Monday 28 April 2008

BLACKPOOL MARATHON

_2ND7572
THE BOYS DO THE BUSINESS AT THE BLACKPOOL MARATHON
Waking up at 5.30am with the rain lashing down on the bedroom window i thought what a stupid idea it had been to enter the BLACKPOOL MARATHON, it was a good job Rob Mcgrath was coming to pick me up or i might not have made it out of my nice warm bed!
Someone at work asked me if i was running London i said "no Blackpool ! " He said does that mean you have to run up and down the GOLDEN MILE 26 times? well not quite! but you do have to run 2 laps inc half the distance running on the most unforgiving surface known to runners, Concrete ! ooch!!!
The rain stopped by the time we got to Blackpool only to start again just before the 9am start1
The half and full marathon start together which meant there was over 2000 of us on the start line with about 700 in the full marathon.
Rob Ashworth surged away at the front running 6 min miles for the first 9 miles before settling down to a more sensible pace.
Rob Mcgrath and me had to hold our selves back and not get carried away with the pace of the half marathon runners, it was good fun running along the closed roads with a big crowd cheering us on inc Niz and Sarah !
Just behind was virgin marathon runner Peter Roome running a canny race. We headed south almost to the Airport before turning round , back past the famous tower into a slight head wind. At about nine miles we came off the road and headed along the concrete sea wall all the way to Bispham before turning around and back to the start for the second lap.
As we started the second lap the heavens really opened up turning the road into a river! shoes became heavy and clothing stuck to our bodies in a sodden mess,Triathlete Peter Roome must have felt at home splashing along the flooded concrete wall for the second time. The road we had been running on felt like a velvet trail compared to this dam concrete! Muscles already stiff from the cold rain really felt the extra impact from this unforgiving surface, we all went through good and bad patches but i think we all used our mental strength to pull us through, up front Rob ashworth stormed through the finish line to finish 6 th in 2.42.27 a fantastic ron by the 2007 anglesea marathon winner!
i was now making my way over what felt like a mountain,on the first lap it had been but a slight hill, once over the top it was just one mile downhill to the finish, with 300m to go I passed the 10th place runner like he was stuck to the road, with 200m to go i had the choice of turning left or right at the cones, i shouted at the marshal in desperation for help, he said left and I followed his instructions only to realize a few seconds later he'd sent me on another lap, I turned around and sprinted back only to lose my 10th place, BUMMER! I had to make do with 11th , 2.48.41 and FIRST IN MY AGE GROUP
I finished with few aches and pains in my legs and even ran the day after the race so the CHIRUNNING IS WORKING WELL,
Rob Mcgrath was was next in, finishing only 29 secs behind me, setting a new p.b. by 10minutes, Rob has trained harder than ever before and was well pleased with his result 14th 2.49.10
Peter Roome overcame his first marathon with remarkable style and finished with a very impressive 2.55.52 well and truly smashing the 3 hour barrier.
At the end of the day I think we put in a pretty AWESOME performance and made TEAM S.W.A.C. proud!
In the half marathon Ray handly finished 37th 1.26.03 and still had the energy to stay behind and cheers us marathon boys on !
results http://www.tdl.ltd.uk/
RACE PHOTOS

28th April
THE DAY AFTER

AMAZINGLY VERY FEW ACHES AND PAINS! in my past 5 marathons i could hardly walk for 2 days let alone run and had to walk downstairs sideways because of the incredible pain in my legs. This time things are very different thanks to Danny Dreyer's CHIRUNNING. I even ran today with only slight aches in my legs, AWESOME. = 1 MIN RUN,ONE MIN WALK = 27mins

