18 MILES FARTLECK SESSION!

SUPER DUPER MEGA SESSION!
This is my tribute session to Eddie B the Polish coach who trained the U.S. CYCLE TEAM back in the 80's. Once a week he would get the guys to do an increasingly tough training ride which included riding hard up hills, time trialling, sprinting for road signs and riding progressively faster on the way home, they would start on 60miles and build up to 130 miles by the end of winter.
I started off at tempo pace [ 6.20] into a headwind for 3 miles to Ainsdale, I then eased to a steady pace for another 3 miles before meeting up with the club for a fartleck session. Its so much more fun running with other people and you always run faster than if you were on your own.
There was a good group out tonight and once again Paul was pushing me hard. Brian had us doing 9 efforts of about 400 - 800 m on the flat and up and down hills!
After the session I headed back the long way and included some extra loops, over the final couple of miles I increased the pace to 9 mph plus finishing with 18 miles.
I was feeling quite strong again after feeling tired last week [ I think I increased my training to quickly after having a week off with flu] in fact I really wanted to carry on until I reached 20 miles but work called!
3 m tempo 9.4 mph and fartleck session , max speed 14.3 mph
total distance 18.03 miles

MERSEYSIDE X/C CHAMPIONSHIPS, ARROW PARK

Sat 10th
I'd put in 2 long and a medium length run in during the week and my plan was to use the X/C race as a tempo training session!
Warming up round the course I wished I'd brought a pair of road shoes with me, the ground was frozen solid , in my spikes it felt like I was running bear foot on a bed of nails !
Each lap was about 4 k long and with 3 laps it made for quite a long X/C race. setting off I tried to stay with team mates Steve Mclean, Peter Roome and Gerry, but my legs were not feeling very sharp! They pulled away from me by the end of the first lap and I was on my own as I started the 2nd lap, running at a sort of fast steady pace I concentrated on catching a lad in front of me, I got him half way into the lap and slowly pulled away, next was a long drag up a hill before the start/finish. Maybe I should have worn tights as my legs felt well and truly numb in the cold air and were not responding to my request for more speed! Ah! the final lap! half way into this final lap a guy game flying past and woke me up! responding I tried to go with him but he pulled away into the distance, at least I was moving faster now. one last climb and I could hear runners closing in on me, I kept my cool and didn't look back!
200 to go and I could hear spectators giving encouragement to a guy just behind, one glance behind and I was off! accelerating all the way to the line! = 48.04
It would have been nice to run this race fresh but I've got bigger objectives ahead! its been a good weeks training with over eight hours under my belt.
Sun 11th Run with Jon on the infamous sandhill 6 followed by a 3 mile progression run starting at 8mph, moving up to over 9 mph before putting in a final flourish at sub 6 min mile pace on a half mile loop near home! felt good by the end, legs flying round!= 1.21

TOUR DE FRANCE STYLE SOUTHPORT WATERLOO A.C. GRAND PRIX

AS THE NEW ROAD RACE SECRETARY FOR SOUTHPORT WATERLOO I HAVE REVAMPED THE GRAND PRIX FOR 2009
SO HERE ARE THE G.P. RACES FOR 2009

AFTER TALKING TO SOME OF THE MOST ACTIVE MEMBERS I HAVE DEVISED A TOUR DE FRANCE STYLE CHALLENGE, WITH ONLY YOUR BEST 6 RACES TO COUNT THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES FOR BOTH SHORT AND LONG DISTANCE RUNNERS TO SHINE!

FOR THE CLIMBERS THERE WILL BE A NEW KING OF THE MOUNTAINS COMPETITION [ BOTH MALE AND FEMALE] BASED ON YOUR BEST 3 HILL RACES.

WITH THE INCLUSION OF SOME SMALLER RACES THERE WILL BE BIG OPPORTUNITIES FOR HIGH POINTS SCORING AND THE SERIES MAY NOT BE DECIDED UNTIL THE FINAL EVENT IN DECEMBER!

