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Chasing the running dream!

  • And that’s a wrap!

      7 August 2023

    Unfortunately last night didn’t go very well. Weather was atrocious and most the field didn’t run overly fast either. I finished up in 4:16, closing the last lap better than the last few races but a slower first couple laps didn’t help with the finishing time!

    I think my body may have been on the verge of being done for the last week or so, and I was probably lucky to run 4:13 in Germany last week. I knew I was definitely done the minute I tried to cool down last night.

    So naturally I’m pretty disappointed with how this Europe tour has gone - some positive races for sure, but what I need to sit down and figure out is why the last 2-3 weeks went downhill.

    I really thought I had a sub-4:10 in me, and at the very least a PB. To be fair, I probably did at times too, but that’s racing for you. At the end of the day, this trip has provided some invaluable experience I would have never got at home and if I want to compete on the world stage, this is exactly where I needed to be to get that experience!

    I’m hungry for more, and have unfinished business! However, for now my body and mind need a break. So I’ll be taking some downtime the next couple weeks to reset in the sunshine before returning home and getting stuck back in all over again.

    THANK YOU to every single one of your for supporting. It means more than you know, and I hope I can build on this last few months to come back even stronger in the new year to run what I know I can for you all.

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  • Phew!

      31 July 2023
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    Ah, thank god for that!

    On Saturday evening, I lined up in a 1500m in Leverkusen, Germany. For those who understand how the different level competitions work, this one was a Bronze meet and has some decent World Ranking points up for grabs the higher you place. This one was kind of bizarre though, we only had 7 in our race plus a pacer. Usually there’s 16, particularly if it’s a bronze meet. I also realised the pacer was a Polish woman who’s been pacing all the Diamond League 800m races and going through in 57/58 seconds for a 400m (aka she is fast and very good at her job!). So, although I managed to get a slight head cold earlier in the week, I knew this could be a great race to just try relax, not have to push my way into places or run almost in lane 2 for parts, jostling for position.

    Luckily for me that’s pretty much how it turned out. I’d say my last couple races definitely knocked my confidence a wee bit and I could have been more aggressive but I’ll take this result after last weekends bomb.

    Anyway, I ended up in 5th place (0.01 off of 4th place, yes I had to dip) and ran my 3rd fastest 1500m.

    Although I wasn’t thrilled - always chasing PBs - I’m so glad I could turn those last two races around and be a lot more in range of what I know I’m capable of. So now I’ve got 1 last race to go in Leuven, Belgium this weekend before taking some time out.

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  • Oh man, that was rough!

      24 July 2023

    Hey guys,

    Well I promised I'd keep everyone updated regardless of result, because at the end of the day it's not always going to go exactly how you want it to.

    The race on the weekend in Ninove was AWFUL - a 4:24 which is so far below the high expectations I have of myself it's not even funny. I'm not entirely sure what's gone on with me the last two races. The only thing I can really pinpoint at the moment is that travel has finally caught up to me. Mentally, that race was a big kick in the gut too... I've now had 2 sleeps to push it aside and usually it takes a lot less than that to move past a sh*t one. The one thing giving me a bit of hope is I ran 4:24 in the heat at Aussie Champs in April with a chest infection and then somehow managed to turn that around 2 days later and run a 4:11 PB. Here's hoping for a similar situation this week.

    So for now I'm glad I have an entire week in one place to try reassess, recover and do what I came here to do for the next race in Germany on Saturday.

    Here's a link to the meet website - they usually have livestream info a day or so before the race: https://www.trueathletesclassics.de/

    OR here's a link to Watch Athletics info which has been super helpful all season (they do they have date wrong though - should be the 29th) - https://www.watchathletics.com/schedule/watchlive/7294

    Laura Nagel

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  • On and up

      20 July 2023

    Hello everyone!

    Another update from me! Well luck of the Irish just isn’t a thing for me it seems. Morton Games went awful! I’m not entirely sure what went wrong but somewhere between a couple of almost trips in the race and jostling for position probably used too much energy to have anything much left at the end. I’m pretty disappointed with it but not everything is going to be perfect I’ve realised, and it’s all part of racing and learning. Luckily you get many goes in a season at a 1500 so I’m taking those lessons into my remaining races!

    On and up!! Next will be a Flanders Cup race in Ninove, Belgium July 22nd! So here’s hoping for a significantly better result than Ireland.

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  • Morton Games Livestream - LET’S GO!

      13 July 2023
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    Good morning from Dublin!

    I just thought I’d let you all know you can watch my race at Morton Games this week if you’d like. Field is looking awesome and I’m excited!!

