THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS

Sat 7 th
My marathon training continues in earnest, today mad dog [ she was kicking sand in my face as usual] and me blasted the big sand dunes for an impressively whopping 2 hours 46 mins
Fri 6th
There was a freezing wind blowing which turned my feet into solid blocks of ice after only a couple of mins running, gradually increasing the pace throughout my run, the 6.13 av pace doesn't really tell the whole story as I was really hammering the last mile redlining at over 11 mph at the end!
3 miles at 6.13 pace
Thur 5th
10 x 150 m leg speed session plus steady run = 1.16
Wed 4th sandhills easy = 1.25
Tue 4th
Fartleck session, 9 x hard efforts, 300 - 800m
Ran down to Ainsdale at 9.2 mph av with a nagging freezing easterly wind on my side, No Brian to take the session so they nominated me to take charge and crack the whip! [ RIGHT YOU SLACKARDS , ITS TIME FOR SOME 'SERIOUS' STREET ACTION!!!].
The fast boys were out tonight, Rob, Mark and Paul so the pace was pretty hot, ran back with Rob then added some extra loops at marathon pace! = 2.06
Mon 3rd
Ran to college and back for a grand total of 19.46

Champion relearns running technique and wins, part 2

21.5 MILES AT 7.10 PACE THEN CRASH OUT!

I used the same route as last weeks long run, this time there was a strong wind blowing from the north east the opposite direction to last week, at least I would get blown home! I came off the sandhills at 4.6 miles with 8 mph average showing on the Garmin up 0.2 mph on last time, but now I had to face the wind for quite a few miles. After 15 miles I turned onto the coast road for a wind assisted return home, I decided to run 4 mins fast, 1 min easy along the sea front, I was soon hitting 6.20pace and kept the 4 fast, 1 easy going until 19 miles when I felt my energy draining away, I started feeling dizzy and by 21.5 miles I hit the wall big time, I had wanted to carry on until 23 miles but felt I might black out if I kept running, my blood sugar level had dropped very low and I'd run out of Lucazade tablets! There was only one thing for it but to walk the last mile home, very undignifide! I guess I need to carry more emergency rations with me next time! 21,5 miles, 7.10 pace, 8.4 mph = 2.34.32

THE SCIENCE BEHIND RUNNING THE SAHARA

CLICK HERE

YOU WILL HAVE HEARD OF HITTING THE WALL, BUT HITTING THE POST!!!

Well it was about 5 years age when I last ran into a post, we were doing an interval session, running up a slight hill in the dark and a cars headlights were shining straight into our faces. The guy in front of me suddenly swerved to the side and the next thing I was flat on my back with a massive headache and blood streaming down my face. The hospital pored 'super glue' into the wound [ it burned like hell!] and I've still got a scare to prove it!
Before the post incident they use to call my the 'tree hugger' for the time I lost control and skidded into a tree ending up in a very romantic embrace with the said tree! in the Ashurst Beacon Fell Race.
Anyway, back to my latest post hitting incident, it all started off innocently enough, setting out on another mega 18 mile fartlek run. It was a rainy night but at least not too cold.I ran the first 3.6 miles at 6.25 pace into a slight headwind, when I got to Ainsdale I ran loops over the only hill in the neighborhood, giving my a total of over 7 miles at 6.45 pace before I joined the club for Brian's fartlek session.
Rob was back again after taking it easy over Christmas, he's got loads of natural speed so even when he's not fully fit he's still dangerous! And so it proved to be as he pushed me hard on each effort!
After finishing the session I started running back with Rob through the badly lit village, almost straight away I hit a kerb, ending up doing the splits as I fell to the floor [ good job I'm flexible] only 1/2 a minute later as I was talking to Rob disaster no 2! I ran straight into one of those council posts, that they put up with parking fines and times on them, smack, my head glanced the side and my legs went either side, och! [ my manhood!]. WALKERS LOOKED ROUND IN PANIC AS THEY HEARD THE THUNDEROUS CRACK!
I sort of did a 'Kate Moss' pole dance before falling to the floor, but luckily I escaped with only minor injury!
Being the tough guy that I am! I got straight back up and brushed myself down, before heading off once more.
I ran a couple of miles with Rob before heading off on a long loop home, increasing the pace to 6.30 miles before a final surge to 11 mph!
"At least I've learned that if I hit the 'WALL' in the marathon I should be able to pick myself up and keep running!"
18.3 miles at 7.18 pace inc tempo run and 8 hard efforts.
Wed 28th
Awesome day! best weather of the winter so far, mild sunny and no wind, Mad dog and me enjoyed a easy run over the big sand dunes, happy days! = 1.29
Thur 29th
Didn't feel good today, 6 x 150m downhill and called it a day!
max 14.8mph, =46 mins
Fri 30th
Starting to feel better today, steady run with 9 surges, max speed 14mph, av pace 6.55. 3.28 miles = 22.53

RUN FASTER, HAVE THE RIGHT NAME!

HAVING THE RIGHT NAME IS VERY IMPORTANT IF YOU WANT TO RUN FAST, SOME NAMES JUST DON'T MAKE THE GRADE!
IF you want to run really fast then you must have the name LASSIE, ie Lassie Viren or HAILE GEBRESLASSIE, and of course there was the very famous LASSIE the dog who was not only a Hollywood star but could also run abit!

