Thursday 30 April 2009
RUBBISH 5 K ALL COMERS WORLD RECORD!!!
Thur 30th
I ran THE RUBBISH 5K trail route for the first time in anger setting a new 'All Comers World Record' of 18.34 . I was quite pleased averaging over 10 mph taking into account the gravel paths, short steep hills and tight bends!
Other good news was I got woof whistled at by an attractive girl! Some thing that was not happened to me for many years, was it my London Marathon sun tan she found appealing or was it my air of self confidence after breaking a world record!
And yet even more good news! I was crapped on by a bird flying over head [ is this good luck]!
And even more, more good news, My Marathon recovery is almost complete!
5k [ 3.12miles], 10.1 mph av, 5.56 pace, max 12.2 mph = 18.34
Wed 29th
Easy run inc sandhill 6 with Jon and Tess = 1.22
Wednesday 29 April 2009
I BEAT CHRIS BOARDMAN AT LONDON MARATHON
Rick [ 2.51.15] beats Chris Boardman [3.19.27] in London Marathon
Monday 27th April 2009 - Nigel Wynn
Boardman, now 41, took part in the 26-mile running event to raise funds for the National Autistic Society, and was interviewed shortly after finishing by the BBC's Sue Barker.
MORE
WOW! I RAN 2.38 AT LONDON MARATHON!!!
1999 38 2:49:53 2:49:25
2000 39 2:56:15 2:54:33
2002 41 2:54:53 2:50:47
2003 42 2:48:52 2:43:43
2004 43 2:52:34 2:46:06
2009 48 2:51:15 2:38:48
Thanks to Brian Grice for compiling my age adjusted Marathon times
http://www.pinebeltpacers.org/AgeGrade/newwava.html
Tuesday 28 April 2009
LONDON MARATHON TEN YEARS ON!
ALL AROUND WAS CARNAGE!
Jo, Tracey, Paul , Ken, myself along with my good wife Niz and pauls friend Tom set off for London on Friday lunch time. The plan was to pick the numbers up as soon as we hit the big city and spend the Saturday relaxing and taking in the sights!
The Expo was a big disappointment, nothing very new or exciting to see and for such a massive race one might expect a bit more [ lets hope the new sponsors Virgin spice things up next year].
Once we got our numbers it was time to relax with a nice pasta meal in a Italian restaurant in Euston.
Sat 25th
Tracey, Jo, Paul and myself ran 2 miles round a local park in the morning, it felt very humid and my hay fever was not good! I hoped it would be a little cooler for Sundays race, they kept forecasting late morning rain for the race!
In the afternoon I treated Niz to a cruise up and down the Thames followed by a flight on the London eye, clear sky's and sunshine made for some excellent views.
Saturday night and we met up with the rest of the guys and girls in the running club doing London [ 15 of us in all].
Sun 26th RACE DAY
We got up at 5.40, went down for breakfast and eat a last meal of porridge, toast and fruit, I could see tension and nerviness etched on my fellow runners faces [ looking like condemned men ready for a hanging!] , the big day had come round so fast, there was no way back!
Mark Ashby, Tracey and myself were starting in the good for age red start, I never started from here before and was in for a shock soon after the start!
The sun was burning down on us as we waited patiently at the start, Our lives flashed before us as reality zoomed in as the announcer counted down, 3,2,1, GO!!!
I started near the front, but held myself back as runner after runner blasted by, I wasn't going to make a dreadful mistake and blow all my months of training in a few miles of sub 6 adrenaline fueled madness!
The first shock came quite quickly, the red start is really hilly, unlike the green and blue starts that have a nice gradual downhill for 3 miles the red start drops madly downhill 200 ft in a few minutes before climbing a steep hill and dropping down again to meet the main marathon [ blue line route]. This came as a massive surprise to me and it was difficult to set the right pace, I simply held back, but it didn't feel right or comfortable!
3 miles in 18.59.
Back in 1999 I felt so strong and energized blasting round the whole 26.2 miles on a massive wave of adrenaline, today was very different, I did not feel quite right, I don't think it was so much the heat [ I ran my best races her in 2003 and 99 on hot days] but more the humid atmosphere! I was burning up from the inside like a pressure cooker about to explode!
