Friday 31 August 2012

Core Workouts With Zuzana Light!

The summer racing season is almost over, so now might be a good time to build your all-round strength ready for the X/C season.

Thursday 30 August 2012

Crosby Lakeside 5K Results


REPORT BY STEVE MCLEAN
New course record for Ben Johnson

41 athletes, including several Crosby and Formby Stormers and a few non-members, took part in the final race in our 2012 road grand prix. Fortunately a spectacular thunderstorm passed through a few hours earlier and rain held off until shortly after the final finishers were safely back, however the coastal wind made for a challenging race.

Ben Johnson, briefly back from Olympic duties, had a clear lead at the end of the first lap and extended it on lap 2 to win in a new course record of 17.01, bettering David Hamilton's June time by 3 seconds.  Gerry Lenehan has successfully raced on the track recently and his speed showed as he opened up a second lap gap on Rick Bowker, Gerry crossing the line in 17.28 with Rick taking 17.58.  A very strong finish by Luke Tyson saw him finish 4th in 18.26, 30 seconds ahead of another teenager, Jonathan Foster.

Christine Murray of Liverpool Harriers was first lady in 21.08, just ahead of Clare Constable (21.12).

Position Race number Name Category Club
1 147 Ben Johnson M Southport Waterloo AC 17 : 01
2 153 Gerry Lenehan MV40 Southport Waterloo AC 17 : 28
3 142 Rick Bowker MV50 Southport Waterloo AC 17 : 58
4 128 Luke Tyson M Southport Waterloo AC 18 : 26
5 124 Jonathan Foster M Southport Waterloo AC 18 : 56
6 148 Paul Cain MV45 Southport Waterloo AC 19 : 10
7 150 Steve Lewis M Southport Waterloo AC 19 : 42
8 130 Max Rothwell M 19 : 43
9 149 Boyd Park MV45 Southport Waterloo AC 19 : 45
10 120 Tom Peacock MV40 Southport Waterloo AC 19 : 48
11 155 Matt Nelson MV50 Southport Waterloo AC 19 : 55
12 133 Andy Hudson MV45 Southport Waterloo AC 20 : 15
13 143 Paul Ashby MV40 Southport Waterloo AC 20 : 17
14 144 Paul Warrington M Southport Waterloo AC 20 : 28
15 129 Paul Talbot M Southport Waterloo AC 20 : 48
16 152 Neil Silcock MV40 Southport Waterloo AC 21 : 05
17 156 Christine Murphy LV40 Liverpool Harriers 21 : 08
18 154 Clare Constable LV40 Southport Waterloo AC 21 : 12
19 151 Gareth Williams MV50 Southport Waterloo AC 21 : 38
20 141 Donald Wilkinson MV50 Southport Waterloo AC 21 : 51
21 158 Sue Cooper LV55 Southport Waterloo AC 21 : 54
22 134 Paul Stennett M Southport Waterloo AC 22 : 05
23 136 Vicki Harvey LV45 Southport Waterloo AC 22 : 18
24 131 Helen Lavelle LV35 Southport Waterloo AC 22 : 47
25 161 Alice Lytton LV55 Crosby Stormers 22 : 53
26 123 Georgina Hannaway L Liverpool Pembroke Sefton 22 : 55
27 138 Carole James LV45 Southport Waterloo AC 23 : 13
28 140 Suzanne Lally LV50 24 : 17
29 125 Tricia Garner LV50 24 : 25
30 160 Andy Gilford M 24 : 29
31 157 Helen Rigg LV50 Southport Waterloo AC 25 : 37
32 135 Elaine Sutton LV45 Southport Waterloo AC 25 : 40
33 122 Dennis Gill MV60 25 : 51
34 159 Dave Aspinall MV60 Southport Waterloo AC 25 : 58
35 121 Jessica Peters L 28 : 36
36 126 Louise Nicholls L Crosby Stormers 28 : 48
37 127 Tez Almond LV45 Crosby Stormers 29 : 03
38 137 Sarah Reynolds LV40 Southport Waterloo AC 29 : 03
39 132 Jon Singleton MV50 Southport Waterloo AC 29 : 10
40 145 Denise Taubman LV40 Formby Stormers 36 : 48
41 146 Joanne Newport LV45 Formby Stormers 36 : 48
30/8/12-15.50
Time
Southport Waterloo AC
Crosby Lakeside 5k - 29/8/12

Wednesday 29 August 2012

3rd place at Crosby Lakeside 5K


41 runners turned up for the second Lakeside 5k.
A slightly overweight Ben Johnson won with just over 17 mins, Gerry was second and me third about 30 sec back with 17.58.
 I think it could be a fast course on a calm day but we did have to fight the wind a bit tonight!
 Full results will be on the Southport Waterloo A/C website soon!
5k's are really intense, you have to push it to the red line from the start and hold it there close to the point of blowing up!
I enjoyed the effort but kind of enjoy trail racing far more these days!
 The hills naturally push you harder and then the downhills let you use your technical skills to run faster.
But on a flat road course like today its all about holding your pain threshold and not giving in!
I really think I'm more of a trail runner these days!
As a point of interest my age graded time would give me 15.51
My best ever 5k which was on the track was 16.48 set when I was 43 years old.
But I've run 21.31 for 4 miles on the road twice when I was 42 years old which I'm sure would have given me a faster 5K ?
The weird thing is I feel as good as I did back in 2003! 
 

