Saturday, 8 March 2008

23 miles with Rob


SAT 8TH
Ran down to robs house and we then set off over the sandhill,through the pinewoods up to formby point, Rob was flying along and despite the very strong head wind and soft sand we averaged 8mph.we then returned back along the beach before hitting the big sandhill on the final part of our journey.I left rob at his house and decided to add a few extra miles. i finished feeling quite good !
23.10 miles 7.7 av pace =2.58

FRI 7TH easy = 40mins
THUR 6TH Robs interval session 1/2 mile 2.45 ,
1mile 5.36 ,1/2 mile 2.40 , 1 mile 5.34 =50 mins

WED 5TH steady =1.36
TUE 4th easy =1.15
MON 3rd Brians speed session = 45 mins

Friday, 7 March 2008

RUNNING TO AVOID INJURY USING MARTIAL ARTS TECHNIQUES

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Chi Runners Poised for Softer Landings

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The one-legged posture is the basis for chi running
Lori Cheung

The one-legged posture is the basis for chi running technique. The leg in the air should be relaxed from the knee down, with toe dropped.

Your Questions on Running

Arthritis, bunions, knee pain and shin splints; it's a pernicious group of injuries that frequently conspires to keep runners off the road.

Dr. Mark Cucuzzella and Danny Dreyer, founder of the ChiRunning method, answer your questions about how to make running work for you.

Read their responses.

Danny Dreyer demonstrates the alignment for his chi running technique
Lori Cheung

Danny Dreyer demonstrates the alignment for his chi running technique: the back is straight, lower abdominals are slightly crunched, which helps keep the pelvis level, and the upper body is slightly forward. The idea is that every time your foot hits the ground, your shoulder, hip bones and ankle should be in a straight line. That way, your weight is supported by your frame, not your muscles.

Morning Edition, September 14, 2006 · Putting one foot in front of the other comes easily. But, with a new focus on technique, many runners are trying to fine-tune their form for softer landings.

Longtime runner and physician Mark Cucuzzella has focused on improving his technique to prevent injury. After he was diagnosed with arthritis in his toe joint, several specialists advised him to give up running. But Cucuzzella was determined not to quit.

"I had my feet repaired, and I had to try to learn more low-impact techniques so I didn't damage the joint more," Cucuzzella says.

Cucuzzella, who practices family medicine in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., began researching the technique of running. He read the medical literature as well as advice offered in popular running publications. He also began observing elite racers. He noted precise details of their body mechanics, such as exactly where and how their feet landed.

If you watch world-class runners, says Cucuzzella, "They're landing right under their center of body mass. They're lifting their legs, not pushing off."

Softening the Impact

http://www.pobaillc.com/classified/Tai%20Chi1.jpg

As Cucuzzella played around with ways to emulate what he observed, he found a technique called "chi running," a form of running influenced by t'ai chi.

"T'ai chi is all about aligning your body and keeping it aligned for efficiency," says Danny Dreyer, who invented the technique and is the founder of the North Carolina-based company Chi Running. During daylong seminars, Dreyer teaches runners how to relax their bodies so they don't have to use as much muscle power.

"I'm basically showing runners how not to use their muscles," Dreyer says.

During a recent seminar in Bethesda, Md., Dreyer worked with about 60 middle-aged runners. He teaches them a one-legged posture stance, which is the foundation of his method and helps to align the body correctly. As the group slowly jogged, Dreyer tells them to focus on picking up one leg at a time.

"Every time your heel comes off the ground, your toe just drops," Dreyer shouts as the participants run around a track. He instructs them to dangle their lower legs and allow their shins, ankles and toes to relax.

Posture is Key

During the seminar, Dreyer tells runners that posture is key. He instructs runners to keep a straight upper body and a "crunch" going in their lower abdominal muscles. Contracting the abdominal muscles levels the pelvis, which helps build strong core muscles. It brings runners' focus to their center, says Dreyer. In chi running, as in t'ai chi, Dreyer says the "center" is where true power lies.

Cucuzzella says the method makes him feel lighter as he runs.

"I'm just lifting my legs," he says. "I've got nothing going on underneath my knees other than they're there to make me land."

Cucuzzella didn't master the technique overnight. He's been working with videos, books and instruction for a couple years.

He says his experience in the Boston Marathon last year assured him that the technique has helped him improve his form.

The race is all downhill, with some muscles doing overtime as brakes. For weeks after, he would be sore.

But last fall, using his new technique, Cucuzzella says the race seemed kinder to his body. The day after the race, it felt as if he'd just taken a weekend run.

"I've never experienced that before. I was like 'Wow, I don't hurt now,' " he says.

Cucuzzella is looking for evidence that there's something about the body mechanics of the chi running technique that he could teach his patients. He's working with researchers at George Washington University who hope to try to measure the impact forces and injury rates of runners who try the method.

Related NPR Stories

Thursday, 6 March 2008

Radcliffe out of LONDON MARATHON


Radcliffe out of marathon

World record holder Paula Radcliffe will not be able to attempt to claim her fourth London Marathon title after sustaining a toe tendon injury.

Her withdrawal comes five months before she bids for the Olympic title in Beijing where she is aiming to atone for dropping out of the 2004 race.

She said: "In marathon training there are no short cuts and there is simply not enough time to be in shape."

Radcliffe: I will be fit

Paula Radcliffe is determined her toe tendon injury will not rule her out of the Beijing Olympics this year.

