Tuesday 31 August 2010

3 x 9 min Progression runs

Marius Bakken session
Location Kings Garden one K loop
The session called for 3 x 9mins [ 3mins [L2]-3mins [L3] and 3 mins[L4] continuous] with two mins recovery between sets.
Things went pretty well and my splits were;
Set one
3 mins 6.44 pace-3mins 5.59 pace - 3 mins 5.45 pace
Set two
3 mins 6.38 pace-3 mins 5.55 pace-3 mins 5.37 pace
Set 3
3 mins 6.33 pace-3 mins 6.00 pace-3 mins 5.33 pace
finished with 6 x smart strides Max speed 14.8 MPH
Total time 1 hour 3 mins.



WHAT'S IT LIKE TO RUN 93 MILES ACROSS ADAHO
READ SCOTT'S REPORT HERE


TIP OF THE DAY

One thing that will help you run faster and with a better posture is to run tall, always think of pulling yourself away from the ground!
Check out video below for more info


THE SUB TWO HOUR MARATHON
CLICK HERE
Tweeted by Steve Magness

Laurent Fignon R.I.P.

Laurent Fignon

Laurent Fignon, who died on Tuesday from cancer aged 50, was an awesome French cyclist who erupted on to the professional sporting scene in the early 1980s, winning the first of his two successive Tours de France in 1983 aged only 22; six years later he was involved in the race's most dramatic final day, as the American rider Greg LeMond overhauled his 50-second lead to win by just eight seconds.

Monday 30 August 2010

Video David Rudisha New 800m World Record 1:41.01!

Michael Rimmer In World Record Race

Southport.gb.com Online News
Southports 800m athelete Michael Rimmer took part in the same race that Kenyan David Rudisha broke the world record with a time of 1:41.01, this was the second time in eight days that the 21 year old Kenyan has broken the record.

The race took place on Sunday 29th August in Rieti Italy and Rimmer finished fourth with a new personal best time of 1:43.89.

Couple of links to the race below

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/8953595.stm

http://www.iaaf.org/IWC10/news/kind...sfeed&att=index

Sunday 29 August 2010

Saturday 28 August 2010

CRANKING OUT THE MILES!

Marius he say, No mega long run this week, so I just Crank out a 2 hour run with Paul [he's improving fast] over parbold and Ashurst, running 4 main climbs, on and off Rd.
It's nice not to do all my training on my own and the time flew by.
1800ft of climbing = 2 hours 4 mins





I first saw this great video of Anton testing the New Balance minimalist trail shoe on the Runblogger blogsite Check out this video NOW


ANTON'S WEBSITE

Friday 27 August 2010

Thursday 26 August 2010

HARROCK HILL RACE


I was hoping for a good race, but as soon as I set off up the quarry climb i found I didn't have the legs. I could see runners I would expect to beat pull away from me, once over the top of the first climb I pulled some places back on the downhills but once again as I started the second climb I started to drop back as the legs protested!
I think the long 3 hour runs have taken the edge off my top end!
I finished in 16th place in my 32nd Harrock Hill race feeling a bit disappointed not to be able to perform at my best, but I guess I need to keep focused on my long term aim of next months Langdale Mountain Marathon. I still have a couple more weeks of marathon specific training before my taper leading up to the race on the 25th of Sept.
Conclusions; Diet, One thing I did on my London Marathon build up was take a protein drink straight after hard sessions, which really helped with recovery, must start doing that again!
Think next year after running the London Marathon will concentrate on 5k-10k training and aim at the summer hill races. Want to improve my power and speed next summer and enjoy the shorter distances.
Marius says to run well over the 5-10k distances start with 1/2 marathon training then do the 10k training cycle and then move into 5k training.
Marius says; This cycle will work really well for the 5k and 10 as the half marathon training first will improve your anaerobic threshold and you then bring this into your 10k/5k training later in the training cycle.
UPDATE
Ran 20 x 1 min tonight starting at 5.40 pace and getting faster throughout, finish with 5.18 pace, felt really strong.
think I felt sluggish in race because I didn't follow the Marius plan and run this 20 x 1 min session before the race, Marius talks a lot about muscle stiffness and tuning the muscles through fast sessions etc.
i was hoping the 3 days easy before race would get me sharp for the race but it seemed to have the opposite effect leaving me flat.
But the good news is I've still get good speed :]

CLICK ON TO ENLARGE RESULTS

sorry do not have page two yet
I WILL DO A FULL REPORT ON THE SOUTHPORT WATERLOO A/C WEBSITE AS SOON AS i HAVE THE SECOND PAGE!

