Long hill repeats at Clieves Hill

At last I have something positive to say about my running.
Barry's schedule called for 3 x 5 mins uphill, so I headed over to Clieves hill [ the scene of my calf muscle tear last month] and parked up at the top of the hill.
It was a beautiful summers evening as I jogged off on a lap of the cycle race course, I think this would make a great route for some of my tempo runs, the 3 mile country roads loop with a 3/4 mile hill would make for a very challenging session.
I ran 2 1/2 miles round to the start of the hill [ 7.05 pace] as a good warm up then pressed the lap button on the Garmin and sprinted off up the hill on my first effort. My legs felt a bit sluggish as I reached the steepest section, I concentrated on knee lift and ball of the foot running and I was soon reaching the top of the hill and the end of the road, glancing at the Garmin showed just 4 1/2 mins so I took a right turn and sprinted along the flat, reaching a farm building bang on 5 mins, checking my lap time showed I'd averaged 6.45 pace for the 150 ft climb.I turned around and jogged back down the hill, no sciatic or calf pains, so things were looking good.
Once I reached the bottom of the hill I did a U-turn and sprinted off again, this time I felt sharper and move aggressive as I blasted the hill, I reached the top of the hill and turned right, passed the farm house where I reached 5 mins on my first effort this time the watch said 4.50 so I sprinted on, pressing the lap button at 5 mins gave me 6.32 pace for the hill.
One more to go, sprinting away my legs started to feel like jelly as I hit the steep section, COME ON I THOUGHT, THIS IS THE FINAL ONE, GO FOR IT. I dug deep, very deep.
I passed my first finishing point, then the second with time to spare, I sprinted all out until I reached 5 mins then looked at the Garmin - WOW, 6.20 PACE.
That was good, dam I almost enjoyed that workout and my sciatic problem seems much better since carrying out regular trigger point massage.
Shoes; NIKE LUNAR TRAINERS
3 X 5 mins Clieves Hill, 1/ 6.45 pace 2/ 6.32 pace 3/ 6.20pace
Total time = 50 mins
Wed
Easy run over the big sand dunes with Tess = 1.35

11 th place at harrock hill

I had one of my most enjoyable gutsy races of the year! THIS IS WHAT ITS ABOUT, full on eye ball to eye ball racing!!! YEAH I 'LOVE IT' !!!
Update to follow!
And a big Hi to the marshal that recognized me on the race route through my blog! ' THANKS FOR DOING A GREAT JOB'!

23.5 miles, THE GANG OF FOUR and THE HAMSTERS!

I organized a group long run with friends Tracey, Paul and Steady Eddie! Their all aiming at 3.15-3.30 at London, so as the pace would be a little slower than my normal long run I put in an extra hard run in the night before.
Fri 20th
Progression run 2 x 3.3 mile loop, gradual increase in pace throughout the run, setting off at 7.20 pace I was down to 5.20-5.30 pace at the end with a long wind up sprint to 12 mph!
Sat 21st
GANG OF FOUR
First day of spring and the weather turned cold again with sea mist and strong cool winds! We set off from Birkdale village on roads for the first mile before hitting the sandhills, then on to woodvalle, Ainsdale, Kew, High Park, Churchtown and Crossens, Tracey decided she needed to powder her nose! at the PLOUGH public house, we resisted the temptation of refueling with a pint or two and were soon on our sober but merry way! The final steatch was along the sea wall and straight into a nasty headwind! We picked the pace up over the last 5 miles, Tracey who missed quite a few weeks training with a now sorted back injury was running really well, she was aiming for 18 miles so turned off early [ she infact finished with 19.6 miles] Paul was finding it hard now, but Eddie after a half marathon p.b. by two minutes last weekend was looking really strong, we turned onto the old coast road for a breather from the energy sapping wind, finishing together back at the village, I said my good byes and headed off again for a final 3 miles, despite the steady pace, my legs were hurting now and I was glad to make it home! Wearing my Nike explosions really bought home to me how much better the SPIRA shoes are! I'm really glad I will have the SPIRA advantage at LONDON!
23.5 MILES = 3 HOURS 11 MINS.
We spent the evening at the Arts Centre watching The Hamsters! A group that alternate between Jimmy Hendrix and ZZ Top throughout their set, strange mix, after a half time trip to the bar the band seemed to get better and better! A good time was had by all and the Hamsters left us wanting more!!!
Sun 2nd
THE NEW GANG OF FOUR RUN THROUGH DEATH VALLEY!
Eddie, Chris, Jon and myself had a enjoyable run through the pinewoods , on our return journey we went through 'Death Valley' and survived to tell the tale! = 1.03

MAGIC RECOVERY, 11 MILES AT 6.19 PACE

It was a beautiful spring afternoon, so after a couple of hours sleep after my night shift I got up ready for a long tempo run, Runners World recommended 12 miles at marathon pace but as I'd raced 20 miles on Sunday I thought 10 might be more than enough.
I'm now thinking that I might be capable of 6.27 pace at London.