I HOPE EVERYONE SUPPORTS THE SERIES AND WE CAN ALSO GO FOR TEAM WINS IN MANY OF THE RACES, BRINGING BACK A GOOD TEAM SPIRIT AMONG THE SENIORS!

FEB

14TH PARBOLD HILL RACE king of the mountains points

28TH STANDISH HALL TRAIL 10K K.O.T.M. POINTS

MARCH

15TH TRIMPELL 20 MILE

APRIL

10TH GOOD FRIDAY SOUTHPORT 4 MILES

MAY

4TH WATERLOO 15K

WALTON PARK 5 MILES

JUNE

21ST FRECKLETON HALF MARATHON
CHORLEY FRIDAY NIGHT 5K SERIES

JULY

29TH HARROCK HILL K.O.T.M. POINTS

AUGUST

HAIGH HALL 4 MILES K.O.T.M POINTS

OCT

SOUTHPORT 10K

NOV

1ST THROUGH THE VILLAGES RACE 8.5 MILES K.O.T.P. POINTS

DEC

7TH LONGRIDGE 7 K.O.T.M. POINTS

LONDON MARATHON TRAINING ON ICE!

It was still woolly mammoth weather as I headed out the door into a cruel icy headwind to meet the guys for the first of the new years fartlek sessions, running on the main roads was no problem but when I turned onto the side roads it was a different story with plenty of sheet ice about, I almost fell coming down a steep little hill but managed to make it onto the grass verge!
Only the hard core turned out, no ladies! come on girls don't you have thermals!
Brian got us to do hill sprints on the railway flyover as it was almost ice free!
There was a time I use to hate this session, but now with GRAVITY RUNNING I can fly up the hills without blowing my legs apart, its a massive advantage understanding good biomechanics, on each effort I got faster and it felt awesome accelerating passed the other guys as my legs turned over faster and faster!
I ran back with John to southport before I headed back to Hillside for an extended lap before home. I was almost home with 15.5 miles on the Garmin so I shot off again on a rapid half mile loop to reach my targeted 16 miles. All that was left was a very hard night shift, involving lots of heavy lifting and quite a few miles walking, two cans of red bull got me through the night, all good training for the marathon!
10x hill sprints, max speed 13.1 mph, 16.1 miles = 2.06
THE GREAT THAW
Wed 7th Core training with weights followed by a MEGA FAT BURNER running easy over the big sand dunes with mad dog for 1 hour 56 mins.
The winds brought in the rain this morning leaving milder weather behind!
Thur 8th Leg speed session, 10 x 150m, max 13.9mph plus steady run round the marine lake, 10.5 miles = 1.20

COASTAL PATH REVISITED

COASTAL PATH MAP
I decided to run the coastal path route again today, after doing a tempo run last night then working the night shift I got just 3 hours sleep before I had to get up!
I got the train down to hall rd and jogged to the start, the legs were feeling a bit tired at the start but over the last few miles I started to feel better knowing I was almost home.
Back in November 2003 I ran both ways none stop in 3.41 about 7.8 mph, not bad taking into account the miles and miles of soft sand and sand dunes! [ I started in September of that year running 4 hours 20 mins and improved to 3 hours 41 mins in only 2 months, maybe I can do it again!]
That year i started training for London in September, running 14 hours per week! by November I was flying, I remember doing the double coastal path in 3.43 [ 29 miles] then running the Preston 10 mile the next day in freezing conditions, I wore a cycle thermal top, Ron hill tracksters and a wooly hat and criused round in 58 mins, Sadly I had peaked out and by the marathon in April I was as flat as a pancake!
Today I could only manage 7.3 mph average for the 14 .37 miles, but I was still 3 mins faster than on Thursday.
with a warm up and running home it gave me over 15 miles total.
14.37 miles = 1 hour 57 mins
+ 10 mins easy
Sun 4th Steady run on the road, coastal rd loop,7.91 miles at 8.3 mph, 7.15 pace
=54.20