Tuesday 24 August 2010

AMAZING SECRET TO LOSING WEIGHT FOUND!

Story Image
THE secret of losing weight is on tap – just drink two glasses of water before sitting down to dinner.

Dieters struggling in the battle of the bulge can put an end to over- eating by simply filling up on the cheapest of all calorie-free drinks – water – before eating, the latest study has discovered.

Scientists are recommending half a litre of water before meals as a way to cut calorie intake.More

Don't be a Slouch Run Tall!


So many people inc Runners spend a lot of time sat down, at work, on a computer, driving or even watching TV.
The end result is muscle imbalance and LORDOSIS of the back.

Tight hip flexors and weak butt muscles are the main problem.
This bad posture leads not only to injury but makes running fast almost impossible!
Arthur lydiard called this ' sitting in a bucket,' butt hanging out back and leaning from the waist.
The cure is simple; Lunge stretches and butt strengthening exercises.
SEE ARTICLE HERE
Also Aurthur's advice to run tall will help a lot, he said to imagine you are two inch taller than normal, you will now glide over the road instead of collapsing into it and waisting energy along the way!

Asics HyperSpeed 4 Road Test and the Harrock Hill Race

Asics Gel-Hyperspeed 4 Unisex Running Shoe
I did my first run in a pair of HyperSpeeds tonight, first impressions are they will be a good shoe for my long progression runs and they might make a good marathon race shoe too.

2 years ago, I'd have used these shoes for 5k-10k races, but my perceptions have changed and now they feel more like a long distance shoe, being 'more' than I need for shorter distances!
Tomorrow is the last Harrock Hill race of the summer series, I've given myself 3 days easy, so will be hoping for a good run!
Conditions on the course are muddy in places after the heavy ran of late, so bring your trail shoes.
How to run up hills fast!
READ HERE
race starts at 7.30 from The Farmers Arms Hilldale.

Training

Tue 24th
Run with Tess round the Hillside loop at Level one =30 mins
Mon 23rd
Easy run with Tess on the Velvet Trail + 40 mins

Sunday 22 August 2010

WEEK 10 MARIUS BAKKEN MARATHON TRAINING

Sat 21st
Location Parbold
It's been a very good week of training, with 30 x 1 min at 10k pace, a 2 hour progression run and finishing off with a 3 hour hill run.
Ran with mate Paul for over 2 hours then finished on my own to take it out to 3 hours!

We started with the 1 mile stony Lane then went down through the Quarry which looked really picturesque with the sun reflecting off the water.
Next was Hunters Hill followed with a fast descent through the fields to parbold.
We then tackled the 2 mile ashurst Beacon, 2/3 of the way up we turned off the road and heading along a narrow trail to the top of the Beacon this inc a super steep section of about 1 in 3 !
Another fast downhill before climbing up Fairy Glen, then down the main Rd back to Parbold.
A quick drink and a energy gel block and i left Paul to finish the last hour on my own , a lap round the Harrock Hill race followed, once again I went over Hunters Hill, unlike last week i didn't need to walk [thanks to the energy blocks] finishing with a run down through the fields.
Paul did really well, his longest run since injury!
2400ft of climbing, 7 main climbs, = 3 Hours
Sun 22nd
Run-walk with sarah, Rob, Jon and tess total time = 1.20

Friday 20 August 2010

There is No Silver Bullet and The NEW Biomechanics of Sprinting

By Terrence Mahon

This past weekend I was in London, England for the Diamond League Track meet at the Crystal Palace. On the morning of the meet I teamed up with Alberto Salazar and Ricky Simms (coach & manager to many of the great Kenyan track runners) to give a coaching clinic for UK Athletics. It was a great event that brought together over 100 coaches and athletes from the UK club system to engage in a Q & A forum with Alberto, Ricky and myself.