As it will be 10 years in April since I first ran a marathon [ LONDON 99] when I ran 2.49 I'm sort of thinking of trying to equal that time, it would be a good accomplishment, 10 years older and all!
Anyway back to my tempo run, after a quick warm up I started the Garmin and accelerated up to a good cruising speed, I was looking for around 9.3 mph, but after a couple of miles it was up to 9.5 mph and there it stayed for much of the run! Surprisingly the legs were feeling pretty dam good!
Into my second lap and the average dropped down to 9.4 mph as I went over the Trafalgar rd hill for the second time, once over the Hillside bridge my pace quickened again and the last couple of miles turned into a nice progression run, finishing with a half mile wind up sprint !
Once again I was wearing my magic SPIRA shoes.
CONCLUSIONS, VERY QUICK RECOVERY, bloody amazing!
11.01 MILES, 9.5 MPH av, 6.19 pace, max 11.7 mph = 1 hour 9 mins 42 sec
Tue 17th
Steady run down to club fartleck session, legs abit stiff and heavy, held back on the session, legs better by end! = 1.35
TRIMPELL 20 RACE PHOTOS

Thur 19th
Truly awe inspiring weather, wall to wall sunshine and just a gentle wind!
love it !!! felt great, nice easy run with Tess the dog over the sand dunes.
= 1.25

MICHAEL JOHNSON IN SLOW MOTION AND GRAVITY RUNNING

WATCH HOW HE LANDS MORE BEHIND HIS CENTER OF GRAVITY THAN ANYONE ELSE, WITH A LOW KNEE LIFT AND UPRIGHT POSTURE this is;
GRAVITY RUNNING,
THE FASTEST WAY TO MOVE FORWARD WITH GRAVITY
. It is all with the slant of the leg to place the foot in relation to the upper body's center of balance. Tilting the upper body has no effect on speed. Michael Johnson broke the sprint record with a backward tilted body. His foot placement was better than the others. That is the only way everyone wins. JackNirenstein

RUNNING SHOE EVOLUTION

MY NEW NIKE LUNAR TRAINERS

CHECK THIS OUT
Rob recommended these shoes to me and after a test run i bought them straight away! they are very lite yet have amazing cushioning, the shoes seem to take the form of your feet so it feels like running in bare feet but with padding! my first session in them was the thursday night interval session, with rob,Sarah, a very nice girl from Scotland who at 17 has a p.b. of 2.18 for the 800m, very impressive! and a new guy called paul who got back into running after 20 years when he turned 40. we ran 8 x 500m .I think this session was more like an endurance run for Sarah! anyway it turned out to a good workout and the shoes seemed really good! 8 x 500m - 1.00
WALKING ON THE MOON!

NIKE, HEALUS AND MORE BOUNCE!

THOMAS LEFT THIS COMMENT;Thomas said I thought you were joking when you first linked to those!...[ HEALUS RUNNING SHOES]

HI THOMAS, no i was not joking about the HEALUS PROTOTYPE SHOE, though I can see where your coming from! I am always looking for something that can give me an edge when it comes to racing!
First impressions on the shoe;well to be fair the shoe i have is for high mileage use weighing 400g,It does feel like i am running along on a giant piece of rubber, they do reduce shock impact, and you feel like your bouncing along,remember zebadie from the magic roundabout!
Anyway i tried running 2x 1/2 mile to see if I could run faster; result I ran the same times as in normal trainers! mmmmm! I would like to get hold of a pair of his light weight racing shoes though, MY VERDICT ON THESE SHOES, RIGHT NOW THE JUDGE IS OUT OF THE BUILDING, so to speak!

DID YOU EVER SEE THE CHANNEL 4 DOCUMENTARY ABOUT 4 YEARS AGO, ABOUT A DESIGNER FROM NIKE WHO PUT A STEAL SPRUNG PLATE INTO A RUNNING SHOE WHICH GAVE THE RUNNER MORE FORWARD THRUST AND INCREASED SPEED! THE PROTOTYPE SHOE WAS GIVING VERY GOOD RESULTS AND LOOKED LIKE A GOOD IDEA BUT THE SHOE NEVER MADE IT INTO THE SHOPS.
JUST THINK ABOUT THE FORCE WITH WHICH YOUR FOOT HITS THE GROUND, SURELY THERE MUST BE THE TECHNOLOGY TO USE SOME OF THAT ENERGY AND TRANSFER IT INTO FORWARD MOTION, RUNNING SHOES DON'T SEEMED TO HAVE IMPROVED MUCH SINCE I STARTED RUNNING BACK IN 93!

Sun 6th
gentle jog with Sarah, Rob and Jon, managed to stay dry after the morning downpours! = 55mins
my second run of the day was with Niz, we ran out along the beach and back. we are all running The Haigh hall race on wednesday and it will be interesting to see how Niz, Sarah and Big Jon get on! =29mins
Sat 5th
easy steady run over the sandhills and through the pinewoods in new HEALUS running shoes = 1.57

Fri 4th
first test of new HEALUS running shoes, 2 x 1/2 mile selworthy hill loop, 2.48 2.45 = 38 mins