3 HOURS, SUN, HILLS, DEHYDRATION, LOW BLOOD SUGAR AND THE HUMILIATION OF HAVING TO WALK UP THE LAST HILL

I set off still feeling a little tired from racing the Haigh Hall 4 mile hill race on Wed night.
I finished 11th after fading on the final downhill and losing a place.
Anyway back to today's long run, the sun came out and burned the clouds away, I was running without water or energy gels and in hindsight maybe I should have hidden a bottle out on the route.
Stony Lane, Hunters Hill, Parbold, Ashurst Beacon, Fairy Glen and Harrock Hill were some of the hills on my trek. After 2 hours i started feeling a bit weak and dizzy, but I pushed on through.
After climbing up over the fields I make my way onto the top road, an Irish women and her daughter shout to me to stop, "hey there Boy," the mother say's, "Oh he's not a boy but a man, sorry, can you give directions to Parbold please" ? The daughter says.
I stare at them with a deeply fatigued blank expression, I think 'did she just call me a boy or did she say old boy!!!
I point them in the right direction and shuffle on my weary way.
before the ruins of the old windmill at Harrock Hill a young lad flew past in the opposite direction, we said a friendly hello as we passed.
On to Hunters Hill for the second and last time, half way up, all my energy drained away, my throat went so dry I thought it might catch fire, I started to feel very light headed and the next thing, 'Oh my God' I had stopped running and was now walking!!!
Just at that moment the lad I had seen before came running down the hill with a smile on his face [ which kind of said, can't handle the hills then eh]!
Dam, how embarrassing, at 2 hours and 45 mins through dehydration and low blood sugar 'RicksRunning' fails at the 7th climb :[
Oh well, we live and learn and sometimes forget :]
Long run with 7 climbs = 3.00
Points for humiliation; MAX *****
Fri
easy with Tess =30 mins
Thur
easy run over the sandhills with Tess = 1.03
wed
Haigh Hall Hill Race 4 miles
11th place 23.37

'RUNNING' It's who I AM! CHRIS THOMPSON INTERVIEW

Stronger Feet Make Faster Marathon Runners Part 2: Single & Double Leg Hops

Nice video except 'Coach' recommends landing either Heel or Fore-midfoot when hopping, ever tried hopping and landing on your heels???
Wed 11th
Easy run [L1] with Tess, racing tonight at Haigh Hall.
=31 mins
Tue 10th
easy run with Tess, Hillside loop at Level 1 = 30 mins

New Running Form article from Steve Magness
CHECK IT OUT HERE

5 Mins with; European 10,000m silver medallist and rising star Chris Thompson

READ HERE

OWNED !

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

SELF PUNISHMENT

I Was sure tonight's session was 7 x 9 mins [ 3 mins L2 - 3 mins L3 - mins L4] with 2 mins Rec.
It seemed like a lot, but I went ahead and did it!
Only when I returned and checked Marius's training program did I find I should have done only 4 not 7 reps, Oops!
using my Hillside loop I set off after a warm up into my first effort, 3 mins at L2, [which for me is 6.48 pace, about 30 sec below my marathon pace], after 3 mins I accelerated up to L3 [ marathon - 1/2 marathon pace] for another 3 mins, then the last 3 mins required another acceleration up to L4 [ 10k pace]. This was followed by 2 mins easy before the next set of 9 min efforts, easy right :]
I have to say I had a bit of trouble trying to hold L4 pace which should have been at 5.44 pace, maybe subconsciously i knew I had a long way to go so held myself back a little, anyway finding out I only needed to do 4 and not 7 reps made me feel a lot better :]
1 hour 26 mins inc warm up and down and 6 x smart strides
I wore my Spira Competition shoes for the session, not worn them for a while, I still really like them. At 220 g they are ultra light and flexible, yet the spira springs absorb impact amazingly well, my Newton's feel really heavy and restrictive by comparison, so I reckon on using the Spira's in my next Marathon!
I think the way to go is; Do most of my training in very minimal shoes, so my feet and legs can get as strong as possible but use a shoe like the Spira in races so I can run as fast as possible with the least amount of impact to my body.
Less muscle damage means faster race times!

Stronger Feet Make Faster Marathon Runners, Part 1: Skips for Height & Distance

Yesterday I did a 3 hour 20 min run in the hills at an easy pace 65-70% of max heart rate, well it was meant to be easy but my legs were still a little stiff and sore from my epic 2 hour midweek tempo run, so it seemed like a really long run!!!
I was wearing my modified Nike Free's, they feel great on shorter, faster runs BUT i could really feel the hammering to my feet and quads after the first hour, I made sure i was running with good form, but nothing really helped, I'm thinking I need a shoe that is light flexible but with good forefoot padding for my really long hill run, any recommendations?
Sun 8th
Run with Sarah on the sandhill 6, nice and easy, legs not too bad :]
Total time 1.11

What Type of Runner are You?