A lot of what was talked about was comparing our US athletes and their rise to prominence with both their European and African counterparts. What became interesting to see was the utter simplicity of the Kenyan training model and how largely successful it is as a whole. However, the American and European mindset is often filled with testing gadgets, the newest-latest GPS watch and the 7 quickest ways to build stronger abs.
MORE


Biomechanics of maximal velocity sprinting
VIEW

Increasing Speed – Interview with Jon Goodwin READ

Thursday 19 August 2010

RUBBISH 5K TRAIL RESULTS


23 Runners turned out for the 3rd in the series of the Rubbish 5 K's .
Once again we were blessed with bright sunshine but a blustery wind made for hard going at times, even so there were some new Personnel Bests along the way.
For the first time in the history of the event we had a dead heat for first place!
After much judging of finish line photo's- OK well, really in truth I only had my own eyes to split the two lunging runners on the line, so I declared Steve McLean and Steve Wilkinson = 1st in 18.27. Yes STEVE WON!
3rd was M Goddard in 19.17. It was good to see the return of Brian Gow to running finishing 4th in 19.42, Simon Tobin was next in nursing two broken ribs.
First Lady was Tracey Peters in 21.02, she finished just behind Terry Bolland who had one of his best runs for a long time smashing is Rubbish P.B. by almost 5 mins.
Other good runs of note were; Paul Cain getting back into good form after injury, P Talbot who took 45 sec off his P.B. Rob Cosgrove 8 sec P.B. and Donna Spencer [ 4th Lady] 2 sec P.B.
Also at 71 years of age super Vet Steve James impressed with 22.55.
Next event will be a Handicap on the 3rd Wed of Sept at 7 pm prompt.
Thanks to Brian for results, Sarah,Rob, Sue and Norm for help marshaling, Cheers :]
Photo; Donna Spencer on her way to a NEW P.B.

.

RUBBISH 5K

Wed August 28th 2010

1=

S McLean & S Wilkinson

18.27

3

M Goddard

19.17

4

B Gow

19.42

5

S Tobin

19.48

6

H Nuttall

20.02

7

B Davey

20.22

8

P Cain

20.34

9

A Hudson

20.40

10

P Talbot

20.41

11

T Bolland

21.01

12

T Peters

21.02

13

G Williams

22.10

14

R Cosgrove

22.51

15

S James

22.55

16

R Thomas

23.02

17

M Tobin

24.07

18

C Cutner

25.06

19

D Spencer

26.37

20

S Marshall

29.53

dnf

M Morgan/G Gillison/M Meredith



Wednesday 18 August 2010

TWO HOUR MARIUS BAKKEN PROGRESSION RUN IN THE HILLS, MAN THAT WAS GOOD!


Marius Bakken Progression run

40 mins L1-40mins L2- 40 mins L3
Location Parbold

I got a few hours sleep after my night shift but was awoken to the sound of very heavy rain pounding against the windows, oh No!
Thankfully by the time i got up the clouds were breaking and I ended up running in the sun :]
I did the session round Parbold which inc 5 big hills, the first 40 mins were at level one, 95-115 bpm for me, based on a max of 160 bpm, then followed 40 mins at level two 116-128bpm.
I was feeling good and had to hold myself back, just as I got to the bottom of the feared Hunters Hill Climb [ the very climb I cracked on at the end of my Sat 3 hour run] it was time to up the pace again, trying to push harder than marathon effort, up the hill I powered going over the top pushing past level 3.
I was now on a roller coaster road loop that included Harrock Hill, i pushed really hard and was pleased the way I felt, I kept it going until I reached the two hour mark.
job done, Nice One :]
Total time 2 hours 13 mins, 2400ft of climbing
MEGA PLEASED TO COME BACK FEELING STRONG AFTER SATURDAY'S RUN :]