29th April
Steady run over Jon's sandhill loop, felt quite good! = 1.20
30th April
LEG SPEED SESSION
120m x 6 , max 15.6 mph, ran back at 9.5-10mph = 36mins
Evening
run with niz =26 mins
1st May
Interval session with Rob, 3x 1 lap round the little nature trail,this inc a fast section on grass and board walk and then a section of challenging sandhills before looping back round to finish, because we are still recovering from the marathon we kept the session light! set off steady and made each interval faster. ran the last effort 20secs faster than last year which was pleasing , and a good sign for Mondays WATERLOO 15 K. 4.50, 4.23, 4.06 = 56 mins
2nd May
Run with Niz = 23.28
Sat 3rd
Run over the big sandhills, steady = 1.33.45

Sunday 27 April 2008

THE BOYS DO THE BUSINESS AT BLACKPOOL MARATHON


UNOFFICIAL EARLY RESULTS BLACKPOOL MARATHON
ROB ASHWORTH 2.43
ME 2.48
ROB MCGRATH 2.49
PETER ROOME 2.56



THANKS TO; DANNY DREYER

ARTHUR LYDIARD
ROB MCGRATH FOR BEING MY TRAINING BUDDY
AND MOST OF ALL MY WIFE NIZ FOR SUPPORT

Thursday 24 April 2008

GUIDANCE FROM A GURU


IN DANNY DREYER'S BOOK CHIRUNNING HE RECOMMENDS NAGETIVE SPLITS WHEN RACING, THIS SOUNDED LIKE A GOOD IDEA BECAUSE IN THE PAST I HAVE ALWAYS BLASTED AWAY AT THE START AND HOPED THAT I COULD KEEP IT TOGETHER UNTIL THE END. MOST TIMES IN THE MARATHON I WOULD SLOW DRAMATICALLY TOWARDS THE LAST 6 MILES. SO I ASKED DANNY TO HELP ME, I TOLD HIM THAT I THOUGHT I WAS IN 2.50 SHAPE AND COULD HE TELL ME THE PACE TO RUN MY NEGATIVE SPLITS?
HE KINDLY GAVE ME THE FOLLOWING ADVISE ;
If it’s a reasonably flat course you should try to come through the half at a 6:35 which would put you at 1:26:15. A much easier start will leave you with much more at the end. That means your second half can be1:24 and everyone comes home happy.

Cheers,
Danny
SO HERE IS MY PACE CHART FOR THE BLACKPOOL MARATHON
1 Miles - 0:06:35.04
5 Miles - 0:32:55.19
10 Miles - 1:05:50.38
13.1 MILES=1.26.15
THEN I WILL INCREASE THE PACE TO 6.25 TO GIVE A SECOND HALF TIME OF 1.24.03 AND A TOTAL TIME OF 2.50.18
fri 25th
easy run with Niz = 10 mins
sat 26
1 mile warm up, one mile 6.23, one mile warm down = 20 mins

I WANT TO FLY LIKE A EAGLE LET MY SPIRIT CARRY ME


STEADY RUN WITH STEADY EDDIE OVER THE SANDHILL 4 LOOP, FEELING LIKE I HAD TO HOLD MYSELF BACK, FEELING GOOD ! =37MINS

FLY LIKE A EAGLE

Wednesday 23 April 2008

TIME FOR SPEED


After morning rain the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful warm afternoon, we have waited for this weather for so long,April has been a succession of cold windy drab days. I headed to the park once again taking in the warm sunshine and the sight of the new leaves and blossom on the trees and bushes, bright colours of reds,yellows,purple and every shade of green shimmering in the bright sunlight. I was filled with a sense of new life and hope! once inside vic park i ran a slow mile, 6.13 a fast mile 5.20 [my fastest in over 3 years!] and then finished with a steady 6.04 mile. my work was done!
= 35mins

4 wheel drive

Tue 22nd
It was a beautiful evening, warm with just a gentle breeze when i set off for a run round my favorite sandhill loop. I was feeling great and running felt effortless. I really had to hold myself back as i felt like running forever! Danny Dreyer had emailed me with a tip on how to run up hills faster and i put it to the test! AWESOME it felt like i had 4 wheel drive as i ran up the very steep sand dunes. THANKS DANNY! = 33 mins

