NEW YORK CITY MARATHON; Best Finish Ever and a week of two extremes!

Here's the video Mark talked about in the comments section of my blog after I posted this VIDEO Mark said "Another close finish in NY involved former Southport fireman Geoff Smith - narrowly beaten by Rod Dixon" Epic finish!

Training for the week
Well it's been a week of two extremes, feeling good on my hard sessions but really knackered on my easy days.
Reading Steve Magness's brilliant article in Running Times Avoiding the Hard/Easy Trap made me think about changing my training a bit for the next 2 months, before I restart the 100 day marathon plan in January for London.
I'm still going to follow Marius Bakken's 5-10K section in the training plan, but cut some of the harder sessions in half.
The idea being to get as fresh as possible but at the same time work on my speed and keep a good level of fitness going!
Today's run went really well, Tess and me headed for the big sandhills again, we were both feeling good and Tess paced me, pushing me hard over the trails.
Finished 3 mins faster than last week, which gives us a whacking 7 mins improvement in just 2 weeks. So I guess we are doing something right!
Shoes; Nike Free's modified
Fri
No running but did the Trigger point performance workout and a circuit of weights and core work.
Thur
24 x 30 sec at 10k pace with 30 sec recovery,
felt good! total time 29 mins
Shoes; Newton Distance racers
Wed
Easy level one over sandhill 6 with Tess, legs giving out at end, felt tired = 1.10
Tue
felt really bad 'knackered' very slow, horrible run = 30 mins
Mon
20 mins at 6.00 pace, followed by 10 x 1 min up and down a slight hill, average pace 5.28
total time = 1.08
Shoes; HyperSpeeds
Also did the Trigger point performance workout every day.

This unseen Ryan Hall video just surfaced on YouTube, it's from early this year, but interesting all the same.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend, have FUN!

What does Ryan Hall want? By Bryan Green READ HERE

Ryan Hall: Why the Past Matters

Fixing Broken Runners, Part III: The Reckoning

Click To Play

The exercises Mike does ;

Foor foot stability:

- Balancing on one leg (increases activity of muscles in foot).
- Heel and toe touches (back and forth) on a rocker board with the board aligned 45 degrees (both ways) relative to straight ahead.

For hip stability:
- Clamshells to strengthen the gluteals.
- Standing hip hike.
- Single leg dead lift.
- squats on the rocker board

For tissue mobility:
- Kneeling hip flexor stretch.
- Hamstring stretch on back in doorway.
- Rolling golfball under plantar fascia.
- Calf stretch with towel under big toe.

For running form (practiced during running):
- Work on increasing cadence to 90 rpm.
- Think about dropping chest forward to put even weight over the forefoot and rearfoot.

2000 Miles On Foot, Human Express Video!

NEW YORK CITY MARATHON Dramatic finish!

NEW World Record! Running up Kilimanjaro AWE-INSPIRING VIDEO!

READ MORE ABOUT THE MOUNTAIN HERE

A great resource centre for runners to treat their own injuries and running fast after dark

First check out this great FREE website 'Athletes Treating Athletes' offers some fantastic advice on treating injury and much, much more!
Thanks to Jim Hansen for the link.




TRAINING UPDATE
MARIUS BAKKEN Introduction week 2

Last night I had a great run, on the cards was 20 mins at Level 3 [ marathon pace up to 1/2 Marathon pace] followed by 10 X 1 min at Level 4 [ faster than 1/2 marathon pace up to 10K pace].