TEMPO RUN PROGRESSION

This was my 3rd tempo run since I started my new training cycle, As I've got more efficient at GRAVITY RUNNING my pace graph is much smoother holding well over 10 mph for most of the run only slowing to 9 mph going up Trafalgar rd hill, I also have to negotiate quite a few road junctions which knocked my average pace below 10 mph [ plus I was running in the dark].
I wound it up over the last half mile hitting 5.26 pace!
I was really happy with my recovery from yesterdays coastal path run and I was really feeling strong tonight!
Here is my progress.
2nd Jan 2009 3.01 miles, 18mins 39 sec , av 9.7 mph, 6.11 pace
28th Dec 3.00 miles, 19.02, 9.4 av, 6.21 pace
6th Dec 3.01 miles, 19.05, 9.5 av, 6.20 pace
I think the way to go is a regular tempo run, a leg speed session and a fartleck run, plus a long run of 2 hours plus each week!
Tonights tempo run was in fact my fastest since I got the Garmin in the summer of 2007!
THERE IS STILL LIFE IN THE OLD DOG!

NEW YEARS DAY COSTAL PATH RUN 14.47 MILES

COASTAL PATH MAP
2009 kicked off with the traditional club run along the coastal path from hall road coast guard station back to the Fisherman's rest pub in Birkdale! About 15 of us set off, conditions were well below freezing, after putting some really hard training in over the past 5 days i was feeling a little jaded, At one time I use to run this route both ways without stopping 28.94 miles plus running to the start and back, my record was 3 hours and 41 mins! But today one way was more than enough for my and I was more than happy to make it back to the warmth of the pub! = 2.00.13

Wed Sandhill 6, 4 mins fast 1 min easy all the way round, felt great, 1 min faster for the course than this time last year! holding 10 mph over the faster last section, 37.21 plus run down and back total 58.32
Tue steady road run 8.5 mph av 9.45 miles = 1.07
Mon Leg speed session on the road max 15.2 mph 7.55 miles, av speed 8.2 = 0.54mins
Sun am Tempo run 3 miles at 9.4 mph followed by 3 miles steady 8.4 mph = 42.28
Sat 27th big sandhills = 2.02
Fri 26th leg speed session at greenbank school 10 x 150 14 mph max, ran down and back at marathon pace = 1.03
Thur sandhill 6 felt weak and coughing 4 mins fast 1 easy all the way round 42 mins plus run down and back = 1.13
Wed 24th First run back after 5 days in bed with flu, legs very stiff and bad cough, tired after only 30 mins in the sandhills, feel very unfit! = 42 mins
FRIENDS OF MY BROTHER ANDY AND SIS INLAW MARGOT CAN CATCH UP ON HOW THEY ARE GETTING ON IN THERE NEW LIFE ON THE WEST COAST OF SCOTLAND BY CLICKING THIS LINK, GREAT PHOTOS.
2008 in retrospect
In a way its been a good year, 11th place and age group win at the blackpool marathon,
11th place anglesea marathon, my fastest time in 4 years and age group win in the harrock hill race series and age group win at the lancaster half marathon but a lot of my best runs happened in training even setting p.b.s on a hilly mile loop I've been running for many years ! But I often felt flat in racing, 2 hard interval sessions per week is just 2 much for my body to take, so in 2009 I will restrict myself to one interval session each week and hopfully I'll feel a whole lot fresher in races!

SUPER FAST KILLER!

Worlds fastest runner!

NIKE SHOE BARGAIN!

Zoom

Here is my bargain of the week,
I picked up a pair of NIKE ZOOM EXPLOSIONS for £39 They are ideal for forefoot strikers with a energy return pad under the ball of the foot and are very light!
DAM! I just found them even cheaper HERE FOR £30
NEWS UPDATE!
I was that impressed with the shoe I ordered a second pair direct from Nike [ ordered Sunday and received Tuesday morning, now thats what I call good service and all for £ 30 + p&p].