Monday 21 April 2008

COUNT DOWN TO THE BLACKPOOL MARATHON



With just 6 days to go it was time for some final sharpening, I was greeted with some warmer weather and could run in a racing vest for the first time in training this year, but there was still a stiff breeze blowing to slow me down a bit !
my aim was to run 3 x 1 mile 2 of the miles at marathon pace and one mile hard. 6.23,5.27 and 6.17 followed,I worked on my CHIRUNNING FORM and finished feeling pretty good and confident about my up coming Marathon. my plan is to run 6.30 pace up to 20 miles and then if i feel good try and push the pace from there, anyway one thing is for sure and that is the ARTHUR LYDIARD training is starting to pay off and the CHIRUNNING is helping me run smoother and with better running economy but most of all less aches and pains and with a lot more enjoyment. = 30mins

Sunday 20 April 2008

BEEN RUNNING A LONG TIME!


Running 'key to human evolution'

one week to go before the blackpool marathon

Easy run with Jon round the sandhill 6 loop = 57min.
Sat 19th
With just a week to go before the BLACKPOOL MARATHON,
I reduced my long run down to just 1 hour 15 mins of effort, running a sandhill loop i have used for many years I was surprised to run my second fastest time ever ,without really trying ! It was a cold windy day feeling more like the middle of winter than the end of April. Tess the mad sheep dog enjoyed herself bounding along in front of me as i worked at keeping good CHIRUNNING form.After over an hour of running the big sand dunes i ran the last mile on the road at 10 mph+ finishing very strongly! =1.15.39







Photo;BLACKPOOL, the location for next week's marathon.

CLICK HERE FOR DANNY DREYERS BLOG ON CHIRUNNING

ARTHUR LYDIARD TRAINING PROGRAM; train like a champion! click here.


Friday 18 April 2008

RYAN HALL


America's Next Great Runner

Finishing fifth in just his third marathon ever, Ryan Hall, 25, announced to the world on sunday that America's next great distance runner is a force to be reckoned with ! Hall crossed the line one minute and two seconds behind the winner, Martin Lel of Kenya, who finished in 2:05:15 - a new London Marathon record. But, as the New York Times reports, it was ten miles before the finish line that an obviously strong Hall pulled up next to Lel and fellow Kenyan Sammy Wanjiru and asked the two leaders to pick up their pace.

"I thought: 'This is a classic move. I tell the pacemakers to go faster and they drop me,'" Hall said afterward. READ MORE;

CLICK HERE FOR THE STORY OF RYAN HALL

THE TEN GOLDEN RULES OF RUNNING, CLICK HERE

Thursday 17 April 2008

RUNNING FASTER THAN EVER BEFORE


Two p.b.s in one week show that i am coming to form, but the most incredible thing is that today i smashed my best time for my hilly mile loop which i set back in 2003 when i was at my peak. To run faster even by a second at the age of 47 shows just how good ARTHUR LYDIARDS training system is. there are no short cuts, if you want to run at your best you must start with a massive base of aerobic training.
Rob was flying once again and pulled away from me on the last mile effort with 1/4 of a mile to go, finishing in 5.15 to my 5.26.

Interval session with rob on a hilly 1/2 and mile loop.
1/2m 2.43 1m 5,25 1/2 2.38 1m 5.26 =56 mins

Wed 16th
Steady run off road on the harrock hill race course inc time trailing up parbold hill running 8 sec faster than a couple of weeks ago and 20 secs up on last years time. = 1.30

Tue 15th
Steady run with Steady Eddie over the sandhills = 1.07

Mon 14th
Still feeling tired after my epic 20mile training run with Rob.
3 x 1 mile Vic park 5,40 5.40 5.39 = 1.00