Radcliffe has had to pull out of next month's London Marathon after sustaining the problem at her training base in America, but she is confident of returning to full fitness.

The 34-year-old said: "Now I must concentrate on being as well prepared as possible for Beijing."


101 YEAR OLD MAN TO RUN LONDON MARATHON

Tuesday, 4 March 2008

RUNNING CAN MAKE YOU INTO A SEX GOD !


Running can make you into a sex god :


Misty Harris , CanWest News Service

Published: Tuesday, August 2, 2005

People can not only run their way to a better sex life , but

also have sex to become a

better runner, according to a survey of studies on the issue by Runner's World magazine.

Male runners seem to have the sexual prowess of men two to five years younger, it found. Vigorous exercise, combined with lifestyle factors such as diet and not smoking, can improve a man's sexual status by up to 10 years.

"The science is very complex," says Dr. Ted Fenske, an Edmonton cardiologist who ran the Boston Marathon this year. "But running will improve vascular health and vascular health is necessary for a male to have proper sexual function."

mike Finch, editor of Runner's World's South African edition, says marathoners are "like sexual gods."

Countless university studies and field work all pointing to a similar -- albeit less bombastic -- conclusion. Because exercise increases feel-good hormones and helps improve overall physical function, experts contend that sex stands to be enhanced from regular running.

A 2003 study out of Harvard University found men over 50 who run at least three hours a week have a 30% lower risk of impotence than those who do little or no exercise.

"Runners are fitter, healthier and have a good self-image," says Mr. Finch. "That makes them more eager to have sex, makes them more desirable and gives them more endurance."

Dr. Fenske notes that C-reactive protein has recently been found to be related to cardiovascular disease; exercise is shown to reduce this type of protein.

He says aerobic exercise will also improve the function of the endothelium (vascular tissue lining), minimizing injuries to the blood vessels which are necessary to sexual health.

However, Dr. Fenske observes that running, not intercourse, is fundamentally what makes people run better.

"These ideas about having sex and then running your personal best are great," he says.

"But I don't think they're going to be the reality for people."

Dr. Fenske is referring to claims in Runner's World that women stand to gain an athletic advantage from snogging before jogging.

"What we discovered was that women do benefit from having sex the night before a race," says Mr. Finch, recalling the finding of Israeli physician Alexander Olshanietzky that "women compete better after orgasm."

Distance runner and three-time Olympian Lynn Jennings once remarked that "sex the night before solidifies my core feeling of happiness."

John Stanton, founder of Canada's Running Room chain, says this phenomenon is largely psychological. Just as running improves body image and thus self-confidence in the bedroom, having sex might energize a runner and enhance emotional fitness.

"When your sex life becomes healthier, your whole sense of well-being is better," he says.

"Likewise, our sexual performance can be an indication to how healthy we are."

But Mr. Stanton warns that one of the first things to suffer when an athlete over-exercises is libido.

"Runners can be a bit obsessive-compulsive," he says, laughing. "Too much of a good thing is not good."



exciting news; ARTHUR LYDIARD WEB SITE UPDATED

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Sunday, 2 March 2008

trimpell 20 results


I could hear the wind howling outside as i woke up at 7.30am and i thought it would make the race into an awesome challenge!
The out and back course is run along cycle tracks along the lune river between morecambe and lancaster.with todays wind we got blown along up to 12 miles with a dreaded return into a fierce block headwind.

On the start line was Tracey peters, Sam Howard, Mechelle Spencer,and Mike Walker, all running this race as training for THE LONDON MARATHON, there was also Rob Mcgrath and me using this race as a build up for the Blackpool marathon. ROB had missed 3 weeks training with a shin problem and sam was under orders from her coach to run at a steady training pace up to 15 miles before speeding up to her marathon pace for the final 5 miles
I got into a good group as we sped along with the help of the wind on our backs, I got an uneasy feeling that i was going too fast but on the other hand if i held back would i be able to make any time back into the head wind. I decided to hang in with the group hoping that they would give me shelter on the return leg. We hit 10 miles in 1.02 and then turned back round into the wind at twelve. my legs started to feel weak and heavy, I was worried, at 13 miles we went though in 1 hour 20 mins, a minutes later i got blown out of the back of the group and now had to face 6 1/2 miles into a very strong wind. I decided to break the remaining 6 miles down to one mile at a time taking my split times and trying to keep under 7 min miles, each mile got harder, slower and more painfully, HELL this felt more like a full marathon, the cold wind was sapping all my energy away ! it was a massive relief to see the finish line and I was surprised to break the tape in 2.05.08 16th and first vet 45. Rob did an impressive run to finish with 2.07.33 22nd on almost no training ! Mike walker went over the line with a big smile and still looking very fresh with 2.22.50
Tracey Peters longest race before had been the preston ten last november, so we all were highly impressed when she sprinted in with 2.26.18 in fact Tracey had been in front of MIke on the way out but had found the wind on the return very demanding. next in was Sam with 2.31.33 and then Mechelle.
I think most of us found the race incredibly tough, but i/m sure it will do us GOOD ! FULL RESULTS

Saturday, 1 March 2008

ROBS HAVIN A LAUGH !


A visitor to a mental institution asked the director how he decided which patients should be kept in. The director said; "we fill up a bath, then offer the patient a teaspoon, teacup or a bucket & ask them to empty the bathtub," Oh i see a normal person would choose the bucket, because its the biggest," The director said "No, a normal person would pull the f**king plug out! Would you like a bed near the window."