The vast enthusiastic noisy crowds and the humidity made me feel very claustrophobic [ not good for someone who use to suffer from panic attacks in crowded places as a child!].
mile 5 in 31.31.
I tried to calm myself down and relax, I started taking water very early as I knew I'd be in serious trouble later on if I didn't.
10 miles in 1.03
I was hoping by now to be running in the zone but it was not happening for me today, I kept feeling like I was about to crack, feeling dizzy for a while before coming around again only to lapse into feeling bad again, I was still on 2.47 - 2.48 pace but the effort felt to hard to maintain!
13 miles in 1.23.
Once past the half way point I started taking on board more and more water, the water stations seemed to come every 1/2 mile or so and I slowed to a jog after each station in a desperate attempt to pore the liquid down my throat and keep hydrated!
The course seemed far more rolling than I remembered from my last attempt in 2004, at the end the Garmin showed 1800ft of climbing, is that right or did the long tunnel send the G.P.S. nutty!
20 miles in 2.08
Talking to the runners around me they all seemed to be going through the same thing, dehydration ! The good news was that despite slowing it was not by much, I was holding myself together on grim determination!
I homed in on the weakening runners in front of me, one by one I picked them off like a blood thirsty cheetah after its prey!
I was slowing but people around me were slowing more, one then a second runner stopped dead in front of me, I had to swerve to avoid smashing into the back of them.
All around was carnage, runners cramping up, or so dehydrated they couldn't run anymore!
The miles were flying by now only 3 to go, shit just a short recovery run I thought to myself, I give every thing I had and that was not much.
Finally the finish came into sight I didn't dare sprint I would have probably blacked out if I had tried, I went for the dignified approach and crossed the line still standing up!
26.2 miles 2.51.15
At first I felt disappointed to miss my 1999 target time by 1min 22 secs, but then after hearing the horror stories from club mates I quickly changed my mind, dam that was hard and I made it through! Dad I ran that for you!
Team mate Peter Roome trained really hard to break 3 hours but cracked to finish dehydrated almost collapsing on the line and stretchered off by the wonderfully hard working St Johns Ambulance people! Peter said he was running through a dark dark tunnel over the last mile, fighting to stay on his two feet!
Chris Dunn went through hell running on a infected foot to finish a courageous3.06.
Steve wilkinson ran 1.17 in the liverpool half but cracked soon after 14 miles walking the last 10miles. Mark Ashby came back from injury to record a very respectable 3.07.
Tracey did even better setting a new p.b. after only six weeks serious training due to injury, she finished with 3.26, Jo put in another great run in with 3.23 and Paul after increasing his training from 23 miles per week last year to 60-70 miles this year knocked a wopping 30 mins off his time from last year to finish in 3.24. Flying Doctor Simon Tobin had a fantastic run under the conditions with 3.29 .
LONDON MARATHON RESULTS SINCE MY FIRST MARATHON IN 1999;
1999 2.49.53, 2000 2.56.15, 2002 2.54.53, 2003 2.48.52, 2004 2.52.34, 2009 2.51.15
Conclusions, Marathons are bloody hard work, there is no way around it, if you want your best time and push it to the limit your going to go through a lot of pain, I mean thats the appeal of the marathon its a challenge like no other!
It tests your mental as well as physical limits to the maximum!
TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT ONE MORE TIME!
Monday 27 April 2009
LONDON MARATHON RESULT
REPORT TO FOLLOW, ITS A HOT ONE!
I TRY MY BEST BUT MISS OUT ON MY TARGET 2.49.53 [set 10 years ago] BY JUST 1 MIN 22 SEC !
I FINISH FIRST FOR THE CLUB AS MANY BREAK DOWN IN THE HEAT.More
I have never drunk so much water in a race before, after 13 miles I was slowing to a jog at each water station [ and there is a lot of them] to get the fluids into my body, the heat came as a bit of a shock to the system, repeatedly I thought I was going to crack and it was a big relief to get to the finish in one piece [ it took all my mental strength to hold it together, this was a tough one for sure!
5k 19.25, 10k 39.27, 15k 59.24, 20k 1.19.21, 1/2 1.23.43,
25k 1.39.26, 30k 1.59.57, 35k 2.20.41 40k 2.41.50, Finish 2.51.15
Red = meltdown!
