The Parties Over For Now!

VIRGIN LONDON MARATHON TRAINING
The Taper With Marius Bakken


The beer has stopped flowing and the dancing girls have gone home. So I suppose it's time to stop celebrating my 'Victory' at the Liverpool Half Marathon!



Marius sent me a email;
Hi Rick,
Absolutely fantastic! It shows once again how committed you are. Be smart now for the last weeks leading up to London. It is all a matter of sticking to the plan when things are going as well as now and not "over-run" anything. I wish you the best of luck, I'll be checking in on your blog in these last weeks,
kind regards, Marius
Oops; with Marius keeping an eye on me I better get back on the road again, I plunged my face into a cold bucket of water to sober up,then put on the running kit, which had been collecting dust in the corner, yeah baby lets get this party started, I mean Run!
Wed Location; Kings Garden's One K loop
4 x 12 mins [ 4 mins marathon pace- 4 mins just below MP - 4mins 1/2MP]
45 sec Rec after each 12 mins
GARMIN DATA
Going by the Garmin map it looks like I've been running on water!
Maybe Ewen is right after all:]
Things went pretty well, tough session all the same!
Finished with 6 x smart strides.
The strides always seem to bring my legs back to life after a tough session!
Shoes; Spira
Total time 1 hour 19 mins
Tue Easy run with Tess, sandhill 6 = 1 hour 11 mins
Mon easy run with Tess, Hillside loop = 32 mins

Runningtimes

by stevemagness

Lactate is a key fuel source when you run fast; Learn how to train to be able to best use this valuable fuel: http://tinyurl.com/4od3fs5

JoshShipp

You can't go to the next level with your current level of dedication.

New P.B. At Liverpool Half Marathon! And Age Group WIN!!!

Well guys I did it!

My first race as a V 50 resulted in a new all time
P.B. 1.17.55 chip time and AGE GROUP WIN!!!
It was in no way easy, after 7 miles I went to my shorts pocket for a gel, hoping for some much needed energy BUT my pocket was empty, I'd stupidly left the gels in the car!
As a consequence I started to struggle in the closing miles especially miles 10-12.
I'll do a full report when I see the results.
Thanks once again to Marius Bakken.
To set new P.B.s after 18 years of hard training and racing is an amazing achievement I hope you will agree :]
UPDATE
It was a bit of a grim morning with low cloud hanging over the city of Liverpool, not very inspiring for breaking records.
The air was damp and cold but at least there was only a slight breeze!
7500 runners entered the race, a new record!
I got right to the front of the start looking for a good start.
Just after 9.30 we were set off, many runners sprinting off in front of me!
I held back but still reached the 1st mile in 5.34.
We were now climbing up Parliament St, runners I'd been catching slowly started to gain a gap on me.
I shortened me stride and speeded up my leg speed, hanging in the best I could.
Once over the top I accelerated hard and went up a gear, I started catching the runners ahead again, feeling more comfortable as my speed increased.
I pulled alongside team-mate Steve Wilko who suggested we try and catch the group ahead.
The course weaved it's way through the parks of Liverpool which concealed some deceptive hills.
I went through 6 miles in 35.00 pushing hard, at last I reached the group ahead.
I reached for a energy gel only to find my pocket empty, dam I'd left the gels in the car!
Mile 10 came in 58.48
The course now followed the sea front weaving its way along over concrete paving stones with many tight corners.
My legs started to become drained of energy and the hard surface hammered my legs.
Each time my speed dropped below 10 mph i kicked hard trying to hold pace.
At last I reached the last mile and my central governor decided to ease its grip on my effort level and all of a sudden my speed increased and my legs felt good again.
I sprinted across the line in a new P.B. and first in my age group.
It had been a very hard effort but an amazing result!

GARMIN DATA
RESULTS
PHOTOS
Also there were some great times by fellow club athletes;
Dave Hamilton P.B. 1.14
Steve Wilko 1.17.23
Chris Dunn P.B. 1.17.51
Mark Ashby 1.21
Steve Lewis new P.B. 1.23
Keith P.B. 1.24
Matt 1.26
Neil 1.34 [I think]

NO LIMITS!

No Limits

Nature knows no limits
Of what may be achieved
The measure of each confine
Stayed by what you believe
Adaptation knows no boundary
Necessity will find a way
Recognize the problem
Afford it no dismay
Minds can work miracles
Allow them to run free
It will only seem impossible
To those who cannot see
By Brian Beaudry

Liverpool Half Marathon Taper, My Legs Are On Fire!

I've been using Steve Magness's article on tapering[featuring Marius Bakken] to get ready for Sundays Liverpool Half.
Ever wondered why you feel flat on race day after a couple of easy days?
This article reveals all READ HERE
Thur
Felt really good!
Had to hold myself back as my speed kept increasing from the planned level one effort.
Last five mins I increased pace, aiming at 10K pace, I was soon hitting 5.30 then 5.20 pace.
Round a tight corner and me and Tess accelerated again, now reaching 5.10 pace, another couple of bends and we were on the final straight.
I was shocked to see 4.42 pace as Tess started to lag behind on the lead.
This run felt so beautiful and easy!
GARMIN DATA
Friday will be a rest day with Saturday a easy run with with 6 fast strides to get the legs ready to race!
Wed
31 mins easy
Tue
30 mins easy
Total time 31 mins


Check out Marathon Talk
the best podcast on the net!
Great section on using caffeine to boost race performance in this weeks edition

Half Marathon Motivation Video

Notice the RED ARROWS formation at the front of the race, works every time and nice running from Liz Yelling.
Digging the music too :]

Sometimes it gets boring working in a Supermarket, so we sometimes do this and blame it on the customers:] READ MORE

Running With Confidence And Half Marathon Wins!

