21.5 MILES AT 7.10 PACE THEN CRASH OUT!

I used the same route as last weeks long run, this time there was a strong wind blowing from the north east the opposite direction to last week, at least I would get blown home! I came off the sandhills at 4.6 miles with 8 mph average showing on the Garmin up 0.2 mph on last time, but now I had to face the wind for quite a few miles. After 15 miles I turned onto the coast road for a wind assisted return home, I decided to run 4 mins fast, 1 min easy along the sea front, I was soon hitting 6.20pace and kept the 4 fast, 1 easy going until 19 miles when I felt my energy draining away, I started feeling dizzy and by 21.5 miles I hit the wall big time, I had wanted to carry on until 23 miles but felt I might black out if I kept running, my blood sugar level had dropped very low and I'd run out of Lucazade tablets! There was only one thing for it but to walk the last mile home, very undignifide! I guess I need to carry more emergency rations with me next time! 21,5 miles, 7.10 pace, 8.4 mph = 2.34.32

THE SCIENCE BEHIND RUNNING THE SAHARA

CLICK HERE

YOU WILL HAVE HEARD OF HITTING THE WALL, BUT HITTING THE POST!!!

Well it was about 5 years age when I last ran into a post, we were doing an interval session, running up a slight hill in the dark and a cars headlights were shining straight into our faces. The guy in front of me suddenly swerved to the side and the next thing I was flat on my back with a massive headache and blood streaming down my face. The hospital pored 'super glue' into the wound [ it burned like hell!] and I've still got a scare to prove it!
Before the post incident they use to call my the 'tree hugger' for the time I lost control and skidded into a tree ending up in a very romantic embrace with the said tree! in the Ashurst Beacon Fell Race.
Anyway, back to my latest post hitting incident, it all started off innocently enough, setting out on another mega 18 mile fartlek run. It was a rainy night but at least not too cold.I ran the first 3.6 miles at 6.25 pace into a slight headwind, when I got to Ainsdale I ran loops over the only hill in the neighborhood, giving my a total of over 7 miles at 6.45 pace before I joined the club for Brian's fartlek session.
Rob was back again after taking it easy over Christmas, he's got loads of natural speed so even when he's not fully fit he's still dangerous! And so it proved to be as he pushed me hard on each effort!
After finishing the session I started running back with Rob through the badly lit village, almost straight away I hit a kerb, ending up doing the splits as I fell to the floor [ good job I'm flexible] only 1/2 a minute later as I was talking to Rob disaster no 2! I ran straight into one of those council posts, that they put up with parking fines and times on them, smack, my head glanced the side and my legs went either side, och! [ my manhood!]. WALKERS LOOKED ROUND IN PANIC AS THEY HEARD THE THUNDEROUS CRACK!
I sort of did a 'Kate Moss' pole dance before falling to the floor, but luckily I escaped with only minor injury!
Being the tough guy that I am! I got straight back up and brushed myself down, before heading off once more.
I ran a couple of miles with Rob before heading off on a long loop home, increasing the pace to 6.30 miles before a final surge to 11 mph!
"At least I've learned that if I hit the 'WALL' in the marathon I should be able to pick myself up and keep running!"
18.3 miles at 7.18 pace inc tempo run and 8 hard efforts.
Wed 28th
Awesome day! best weather of the winter so far, mild sunny and no wind, Mad dog and me enjoyed a easy run over the big sand dunes, happy days! = 1.29
Thur 29th
Didn't feel good today, 6 x 150m downhill and called it a day!
max 14.8mph, =46 mins
Fri 30th
Starting to feel better today, steady run with 9 surges, max speed 14mph, av pace 6.55. 3.28 miles = 22.53

RUN FASTER, HAVE THE RIGHT NAME!

HAVING THE RIGHT NAME IS VERY IMPORTANT IF YOU WANT TO RUN FAST, SOME NAMES JUST DON'T MAKE THE GRADE!
IF you want to run really fast then you must have the name LASSIE, ie Lassie Viren or HAILE GEBRESLASSIE, and of course there was the very famous LASSIE the dog who was not only a Hollywood star but could also run abit!