At first i felt a bit disappointed with myself but on reflection i feel kind of proud, hell there is a big difference between running at 38 and 48 and I still blasted my 2004 London time by over a minute!
LONDON MARATHON RESULTS SINCE MY FIRST MARATHON IN 1999;
1999 2.49.53, 2000 2.56.15, 2002 2.54.53, 2003 2.48.52, 2004 2.52.34, 2009 2.51.15
ONCE AGAIN I HAVE KEPT A CLEAN RECORD AND COMPLETED EVERY MARATHON I HAVE EVER RUN UNDER 3 HOURS!
THANKS FOR ALL COMMENTS, GRATEFULLY RECEIVED
FULL REPORT TO FOLLOW, ONCE i'VE HAD TIME TO THINK, PONDER AND ANNALISE MY RACE!
Thursday 23 April 2009
London Marathon, I run this race for my Dad!
My Dad died at 48, the age I am now! I was only 4 when he passed away so suddenly, yet despite being only 4 years old I have such strong and vivid memories of him. He was a photo journalist and served with the RAF in the second world war, flying in Lancaster bombers over Berlin taking reconnaissance photo's to see if they had hit there strategic targets, 'IMAGINE FLYING OVER A DARK,DARK BERLIN SKY WITH ANTI AIRCRAFT FIRE ALL AROUND'! EACH TIME THEY TOOK OFF ON A MISSION THEY NEVER KNEW IF THEY WOULD MAKE IT BACK!
Many of my fathers friends didn't. So many young men and women gave their lives up for the freedom we take so easily for granted, my Dad made it through but I think the stress he went through took its toll and and he died so young!
I run this Marathon in his memory, I will run with determination and pride, I will think of my Dad and the freedom he helped bring us!
If you are running on Sunday enjoy the amazing event, good luck and I hope you get the time you want!
Thur 23rd
Steady run with Tess round the reclaimed tip = 35.44
Wed 22nd Easy run with Niz along the velvet trail = 21 mins
Evening Measuring and marking out the RUBBISH 5K route with Jon = 40 mins
Its a great course and we should have some fun on this challenging route, hope to put on 4 races through the summer, watch this space!
CLICK ON MAP TO ENLARGE
London marathon weather report
Tuesday 21 April 2009
Super speed freak 5.00 MILE PACE final coundown London marathon workout
Mike Gratton comes from the hard school of Marathon running, so I have a lot of respect for him and his training program [ so far its worked really well].The final hard session called for 8 x 400m, I got Tracey to join me on the session, we started with 1 mile easy before we headed into the last fast session before London, using the Saxon -Gloucester rd block. We used the first effort as a warm up and went for it in the last 7, I felt pretty good and averaged 12 mph, 5.00 mile pace for the efforts, not bad for an old dog in Marathon training, now its easy,easy, REST!
Monday 20 April 2009
Saturday 18 April 2009
LONDON MARATHON, FINAL TEMPO RUN 6.14 PACE FOR 12 MILES
I was pleased to read this article the other day CLICK HERE TO TRAIN LIKE A 2.06 MARATHON RUNNER!
as it seems all my long tempo [ 11 - 18 miles] runs have been more than worthwhile, this afternoon I set out on my last long tempo before London, I was feeling a little tired after a very heavy night at work but at least the sun was out to make me feel better.
I ran my normal York rd, Trafalgar rd hill, hillside, Ainsdale and back along the coast rd loop, I got blown along by the wind at the start but had to fight the wind along the 2 1/2 mile exposed coast rd, it was hard work but I was kind of impressed with myself for powering along and holding pace!
Turning off the coast road I felt the effort in my legs and I used the downhill to recover a bit before moving onto a 3 mile loop.
10 miles went by in under 1.02 and now I finished off the run on a half mile loop near home, I hammered the straights and cruised the corners, soon I was almost on 12 miles and finished with a 11.7 mph final effort. JOB DONE!
My average pace would have given me a 1.21 half marathon but I'm sure in a race I might have been able to drop a couple of minutes!
Last year I could only manage 6.32 pace for a similar session!