    The race starts at 8:35pm on Friday (14th) here in Dublin which, if I’ve used my trusty time converter correctly, is 7:35am Saturday (15th) for those in NZ.

    Here’s the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/live/fp66jzlOIxg?feature=share

    Happy watching 😄

    Pic: found some Deer in a park while on a little evening tiki tour or Dublin with one of my Providence College besties. Very cool!

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  • ✅ Finland

      6 July 2023
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    Last night was a 5th place in 4:13.34 for the Motonet GP Joensuu. While initially frustrated with the finishing time, I’ve now had a few hours + a couple plane rides to dissect that race and am not quite as annoyed.

    First and foremost, conditions weren’t ideal - it felt like winter in Joensuu the entire time… raining, 13 degrees Celsius and WINDY 🤦‍♀️ Luckily the rain held off but the wind was loving the home straight.

    Despite that I was fortunate that the 1200 splits were more what I was after for this race - trying to get my body use to going out hard and seeing how long I can hang in there for. Unfortunately, the last 150m the wheels came off and finishing into a headwind was a struggle to say the least!! Aside from a mile I ran in Wanganui 18 months or so ago, this might be the closest I’ve been to a vom on the cool down (I didn’t incase you were wondering).

    Anyway, since it was a Bronze meet that’s given me some decent world ranking points to move forward with. I also have to remind myself that up until March this year I hadn’t run any faster than 4:14, and I’ve just done that twice in 5 days. Patience and consistency is key!

    So now it’s back to Berlin for a solid week of recovery and training. I’m then off to Dublin for the Morton Games on the 14th which by the sounds has another great field. I’m hoping for no wind and that the last 5 days has really kicked my body into well under a 4:10 race 🤞

    Pic: 3rd best thing to do in Joensuu 😂

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  • Watford to Joensuu

      5 July 2023
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    Hello team!

    Everything is finally starting to come together! You could say, I’m like a fine wine… getting better with age, or in the context of a season, takes a few races to awaken the race legs!!

    On Saturday I raced in Watford for a solid 1500m effort. I finished 4th in 4:12.85, my second-fastest 1500m I’ve ever run. Although a little slower than I would have liked (always wanting big PBs), I’m relatively happy with how it played out, messy last 400m but moved from about 6th to 4th over the last 200m. Lots of positives to take away from that, and was awesome to have my best friends Dad and his other half Bev show up to watch as a surprise 🥰

    Next up, is the Motonet GP Joensuu in Finland. Livestream details are here (you might need a VPN though): https://www.watchathletics.com/schedule/watchlive/7262. Race starts at 7:00pm EEST, which is Thursday 4:00am NZT.

    I’m ranked 7th based on seasons best so I’m looking forward to getting stuck in!

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  • June Race Recap 😄

      22 June 2023
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    Well we are underway folks! I was in Sweden over the weekend at the Göteborg Grand Prix for an 800. This unfortunately didn’t go as planned - the race went out a little slower than I hoped, I made up quite a few places on the back stretch, thought I was going to win with 100 to go, then got stuck behind a couple girls which screwed the end of my race (4th). Poor judgement by me, but a PB is a PB (2:08) and I learnt more from that race than most races I’ve run in the 2 years! Needless to say, I want to redeem myself with a more of those!

    3 days later (yesterday), I jumped on a train to Frankfurt/Pfungstadt to race a 1500m at a cool lil meet that felt like a jazzed up club night - music was on point and loud! My race went out a bit slower than I would have liked (2:17 at 800) but I felt great over the last couple laps, tried to finish fast over the last 300m and then got pipped at the line 🤦‍♀️

    Although that race also wasn’t as fast as I wanted, I ran a 4:15 which was my PB for a 1500m 18 months ago, and most definitely the fastest I’ve ever opened up a season. If you’d like to watch a replay, here ya go: https://youtu.be/KhMFGl8giD0

    Now it’s back to Berlin for a week of training and then off to England to race British Milers Club (BMC) Grand Prix in Watford on July 1st, then Finland for the Motonet GP Joensuu on July 5th. July is a big month, so I’m happy with a couple rust buster racers to get me ready for what’s next!

    Image: my 6-pack if lemonade for 2nd place 👍

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  • It’s race time!

      16 June 2023

    Last week I paced a speedy 3k in Copenhagen as my first little hit out on the track. I felt awesome but didn’t feel like I had the legs after pacing 4:26 through 1500m to continue to the finish. It always takes way more out of me than I’d hope! But quite a few of the women in the race ran PBs and, if my memory is accurate, top-6 were all under 9minutes, so job done ✅

    Copenhagen was also an epic city to explore. I am continually mindblown at how every country but NZ has a damn good public transport system too!

