Wednesday 2 March 2011

A Breakthrough And Maybe Time For A Face Lift!

Breathing Techniques, Exercises and Aids for Runners from Joe English on Vimeo.


Yes with just one week away from my BIG birthday I seem to have made a bit of a breakthrough due to my new breathing technique, its pretty simple really just replacing my normal chest breathing with deep diagram breathing!

Mondays speed session with the club was my best showing of the year, I seemed able to push harder and longer before going into oxygen debt. Neil did comment about my heavy breathing but I just said I was practising for a phone call I was making later that night :]
Also quite surprising was how fresh my legs felt running home after the session.
Total time 2 hours
Tue

An easy run with Tess, after about 5 mins my legs started to feel heavy and I remembered I'd not been thinking about my breathing.
I started diagrammatic breathing and almost straight away I started to feel more energetic and the legs felt lighter and more springy, I finished the run feeling good. .= 30 mins
Wed

Another long easy run with Tess.
Running over the sand dunes, through the Ainsdale and Formby woods before looping back.
Total time = 3 Hours 3 mins

I've got a 20 mile race on Sunday, I'll be looking to smash my P.B.



As I approach the big FIVE ZERO I reckon my body is in pretty good shape but maybe I could do with a face lift, so I'm going to try this CLICK HERE











NEWS
Message from Torchlight 5K organizer Andy Hudson;

An event like this would not be possible without the continued support of local runners and the volunteers that help organise, marshal and make sure everything runs smoothly.

The Torchlit Tip 5k may resume again at the back end of the year subject to positive feedback and we now pass the baton over to Rick with the Rubbish 5k which will be making its return along with the lighter nights.

Thanks again to all those who have participated in any capacity and hope the support continues to grow for Rick's summer series.

Training Tip Of The Week: Alternating Fast and Slow Days

Excerpted from Running With Joy:

“Most runners run too easy on their fast days and too hard on their slow days. The basic principle of running is to break your muscles down on the workout days and then allow them to rebuild on the easy days. Take your easy days seriously and allow your body to recover. There is no point working the broken-down muscles again and again—your body will see little or no adaptation.

I used to hammer my workouts every day. I prided myself on being a hard worker and often competed with my teammates at Stanford when I should have been recovering with an easy run. My body could sustain such a training load for a little while, but before we reached the championship portion of our season, I was tired and regressing rather than building fitness. I had a hard time understanding why I was working harder than everyone else and yet seeing the least amount of improvement.

When my pride finally gave way to frustration and I was forced to take my easy days seriously, I gradually began to improve. Now, having observed the best runners in the world, I realize that those with the most confidence run their easy runs the easiest. My coach at Stanford, Vin Lananna, used to say, “Where does the big elephant sit? Wherever it wants.” Don’t let others dictate your pace. Reject the need to compete and to prove yourself on every run. I do a lot of my easy runs with Sara and the other girls on our team because my body is telling me to take it easy.

Learn to pay attention to your body on easy days and hard days. No one else can feel what you are feeling or determine what is best for your body. When I am working out, I constantly ask myself, Am I making a deposit today or a withdrawal? Only you can answer that question.”

Episode 10 – Ricco’s Kitchen Nightmares

CLICK HERE


2 comments:

Ewen said...

A friend just turned 50 on Friday - she uses an iron to take care of her wrinkles ;)

That's terrible about the dunes. You'll have to improve your steeplechase technique. Or carry wire cutters on runs! Invite some NZers to run with you - sheep get out of the way when they see a New Zealander coming!

RICK'S RUNNING said...

Thanks Ewen, well here in the UK sheep are quite afraid of Welsh people!
Thanks for the Ironing tip I'll bare that in mind :]