12M, 6.14 PACE, 9.6 AV, 11.7 MAX, = 1.14,58
LONG TEMPO RUNS PROGRESSION;
Sat March 7th
12.23 miles, 9.4 av, 6.22 pace = 1.17.58
Wed March 18th
11.01 miles, 9.5 mph av, 6.19 pace = 1.09
Sat April 11th
18 miles, 9 mph av, 6.41 pace = 2.00 [ day after 4 mile race]
Sat April 18th
12m, 9.6 mph av, 6.14 pace, = 1.14.58
My other long hard runs were a 23 mile run with over 2,300 ft of climbing and a 20 mile race run at 6.18 pace.
I have done 9 steady runs of 20 miles or over and I have run many fartleck runs over 16 - 20 miles this year.
Just one more hard session on Tuesday, 8 x 400m then its easy, easy, rest!
Thursday 16 April 2009
Wednesday 15 April 2009
NEW TEMPO RUN P.B.
Strong swirling, gusting winds had me thinking sub 6 mile pace would be impossible on todays recommended tempo run. But I fair old blasted round to a new course record, maybe the warm temperature helped me or maybe I'm just getting a whole lot stronger.
Here is my progress.
15th April 3.12 miles, 18.18, 5.52 pace
25th March 3.01 miles, 18.29, 5.57 pace
26th Feb 2009 3.13 miles, 18.40, av 10.1mph, 5.58 pace, max speed 11.7
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
Tue 14th
I ran a interval session in the pinewoods along the Fisherman's path with Tracey and John Sprackland. I have used this session many times over the last ten years, so I guess it can give me a good indication of how fit I am.
6 x Fisherman's path 0.57 miles, orange; downhill, green; uphill;
1/ 0.57 m, 5.40 pace, 10.5 av mph = 3.15
2/ 0.57m, 5.38 pace, 10.6 mph, 12.8 mph max = 3.11
3/ 0.57m, 5.23 pace, 11.1 mph, 13.9 max = 3.03
4/ 0.56m, 5.34pace, 10.8 mph, 12.7 max = 3.07
5/ 0.56m, 5.19 pace, 11.3 mph, 13.8 max = 2.59
6/ 0.56, 5.43 pace, 10.5 mph, 11.9 max =3.11
CONCLUSION; Felt strong and in control of the session, my times are close to when I could race ten miles in 57.30-58.30 mins.
Mon 13th
Spent 30 mins running round the old reclaimed tip measuring a new course with Brian Grice for the clubs New 5 k race series its going to be called
'The Rubbish 5k.'
I then joined in the the club run and we ran over the sand dunes. Total time = 1.45
Saturday 11 April 2009
I'M JUST A RUNNING MACHINE,PROGRAMMED TO RUN! 18 MILES AT 9 MPH
Today I planned a steady 18 mile run at just over 8 mph as recommended in the Runners World programme, I spent the morning catching up with my sleep and toiled with the idea of giving the run a miss after all I raced very hard yesterday!
But the sun was shining and thoughts of some fresh air eventually got me out the door at about 4 o'clock.
Setting off steady I soon found myself getting faster and faster, my SPIRA shoes just seem to encourage you to run fast, and soon I was running close to marathon pace! Using a 7.5 mile loop course with 2 1/2 miles of which were along the coast road into a headwind, into my second lap and my friend Jon came along side in his car shouting encouragement [ he might have been impressed I was running so fast after yesterdays race and drinking session!] on I went powering up the Trafalgar rd hill for the second time.
Along the coast road I passed a girl running at a good pace [ I felt a bit of a twat as I powered passed, I shouted encouragement as I went, hope she took it the right way!] I was now holding a good marathon pace, off the coast road and back to the start of the lap.
Now just a short 3 mile loop to go. Up Trafalgar rd hill for the last time then over Hillside bridge and time to head home down Dover road, the last 1 1/2 miles turned into a progression run, it felt really good to be picking the pace up and I finished the last half mile at over 10 mph.18 MILES = 2 Hours
Conclusion; the Spira shoes let me recover much faster from the race than normal!
THESE SHOES ARE AWESOME!!!
Friday 10 April 2009
22.44 my fastest time at the Southport good Friday 4 mile races in 7 years
I had to work the night shift before the race, doing my heavy manual job, getting just an hour in bed before having to get up.But I decided nothing was going to get in my way to breaking 23 mins in the good Friday 4 mile races.