    I’ve been very much itching to race ever since - it feels like it’s been 3 weeks!

    I had a slight internal freak out on Sunday after a hard session with a hip irritation that I’ve never had before. I’m still managing it so hopefully it disappears over the next week!🤞

    Anyway, I’m just on the way to Gothenburg, Sweden to race a speedy 800m on Sunday (Folksam Grand Prix, Gothenburg). I’m very excited for this seeing as I don’t have an official 800m time that isn’t over 10 years old. Given the way training is going I’m hoping I can make it a damn good one 😄 I’m not fast enough for the A race (2:00-2:02), so hopefully the B race can give me what I want!

    And yes, I’m pretty sure there will be a livestream! I’ll pass on details as soon as I know 😄

    After Sunday’s 800m, I’m heading to Frankfurt on Wednesday with Jennie. They’re putting on a fast 1500m there and Jennie is pacing… so LET’S GO!

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  • First hard effort coming up!

      6 June 2023

    Guten tag from Berlin! A quick little update for my support crew…

    Made it to Germany with no issues and a relatively easy trip across the world - I always dread back-to-back long flights but this one went by faster than I thought. Shout out to layovers in Houston (not LA or San Fran), quick and easy. Would recommend!

    It’s always a great start to the trip when your 20-30min shake out jog doesn’t feel too bad and you come across a wave river on the edge of a park in the middle of a city with 8 people surfing the waves for the crowd that has gathered. Munich - What. A. Place!

    Fun random fact: my last name has German origins so I’m pretending I’ve returned home even though speak absolutely no German.

    I’m now adjusting to the lovely summer weather (and a million flowers making my hay fever kick up a stink) in Berlin thanks to Jennie Hauke, fellow kiwi and a great 800m specialist.

    As for racing, after crossing my fingers and toes I’d be accepted into the 3000m at the Copenhagen Athletics Games (June 7), that hasn’t quite turned out as planned. I’m now pacing that race through to 1500m with the option to finish if I’d like. So first and foremost, the goal for that is to pace perfectly (2:55-3:00/k), and then we’ll see how much the pace takes out of me at the halfway mark to determine if I’ll give it a crack to finish the race! Fingers crossed.

    I'll be back with an update next week. Over and out!

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  • 2 days to go!

      29 May 2023
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    With just 2 days to go, I wanted to reach out and share my first update.

    I’d just like to say a massive thank you to all who have donated via this Give-A-Little page. When I first was encouraged to create this, I didn’t think I’d get anywhere near $4000 raised, but here we are! In a way it's given me this added element of motivation, just knowing the number of people who believe I can do this and are willing to support. So again, thank you, thank you, thank you!

    With that being said, you are all the first to get a peak at my race schedule ahead. It’s been rather interesting navigating and reaching out to race directors, many of which websites are in different languages. If there ever was a time that I wish I was fluent in something other than English, it’d be now. And even after numerous emails and seeing who has connections in different corners of the world, there are still a few races to confirm. It's not exactly how I'd like to do it, but I knew this would be a bit of a whirlwind - kind of like the weather in Auckland recently, so let's go!

    Right now June will be used to open up and blow the cobwebs out. My coach, Paul Hamblyn, had suggested a 3k in Copenhagen on June 7th a few weeks ago and I thought NOPE, too early. But the last 2 weeks training have been better than I'd expected with some 'PB workouts' thrown in the mix. Needless to say, I'm ready and excited - but I'm currently on the waitlist for that 3k race, hoping for a start. Apparently I may get told this the day before so I'll just sit here patiently waiting for the green light! Nothing like a last minute dash to the airport to get to a race - those who followed my instagram story the day of the 5k final at Nationals will know its not the only time I've had to get to a race with moments to spare.

    After that, I'm hoping either an 800 (Sweden) or 1500 (Germany) on June 17th.

    And then July is GAME ON!

    - 1st: BMC Grand Prix 1500m, Watford, England

    - 5th: Motonet GP Joensuu 1500m, Finland (TBC).

    - 14th: Morton Games 1500m, Dublin, Ireland

    - 17th: International Marseille Meeting 1500m, France (TBC)

    - 19th: Motonet GP Lappeenranta 1500m, Finland (Will run if I can't get a start in Marseille)

    - 22nd: Memorial Geert Flanders Cup 1500m, Belgium

    - 29th: #TrueAthletes Classics 1500m - Leverkusen, Germany (TBC)

    I'll try keep you all as updated as I can while I'm away.

    Thank you again!

    Laura

    *Photo: Last session complete in the rain at Auckland Domain with Paul on the bike.

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    • 29/05/2023 by mick

      Go Girl