20th October 2012 05:02
'I'll be competing at the Atapuerca and Soria cross country meetings to qualify for the Spain team going to the European Cross Country Championships and once I'm there I want to improve on my fourth place of three years ago,' said Sanchez, referring to the local Cross de Atapuerca and Campo a Traves Internacional de Soria races on 13 and 20 November respectively.
The two events are IAAF Cross Country Permit Meetings.
The 2012 SPAR European Cross Country Championships will be held in Szentendre, which is on the banks of the Danube just north of the capital Budapest.
'I think I'm training very well, despite a problem I suffered with a toe a few days ago. Although it causes some discomfort, I've done enough of a workload to arrive at the start of the winter races in good condition,' he added.
Although Sánchez has yet to win an individual medal at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships - he also finished 18th in 2007 and 13th in 2008 - he provided a crucial contribution to help Spain win the senior men's team title in each of the three years that he competed.
This year, injuries meat that he only raced three times on the track this summer and he did not make the Spanish team going to the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Sanchez, the 2010 World Indoor Championships 3000m silver medallist, added that in 2013 he intends to move up to the marathon and that he will make his debut over the classic distance at the famous Boston race next April.