Miami Training block

19 December, 2009 | 19:12

Final blog update from their 2009 winter training block coming up...

The team will stay in Florida until Christmas, or over Christmas in some cases. The fact that Miami doesn't feel very seasonal makes the training all the easier. That and the weather. And the beaches. And the food...

A running track in the tropics is better than one in a drizzly London, that's for sure...

...and after the first pyramid session, it was back to the familiar 10 x 400m session that everyone knows and loves so well.

The track sessions are actually pretty short when you add all the actual running together, but they're high on pain, all of which is revealed to the runner (and his trainer) through the heart-rate monitor.

Joining Andy on this occasion, none other than Alex Corretja. With Rosco Hutchins sitting the session out with a slight hamstring pull, it fell to the older guys to help Andy through the session.

With Andy running 10 x 76 second laps (with 76 seconds recovery in between), they simply can't keep up, so they take turns to hang in his wake. That said, Alex is a very strong runner from all those years as a player.

Here they are after the third, and already Andy is coming in ahead of the rest. There's no point in running ahead of schedule - the trick is to cross the line just as the 76 second alarm goes off.

And the next thing he'll do is check his heart-rate. That's then communicated to the fitness team....

By seven or eight, he's in a whole world of hurt. In near 100F temperatures, it's just ugly. Here they are at the end. In pieces basically. Credit to trainer Matt little, he did all ten.

It's a very quiet journey to lunch after that, taking a good twenty minutes of air con to bring them back to life. But, rested and fed, they're itching to get back out on court in the afternoon...

With the Orange Bowl having taken over at University of Miami, they've been at Crandon Park instead. Alex Corretja lost the football tennis forfeit and had to kiss the feet...

It's quite early as far as the tennis part of the block is concerned, so before Miles Maclagan arrives from holiday, Alex has been working on some specifics with Andy.

Forehand before and after....

And not forgetting the backhand of course.

By now, the full team will be in the States. Keep tuned to Andy's twitter for updates!