I missed running on Thursday and Friday, stress and depression hit home, hard! You would think trying to sort out a few minor issues with the club Grand Prix would be easy but yet again I hit a stone wall of negativity. Many members are starting to feel it's time for a new leadership that will bring encouragement , positivity and creativity into the club, lets hope that day comes soon! Sat 30th At least the rest did my legs good, I felt quite fresh as Tess and me set off on another long run. Marius Bakken recommended 2 hours 30 min but we ended up with almost 3 hours as we ran over the big sand dunes, through the pinewoods then back between the two golf courses which included the infamous 'Big Dipper'. = 2.49 Sun 31st Easy run with Sarah,Jon and Tess. Total time = 1.28 ARE RUNNERS SEXY CLICK HERE
Set out on a cool night to do another of Mariosbakken's sessions, this time i had to run 20 mins at level 3 [ marathon-1/2 mp] followed by 10 x 1 min at level 4 [ 10k pace]The idea of the session is to train the body to handle a fast pace when already tired. After a warm up i kicked into the tempo run, I was aiming at 6.04 pace as I was only running for 20 mins. the first couple of mins i got that aweful not warmed up feeling that I wouldn't be able to hold the pace, but then my legs warmed up and I settled into a fast but steady effort. my loop has a couple of short hills in the first half with the second half being faster. i was doing sub 6 pace on the way back, I wasn't breathing hard but I did have to concentrate to stop my pace dropping, onto my half mile finishing curcuit and I had 2 mins to go, i was feeling quite strong andfinished right on targetwith 3.29 miles in 20 mins with an average 6.04 pace. Now i had a couple of easy mins jogging before I started 10 x 1 min at 10k pace. I moved onto some quite back roads then off i charged again, i was looking for 5.44 pace and I found that no problem. I finished my 10th effort and decided to see what i could do if i really pushed it, 5.18 averagewas the answer for effort no 11, Awesome, I'm very happy with that :] I did all this wearing my brand new Nike zoom red rock trail shoes! Well, they only just came through the post, so I had to try them out! I was gutted when my last pair wore out in the summer because no one had them in stock any more, so i was made up when I saw Direct Sports had the mark 2 version [ £38 ] in stock last week, great, great shoe, light, flexible with loads of grip and so comfy too, I love em :] I also really like the Marius Bakken 2.45 training plan, the sessions change each week and you have target paces to go for, so you feel you've really achieved something at the end of each workout, Also i think the fact that you never go harder than 10k pace means you don't dig yourself into a hole you can't get out of, my normal way is to push to the limit on each effort, but it can take too long a time to recover from that sort of intensity! Synchronicity Also in the post; my internet friend David O'Meara [ The one mile runner] sent me a signed copy of his new book 'Creating Amazement' cheers David :] I've been really getting into mind training in the last couple of weeks and David's book has lots of answers on how to change your mindset to achieve amazing things, wow! Cool! I'll do a rewiew of his book once I've read through it. Ok thats it for now, take care and happy running :]
SIGNS Left poor Tess at home looking upset and dejected, sorry girl but this is no run for a barefoot runner, oops i mean bare paw runner! headed out early onto the roads and ran 7 miles to the club session. we did some drills then hammered out 8 x about 800m. 13 miles were showing on the Garmin by the end of the workout, so I added some extra hill loops on the way home, i finished off with marius Bakken's smart strides, running each one faster than the last. I was almost home with 19.5 miles so i decided to finish off with a half mile loop near home at marathon pace, kicking into it I went straight past my target pace, I felt fantastic, i was floating along and i didn't want to stop. But work called, so I finished off at 20.45 miles
PLAY MISTY FOR ME Marius Bakken's marathon training plan called for a two and half hour easy run, so Tess and me dually obliged. We headed out into thick damp mist, there was an errie silence all around, our first port of call was the big sandhills. we could only see about 50 yards ahead as the mist swirled around in front of us, eventually we made it to the pinewoods which looked somewhat mystical in the white mist, it reminded me of a book I read and loved as a child,The Weirdstone of Brisingamen . As we looped round the woods I took Tess up some new paths which twisted and turned through the undergrowth and took us up and down some very steep hills. After 1 1/2 hours I took on board some energy that comes pre-wrapped in a bio-degradable yellow wrapper and only costs a pound for 6! The banana must have worked because as we came off the sand dunes and hit the road for the final mile i lifted the pace to 6.30 miling and then 6.14 pace towards the end. I'd not felt fantastic during most of the run but that last mile was good :] Mission accomplished.2 hours 36 mins Sun 24th Easy run with Sarah,Jon and Tess = 1.30 Total for the week = 9 hours 14 min
TUESDAY NIGHT TEMPO RUN I decided to get my own back on all the drivers who would not let me use the road and who pushed me onto the the ice rink of a footpath during our recent 'ICE AGE'. I strapped on my super bright flashing blue led lighted belt for my first road tempo run of the year. this was no normal tempo run you understand this was a varying pace Marius Bakken tempo run.