My wife Niz was running the Fun run at 10 am and it was great to see her getting back into running again, next was the womens race with the mens at 11.15 am, The weather was not bad, light winds and the threatening dark clouds held onto their load!
I was getting nervous now, finally it was time for me to line up, 3-2-1- GO!
Everyone charged off, I felt like I was sprinting hard from the start, yet team mates around me were pulling away! I felt like I was sprinting hard after 1 mile, 2 miles, 3 miles, this was the longest sprint of my life! My body was crying out at me to slow down but I just forced harder, this was not comfortable, it was pure purgatory!
Slowly I pulled back runners who had gone off to fast, by Mile one I was starting to feel slightly better as my body warmed up, getting into a strong rhythm. I counted at least 30 turns on the course most of them sharp corners that mean rapid changes of pace and add to the intensity of the effort!
By 3 miles team mate Peter Roome had caught me up, I ran with him until the last 400 m when he started to pull away , by now my legs were swimming in lactic acid and there was absolutely no way I could accelerate ! Not once did I look at my watch, not until the end when I saw 22.44 on the clock, I did it!
With little in the way of anaerobic training this had felt incredibly quick and painful , had it been later in the day I'm sure I'd have felt a whole lot better but I reached my target and things are looking good for the marathon! I have to be very happy with the result!
Conclusion; 4 mile races are not about pacing yourself, their about how much pain you can handle, then pushing harder! Their about pushing your mental strength to the next level!
AGE ADJUSTED TIMES FOR 4 MILE RACE
Year Age Actual Time Age-Adjusted Time
2002 41 22.16 21.21
2003 42 23.20 22.13
2006 45 23.36 21.59
2007 46 23.06 21.21
2008 47 23.04 21.10
2009 48 22.44 20.42
RESULTS
Thursday 9 April 2009
TIME TO KICK ASS! 4 MILE SOUTHPORT EASTER RACES, LOOKING FOR A RESULT
TIME TO KICK ASS!
Tomorrow morning I will be running the Southport good Friday easter races, I will be going all out to smash the 23 min barrier, a time I have not managed on this course since 2002. The course has many sharp corners and is notorious for strong winds blasting off the sea.
Here are my times for the Easter 4 mile races over the years; 2002 22.16 2003 23.20 2006 23.36 2007 23.06 2008 23.04
RESULTS available after midday 10/4/09
Thur 9th
Easy run with Tess on the 'Velvet Trail' = 34.54
Wed 8th
Easy run with Niz on the nature trail
Tuesday 7 April 2009
SUPER FAST KILLER WORKOUT, RUNNING IN THE FOOT STEPS OF A WORLD CHAMPION
I ran for an hour before meeting up with the club in the pinewoods, they left it to me to set the session so I used one of the sessions I use to do with super vet Steve James [ ex age group world champion and world v 60 5 k record breaker] , over ten years ago when I first started training with Steve I remember doing a mile and a half loop inside the woods which included quite a few short steep hills, we would run 5 efforts each lap with very short recoveries [ about 20 secs fast jogging!] and do 5 laps, it was a killer and the first time I ran it with him I blew spectacularly after only two laps!
I stuck with it and within 6 months my 10k time dropped from 38 mins down to 35.14 and I ran my first marathon in 2 hours 49 mins! and Steve went on to smash the world v 60 5 k record with 16 .22, Tonight I toned down the session to just 4 efforts per lap and only 3 laps , I didn't want to scare people off! Anyway the fartleck session went really well and it was good fun bombing up and down the hills!
I ran back with Rob who decided he needed even more speed work and shot off to run a series of 1/2 mile efforts, I left him to it as I was feeling pretty tired after my fast tempo run the day before, I finished with 2 hours and 24 mins.
Mon 7th
Ran the Sandhill 6 hard! 34.45 plus ran down to the start and back, total = 58 mins
Sunday 5 April 2009
On-line Documentaries and Interviews, PETER SNELL, ROD DIXON, JOHN WALKER
On-line Documentaries and Interviews
I FOUND THIS ON THE LYDIARD FOUNDATION SITE, INTERESTING STUFF;
In: News Releases -- Posted: 3/23/2009 4:57 AM -- By: Nobby Hashizume
Recently, some of our friends here, particularly Simon_M and Echoplex89, came forth with some on-line footage, documentary and audio-interviews of some of Lydiard runners. They have been posted on the forum but we can link them here so all you need to do is "click"!