Tuesday 17 August 2010

Monday 16 August 2010

30 X 1 MIN WITH 30 REC

Location; Hillside 5k loopGreat Run Tech
Today's sessi
on called for 30 x i min, starting at level 2 [30 sec below MP] and gradually building up to upper level 4 [ 10k pace]. with 30 sec rec.
Well after the first couple of efforts I was soon hitting 10k pace and beyond and just kept it going!
So slap on the wrist from Marius for not completing the session correctly.
Lets hope I've saved enough energy for Wednesdays 2 hour progression run!
I finished off with 6 x 20 sec smart strides, I reached a max of 15.4 mph on the last one which must be my highest top speed of the year .
I finished running squelching in a shoe full of blood, as my newly cut toe nail cut into the next toe, looked lovely:]
Total time = 1 hour
Shoes; Bloody Nike Free's with cut down heels.
Nothing for it but to put said shoes into the washing machine!
UPDATE; Oops, just opened the washing machine, shoes look great but found some of my wife's under garments in there too, Christ don't tell the wife!!!


RYAN HALL
What Drives You?

As I continue my biggest and hardest weeks of training that serve to prepare me to enter into a state of fitness I have never experienced before I can not help but think about what is driving me to train so hard and to push through such grueling workouts. On Sunday I ran 12 miles medium-hard then 8 miles hard with just a short break to change into lighter shoes between the two segments. This workout is incredibly testing. The pain encountered beckons the question: “why am I doing this to myself?” MORE


NEWS
THE RUBBISH 5K IS ON WED 18TH AUG AT 7.00PM

We are celebrating Brian Gows birthday and there is a rumour that he will buy us all a drink after the event :]

RUBBISH 5K, link


QUOTE

@rustyrockets


Murderers! Stop murdering. Everyone will die eventually. Just sit down and be patient.

Sunday 15 August 2010

Form to make you run FAST!

I show this video again just because it's a real joy to watch Ryan Hall running at 4 min mile pace and making it look so dam easy!
AWESOME!



After reading Steve Magness's 2nd article on Running Form I decided to work on my own form, i remember reading that Tom Tellez said not to just let your foot hang in the air and let gravity pull it down to the ground, but use a strong hip extension to pull your foot down quickly so it lands under your centre of gravity.
This seemed to work for me, straight after my foot becomes grounded I switch off my glutes and let momentum pull my body over my grounded foot,.
The great thing is the faster you go the longer your stride extends behind you!
I've read that it's not possible to extend your hip through glute power once your foot is grounded because the quads dominate to stop your knee collapsing on impact.
There is a simple test you can do; stand on one leg, now activate your glutes for all there worth do you move forward?
Only by losing balance ie raising your calf muscle will you move foreword.
The other test is to stand facing a wall, feet two feet away.
Stand on one leg, lean forward, touch the wall with your hands.
Feel gravity pushing you into the wall.
Now try and extend your hip, do you feel an increace of force against the wall?
Sun
Location sandhill 4
20 min recovery run plus a 1 hour 20 min walk with Tess,Jon, sarah and Rob, who are all injuried at the moment and can't run!

Saturday 14 August 2010

3 HOURS, SUN, HILLS, DEHYDRATION, LOW BLOOD SUGAR AND THE HUMILIATION OF HAVING TO WALK UP THE LAST HILL

I set off still feeling a little tired from racing the Haigh Hall 4 mile hill race on Wed night.
I finished 11th after fading on the final downhill and losing a place.
Anyway back to today's long run, the sun came out and burned the clouds away, I was running without water or energy gels and in hindsight maybe I should have hidden a bottle out on the route.
Stony Lane, Hunters Hill, Parbold, Ashurst Beacon, Fairy Glen and Harrock Hill were some of the hills on my trek. After 2 hours i started feeling a bit weak and dizzy, but I pushed on through.
After climbing up over the fields I make my way onto the top road, an Irish women and her daughter shout to me to stop, "hey there Boy," the mother say's, "Oh he's not a boy but a man, sorry, can you give directions to Parbold please" ? The daughter says.
I stare at them with a deeply fatigued blank expression, I think 'did she just call me a boy or did she say old boy!!!

