Barry had me down to run a one mile TT on Wed, the afternoon was amazingly warm and humid, you could cut the air with a knife it was that thick! I decided to run a mile at what felt like 1/2 m pace to fully warm up and I recorded 6.05, after a couple of mins jog I sprinted into my fast mile effort, it felt like hard work cutting through the humid air and I knew straight away I'd be on for a poor time, working very hard I finished with 5.38 [ only two weeks ago I ran a 2 mile tt at 5.37 p] oh well I tried my best. I finished with a steady mile in 5.55 and then jogged home. In the evening Niz asked me to run with her down to the club session at Dunes [ 6.30 pm] . Carol and Christine had almost the full women's X/C Squad out, it was also nice to see some new guys and girls turning up for the session. Anyways Christine got us to do 8 efforts over the ocean plaza bridge, I ran at the back deciding to take it easy but was shocked to find I was running at 5.20-5.30 pace and it seemed ridiculously easy, strange how running in a group helps you run so much faster than on your own! PHOTO; The Hoodies SWAC WOMEN'S X/C TEAM
Training for the week Mon 16 x 10 sec fast , 20 sec easy plus running drills Tue Easy fartlek, felt really strong! Wed one mile tt plus club run in evening Thur Core training Fri Easy-steady sandhill plus running drills
Train the Kenyan way Great simple workout to improve both speed and strength CLICK HERE
GETTING READY FOR THE LOCAL 10K Thursday Friday and Saturdays runs over the sandhills have been on the easy side apart from a few fast stride outs.Danny Dreyer ofChirunning gave me a useful tip on how to run faster without using your leg muscles, after I complained that I didn't have enough speed in shorter races using the chi method.Danny suggested that i try"rotating my pelvis as my legs swing. This allows you to gain valuable inches with each stride. By keeping your cadence at 90 and increasing your stride length you gain speed. Your speed will increase according to your ability to rotate your pelvis and drive with your hips (not your legs). This will engage your core muscles which are much stronger and last longer than your quads". This sounded a bit strange at first but i was surprised how my stride length increased and I seemed to get an added thrust pushing me forward, yes it really seems to work!My oblique muscles now feel a bit sore, but i guess it just shows I've not been using them before. Danny suggests that I could increase my stride length by up to 4 ins, some quick calculations in my head has me thinking that this could save me up to 15 sec per mile, anyway I'll give this pelvis rotation trick a go in the 10k on Sunday although I'm not sure that I will be able to maintain it for the duration of the whole race, but hell its worth a try! MORE Sat 18th Another easy run with Tess on the Velvet trail with some fast stride outs, max 12.8 mph, felt good! = 33 mins. Fri 17theasy run over the sandhills with some fast strides,=35 mins. Thur 16th easy sandhill run with some fast strides = 37 mins.
Tips to run a faster 10k, have a good warm up,run steady for 10 mins then do 2 strides at race pace. Don't set off too fast at the start,because of adrenalin many runners charge off only to die a death after the first mile when there legs get full of lactic acid,try to hold back abit for the first couple of minutes. better to be passing runners throughout the race than have runner after runner pass you. settle down into a good pace,work at turning your legs over at a fast cadence and don't think about your stride length.land on the balls of your feet,not your heels,run tall,chest pushed forward,shoulders back and head up. THINK LEG SPEED! LEG SPEED! if there is a strong head wind try to run in a group,take it in turns to work into the wind then go to the back of the group for shelter before pulling though again,work together. always take the shortest route,there are no prizes for running over distance! once you get to the last mile really push hard now,try to get the last bit of energy out of your legs. last 200m,time for a final sprint,push all the way to the line. GOOD JOB! YOUR WORK IS DONE! TRY TO PUT SOME WARM CLOTHES ON AND HAVE A GENTLE JOG. ENJOY YOUR' NATTERJACK SEASIDE 10K'
Train the Kenyan way
