Mo Farah's blog by mo_farah

So I'm back in Font Romeu now where I've spent most of the last few weeks training, returning to the UK last weekend for the Diamond League meeting in Gateshead. The result was a bit disappointing for me as I finished seventh in the race, which, for my standards is not what I would expect. I had  hoped to finish at least within the top three, however on a positive note I improved my lifetime best over 5000m to 13 minutes 5 seconds. I can't beat myself up about it too much as the race consisted of some of the world's best runners, with some finishing behind me. Anyway, onwards and upwards.

My wife and daughter came to watch me in Gateshead which was nice to have them present, although we had to part ways again when I returned here....a familiar story! Getting to Font Romeu is never easy and involves a flight to Barcelona, where I hire a car at the airport and then begin a three hour drive across the border and up the mountains!

At first it was nerve wracking to drive here as it's a left hand-side drive on the right side of the road, not to mention the narrow winding roads on the edge of steep mountains. However, the view of the scenery around me is amazing and honestly the best I've ever seen. It's safe to say I've now gotten used to it; although this time round there had been some heavy rain causing floods on the roads which meant I was diverted several times.

With just over a week to go before the European Championships in Barcelona this is where the training is crucial. Reason being, I have more to lose than gain in the days leading up to it, so the key is to maintain the level of fitness I'm currently at, without over working myself and causing any damage. Being at high altitude is great for enhancing the fitness; however with a major competition around the corner the amount of training should always be reduced. I did my last hard track session a few days ago which I'm pleased to say went very well and therefore over the next week will be easing down. I do have one more track session later this week but it'll be very moderate to say the least, more so to keep the legs ticking!

My diet has been strict, mainly protein (lots of steak) and pasta with vegetables of course! I've always preferred my steak to be on the rare side, however there's a restaurant nearby which my wife and I love going to where their idea of a 'medium-rare' steak is to barely cook it....I mean the steak is practically still bleeding when it's served. At one point I thought it was going to get up and walk off my plate! Still, being an athlete the rarer the better for me - although my wife didn't feel the same about hers.

I'm really excited and a little nervous about Barcelona as it's an event close to my heart. Four years ago at the Championship I missed out on the gold medal by half a second and so am determined to go one better this time. I have to. To finish second in Europe is never a bad shout, but to come that close to victory is agonising and it's fired me up to prevent that happening again. I know my toughest components are the Spanish guys and so in reality I'll need to be on top of my game, but I'm confident and ready to do Great Britain proud!

The Championship starts on 26^thJuly and my next blog will be coming to you live from Barcelona so I hope you'll be watching!