temperature dropped slightly from the Saturday.

Pre race routine...I can't actually fly or levitate. 

Before the final my dad/coach reminded me that the Bedford track is always good to me. Whenever I competed here in the past I have usually run well, this gave me the confidence that I maybe lacked slightly after my previous few races. Now for some stats; Over the past 5 years I have had 3 golds, 1 silver and a bronze at Bedford. Including 3 personal bests, two championship bests and a stadium record. I don't think there is another stadium that has been anywhere near as kind to me.

I felt tactically my race was sound, Hanna Tarver went off hard but I did believe she would come back to me in the last 100m and that is what happened, all be it with some luck. Huge well done to all the girls Georgia Bell, Alexandra Bell, Rachel McClay, Hanna Tarver and the lovely Jade Williams. There were 4 PB's in the final and even a few in the heats. I did what I set out to do and running under 2.03 again gave me a confidence boost that I think I needed in the run up to the Commonwealth Games. 

On the podium with Georgia Bell and Alexandra Bell.

Won in style...the look on my face says maybe not in style.

Some lovely words by the Athletics weekly reporter.

The win was celebrated with a Krispy Kreme donut (caramel iced ring for the foodies out there) and my brother's class coffee cake! Can't beat it really. 

It was back down to the track on Monday morning at 9.30am for a day of filming and photography with some amazing people. The mysterious project will be revealed shortly and I am excited to announce my involvement. It really is wonderful to be getting so much support in the lead up to the commonwealths and on Wednesday I attended a breakfast held by Queen's University Belfast Sport. All the Queen's Commonwealth Games athletes were invited and it was great to catch up with friends. 

A privilege and pleasure to be interviewed by Eve Muirhead.

In the spotlight with plenty of cameras and media.

Sadly I will not be competing in the Sainsbury's British Championships this weekend as I have a cold. A big disappointment for me as it would have been my first outdoor senior Championships and I was in confident mood after my win last week. But I will be resting up and back racing in the next two weeks. 

All for now,
Katie x 

Glasgow Commonwealth Games selection- an exciting summer ahead.

I can't quite believe I am writing this, but I am going to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow! 

Northern Ireland are sending a team of 14 athletes from various track and field events, which is very exciting and one of the largest teams for quite a number of years. It has felt like a long haul since my last International championship in 2011 and I am definitely ready for the challenge ahead. A lot of hard work and sweat have gone into running my qualification time and I am happy to say it has been worth it.

The Northern Ireland athletics team for Glasgow.

Since running the consideration standard in Watford a few weeks ago I decided not to race until the Northern Ireland championships which were held last weekend. This allowed me to get a busy exam period over and done with and fit in some hard training, which meant back to the grass for some endurance sessions. After moving up from sprint type training for 400 meters  I think I am still getting used to endurance sessions. 

Unfortunately my asthma flared up for a few weeks which always freaks me out a little. I don't know about other athletes but when I get a small niggle or even a cold I blow it out of proportion slightly thinking its the end of the world. Luckily I came out of the other side of exams and asthma worries all ready to go. I really have been buzzing or the last 10 days or so, there really is no better feeling than finishing exams and having an exciting summer of events and track meets to look forward to.

The N.I champs were held at the Mary Peters track in Belfast and it was possibly the wettest track meet I have ever competed at. But saying that there was relatively no wind and it was not cold. I ran the 400m for some speed work and finished second behind Ireland's Sinead Denny. I wasn't 100% happy with my performance but for a first outing over 400m it wasn't bad, what can I say I am hard to please! It is also a real luxury to train on my home track it is a great venue and hopefully I can race there soon... but with no rain please! Is that too much to ask?

I forgot how painful a 400m can be.

Thankfully I reached the finish line.

After the NI Championships on Saturday, Athletics NI sat down to finalise the list of recommendations for the CWG council to then make the final selection. The long anticipated phone call arrived late on Monday night to say I have made the team and it is all systems go to the Games. I will be running 800m and my heats will be held on Thursday 31st July. Thats around 50 days from now so some steady training until then will hopefully keep me fit and injury free. Since receiving the good news I have had a huge smile on my face and I don't think it will disappear for some time yet. Representing my country in Scotland will be such and honour and I can't wait to race. Media attention seems to be growing and already, I am delighted to be interviewed by different sources both television and radio. This can only be a good thing as we hope to raise the profile of the Northern Ireland team and hopefully people can get behind us all as a group to cheer us on. It is almost our home games!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/athletics/27629826

A link to my BBC Sport interview, I always find these hard to watch.

Before then I have a few other races lined up, starting with a BMC meet in Watford next Wednesday 18th and then U23 British Championships on the Saturday and Sunday of the same week, to be held in Bedford. This means 5 nights in a hotel but I have already researched and noted some good looking coffee shops to pass my time so I think I will survive. Going on from there I will race in the Sainsbury's  British Championships in Birmingham the last weekend in June. 

A busy schedule lined up for me but I will get another blog in soon to update how my training and races are going in the build up to Glasgow. I am now off to an awards dinner with Queens University Belfast, its a great excuse to shop for a new dress and shoes. As an athlete it makes a welcome change from running shorts and trainers!

Swapping my running gear for something a little nicer.

As many people know my dad is also my coach, and I would like to finish this blog mentioning him and all his hard work and determination getting me to this point. Through everything he is there and puts his all into making me the athlete I am today. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity with the Belfast Telegraph to do an article involving my Dad, and this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. In the interview he even said some nice things about me. Here is the link: 

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics-keeps-on-running-in-talented-kirk-family-30332698.html

About one hundred takes to get this photo right, I should stick to just running!