August 05, 2010

By, Sara Hall

There are two types of runners: runners who train to race, and runners who train to train. Those who train to train get their satisfaction purely from the training itself – they love to set personal records in practice, to take their training to new levels, and to accomplish things that maybe no one else will ever know about except them and their training log.

Then there are those who train to compete. They don’t really have the inherent drive to train for training sake, and if they didn’t have a race to prepare for, may not train at all! Instead, they see training as a means to an end – to prepare them for a competition. It’s not that they don’t enjoy the training, but they probably wouldn’t push themselves so hard for no reason if they didn’t have that race goal in mind.

Most runners lie somewhere on this spectrum. Personally, I am further towards the end of one who trains to compete, whereas Ryan would be further on the spectrum of one who trains for the pure delight of training. This is mirrored in our racing schedule: I race about 20 times a year, he races about 4-5. Granted, a marathon takes more out of you than a 1500m track race, but Ryan chooses to prioritize big training efforts over races as a means to get into a special kind of shape for his two big marathons per year. He gains all the confidence he needs for his peak marathon from his workouts, whereas if I don’t race for a month, I start to get antsy.

I’ve always been a competitive person. When I started running in 7^th grade, I won my 1^st race in a kick finish, and I was hooked. In junior high I opted to run in the boys races so that I could have competition, instead of easily winning the girls’ races. In high school I thrived on working out with the boys to push me in workouts (though it annoyed me how much faster their times dropped as they matured!).

Meanwhile, Ryan grew up without a team at all, running on his own and coached by his dad. He learned to gain confidence and enjoyment from pushing himself each day and seeing improvement in his workouts. This early history plays out in our racing styles- Ryan is fine running from the front, setting his own pace, and probably wouldn’t run much faster with vs. without competition in the race. Whereas I thrive when there is competition in the race to push me, and don’t do as well in solo efforts.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what type of runner you are. We were all made with different strengths and driving motivators. What I do know though is that when you know who you are, you can play to your strengths as a runner. I know that I will have a better workout if I have someone to push me, so I actively seek out training partners that will help me reach for that next level. I choose races with good competition, and I keep a steady stream of races on my schedule to keep me excited in training. In fact, I will be heading over to Europe this weekend for some summer track races, where I am looking forward to having some great competition to push me towards some fast times.

Meanwhile, Ryan will be plugging away at his training at home in Mammoth Lakes, excitedly progressing (hopefully) over the same courses he has run multiple times. This is the type of runner he is, and what has worked for him in the past. “Know Thyself”and run accordingly!

2 HOUR PROGRESSION RUN IN THE HILLS

Marius Bakken session
40 mins easy - 40 mins steady and 40 mins at harder than marathon effort
In my build up to London i did this session on flat roads, finishing the last 40 mins at 6.17 pace, but today I decided the Langdale mountain marathon with 5,000ft of climbing would require a different aproach!
So I set off from Parbold, starting at level one for 40 mins, yes it all started innocently enough, but I knew what was to come!
After climbing up the one mile stony lane climb and almost reaching the top of the very steep Hunters Hill I reached 40 mins and it was time to up the pace.
I pushed up to level 2, had to run pretty fast to keep my pulse rate to the correct level on the downhills, but soon I was climbing again up through the dirt paths to Harrock hill.
As a reached Hunter Hill for the second time it was time to dig deep and push on to level 3 and try and hold harder than marathon effort!
I ran this effort on a roller roller coaster road loop which included Harrock Hill.
I finished quite strongly, my legs did take a hammering on the down hills, but I need to get used to it, because the toughest road Marathon in Britain has some evil ups and downs in its 26.2 miles!
40 mins L1-40 mins L2- 40 mins L3 plus 12 mins warm down = 2.12
This is just the kind of session you need to get used to the increasing effort and pain needed to finish a marathon well!
HARD WORK BUT WELL WORTH IT :]

Ritzenhein signs up for Great North Run LINK

TriCenter: Lance Armstrong & ITU London LINK

SPECIAL ITALIAN ALTERNATING PACE MARATHON TRAINING SESSION FROM MARIUS

Location hillside 5K loop
10 X 4 MINS [ 4 MINS L2 - 4 MINS L3 UP TO L4] no rest between
Here is the pace for each 4 min;
1/ 6.27 pace 2/6.02 3/6.40 4/ 5.58 5/6.51 6/ 5.56 7/ 6.52 8/ 5.57 9/ 6.45 10/ 5.49

Used my Newton shoes for the first time in ages and to be honest they felt restrictive and heavy, after wearing more minimalist shoes of late, I really did not like the fact that I could not feel the arch of my foot working correctly!
strange how perceptions change, I felt much more springy in my modified Nike free's on last Fridays session!

I've now got a really tough 2 hour progression run on Wed and a 3 1/2 hour easy run at the weekend to look forward to!