22 mile Pier run at 7.11 pace

This was the first of my really long runs, after a mile I headed into the sandhills on a 3.5 mile roller coaster trip. I got back on the road with an average 7.8 mph showing on my Garmin. Once I reached the woodvale traffic lights I turned left and back towards Ainsdale.
I was wearing a pair of heavy well padded Nikes, I wondered how I could have run so well in them in last years Blackpool marathon [ I chose them because of the many miles of concrete sea wall you have to run at Blackpool] dam they are so heavy and inflexible, I can't seem to run smoothly or fast in them. The temptation was too much, as my loop came within a mile of home I decided on a detour!
A quick change into my new very lite Nike explosions and I was on my way once more, wow what a difference, I felt so much better, I was hitting 9 mph over the gravel path over the reclaimed tip.
Back on the road I settled into a steady pace , past churchtown and the botanic gardens and on to crossens.
Back on the coast rd into a headwind for 5 miles, this was tough mental training, off in the far distance I could see the pier, but it never seemed to get closer, endless tarmac, endless headwind sapping my energy away!
With a sigh of relief I went past Southports recently rebuilt famous landmark [ the pier] another mile and I would be home!
With 20.5 miles reached I passed home and embarked on 3 half mile loops at marathon pace, surprisingly I now felt better than any time during the whole run, I rattled off 3 continuous laps at 6.27 pace to finish with an average of 22.09 miles at 7.11 pace, 8.35 mph.
I wish I'd felt slightly more comfortable during the run, I felt half asleep, only 3 hours sleep after the night shift didn't help much! At least I finished strongly and a few more long ones should make both my legs and confidence stronger!

WEIGH TO GO! Is your weight slowing you down, weight-speed prediction chart

Predicted effect of weight change, click here

QUESTION; IN X/C RACES SHOULD ONE USE THE HIP FLEXORS OR THE HAMSTRINGS TO PULL YOUR FOOT OUT OF THE MUD!

I was asking myself this question as I was slip sliding away in the Leyland X/C race on Saturday!
The Gravity running has been working really well on the road, letting me hold higher speeds than before, but running on mud I think a slightly different technique is required!
Maybe you can answer this question, is it better to use the hip flexors to drive the knee forward and up to pull your foot out of the mud and stop it sinking in, or should one use the hamstrings to quickly pull the foot off the ground before it sinks deep into the sticky stuff! Or maybe one should use a combination of hip flexor and hams, do you have the answer to fast mud running, if so let me know!
NEWS FLASH!
Jack Nirenstein of GRAVITY RUNNING answered my question posted on Youtube;

Secular101

Reply
You need to pull the foot out from the mud first by using the hamstrings to flex the leg at the knee. Then don't concern yourself with driving the knee it happens automatically when you lift the foot to clear the ground and drive the foot forward at the right speed to match the speed of the body going forward. When you work on the knee you lift too high and lose time in bringing the foot forward. The knee science is flawed. Jack Nirenstein

Secular101

Reply | Spam

Another to rick. You need the reactive force from the ground for you to get the full exerted force from gravity. That is why running in mud and sand is slow. There is give in the force return from the ground and friction isn't the same as the road to keep the foot in place for the vault. The vault is when the foot stays in place while the top of the leg carries the body from behind the foot to in front of the foot. When you run faster the feet flip farther back and high. Jack Nirenstein

Sat 17th
This was the end of my 3rd hard week and once the race got under way I realized I didn't have much left in my legs, my intention was simply to use the race as a tempo run but running over the mud felt like very hard work and man was I happy to finish, it felt like the last 6 miles of a marathon ! 6 miles = 44 mins
Sun 18th
Run with Jon on the sandhill 6 then I set off on a progression run, slowly building me speed up, finishing with 3 X 1/2 mile loops at close to 10 mph av. total = 1.30
LOOKING FORWARD TO AN EASIER WEEK NEXT WEEK!

