FLOORED BY ANEMIA

Even Healthy Athletes Can Become Anemic

I guess I should have read the signs last week, tiredness, light headedness, dizzy spells, headaches,shortness of breath and heavy leaden legs. Somehow I pulled out a couple of good sessions but the tiredness and dizzy periods increased, by Wed the day of the final in the series of the Harrock Hill races arrived, but I didn't really care I just did not feel right, in the end I went out for a run on my own, I ended up running better than I thought but when I got home my ears started ringing, it was then I knew I had anemia again [ I seem to get it every year around summer time!
So its back to the iron tablets again and hopefully I'll be back at full strength to tackle my next challenge of three 10 k races with a target of 35 mins something in the Natterjack seaside 10k in Oct.

WALTON PARK 5 MILE

TUE 19th
I had not run here since 2003 when I ran 27.39, today I was hoping for sub 29 at least!
From the start I quickly got into a good group, we were moving along pretty fast but by the end of the first lap I got blown out the back as my legs gave way, 2 miles in 11 mins.
Now I was on my own and having to face the uphill section into the wind all on my own, up ahead I saw Dave Edwards of Liverpool Running club drifting off the back of the group I'd been in. This gave me something to concentrate on and I worked hard to catch him!
I got renewed confidence as I passed him , another Runner got blown out the back of the group and I now had a new challenge of catching him too, I pulled up to him and hoped he could work with me but I soon found myself moving away. 3 miles 17.03, I was feeling ok at this point and a sub 29 looked well on the cards as I started my final lap, but once I hit the headwind and uphill my wheels came off! Glancing at the Garmin showed I was crawling at 9 mph! After what seemed like a life time I reached the highest point on the course and now had a welcomed downhill towards the finish. I tried to sprint the final 100m but my post marathon legs were well shot!
29.07 DAM! I WAS NOT HAPPY!
I've got another 5 miler in a couple of weeks,
lets hope I can run closer to 28.30 !
RESULTS

Wed 20th
1 mile warm up at m.p. pace 6.18, 1 mile hard 5.32, 4 x 1/4 mile 76, 76, 76, 75 = 42 mins
Thur 21
Big sandhills with Tess, enjoyed the run, easy aerobic pace = 1.38
HOT RUNNING TIPS

Are modern runners just soft pussies

Back in the 80's when I was cycle racing I was inspired by the epic deeds of THE TOP TOUR DE FRANCE champions, I also remember reading my brothers running magazines and being impressed by the incredible training the likes of Steve Jones and Mike Gratton were doing!
Even the top veteran's [ read master if you live in the U.S.A.] were putting the average elite 2009 runner to shame!
Something happened in the 90's and the running magazines went soft! Giving us headlines such as train less run faster, run a great marathon on 3 days a week training and the classic ; eat more lose weight!
Running is a hard sport, it takes great sacrifice, dedication, commitment and plain hard work!
There are no short cuts and that is why it is such a great sport!
Pete Phitzinger [2.11 Marathon runner and Olympic coach] says During the 90’s there was a bit of a backlash against the more-is-better approach to training, and a preoccupation developed for avoiding “overtraining.” Unfortunately, in the running press, the normal day-to-day fatigue associated with training was often misrepresented as “over-training.” This over-reaction thankfully missed most elite runners and appears to have waned in the past few years.READ MORE