Age Graded Race Time calculator

 http://www.heartbreakhill.org/age_graded.htm

 This calculator is intended to provide you with an age-graded race time and an achievement percentile for a recent performance at a specific race distance.  Age-graded information allows you to:
 Adjust your performance to what it theoretically would have been during your prime running years (your 20's and a portion of your 30's depending on the race distance).

  • Judge your performance, using an achievement percentile, without bias for gender or the aging process (in other words, you are measured against a specific standard for your age and sex).  These percentiles can be interpreted as follows:
  • Over 90% --- World Class
  • Over 80% --- National Class
  • Over 70% --- Regional Class
  • Over 60% --- Local Class
My 1.17.55 half marathon P.B. set last year at 50 years old gives me an age adjusted time of 1.10.31 and puts me in National Class :0]
Sounds good but I wonder how true it is ?

Tuesday 28 August 2012

Crosby Lakeside 5K 29th Sep 7 pm


Heres a quick plug for the Crosby Lakeside 5K
Details below;
As the summer season begins to draw to a close the final grand prix of the road race calendar offers a perfect opportunity to bag a fast 5k time at the Crosby 5k.
The course follows a fast flat 5k route around Crosby marine lake and has real potential for a road PB.  The “Southport waterloo ac Lakeside 5k” race has a license applied for so will offer a chance to get your times on the rankings websites.  So far, 12men and 7 ladies have done 3 or more of the grand prix races (with best 4 races to count).  As it stands it looks like Tracey Peters and David Hamilton have the competitions in the bag but it would be great for as many as possible to get out and finalise the grand prix standings for other positions.
The race will start at 7pm from at Crosby Lakeside Activity Centre, and is planned to be free for SWAC club members. the two lap course follows one of the paths through the Park, up on to the Crosby seafront and past the Iron Men, round past the Marina and back to the Centre.  David Hamilton currently has the fastest time on this course with his 17:04 clocking in June.

Saturday 25 August 2012

How I came back from injury to finish 3rd overall at the Harrock Hill race Series

Series Results Click Here

After injuring my Achilles tendon back in January it took a good 2 months to heal up, in that time I could only do some very slow jogging with walk breaks between.
It was a frustrating time but at least it gave me time to think about why my body had been breaking down since last summer! 
Was I on a final decline?
After much research I decided to change my diet, I now eat plenty of fresh fruit and veg as well as eggs to help rebuild my body after hard training.
Also I invested in a water distiller so I could drink 100% pure clean water.
I set my sights on the Harrock Hill Race summer series with the aim of achieving a top ten place by the final race in August.
Race One 
May
Disappointment!
I  lacked power on the opening climb and worse faded on the second climb to finish a very disappointed 40th.
I consulted with club coach Steve McLean, I wanted to know how best to restore my lost power?
Steve recommended a weekly session of 20 X 20 sec short hill sprints.
I added this to my weekly club interval sessions and my progress was pretty rapid.
A typical week would look something like this;
Mon club session on grass track
Tue
run on the velvet trail [sandhills] 50mins-1 hour
Wed
Rob's session on road [anything from 400's up to 2 mile efforts-changing each week]
or 5K trail race.
Thur
 20 x 20 sec hill sprints [ after 5 weeks I switched to doing this session only every two weeks].
Fri
Rest
Sat
Big sandhills run 1 hour 40 mins
In July I replaced this session with a 15 mile road run in the hills of Parbold and Ashurst Beacon.
Sun
Easy run with Jon and Sarah in the sandhills 1Hour 20 mins
This worked well for me and my progress was impressive! 
Race Two
In the June edition of the Harrock Hill Race I finished 11th.
I was back :0]
Race 3
In July I finished 9th and I achieved my top ten ambition!
Race 4
In August I finished in 7th place, which gave me 3rd overall in the series and an overall win in my age group.
{best 3 races counted].

My conclusions;
A good healthy diet helps you recover faster!
I need to train differently as I get older!
With 20 years running behind me plus another 10 cycle racing before it the typical Lydiard base training does not work for me.
In fact after only 5 weeks of base training I seem to reach a plateau of improvement!
I'm very different from a newish runner because I already have a massive base!
As you get older you must work on your power and speed!
And hill sprints seem to be one answer to holding back the years!

AGE GROUP WINNER HARROCK HILL   2012 

Wednesday 22 August 2012

3rd overall at Harrock Hill Race Series!


3rd overall in Race series.
1st overall in my age group.
7th place on the night.
Wow! I achieved my desire at Harrock Hill tonight!
I will do a full report soon :0]

Friday 17 August 2012

Rubbish 5K Report, look out giant slugs on the course!


Race 5
The weather during the day had been horrendous with torrential rain and gale force winds.
Thankfully by the evening the wind and rain had cleared and the sun threatened to break through the clouds.
Before the start of the event I gave the warning of slugs on the course!
Yes landing on one of these slimy creatures might result in a nasty slip!