I point them in the right direction and shuffle on my weary way.
before the ruins of the old windmill at Harrock Hill a young lad flew past in the opposite direction, we said a friendly hello as we passed.
On to Hunters Hill for the second and last time, half way up, all my energy drained away, my throat went so dry I thought it might catch fire, I started to feel very light headed and the next thing, 'Oh my God' I had stopped running and was now walking!!!
Just at that moment the lad I had seen before came running down the hill with a smile on his face [ which kind of said, can't handle the hills then eh]!
Dam, how embarrassing, at 2 hours and 45 mins through dehydration and low blood sugar 'RicksRunning' fails at the 7th climb :[
Oh well, we live and learn and sometimes forget :]
Long run with 7 climbs = 3.00
Points for humiliation; MAX *****
Fri
easy with Tess =30 mins
Thur
easy run over the sandhills with Tess = 1.03
wed
Haigh Hall Hill Race 4 miles
11th place 23.37

Wednesday 11 August 2010

Stronger Feet Make Faster Marathon Runners Part 2: Single & Double Leg Hops


Nice video except 'Coach' recommends landing either Heel or Fore-midfoot when hopping, ever tried hopping and landing on your heels???
Wed 11th
Easy run [L1] with Tess, racing tonight at Haigh Hall.
=31 mins
Tue 10th
easy run with Tess, Hillside loop at Level 1 = 30 mins

New Running Form article from Steve Magness
CHECK IT OUT HERE

Monday 9 August 2010

SELF PUNISHMENT

I Was sure tonight's session was 7 x 9 mins [ 3 mins L2 - 3 mins L3 - mins L4] with 2 mins Rec.
It seemed like a lot, but I went ahead and did it!
Only when I returned and checked Marius's training program did I find I should have done only 4 not 7 reps, Oops!
using my Hillside loop I set off after a warm up into my first effort, 3 mins at L2, [which for me is 6.48 pace, about 30 sec below my marathon pace], after 3 mins I accelerated up to L3 [ marathon - 1/2 marathon pace] for another 3 mins, then the last 3 mins required another acceleration up to L4 [ 10k pace]. This was followed by 2 mins easy before the next set of 9 min efforts, easy right :]
I have to say I had a bit of trouble trying to hold L4 pace which should have been at 5.44 pace, maybe subconsciously i knew I had a long way to go so held myself back a little, anyway finding out I only needed to do 4 and not 7 reps made me feel a lot better :]
1 hour 26 mins inc warm up and down and 6 x smart strides
I wore my Spira Competition shoes for the session, not worn them for a while, I still really like them. At 220 g they are ultra light and flexible, yet the spira springs absorb impact amazingly well, my Newton's feel really heavy and restrictive by comparison, so I reckon on using the Spira's in my next Marathon!
I think the way to go is; Do most of my training in very minimal shoes, so my feet and legs can get as strong as possible but use a shoe like the Spira in races so I can run as fast as possible with the least amount of impact to my body.
Less muscle damage means faster race times!

Sunday 8 August 2010

Stronger Feet Make Faster Marathon Runners, Part 1: Skips for Height & Distance



Yesterday I did a 3 hour 20 min run in the hills at an easy pace 65-70% of max heart rate, well it was meant to be easy but my legs were still a little stiff and sore from my epic 2 hour midweek tempo run, so it seemed like a really long run!!!

I was wearing my modified Nike Free's, they feel great on shorter, faster runs BUT i could really feel the hammering to my feet and quads after the first hour, I made sure i was running with good form, but nothing really helped, I'm thinking I need a shoe that is light flexible but with good forefoot padding for my really long hill run, any recommendations?
Sun 8th
Run with Sarah on the sandhill 6, nice and easy, legs not too bad :]
Total time 1.11

Thursday 5 August 2010

What Type of Runner are You?

By, Sara Hall

There are two types of runners: runners who train to race, and runners who train to train. Those who train to train get their satisfaction purely from the training itself – they love to set personal records in practice, to take their training to new levels, and to accomplish things that maybe no one else will ever know about except them and their training log.

Then there are those who train to compete. They don’t really have the inherent drive to train for training sake, and if they didn’t have a race to prepare for, may not train at all! Instead, they see training as a means to an end – to prepare them for a competition. It’s not that they don’t enjoy the training, but they probably wouldn’t push themselves so hard for no reason if they didn’t have that race goal in mind.