MY LONDON MARATHON TRAINING MOVES UP TO THE NEXT LEVEL

I asked Adarian Barr of NEXT LEVEL ATHLETICS AND FITNESS to help me with my training program, Adarian looked through my training logs and told me I needed to start training in blocks of 4 weeks, 3 weeks of progressive work load followed by 1 week reduced work load. It should help me regenerate and be able to work harder in the next cycle.
Adarian suggested a few more changes including doing a progression session of 2 mins increasing speed followed by 2 mins holding speed then increase speed again!! He told told me,
"The two min on/off, is where you take two min to get up to set speed
of 8 mph, then hold that for 2 min, stay at 8 mph for 2 min, then work up to
say 9 mph over the next two min and then hold it for two min".
"The idea is to learn how to increase pace, recovery at pace then increase it
again. Most people tend to slow down to recover when all you need to do is
hold pace. It takes the body about 2 minutes to meet energy demand".
"As you get better you will find that you can get to a higher pace faster and hold it longer".
I decided to do the session on the treadmill at the gym because it was very windy outside and it would be hard to control my speed!
I warmed up then started at 12 kph and built up my speed over 2 mins to 13 kph, I then held the pace for 2 mins before once again increasing my speed. After about 20 mins I was hitting 17 kph when disaster stuck, the treadmill started malfunctioning and as the speed erratically went up and down between 15.6 and 17.5 kph the screen on the treadmill flashed
' UNABLE TO MAINTAIN PACE'.....!
WOW, I thought, I'd out run a treadmill and sent it into serious oxygen debt!
I jumped off the machine and onto the next one, quickly getting back up to 17kph , but my rhythm and concentration had gone so I called it a day after 2 mins. hopefully without the interruption I would have reached 18 or 19k ! Anyway it will be interesting over the coming weeks seeing how I progress!
Fri 16th
Easy steady run with mad dog, 3.2 miles = 24 mins
Thur 15th
Evening Treadmill, progression session = 22 mins
Plus weight training.
Afternoon, 10x 150m with wind, max speed 13.9 mph, plus acceleration run home, 9-10 then 11 mph. = 49 mins
Wed 14th Big sandhills easy = 2 h 3 mins

18 MILES FARTLECK SESSION!

SUPER DUPER MEGA SESSION!
This is my tribute session to Eddie B the Polish coach who trained the U.S. CYCLE TEAM back in the 80's. Once a week he would get the guys to do an increasingly tough training ride which included riding hard up hills, time trialling, sprinting for road signs and riding progressively faster on the way home, they would start on 60miles and build up to 130 miles by the end of winter.
I started off at tempo pace [ 6.20] into a headwind for 3 miles to Ainsdale, I then eased to a steady pace for another 3 miles before meeting up with the club for a fartleck session. Its so much more fun running with other people and you always run faster than if you were on your own.
There was a good group out tonight and once again Paul was pushing me hard. Brian had us doing 9 efforts of about 400 - 800 m on the flat and up and down hills!
After the session I headed back the long way and included some extra loops, over the final couple of miles I increased the pace to 9 mph plus finishing with 18 miles.
I was feeling quite strong again after feeling tired last week [ I think I increased my training to quickly after having a week off with flu] in fact I really wanted to carry on until I reached 20 miles but work called!
3 m tempo 9.4 mph and fartleck session , max speed 14.3 mph
total distance 18.03 miles

MERSEYSIDE X/C CHAMPIONSHIPS, ARROW PARK

Sat 10th
I'd put in 2 long and a medium length run in during the week and my plan was to use the X/C race as a tempo training session!
Warming up round the course I wished I'd brought a pair of road shoes with me, the ground was frozen solid , in my spikes it felt like I was running bear foot on a bed of nails !
Each lap was about 4 k long and with 3 laps it made for quite a long X/C race. setting off I tried to stay with team mates Steve Mclean, Peter Roome and Gerry, but my legs were not feeling very sharp! They pulled away from me by the end of the first lap and I was on my own as I started the 2nd lap, running at a sort of fast steady pace I concentrated on catching a lad in front of me, I got him half way into the lap and slowly pulled away, next was a long drag up a hill before the start/finish. Maybe I should have worn tights as my legs felt well and truly numb in the cold air and were not responding to my request for more speed! Ah! the final lap! half way into this final lap a guy game flying past and woke me up! responding I tried to go with him but he pulled away into the distance, at least I was moving faster now. one last climb and I could hear runners closing in on me, I kept my cool and didn't look back!
200 to go and I could hear spectators giving encouragement to a guy just behind, one glance behind and I was off! accelerating all the way to the line! = 48.04
It would have been nice to run this race fresh but I've got bigger objectives ahead! its been a good weeks training with over eight hours under my belt.
Sun 11th Run with Jon on the infamous sandhill 6 followed by a 3 mile progression run starting at 8mph, moving up to over 9 mph before putting in a final flourish at sub 6 min mile pace on a half mile loop near home! felt good by the end, legs flying round!= 1.21