LONDON MARATHON CON



Marathon man, 'Buster' Martin, may be up to some old tricks101-year-old Buster Martin

Click here to see the marathon in pictures

With “Buster” Martin’s straggly beard, dry wit, and advanced years, his attempt to run the London Marathon was always going to present the PR people with an irresistible feel-good tale. At 101 years old, he would be the oldest man to complete the 26-mile course. But as he hobbled his way through the London drizzle yesterday, his story was beginning to unravel.

story sent in by running JON!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE


Sunday 13 April 2008

LONDON MARATHON RESULTS

RESULTS LONDON MARATHON CLICK HERE FOR FULL RESULTS








Flora London Marathon 2008 Results SOUTHPORT WATERLOO RUNNERS

133
32 851» CLAREHUGH, MARK (GBR)M35SOUTHPORT WATERLOO 2:37:13
position pl.age no. name age club time
305 83 759 » SHEARER, RICHARD J (GBR) M35 SOUTHPORT WATERLOO AC 2:44:54
1633 220 28492 » ASHBY, MARK (GBR) M45 SOUTHPORT WATERLOO AC 3:07:51
1726 12 28069 » WALKER, MIKE (GBR) M60 SOUTHPORT WATERLOO 3:08:57
452 78 25509 » PETERS, TRACEY R (GBR) W25 SOUTHPORT WATERLOO AC 3:30:49
6815 1336 11800 » CUNNINGHAM, MICHAEL R (GBR) M40 SOUTHPORT WATERLOO AC 3:46:47
8943 1713 25508 » NORBURY, ANTONY (GBR) M40 SOUTHPORT WATERLOO 3:57:06
11064 346 4594 » CHANDLEY, PAUL J (GBR) M55 SOUTHPORT WATERLOO AC 4:07:36

Saturday 12 April 2008

MARATHON TRAINING


Just finished one of my hardest ever training runs with Rob.We set off over the sandhills past the Famous royal Birkdale golf club house and then over the infamous BIG DIPPER and onwards through the Ainsdale and Formby pinewoods . Rob was running like he was being chased by demons! I was hanging on for dear life as Rob pounded away at the front, thoughts of being dropped went through my mind,but my grim determination stopped me from giving in!
At life boat road car park we headed for the beach and started our journey home. we now upped the pace to 6.30 mins per mile. i went through periods of feeling quite strong but by the time we came off the beach at PONTINS I wondered how the hell i could up the pace for the last few miles on the road to Robs house, because the legs were stating to feel heavy!
As expected rob surged forward as soon as we hit the road and i felt i was in difficulty!
Was Rob about to leave me behind! Was he out to break me? I dug deep, very deep into my mental and physical reserve , i clawed him back as we went over the slight hill then pulled along side him on the downhill before Ainsdale village, I then found renewed strengh and started to pull ahead of Rob and noticed he was starting to suffer ! we were now holding 10mph with only a mile to go, with about 400m to go before reaching Robs home we called a truse to proceedings and slowed to a jog. THANKS ROB, THAT WAS ONE TOUGH WORKOUT,WE NOW HAVE TWO WEEKS TO EASE BACK BEFORE THE BLACKPOOL MARATHON.
8.5MPH AV 20 MILES = 2.21.30

Friday 11 April 2008

REVOLUTIONARY RUNNING SHOES


click here for video

Revolutionary running shoe

European 5000m record holder Dave Moorcroft tries out a radical new running shoe.

It's been developed by marathon runner and physiotherapist Adri Hartveld who has over 25 years experience in dealing with sports injuries.

He came up with the idea of the Healus Running Shoe - a design comprised of a base shock plate and heel-less sole which minimises heal strike impact - based on his own experiences and from the athletes he has helped treat.

Dave Moorcroft is surprised with the results when he takes the Healus onto the track!

