REBEL RUNNER

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 .

SPIRA BANNED AT BOSTON!

Thomas left me this comment; Thomas said..".An interesting piece of news I came across yesterday; the spira shoes are specifically mentioned in the Boston marathon race rules. Anyone running in them, will be disqualified". I checked it out and it seems SPIRA shoes were first banned at Boston in 2006, the designer of the Spira shoe said the following; Dan Norton, Spira's VP of footwear development. Norton was formerly the head of the advanced concepts department at Adidas, and made custom shoes for 45 Olympic and world champions including Sebastian Coe and Carl Lewis when he worked at Nike. "I have worked in the footwear industry for over 30 years and Spira's WaveSpring technology is the first true innovation that I have seen since basically the Nike air," Norton said. "The WaveSpring patent is the reason why I proactively joined the company." Since debuting on the market four years ago, Spira Footwear has been providing runners with comfort and protection from injury. Spira shoes have a patented spring technology that reduces the impact on a runner's feet, which leads to easier recovery and less overall exertion. Spira's patented WaveSpring technology may be the most significant advancement ever achieved in the footwear industry. "If we apply the same logic that underlines this rule, all track events should be run as they were in the movie 'Chariots of Fire.'" Races should be held on cinder as opposed to tartan tracks and racing shoes should be comprised on leather straps with heavy spikes embedded therein. Pole vaulters should be using bamboo, not high tech carbon fiber poles," Krafsur said. "When you think about it, the ban of the WaveSpring technology by the USATF is consistent with history. The metal composite ski in 1952, the oversized metal tennis racquet in 1976, and the oversized metal driver in 1979 were all banned when they were first introduced."
RICK says; I think it is a backward step for the sport to ban SPIRA, the shoes allow more people to enjoy the sport of running and its health benefits while reducing the risk of injury!

SPIRA TEMPO TEST AND PASS RESULTS!

I was woken to the sound of my mobile going off! It was my tutor at college telling me I'd passed my fitness instructors theory exam with flying colours! 55 out of 60 [ 91.6%] YES!!!.
The shot of adrenaline made me decide to bring my tempo run forward a day, it would be a good test for the Spira's, would I have any aches or pains after yesterdays session!
Conditions were surprisingly muggy with a slight headwind on the way out! Maybe running hard again after only 4 hours in bed and 8 hours of heavy manual work was not such a bright idea, as I reached the second hill I was still half asleep and my body was protesting and telling my to slow now! I reached almost half way with a 9.7 mph average [6.11 pace]. Into the second half and I had the wind on my back and I quickly started to accelerate, feeling better as my speed increased, once again, just as I had done last night I hammered the last 1/2 mile reaching 13 mph at the end! Over the last 1.64 miles I averaged just over 5.40 pace, which is closer to where I want to be at!
I ended up with 3.14 miles at 5.55 pace which I think is 3 secs per mile up on the last time I ran this session [ runners world advised 6.10 pace].
Legs were ok, but body was still a sleep!
Tempo run 3.14 miles, 5.55 pace, max 13 mph = 18.36
plus,
Evening, 3.12 miles at 6.30 pace [ 9.2 mph], max 13.2 mph = 20.17
Thur 12th
Easy run over the sand dunes with Tess the dog!
Wow! spring is here, warm and sunny! = 1.15