History in the making, Allyson Felix crosses the line to become the World Champion over 200m for the third time (© Getty Images)
With the longest season of her career now behind her, three-time World 200m champion Allyson Felix is already thinking about 2010. But first, she plans to take the next month off.
“My season is finally over. I ran my final race in the 100m in Daegu (25 Sept).
“I also ran the 200m in the World Athletics Final (12 Sept) and the 100m in Shanghai (20 Sept) and in Kawasaki (Sept. 23) after winning the 200m in the World Championships.
“It is definitely difficult to continue competing after the World Championships, especially after having made a trip home. I decided to compete because I have never competed in a full season since turning professional. In previous years I've always had to rush back for class, or other commitments. This season I told myself that I was going to finish the season.
“This year has definitely been the longest that I've stayed in Europe, but I felt that it was necessary. I was gone for about two months then I got to take a short break come home and go back over for about two weeks.
“I find that the biggest advantage of staying in Europe is having the ability to get good training in between meets and also not having to go through adjusting to different time zones.
“It always takes my body some time to adjust to being on a different time zone and my first race over is always sub par, so by staying I am able to eliminate those factors. I think the hardest part of being away from home was missing my loved ones. I was very grateful to get to do more sightseeing than usual this season during my down time, which was a treat. I feel so blessed to be able to travel and see the world.
“I was pleased with the way my season went. It started off slowly as I expected due to starting training much later than usual and taking a slower approach this year. It got a little frustrating by not running my main event at the majority of meets but I was thrilled that things began to come together at the right time. My main goal all year was to defend my title in the 200m at worlds and I was so excited to have been able to do that.
“I've already started thinking about next season. I've been doing a lot of evaluating how I felt this season went for me and taking note of changes that I know I need to make in order to reach my goals. I'm going to take the month of October off from training. I'm excited to just relax, go to the beach and spend time with family and friends.
“Off the track, my workout program Glisten (http://www.iglisten.net) is continuing to grow and we recently had the privilege of promoting a fashion show held by Package of Prevention. (http://www.packageofprevention.com).
“The fashion show showcased many individuals fighting cancer or having been affected by it in some way. Glisten has a great relationship with Package of Prevention because we both have a goal of helping others lead healthy lifestyles and making a commitment to save lives through cancer prevention and early detection.
“Finally, I just wanted to express my thankfulness to all of you for supporting me. I have read each and every message and I’m going to try my absolute best to return them all, but I had to say thank you! Your notes were such an encouragement on my journey to my third World title.
Allyson