New Venture for Truffles - Forecourt Store in Haywards Heath

Things go from strength to strength in the world of Truffles as we embark on a totally new venture in conjunction with Frosts cars. Mindful of the fast paced world we live in our first ever petrol forecourt store will be opening in Haywards Heath in early December. We are delighted to be able to offer our range of freshly made sandwiches and savouries, delicious handmade cakes and bean to cup coffee whilst you fill up with fuel. Watch this space for further details in the near future.

Update from athlete Charlie Grice in Kenya, sponsored by Truffles

Hi Truffles

As I said in my last blog that I will be blogging from Kenya, well here I am! I am now in my last week of the camp that has been 4 weeks long and I am loving every minute of it. I came to Kenya not really knowing what to expect. I am staying in Iten which is 40minutes away from Eldoret. It is very poor but the place I am staying in is like a bubble compared to the rest of Kenya(the camp is very secure and many international athletes come and stay).

The camp is owned by Lornah Kiplagat who is former World Champion for marathon. Lornah's husband and her have built a great training facility, there is accomodation for around 40 people in lodges and there are 2 main dining areas aswell as a big gym which is very well equipt. UK Athletics have taken out 20 athletes and 5 staff including 2 physios, 2 coaches and 1 physiologist, there were 2 departure dates ; I was on the first flight. I spent the first 2 weeks with my own room which was good but it did get a bit boring and I am now sharing with James Shane who I am getting along with really well. He won the national senior champs this year so it is good to do some training with him.

For the first week we all just did easy running and no sessions because we had to acclimatise to the altitude. We got weighed everyday to check we weren't losing too much weight and we also got our blood saturation levels to see how much oxygen there is in your blood. A typical day consists of waking up at 7am, meeting for a run at 7:30 and then another run at 5pm. In the middle of the day I would either do weights/stretch/college work and sleep! If I am doing a session I will have breakfast at 7:30 before running at 9am. There is a big emphasis on training and resting which is ideal for running. Everyone has their own individual schedule which they are running to but all our easy/steady running are done together as there is a group ethos to the camp. It's great meeting new people and running with them especially learning off them as there are some top quality athletes here. Before I came I only knew a couple of people and know I have made lots of new friends. There are lots of good trails on our doorstep which make good running. There are also lots of winding hills which makes running as tough especially as there is less oxygen up here at 2400m above sea level.

The weather here has been a bit disappointing. It has rained quite a bit in the evenings especially. This is very unusual for this time of year and it makes the running on the trails very difficult because they become very muddy and slippery. I feel I have benefited a lot from being out here, as there are no distractions the focus is completely on training, eating the right things and looking after your body. I go the the gym and I see about 10 international athletes all working out hard, it is motivating.

I had my birthday on the 7th November which was pretty weird but I enjoyed it! I was pretty chuffed as the guys had bought me a card and the chefs made me a big cake in the evening and it was a bit different to a normal evening meal! The lifestyle here is pretty tough , the food is very healthy and there isn't much to do here so some people get restless.

I am starting to feel very fit compared to when I arrived here. When I run it feels easier and I am looking very much forward to racing when I get back as I am told it will feel a lot easier. I am racing a cross country in Liverpool 3 days after I get back so I am hoping that I will put in a good performance there.

Bye for now

Charlie