Wednesday 9 April 2008

PARBOLD-ASHURST 1800FT CLIMBING


SET OFF FROM PARBOLD AT A STEADY PACE BEFORE TIME TRIALING THE STONEY LANE CLIMB, REACHED THE TOP 14 SECS FASTER THAN 2 WEEKS AGO, 7.23. I THEN HEADED ON FOR HUNTERS HILL, ONCE AGAIN I PUSHED VERY HARD UP THIS VERY STEEP HILL TO REACH THE SUMMIT IN 5.20, 7SECS UP ON LAST TIME. I RAN DOWNHILL OVER TO THE ASHURST 2 MILE CLIMB AND RAN 1 MIN FAST 1MIN EASY ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP 16.22. LAST BUT NO MEANS LEAST WAS THE QUARRY CLIMB UP THE SIDE OF PARBOLD, AS USED IN THE ASHURST BEACON FELL RACE. BY NOW MY LEGS WERE STARTING TO GET A BIT TIRED AND I RAN UP THE HILL AT A STEADY PACE.
ONCE AGAIN I USED THE CHIRUNNING TO GOOD EFFECT !
14.06 MILES = 1.44

Tue 8th
Steady run over the sandhills with Eddie and tess the dog= 56 mins

Tuesday 8 April 2008

MAKE MINE A HALF

ROB ASHWORTH SOUTHPORT WATERLOO A/C TEAM MATE AND ANGLESEA MARATHON WINNING LEGEND, WINS THE OLDHAM HALF MARATHON, THIS IS GREAT NEWS FOR ROB AND WHO KNOWS WHAT COULD HAPPEN WHEN ROB RUNS AT THE BLACKPOOL MARATHON IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS TIME!

NICE ONE ROB ! [ photo; rob on the way to 5th place in the ashurst beacon fell race ].

Expensive trainers are a waste of money -cheap ones are better, say scientists.click here for more!


Monday 7 April 2008

HITTING FORM AT THE RIGHT TIME.

Ran steady for 10mins before running a 2 mile time trial over the sandhills [ 12.16], I then carried on at a steady effort to meet up in the pinewoods with the club for a interval session, 8x400m, the talk was of ROB ASHWORTHS WIN IN THE OLDHAM HALF MARATHON,Rob's second win in 6 months. rob will be running in the BLACKPOOL MARATHON so it will be interesting to see if he can get a 2nd marathon win ! after the intervals I ran back over the big sandhills. On reaching the road i speeded up to half marathon pace holding around 9.5-9.7mph for a mile, it seemed surprisingly easy ! I then eased back to 9.2 mph for the final stretch home. FELT BETTER AT THE END THAN WHEN I STARTED, THIS CHIRUNNING IS AWESOME ! THANKS DANNY DREYER !
16.50 miles max 13.9 mph = 2.17.38

Saturday 5 April 2008

TRAINING FOR THE BLACKPOOL MARATHON

With just 3 weeks till THE BLACKPOOL MARATHON i decided 2 run my infamous incredibly boring round southport loop, with only 3 miles of sandhills near the start to add a bit of fun to my run ! But the BLACKPOOL race is going to be flat and boring so i decided this route would be the best way to get me ready!
The weather turned colder with a strong north west wind to make conditions tough, but at least the sun was shining and the wind would blow me home for the last 7 miles of the 20.6 mile loop.
I ran the first 14 miles steady but my legs felt heavy after all the long runs I've been putting in over the past few weeks. At 14 miles i started 5x5 mins at 9.2-9.7 mph with 2 mins at 8 mph for recovery. once i picked up the pace i did start to feel better and finished with an average speed of 8.6 mph [ 7.00mpm] which was up 1/2 mph on last time. It always amazes me how much faster you can run in a race and how much harder a pace can feel in training !
20.6 miles, 8.6 av, 7.00 min mile pace, = 2.24.31
Sun 6th
Easy run with Jon over the sandhill loop, bitterly cold north west winds and snow showers made it feel more like the middle of winter than spring!= 57.36
total for the week = 10 hours 16 mins

Thursday 3 April 2008

LONDON MARATHON NEWS

By ALEX WEST

Published: 03 Apr 2008

SIX African warriors running the London Marathon have been issued with a guide to Britain — telling them not to hunt our farm animals.