VCA 2010 RACE RUN from changoman on Vimeo.

First, I was delighted to hear that team mate Ben Johnson just went and won his first half marathon Read More
Tess and me took Ben on a few long runs early this winter over the big sandhills and through the pinewoods, so it looks like the RicksRunning magic has done the trick for Ben... haha :]
More on half marathons;
Well this week I'm running the Liverpool half marathon, no outright victory planned for me, but I'm going to be pushing it to the limit in search of a new P.B. 1.16 sound nice, don't ya think!!!
Not sure why but I keep hearing 1.16 coming into my head when I think about running at Liverpool, so I've got to go for it!
The Marius Bakken plan this week has only one hard session [ which I did last night] with only easy running until Sundays race, this time last year I added an extra speed session being worried that it was not enough training, but this year I have far more confidence in Marius and will stick to the plan.
I want to be fresh to party on the roads of Liverpool!
Mon
Club session
Hard efforts from 400m up to 800m, ran down and back and included some extra min efforts at sub 10K pace and finished with 6 special strides, getting faster on each one.
Finished feeling really strong.
Total time 2 hours 2 mins

If your into bikes and cycle racing check out the latest podcast from; AWESOME!
Download the MP3

The NYRR Half Marathon 2011 Video

Watch Here


Great running by Super Mo
for outstanding win!
Rupp at only 24 years old also has fantastic debut with 3rd place.
Not so good for Ryan Hall who still seems out of sorts, can he return to form for Boston?
Caroline Rotich sets new women's course record while carrying a big smile over the last mile!
Kara Goucher had a great run for 3rd and is looking very good for Boston.

My 24 Mile 'Run For Japan'

MY RUN FOR JAPAN
Another hard night-shift, 3 hours in bed and it was time to get ready to RUN!
I left poor Tess at home as I blasted off to Parbold on my bike, sorry Tess but I've not got a helmet to fit you and you'd most probably jump off at the first cat you saw on our travels!
I met Paul at Parbold, I wasn't to sure how far he was running, as he'd been complaining of calf and knee pains!
We set off on a very hilly route, taking in Stony Lane, Hunters Hill, Ashurst Beacon, Crank Hill and back up the side of Ashurst Beacon before a downhill finish to Parbold.
Paul managed the first two climbs well and when he reached the top of the two mile Ashurst Beacon climb I was half expecting him to turn for home, but he was having none of it and pressed on for the very steep Crank hill .
The final hill up the side of Ashurst with its mini Alpine hairpin bends used up the last of Paul's flagging energy.
He told me to leave him to his misery, so I blasted off to the top then turned around to go back for him.
Once at the top I gave him my only gel, I didn't use any gels or water on this run, yet still felt OK at the end!
We finished with 24 miles on the Garmin, our longest run this year.
The downhills should really help strengthen our legs for the pounding of the marathon and I was really amazed by Paul's run!
I entered my run on RUN FOR JAPAN and paid my donation, so come on guys get out running for 'RUN FOR JAPAN ' and help a people in need of your help!
Doing the run for a good cause made it seem so much more worthwhile!
Thanks to Paul for the company and chat:]
Forgot to start my Garmin at the start so add 5 mins to Data GARMIN MAP

RUN FOR JAPAN
CLICK HERE AND DONATE

Run For Japan

Total Donated So Far: £2019.21
Miles Run So Far: 780
Runners so far: 67

• Home
• About
• Register Your Run
• I Ran for Japan
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I'll be doing my long run on Saturday for RUN FOR JAPAN
Take part and give!

Super Cool Progression Run And Why Ewen Comes From The Stars!

We are the children of stars. In the heart of a dying star new elements were being made. Every single atom from your body has come from these dead stars. This is the journey of the atoms that compose us starting today and ending at the beginning of time. They have travelled for billions of years through stars, space, Earth, and time until they joined together to create each one of us.


THE SANDS OF TIME

How a sandcastle reveals the end of all things - Wonders of the Universe

Spectroscopy of Stars - Wonders of the Universe: Stardust

TRAINING

Marius Bakken Progression Session
Location Kings Gardens One K Loop
Wed
3 x 9 mins [3 min L2-3min L3-3 min L4] continuous, 2 mins Rec between sets.
Felt sluggish warming up in the humid heavy atmosphere but felt strong and in control once I started the session.
Set one; L2 6.37 pace-L3 6.01 pace-L4 5.43 pace
Set two; L2 6.28 pace-L3 6.01 pace-L4 5.42 pace
Set three; L2 6.28 pace-L3 5.59 pace- L4 5.43 pace

Finished with 6 x smart strides Total Time = 1 hour 2 mins

My running biomechanics felt really good, thanks to Dr Steve Hoffman of Core wellness for ideas and advice!

Training Tip
Keep your head up, dropping your head down results in poor posture and bending at the waist!