I'm always a bit apprehensive before a tempo session, maybe it's the fear of failing to achieve the desired pace!
But thankfully Marius's pace zones are quite adaptable depending on how good you feel, ie Level 3 is from marathon up to half marathon pace, so if you are on a good day Marius says you can push to the upper of the zone, on the other hand if you feel tired you can stay at the lower end of the zone and maybe push towards the higher end of the zone towards the end of the session.
anyway things went well, using my Hillside loop I managed 6.00 pace for the 20 mins, finishing strongly!
Even so without the adrenaline of a race it takes quite a bit of concentration to hold the effort.
In a race that pace would feel like I was holding back for at least the first 8 miles of a 1/2 marathon!
After a few mins jogging I moved into the 10 X 1 min efforts.
I used a slight hill [ 25ft ascent in 1 min] and did my efforts up and down it.
surprisingly I was almost as fast running up hill as down due to the tail wind pushing my up the hill! I finished with 6 x 20 sec strides, working up to sub 5 min miling pace!
I felt buzzed at the end, Great session!
20 mins at 6.00 mile pace, then 10 x 1 min up and downhill;
1/ 5.51 pace, 2/ 5.41, 3/ 5.34, 4/ 5.29, 5/ 5.30, 6/ 5.29, 7/ 5.23 8/ 5.25, 9/ 5.21, 10/ 5.04 average pace 5.28
Plus 6 x 20 sec strides. Total time 1 hour 8 mins
NEWS UPDATE; The Ryan Hall articles on this blog meant I got over a 1000 visitors to RicksRunning last week!

RYAN HALL TO BE COACHED BY GOD!

Hall to coach himself after split with Mahon

One day after his departure from the Mammoth Track Club and coach Terrence Mahon was confirmed, Ryan Hall announced that he will coach himself. Hall said, " I believe that operating in this manner will allow me to run with a new level of faith and excitement."

ryanhall3

For those curious about my recent change and next steps: http://bit.ly/ci2yUj


Turns out Ryan's NEW coach is an 'OLD GUY' with a white beard who looks down on us all from above!
What do you think, is Ryan making the right move or does he need a top class coach to take him to the next level?

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.

TRAINING UPDATE
Marius Bakken Introduction week one
Sat
Had a good run over the big sandhills again with Tess.
4 mins faster than last week on same course! = 1 hour 20 mins
Fri
Level one run on road av speed 7.9 mph, = 41 mins
Thur
Rest
Did the Trigger point workout every day this week, feeling the benefits for sure!

TRIGGER POINT PERFORMANCE WORKOUT

Who will be Ryan Hall's New coach?

Who will be Ryan's new coach?
Could this message he left on Twitter back in July be the answer;

ryanhall3 Just ran into long time friend and legendary running coach Jack Daniels at Macy's Restaurant. A wealth of wisdom. 15 July 2010 20:00:44 via Twitter for iPhone

Or as Scott brown just said on Twitter;
samurairunning

@RicksRunning Maybe he's heard about the Marius Bakken 100 day plan!
Read the latest on the Ryan Hall saga HERE
And check out the Jack Daniels video's below

Maximizing Running Performances with Age! Jack Daniels Video-MUST SEE!

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Cross training, is it any use?

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Learning from mistakes

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Haile Gebrselassie Road to NYC Marathon: Part 1 and 2, His Life

Great video's, check them out!

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Chilean miner Edison Pena to run New York marathon

A freed Chilean miner who kept fit underground by running 10km (six miles) a day through tunnels has been invited to run the New York marathon next month.

So, while other miners go on free trips to the Greek islands or to watch Manchester United play, Edison Pena will be preparing for the November 7 race.

‘I was born again to do this. I want to tell people we’re alive and that you can do sport with little money. I want everyone to do sport. It’s my legacy,’ said the 34-year-old.

The Elvis fan has also been invited to Graceland in Tennessee, although he does not have a passport yet.

Mr Pena will join the legions of people taking to the streets of the Big Apple to compete in one of the world’s greatest marathons. Two years ago over 40,000 people crossed the finishing line.

Training update
Wed 20th
Location Kings Gardens
20 x 45 sec [starting at MP and progressing up to upper 10k pace] with 15 sec Rec between each
1/ 6.09 pace, 2/ 5.46 pace, 3/ 5.52 pace, 4/5.48 pace, 5/ 5.51, 6/5.37, 7/ 5.40, 8/ 5.44, 9/ 5.47, 10/5.47, 11/5.40, 12/5.28, 13/5.37, 14/5.40, 15/ 5.35, 16/ 5.26, 17/ 5.32, 18/ 5.41, 19/ 5.34, 20/ 5.20 pace. Average pace inc Rec = 6.20 pace, 3.27 miles. total time inc 6 x strides and warm up- down = 52 mins
cold and windy, so took a bit to get fully warmed up, felt better as session progressed, finished with 6 x 20 sec strides.
Tue 19th
Easy run with Tess on road at level one [easy] pace = 40 mins