22 mile Pier run at 7.11 pace

This was the first of my really long runs, after a mile I headed into the sandhills on a 3.5 mile roller coaster trip. I got back on the road with an average 7.8 mph showing on my Garmin. Once I reached the woodvale traffic lights I turned left and back towards Ainsdale.
I was wearing a pair of heavy well padded Nikes, I wondered how I could have run so well in them in last years Blackpool marathon [ I chose them because of the many miles of concrete sea wall you have to run at Blackpool] dam they are so heavy and inflexible, I can't seem to run smoothly or fast in them. The temptation was too much, as my loop came within a mile of home I decided on a detour!
A quick change into my new very lite Nike explosions and I was on my way once more, wow what a difference, I felt so much better, I was hitting 9 mph over the gravel path over the reclaimed tip.
Back on the road I settled into a steady pace , past churchtown and the botanic gardens and on to crossens.
Back on the coast rd into a headwind for 5 miles, this was tough mental training, off in the far distance I could see the pier, but it never seemed to get closer, endless tarmac, endless headwind sapping my energy away!
With a sigh of relief I went past Southports recently rebuilt famous landmark [ the pier] another mile and I would be home!
With 20.5 miles reached I passed home and embarked on 3 half mile loops at marathon pace, surprisingly I now felt better than any time during the whole run, I rattled off 3 continuous laps at 6.27 pace to finish with an average of 22.09 miles at 7.11 pace, 8.35 mph.
I wish I'd felt slightly more comfortable during the run, I felt half asleep, only 3 hours sleep after the night shift didn't help much! At least I finished strongly and a few more long ones should make both my legs and confidence stronger!

WEIGH TO GO! Is your weight slowing you down, weight-speed prediction chart

Predicted effect of weight change, click here

QUESTION; IN X/C RACES SHOULD ONE USE THE HIP FLEXORS OR THE HAMSTRINGS TO PULL YOUR FOOT OUT OF THE MUD!

I was asking myself this question as I was slip sliding away in the Leyland X/C race on Saturday!
The Gravity running has been working really well on the road, letting me hold higher speeds than before, but running on mud I think a slightly different technique is required!
Maybe you can answer this question, is it better to use the hip flexors to drive the knee forward and up to pull your foot out of the mud and stop it sinking in, or should one use the hamstrings to quickly pull the foot off the ground before it sinks deep into the sticky stuff! Or maybe one should use a combination of hip flexor and hams, do you have the answer to fast mud running, if so let me know!
NEWS FLASH!
Jack Nirenstein of GRAVITY RUNNING answered my question posted on Youtube;

Secular101

Reply
You need to pull the foot out from the mud first by using the hamstrings to flex the leg at the knee. Then don't concern yourself with driving the knee it happens automatically when you lift the foot to clear the ground and drive the foot forward at the right speed to match the speed of the body going forward. When you work on the knee you lift too high and lose time in bringing the foot forward. The knee science is flawed. Jack Nirenstein

Secular101

Reply | Spam

Another to rick. You need the reactive force from the ground for you to get the full exerted force from gravity. That is why running in mud and sand is slow. There is give in the force return from the ground and friction isn't the same as the road to keep the foot in place for the vault. The vault is when the foot stays in place while the top of the leg carries the body from behind the foot to in front of the foot. When you run faster the feet flip farther back and high. Jack Nirenstein

Sat 17th
This was the end of my 3rd hard week and once the race got under way I realized I didn't have much left in my legs, my intention was simply to use the race as a tempo run but running over the mud felt like very hard work and man was I happy to finish, it felt like the last 6 miles of a marathon ! 6 miles = 44 mins
Sun 18th
Run with Jon on the sandhill 6 then I set off on a progression run, slowly building me speed up, finishing with 3 X 1/2 mile loops at close to 10 mph av. total = 1.30
LOOKING FORWARD TO AN EASIER WEEK NEXT WEEK!

MY LONDON MARATHON TRAINING MOVES UP TO THE NEXT LEVEL

I asked Adarian Barr of NEXT LEVEL ATHLETICS AND FITNESS to help me with my training program, Adarian looked through my training logs and told me I needed to start training in blocks of 4 weeks, 3 weeks of progressive work load followed by 1 week reduced work load. It should help me regenerate and be able to work harder in the next cycle.
Adarian suggested a few more changes including doing a progression session of 2 mins increasing speed followed by 2 mins holding speed then increase speed again!! He told told me,
"The two min on/off, is where you take two min to get up to set speed
of 8 mph, then hold that for 2 min, stay at 8 mph for 2 min, then work up to
say 9 mph over the next two min and then hold it for two min".
"The idea is to learn how to increase pace, recovery at pace then increase it
again. Most people tend to slow down to recover when all you need to do is
hold pace. It takes the body about 2 minutes to meet energy demand".
"As you get better you will find that you can get to a higher pace faster and hold it longer".
I decided to do the session on the treadmill at the gym because it was very windy outside and it would be hard to control my speed!
I warmed up then started at 12 kph and built up my speed over 2 mins to 13 kph, I then held the pace for 2 mins before once again increasing my speed. After about 20 mins I was hitting 17 kph when disaster stuck, the treadmill started malfunctioning and as the speed erratically went up and down between 15.6 and 17.5 kph the screen on the treadmill flashed
' UNABLE TO MAINTAIN PACE'.....!
WOW, I thought, I'd out run a treadmill and sent it into serious oxygen debt!
I jumped off the machine and onto the next one, quickly getting back up to 17kph , but my rhythm and concentration had gone so I called it a day after 2 mins. hopefully without the interruption I would have reached 18 or 19k ! Anyway it will be interesting over the coming weeks seeing how I progress!
Fri 16th
Easy steady run with mad dog, 3.2 miles = 24 mins
Thur 15th
Evening Treadmill, progression session = 22 mins
Plus weight training.
Afternoon, 10x 150m with wind, max speed 13.9 mph, plus acceleration run home, 9-10 then 11 mph. = 49 mins
Wed 14th Big sandhills easy = 2 h 3 mins