The Start
From the off Rob set a hot pace with me, Harry and his friend Toby sitting on for the ride!
Harry and Toby spent the first lap chatting away like two school boys on the back seat of the school bus, it seems they were using the event for training with a plan to push the second lap.

Lap 2
Into the second lap and Toby made his move up a short steep climb with Harry in hot pursuit1
I followed Rob until about 600m to go where my legs started to blow!
I was hoping for a sub 18 min run on this trail course but sadly it was not to be.
Even so  I did achieve my 2nd fastest time on the course [my course best was set back in 2009, only 4 sec off!].
Harry won with 17.22, could he have broken Ben Johnson's record 16.45 if he'd gone all out from the start?
Well we have one event left to find out!
Vicky Harvey had a great run to finish first lady finishing with 22.35.
RESULTS
The last Rubbish 5K will be a handicap race on September 12th at 7pm.
Brian Grice has set the handicaps as follows;
P.s. A Big Thanks have to go out to Brian for timing and results this year, Cheers!
P.p.s.
A quick plug for the CROSBY 5 K RUN
Which will start at 7pm 29th Aug from the adventure centre at Crosby Marina
UKA licensed race, very fast course1
More details can be found on the Southport Waterloo A/C website.
P.p.p.s
This will also be Jon's birthday bash night out in Crosby.
If you are interested in going out for a meal after the race you can contact  me at ricksrunning61@gmail.com

HANDICAP

EXPECTED
TIME

RUBBISH HANDICAP

SCRATCH

29 mins

Jon Singleton   Gill Gillison   Sheila Marshall  

Sarah Reynolds   S Flannagan   Ginny Howell  

Sarah Lunt

2 mins

27 mins 

Donna Spencer   Jess Spencer  

Mike Lavender   Lindsey Mutch

2.30

26.30

Sue Stewart   Jane Blacklin   Andy Gilford

3 mins

26 mins

Helen Rigg   Dave Aspinall  
V Heredith

3.30

25.30

Elaine Sutton   Nick Meredith   T Bond   A Bradbury

4 mins

25 mins

Carol Wright

5 mins

24 mins

Rachel Thomas

5.30

23.30

David Marsh  

6 mins

23 mins

Steve James   Carole James   Michelle Spencer

6.30

22.30

Vicky Harvey   Ed Sherstone   Paul Stennett 

Jenny Caton   Geoff Caton   Don Wilkinson

7 mins

22 mins

Matthew Tobin   Rob Cosgrove   Sue Cooper

Ian Kilshaw   Phil Baxendale   K Wresillo   P Todd

7.30

21.30

Marc Taylor

8 mins

21 mins

Terry Bolland   Gareth Williams   Clare Constable

8.30

20.30

Brian Davey   Neil Silcock   Trevor Williams

P Warrington   M Sutton   Angela Delaney

9 mins

20 mins

Andy Hudson   Rob Johnson   Simon Tobin

Matthew Nelson   Paul Talbot   Paul Ashby

9.30

19.30

S Bennett   Howard Nuttall   Tracey Peters

Max Rothwell   Boyd Park   K Evans

10 mins

19 mins

Keith Lunt   Paul Cain  

10.30

18.30

Rick Bowker   Steve Lewis   Steve McLean

Greg Callaghan   Chis Dunn   Rob Berry

11 mins

18 mins

Steve Wilkinson   Rob McGrath

11.30

17.30

Ben Johnson   Harry Doran   David Hamilton

Matthew Thompson   Rob Ashworth

Toby Loveridge  

Wednesday 15 August 2012

Rubbish 5K Results

RUBBISH 5k
Wed August 15th

1
Harry Doran
17.22
2
Toby Loveridge
17.35
3
Rob McGrath
17.59
4
Rick Bowker
18.07
5
Paul Cain
19.18
6
Boyd Park
19.26
7
Keith Lunt
19.36
8
Max Rothwell
19.42
9
Simon Tobin
19.47
10
Christian Osbaldeston
19.49
11
Andy Hudson
20.02
12
Matthew Nelson
20.09
13
Trevor Williams
20.23
14
Brian Davey
20.34
15
Gareth Williams
21.10
16
Marc Taylor
21.23
17
Matthew Tobin
21.47
18
Ed Sherstone
22.34
19
Vicky Harvey
22.35
20
Paul Stennett
22.53
21
Don Wilkinson
22.54
22
Carol James
23.02
23
Geoff Caton
23.07
24
Michelle Spencer
23.20
25
Steve James
23.51
26
David Marsh
24.05
27
Andy Gilford
26.17
28
Mike Lavender
26.39
29
Jane Blacklin
26.48
30
Sue Stewart
26.59
31=
Jess Spencer
27.10
31=
Donna Spencer
27.10
33
Lindsey Muth?
27.35
34
Sarah Reynolds
29.17
35
Ginny Howell
29.26
36
Gill Gillison
29.39
37
Jon Singleton
30.19
38
Sarah Lunt
31.51