The Maasai tribesman have also been warned to keep their private parts covered up and not to spit or grab Brits’ jewellery.

The four-page guide by Greenforce charity workers tells the group not to follow their hunting instincts if they see a cow, pig or sheep in a field.

It says: “It is important to remember these animals are owned by someone and are looked after.”

The men from a remote village in Tanzania will do the 26-mile run on April 13 in robes and carrying shields and spears. They are raising money for life-saving supplies back home.

But the guide tells them: “It is illegal to show certain parts of the body so it is important to wear underpants.” It says when nature calls they should find a toilet rather than a bush.

It also advises them not to spit in public — except in a sink or at a tree “if no one is looking”. It adds: “If you take and wear something someone else has, like a bracelet, they will find it unusual"! Warrior ... Maasai tribesman

The guide also warns that Brits “seem sillier” when they drink alcohol.

Iron mighty ... Lloyd Scott with robot suit

CHI RUNNING SCHOOL


HELD OUR OWN LITTLE CHI RUNNING SCHOOL WITH MY FRIEND EDDIE, running in the park we checked out each others running form and made suggestions for improvement.i had a problem with leaning forward from the waist, but by the end of the session i think i was close to ideal chi form. The chi running should help Eddie as he is recovering from a calf muscle tear. i have been watching some video's of the great HAILE GABRSELASSIE and noticed he is pretty much running idea chirunning style.
not sure what mr lydiard would think about chirunning as he tends to advocate POWER RUNNING ! high knee lifting and pushing off hard, but i think the chi running is amazing,to go faster you just lean your whole body forward from the ankles,then gravity starts to pull you along and all you have to do is concentrate on picking your heels off the floor.get it right and you flow smoothly along with far less effort than power running, great stuff, for sure!
THE STORY OF HAILE GABRSELASSIE CLICK HERE
= 1.00
Evening
Robs interval session 12x 400m, last effort at 12.2 mph av pace, max 12.8 = 45 mins

Wed 2nd
ran round parbold and harrock hill off road at a good steady pace inc 5 climbs, i used the chi side stepping hill climbing technique to good affect by setting a new p.b. on the parbold hill despite still feeling tired after all my long runs. this sunday marks only 3 weeks till the BLACKPOOL MARATHON , so i will have to start cutting back on the mileage soon. = 1.50

Tuesday 1 April 2008

FAITH HEELER


AT WORK LAST NIGHT I MET AN OLD FRIEND WHO I HAD NOT SEEN FOR SOME TIME, HE SAID THAT HE HAD JUST GIVEN UP HIS JOB TO BECOME A FAITH HEALER BEING A BIT OF A SCEPTIC I ASKED DOES THAT REALLY WORK, HE SAID " WAIT AND SEE ", HE LOOKED ME IN THE EYES AND ALL OF A SUDDEN I FELT A DEEP WARM GLOW THROUGH MY BODY. AFTER HE LEFT I NOTICED THAT A SORE BACK THAT I'D HAD SINCE LIFTING HEAVY STOCK THE NIGHT BEFORE HAD NOW COMPLETELY GONE!
STRANGE BUT TRUE !

Mon 1st
Ran down over the sandhill to meet up with the club for a interval session in the woods. I felt tired after the 23 mile run the day before. After the session i ran back with Rob over the BIG DIPPER and past the Royal Birkdale Golf course. after we got back to hillside I said my good byes to Rob and pushed the pace up to 9.2 mph for the final mile. 6 x 800m 16.5 miles = 2.16
tue 2nd
Felt tired after over 5 hours of running in 2 days so just did core training.