Most runners lie somewhere on this spectrum. Personally, I am further towards the end of one who trains to compete, whereas Ryan would be further on the spectrum of one who trains for the pure delight of training. This is mirrored in our racing schedule: I race about 20 times a year, he races about 4-5. Granted, a marathon takes more out of you than a 1500m track race, but Ryan chooses to prioritize big training efforts over races as a means to get into a special kind of shape for his two big marathons per year. He gains all the confidence he needs for his peak marathon from his workouts, whereas if I don’t race for a month, I start to get antsy.

I’ve always been a competitive person. When I started running in 7th grade, I won my 1st race in a kick finish, and I was hooked. In junior high I opted to run in the boys races so that I could have competition, instead of easily winning the girls’ races. In high school I thrived on working out with the boys to push me in workouts (though it annoyed me how much faster their times dropped as they matured!).

Meanwhile, Ryan grew up without a team at all, running on his own and coached by his dad. He learned to gain confidence and enjoyment from pushing himself each day and seeing improvement in his workouts. This early history plays out in our racing styles- Ryan is fine running from the front, setting his own pace, and probably wouldn’t run much faster with vs. without competition in the race. Whereas I thrive when there is competition in the race to push me, and don’t do as well in solo efforts.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what type of runner you are. We were all made with different strengths and driving motivators. What I do know though is that when you know who you are, you can play to your strengths as a runner. I know that I will have a better workout if I have someone to push me, so I actively seek out training partners that will help me reach for that next level. I choose races with good competition, and I keep a steady stream of races on my schedule to keep me excited in training. In fact, I will be heading over to Europe this weekend for some summer track races, where I am looking forward to having some great competition to push me towards some fast times.

Meanwhile, Ryan will be plugging away at his training at home in Mammoth Lakes, excitedly progressing (hopefully) over the same courses he has run multiple times. This is the type of runner he is, and what has worked for him in the past. “Know Thyself”and run accordingly!

Wednesday 4 August 2010

2 HOUR PROGRESSION RUN IN THE HILLS

Marius Bakken session
40 mins easy - 40 mins steady and 40 mins at harder than marathon effort
In my build up to London i did this session on flat roads, finishing the last 40 mins at 6.17 pace, but today I decided the Langdale mountain marathon with 5,000ft of climbing would require a different aproach!
So I set off from Parbold, starting at level one for 40 mins, yes it all started innocently enough, but I knew what was to come!

After climbing up the one mile stony lane climb and almost reaching the top of the very steep Hunters Hill I reached 40 mins and it was time to up the pace.
I pushed up to level 2, had to run pretty fast to keep my pulse rate to the correct level on the downhills, but soon I was climbing again up through the dirt paths to Harrock hill.
As a reached Hunter Hill for the second time it was time to dig deep and push on to level 3 and try and hold harder than marathon effort!
I ran this effort on a roller roller coaster road loop which included Harrock Hill.
I finished quite strongly, my legs did take a hammering on the down hills, but I need to get used to it, because the toughest road Marathon in Britain has some evil ups and downs in its 26.2 miles!
40 mins L1-40 mins L2- 40 mins L3 plus 12 mins warm down = 2.12
This is just the kind of session you need to get used to the increasing effort and pain needed to finish a marathon well!
HARD WORK BUT WELL WORTH IT :]

Ritzenhein signs up for Great North Run LINK


TriCenter: Lance Armstrong & ITU London LINK

Monday 2 August 2010

SPECIAL ITALIAN ALTERNATING PACE MARATHON TRAINING SESSION FROM MARIUS

Location hillside 5K loop
10 X 4 MINS [ 4 MINS L2 - 4 MINS L3 UP TO L4] no rest between
Here is the pace for each 4 min;
1/ 6.27 pace 2/6.02 3/6.40 4/ 5.58 5/6.51 6/ 5.56 7/ 6.52 8/ 5.57 9/ 6.45 10/ 5.49

Used my Newton shoes for the first time in ages and to be honest they felt restrictive and heavy, after wearing more minimalist shoes of late, I really did not like the fact that I could not feel the arch of my foot working correctly!
strange how perceptions change, I felt much more springy in my modified Nike free's on last Fridays session!

I've now got a really tough 2 hour progression run on Wed and a 3 1/2 hour easy run at the weekend to look forward to!