TOUR DE FRANCE STYLE SOUTHPORT WATERLOO A.C. GRAND PRIX

AS THE NEW ROAD RACE SECRETARY FOR SOUTHPORT WATERLOO I HAVE REVAMPED THE GRAND PRIX FOR 2009
SO HERE ARE THE G.P. RACES FOR 2009

AFTER TALKING TO SOME OF THE MOST ACTIVE MEMBERS I HAVE DEVISED A TOUR DE FRANCE STYLE CHALLENGE, WITH ONLY YOUR BEST 6 RACES TO COUNT THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES FOR BOTH SHORT AND LONG DISTANCE RUNNERS TO SHINE!

FOR THE CLIMBERS THERE WILL BE A NEW KING OF THE MOUNTAINS COMPETITION [ BOTH MALE AND FEMALE] BASED ON YOUR BEST 3 HILL RACES.

WITH THE INCLUSION OF SOME SMALLER RACES THERE WILL BE BIG OPPORTUNITIES FOR HIGH POINTS SCORING AND THE SERIES MAY NOT BE DECIDED UNTIL THE FINAL EVENT IN DECEMBER!

I HOPE EVERYONE SUPPORTS THE SERIES AND WE CAN ALSO GO FOR TEAM WINS IN MANY OF THE RACES, BRINGING BACK A GOOD TEAM SPIRIT AMONG THE SENIORS!

FEB

14TH PARBOLD HILL RACE king of the mountains points

28TH STANDISH HALL TRAIL 10K K.O.T.M. POINTS

MARCH

15TH TRIMPELL 20 MILE

APRIL

10TH GOOD FRIDAY SOUTHPORT 4 MILES

MAY

4TH WATERLOO 15K

WALTON PARK 5 MILES

JUNE

21ST FRECKLETON HALF MARATHON
CHORLEY FRIDAY NIGHT 5K SERIES

JULY

29TH HARROCK HILL K.O.T.M. POINTS

AUGUST

HAIGH HALL 4 MILES K.O.T.M POINTS

OCT

SOUTHPORT 10K

NOV

1ST THROUGH THE VILLAGES RACE 8.5 MILES K.O.T.P. POINTS

DEC

7TH LONGRIDGE 7 K.O.T.M. POINTS

LONDON MARATHON TRAINING ON ICE!

It was still woolly mammoth weather as I headed out the door into a cruel icy headwind to meet the guys for the first of the new years fartlek sessions, running on the main roads was no problem but when I turned onto the side roads it was a different story with plenty of sheet ice about, I almost fell coming down a steep little hill but managed to make it onto the grass verge!
Only the hard core turned out, no ladies! come on girls don't you have thermals!
Brian got us to do hill sprints on the railway flyover as it was almost ice free!
There was a time I use to hate this session, but now with GRAVITY RUNNING I can fly up the hills without blowing my legs apart, its a massive advantage understanding good biomechanics, on each effort I got faster and it felt awesome accelerating passed the other guys as my legs turned over faster and faster!
I ran back with John to southport before I headed back to Hillside for an extended lap before home. I was almost home with 15.5 miles on the Garmin so I shot off again on a rapid half mile loop to reach my targeted 16 miles. All that was left was a very hard night shift, involving lots of heavy lifting and quite a few miles walking, two cans of red bull got me through the night, all good training for the marathon!
10x hill sprints, max speed 13.1 mph, 16.1 miles = 2.06
THE GREAT THAW
Wed 7th Core training with weights followed by a MEGA FAT BURNER running easy over the big sand dunes with mad dog for 1 hour 56 mins.
The winds brought in the rain this morning leaving milder weather behind!
Thur 8th Leg speed session, 10 x 150m, max 13.9mph plus steady run round the marine lake, 10.5 miles = 1.20