6 x 4 mins, alternating between 10k and marathon pace with no rest between efforts. Could I do it? would i end up at the side of the road half way through the session gasping for air! I did a 5 min warm up then kicked into my session blue lights flashing as I went. at first I found it hard to hold the pace i was looking for but into my second 10k pace effort my legs finally warmed up and i felt strong as the Garmin showed 5.45 pace! The first car that came towards me dramatically slowed as they tried to work out what i was. the second car stopped, was I a new type of police vehicle or some sort of U F O, they must have thought! This was cool, respect at last and my very own space on the road. I was flying now, all thoughts that I might have lost fitness over the last couple of weeks due to the ice and snow vanished as I alternated between 35 min 10k pace and 2.45 Marathon pace. I finished with two laps of a half mile loop still feeling strong. Marius says if you feel like you can still do another effort then you've got the pace about right, so i was pretty pleased. in the months to come these tempo sessions get longer and harder [ 2 hours plus!]. The day before i ran down to the club fartlek session and back which gave me 2 hours and 7 mins of running. i felt a bit rusty on the half mile efforts, as it was my first really fast run since all the ice and snow .
Sciatic problems have plagued me for many years, trips to my local chiropractor have got me back to pain free running but the problem never went away, ready to strike back at any time! a couple of weeks ago the sciatic pains down my leg came back with avengence, even walking was painful! I decided to try some stretches The One Mile Runner recommended, straight away i got relief and was able to run a 14 miler without much problem. It seems many runners get sciatic problems so here to help you are some video's.
The next video shows the doorway stretch that helped me, Stand on one leg, lean forward then drop opposing hip down.
And here is one final stretch to try, hope they help.
Before you can achieve, you must believe! WE ALL TRAIN OUR BODIES, BUT HOW MANY OF US TRAIN OUR MINDS! UN-LIMIT YOURSELF NOW! POWER WORDS • POWERFUL . SPEED • SMOOTH • BELIEVE! • BRILLIANT • RELAXED AND CALM • YES!!!!!!!!! • BEST EVER • MOTIVATED • HYPED • BEST • UNBEATABLE • EFFORTLESS • CONFIDENT • UNLIMITED • EASY • BETTER • ENERGY • AMAZING • DISCIPLINE • PATIENCE • BELIEVE! • SMOOTH! • RELAX • DRIVE! CLICK HERE TO READ MOREON REPLACING NEGATIVE THOUGHTS WITH POSITIVE ONE'S
NOTICE TO ALL SWAC MEMBERS Brian Davey's Monday 11th Jan speed session is cancelled due to extreme ice Hopefully it will be back on again the following week!
Only five runners turned out for the Wednesday club run, which was a shame because despite the snow or maybe because of it we had a great time :] I know a lot of you have problems and are worried about running over the ice and snow, so I thought I'd give you a few tips and tricks to combat the conditions! 1/ Wear your X/C spikes, fit the shortest spikes possible [ about 6- 8mm] this will give very good grip on the ice without you feeling like your running over 6 inch nails. 2/ If you don't have X/c spikes you could try modifying your road or trail shoes like Jamie, fitting small screws into the tread [ not recommended with Nike air shoes!]. Check out this link for more info 3/ good posture and running technique many runners run with their feet wider apart in slippy conditions thinking this will give them better balance, in truth you will be far more unbalanced. imagine you are running along a painted line 2inch thick, the edge of each shoe should touch over the edge of the line, you are now landing under your centre meaning you are far less likely to slide sideways! keep a good posture, pull yourself up tall, head looking forward, drive your knees forward then pull your foot back to land just in front of your centre of gravity, dorsa flex your ankle as you land, this will help your leg rotate forward over the ankle joint and reduce braking forces. keep your running action as smooth and relaxed as possible.
Here are 8 commandments for faster injury free running: By Coach Al Lyman, CSCS • Begin to pull the leg back from the HIP (a PAWBACK), with a fairly constant knee angle, BEFORE foot-strike. • After follow-through, drive the knee forward powerfully, allowing the foot to lag well behind during leg-recovery. Use momentum, not muscular contractions, to raise the heel. • Push off should be passive and relaxed. Incorporate the “swagger” of a rotating hip motion… • Minimize contact time between the feet and the ground. Think of “flicking” the ground as your feet/legs move backward before foot strike… • At any running speed, maintain approximately the same high turnover rate (cadence) - that is, about 180 steps per minute, or 90 stride “cycles.” • Keep the heel un-weighted throughout footstrike, landing from mid-foot to fore-foot. *avoid the tendency to over-exaggerate this by landing on the toes! Read the full article HERE Check out his Great website HERE
Clothing For very cold conditions i recommend wearing a cycle thermal jacket over a thermal vest, Cycle jackets have 3 rear pockets which are great for carrying extra clothing, food, mobile phone etc, all the things you might need on a freezing day! mitts are far warmer than gloves in Arctic conditions. don't forget tracksuit bottoms or tights, running in shorts will really hurt your muscles. wear a hat, you can lose a lot of heat through a bare head so wear a thermal hat! OK hope these tips help you enjoy this Arctic freeze, have fun :]
Quote: “We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves...The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable.” – Sir Roger Bannister
Training for the week [pre- 5k-10k training stage] mon sandhill 6 with 4 min fast x 1 min slow all the way round = 37.28 plus warm up-down, total = 1.03 Tue sandhill 6, sets of [1m-45s-30s-15s with 15 sec recovery] =38.49 plus warm and down. total = 1.15 Wed Easy sandhills = 1.20 Thur Easy-steady, velvet trail = 35 min Fri New Years Day club coastal path run, turned into a great progression run with Steve pushing the pace faster and faster in the second half, felt strong at the end and felt i still had another gear to go if i needed to push the pace higher! = 1.59 Sat sandhill 6, 2 min fast x 1 min slow all the way round, plus warm up-cool down = 1.20 Sun Velvet trail inc smart strides at end = 38 min
I missed running on Thursday and Friday, stress and depression hit home, hard! 