We have contacted these people to obtain the original and we also have so much more in stock anyway and eventually we will create a page for audio-library and video-library on this site but, meanwhile, enjoy what we have so far. Thanks again, Simon_M and Echoplex89:
* Peter Snell Documentary (don't forget the Part 2!)
* 1962 Auckland National Championships (Murray Halberg 3 miles and Peter Snell half mile) (from NZ on Screen)
* Peter Snell setting 2 world records in Christchurch (starting about 2:50 into the footage)
* Peter Snell interview (right before Beijing Olympics)
* Another Peter Snell interview (by Competitors Radio Show)
* Rod Dixon interview (by Competitors Radio Show)
* John Walker interview (by Competitors Radio Show)
Enjoy them!!
Saturday 4 April 2009
22 miles off road with Tracey and Steady Eddie
It was the day of the Grand National, so you would expect it to be windy wouldn't you, the Girls down at the race course must have had a hard time keeping warm and their modesty in tact as the wind blew around and gusted up their skirts !
Good news for us was the wind blew away the threatening dark clouds and it turned into a great day to be out in the fresh air, getting the miles in. Runners World had this as the last very long run, next week is down to 18 miles, I was more than happy with the result of my epic run last weekend so I was looking for a easier pace today. We headed off from Birkdale village making our way to hillside and the start of our off road excursion. Over the sandhills and the Big Dipper, onwards to Ainsdale and Formby pinewoods, doing a loop round to the Lifeboat rd car park,then heading back along the coastal path to Southport. Tracey had told boyfriend Rob that she was running 22 miles so when we were almost back with only 21 miles on the Garmin I made her do an extra loop, I told her she would thank me for it when it came time to run London! I reckon 22 off rd must be worth 25 miles on the road taking into account all the soft sand and sand dunes! So well done to Tracey and Eddie for completing the run in good shape! 22 miles off road = 3 hours 22 mins
Sun 5th
Run with Jon and Chris through the pinewoods at easy pace, the last half mile turned into a progression run as I gradually picked up the pace, Chris hung in surprisingly well as we started to fly along and looks good for next Fridays 4 mile race. = 1.07
Wednesday 1 April 2009
THE IMPOSSIBLE IS POSSIBLE, IF YOU BELIEVE!
'BACK FROM THE DEAD'
ON THE SANDHILL'KILLER' 6
Runners World recommended a 5 mile tempo run today.
Back in 2005 I used the sandhill 6 loop as a regular tempo run, getting down to a course record of 33.56, since then I have never got close to that time [36.32 last year] after hearing that Jon had smashed his year best time yet again on the sandhill 6 [49.30, 10 minutes improvement so far this year!] I decided to attack my own p.b. despite tired legs I got down to business and quickly got into a good rhythm, hitting the hillside direction post after 12 mins, the big sand dunes come in the second half, little dipper and then the notorious 'BIG DIPPER' guaranteed to turn your legs to jelly, I ran the first section quite strongly but I was suffering on the big dunes, next was the crocodiles back, the last of the hills, now I could pick up speed, concentrating on redlining, giving it every last bit of energy, past THE ROYAL BIRKDALE CLUB HOUSE, and now the final section across a field back to the start.
I stop my Garmin and look down in disbelief , Wow 34.31! my fastest time in 4 years!!!
I head for home, the quads have blown again! so its a slow painful jog , maybe on fresh legs A new record might be on, kind of amazing seeing that I'm now 48 years old.
'THE IMPOSSIBLE, IS POSSIBLE, IF YOU BELIEVE'!
Sandhill 'Killer 6 Loop, The Route CLICK HERE
Evening
Ran down with Tess to meet club for a enjoyable run, Tess had a big smile on her face as she bounded along with the group! = 40 mins
Thur 2nd
Beautiful day to be out running, Tess and me ran the sandhill 6 in reverse, strange how running a route in the opposite direction opens up a whole new world!
Great to be outside in the sun and fresh air, my mind and soul are refreshed. = 1.15
Fri 3rd
Easy run with Jon on the sandhill 6, finished with 3 downhill sprints. = 56 mins