COASTAL PATH REVISITED

COASTAL PATH MAP
I decided to run the coastal path route again today, after doing a tempo run last night then working the night shift I got just 3 hours sleep before I had to get up!
I got the train down to hall rd and jogged to the start, the legs were feeling a bit tired at the start but over the last few miles I started to feel better knowing I was almost home.
Back in November 2003 I ran both ways none stop in 3.41 about 7.8 mph, not bad taking into account the miles and miles of soft sand and sand dunes! [ I started in September of that year running 4 hours 20 mins and improved to 3 hours 41 mins in only 2 months, maybe I can do it again!]
That year i started training for London in September, running 14 hours per week! by November I was flying, I remember doing the double coastal path in 3.43 [ 29 miles] then running the Preston 10 mile the next day in freezing conditions, I wore a cycle thermal top, Ron hill tracksters and a wooly hat and criused round in 58 mins, Sadly I had peaked out and by the marathon in April I was as flat as a pancake!
Today I could only manage 7.3 mph average for the 14 .37 miles, but I was still 3 mins faster than on Thursday.
with a warm up and running home it gave me over 15 miles total.
14.37 miles = 1 hour 57 mins
+ 10 mins easy
Sun 4th Steady run on the road, coastal rd loop,7.91 miles at 8.3 mph, 7.15 pace
=54.20

TEMPO RUN PROGRESSION

This was my 3rd tempo run since I started my new training cycle, As I've got more efficient at GRAVITY RUNNING my pace graph is much smoother holding well over 10 mph for most of the run only slowing to 9 mph going up Trafalgar rd hill, I also have to negotiate quite a few road junctions which knocked my average pace below 10 mph [ plus I was running in the dark].
I wound it up over the last half mile hitting 5.26 pace!
I was really happy with my recovery from yesterdays coastal path run and I was really feeling strong tonight!
Here is my progress.
2nd Jan 2009 3.01 miles, 18mins 39 sec , av 9.7 mph, 6.11 pace
28th Dec 3.00 miles, 19.02, 9.4 av, 6.21 pace
6th Dec 3.01 miles, 19.05, 9.5 av, 6.20 pace
I think the way to go is a regular tempo run, a leg speed session and a fartleck run, plus a long run of 2 hours plus each week!
Tonights tempo run was in fact my fastest since I got the Garmin in the summer of 2007!
THERE IS STILL LIFE IN THE OLD DOG!

NEW YEARS DAY COSTAL PATH RUN 14.47 MILES

COASTAL PATH MAP
2009 kicked off with the traditional club run along the coastal path from hall road coast guard station back to the Fisherman's rest pub in Birkdale! About 15 of us set off, conditions were well below freezing, after putting some really hard training in over the past 5 days i was feeling a little jaded, At one time I use to run this route both ways without stopping 28.94 miles plus running to the start and back, my record was 3 hours and 41 mins! But today one way was more than enough for my and I was more than happy to make it back to the warmth of the pub! = 2.00.13

Wed Sandhill 6, 4 mins fast 1 min easy all the way round, felt great, 1 min faster for the course than this time last year! holding 10 mph over the faster last section, 37.21 plus run down and back total 58.32
Tue steady road run 8.5 mph av 9.45 miles = 1.07
Mon Leg speed session on the road max 15.2 mph 7.55 miles, av speed 8.2 = 0.54mins
Sun am Tempo run 3 miles at 9.4 mph followed by 3 miles steady 8.4 mph = 42.28
Sat 27th big sandhills = 2.02
Fri 26th leg speed session at greenbank school 10 x 150 14 mph max, ran down and back at marathon pace = 1.03
Thur sandhill 6 felt weak and coughing 4 mins fast 1 easy all the way round 42 mins plus run down and back = 1.13
Wed 24th First run back after 5 days in bed with flu, legs very stiff and bad cough, tired after only 30 mins in the sandhills, feel very unfit! = 42 mins
FRIENDS OF MY BROTHER ANDY AND SIS INLAW MARGOT CAN CATCH UP ON HOW THEY ARE GETTING ON IN THERE NEW LIFE ON THE WEST COAST OF SCOTLAND BY CLICKING THIS LINK, GREAT PHOTOS.
2008 in retrospect
In a way its been a good year, 11th place and age group win at the blackpool marathon,
11th place anglesea marathon, my fastest time in 4 years and age group win in the harrock hill race series and age group win at the lancaster half marathon but a lot of my best runs happened in training even setting p.b.s on a hilly mile loop I've been running for many years ! But I often felt flat in racing, 2 hard interval sessions per week is just 2 much for my body to take, so in 2009 I will restrict myself to one interval session each week and hopfully I'll feel a whole lot fresher in races!