Lance Armstrong to make amazing comeback

Cycling legend Lance Armstrong is coming out of retirement to try to win an 8th TOUR DE FRANCE; Despite the drug suspicions that i guess will always hang over him, you can’t take away the fact that this guy is a true fighter a gun slinging anti hero like Clint Eastwood in THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY!
Drugs have been part of the tour since its inception, just read any of the old books on the riders and the great race, the drugs rightly or wrongly just add to the intrigue and mystery of this awesome race, how can you expect anyone to survive let alone race day after day through rain, burning sun incredible mountain stages and time trials that the average club rider would need days to recover from.
Read the book by PAUL KIMMAGE ‘ a rough ride’ to find out what riding the tour without drugs would be like!
I don’t feel that taking drugs in this race is cheating, this race is inhuman , the public want to see the gladiators fighting to the death and thats what they get, and LANCE is the altermate anti hero, the fastest draw in the wild west.
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NEW START

Had a great day yesterday as it was my first night at college doing my level 2 fitness instructors course, felt quite nervous beforehand but really enjoyed the experience of learning .
I plan also to do a nutrition course and then my level 3 so i can become a personnel trainer.
Since starting the course i feel my self confidence and self esteem have improved greatly!
No running yesterday, ran easy steady over the sandhills today for 1.35

WHEELS ON MY WAGON FALL OFF!

RUFFORD 10K
I knew I was pushing it too hard on the Thursday interval session , but I guess I just got carried away! Been feeling tired since and todays race did not go well. I really should have followed ARTHUR LYDIARD'S training advise " you can not train hard and race well at the same time".
Team mates Rob Mcgrath and Rob Ashworth set off pretty quickly at the start going through the first mile in 5.18, I held back a bit clocking 5.26, slowly i reeled them in and by mile two I was on there shoulder! At mile 3 [ 17.00] we were together , but then all of a sudden my wheels came off! I spent the next 3 miles running on empty and groveling along in the gutter! It was not good, i wanted to stop! I went across the line in 36.54 and 17th, not a good result but a good lesson not to ignore the teachings of the Master! at least it was not an important race!

RUFFORD 10K

My next race is the RUFFORD 10K on sunday, this can be a very fast course on a good day but if its windy then it can be hard going, because some of the roads are quite exposed to the sea breezes coming off the north west coast. I last ran this race in 2006 when I recorded 37.32,
MY RUFFORD 10K RESULTS since 2000 are;
2000 34.51 p.b., 2001 36.18, 2003 35.11, 2004 35.32
After starting ARTHUR LYDIARD training in the summer of last year i recorded 35.52 in the October 2007 southport 10k
Today I ran real easy on the road for 39mins
PHOTO Rob and me at BLACKPOOL MARATHON 2008

McMILLAN Elite Training Philosophy

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ROAD RELAY WIN!

I ran a 7.5 mile loop before meeting up with the club for Robs session.
Rob told us that we would be running an unofficial club relay, he split us up into teams of two .
ROB and super vet STEVE JAMES, TRACEY AND PAUL and me and STEADY EDDIE.
We were to run a half mile loop round the Fisherman's rest pub, taking it in turns, each of us would run a total of 6 laps, so each team would cover 6 mile in total.
We set off, rob shooting off like a scolded cat! I dug deep and just about managed to hold him, with a 100m to go i was a few strides behind him, but gave it every thing to sprint up to him at the change over point, now STEVE JAMES and STEADY EDDIE sprinted off with TRACEY just a few yards behind!
We jogged around nervously waiting for our team to come into view, Eddie had put in a fantastic effort and pulled about 5 secs out of Steve, as Eddie came along side me I sprinted off on my second lap, Eddie had got us the psychological advantage, this time I felt the pressure of not wanting to let Eddie down. i tried to relax and felt much better hitting 12 mph on the slight downhill sections, with a 100m to go i sprinted all out, keeping Rob in second place!
At last I got ready for my last lap, Eddie came into view with a good lead, as soon as he came along side I sprinted off, I knew Rob was still a danger and as I reached the last corner I could hear rob's foot steps closing in on me, one final all out sprint and I held our lead over the finish line!
1st team Eddie and me, 2nd rob and steve, 3rd tracey and paul.
i reckon we covered the 6 miles in about 33 mins, It was a great idea of Rob's to hold the relay and turned the interval session into really good fun!
Maybe next time , seeing that we are running the loops starting and finishing at a pub we could have a beer and road running relay, drinking a pint each time we finished a lap, now that really would be interesting! hic!!!
6x 1/2 mile
= 1 hour 45 mins

WEATHER FORECAST

TODAY IT WILL RAIN!
TOMORROW IT WILL RAIN!
AND THE DAY AFTER SOMEWHERE IN THE WORLD IT WILL RAIN!
EXPECT TO GET VERY WET!
BUT DON'T SHED A TEAR OVER IT,
AS IF, THERE'S NOT ENOUGH WETNESS ALREADY!

PROUD OF MYSELF!

Yes I finally did it! Sign up for a FITNESS INSTRUCTORS course at my local college, it might not sound that daunting but I left school at 16 and that was quite a long time ago, so taking the higher education step did take a bit of courage on my part! Hopefully this will lead to a new job and more training so I can end up as a personnel trainer!
GOOD DAY!

RUNNING IN OUR BRITISH WEATHER

Felt less than sharp as I set out into a gusting headwind to meet the club in the pinewoods for a fartlek session. My intention was to keep the pace easy as I ran over the sand dunes, but as is often the case a easy pace never seems to feel as comfortable as it should do!
There was an impressive turn out of runners waiting in the woods ready to subject themselves to the harsh elements of wind and torrential rain, MAD LOT!
The first effort was straight into the teeth of the storm, I sat at the back taking it easy after my fast session yesterday, after the first 800m effort we turned into the woods and the welcome shelter of the trees, another four fast sections and we wound up the pace for the final time, the heavens seemed to have been waiting for us and dumped the entire contents of the biggest darkest cloud on our heads, as if we weren't wet enough already! We laughed as we took shelter under the trees as the rain belted down and the sun came out at the same time! Ever wondered why we British talk about the weather so much, well its because it changes every 5 BLOODY minutes!
Ran back with Rob on the road and as is often the case when running with Rob the pace gradually picked up until we were hitting 6.30 min miles with the final half mile getting close to 6 min pace, despite shoes and clothing made heavy and sodden with water! I said my goodbyes to Rob and carried on the final 1.6 miles home. I must say I felt pretty strong at the end of the run and finished with 2 hours 18 mins, All that was left was an eight hour night shift involving much heavy lifting of stock! surely a much harder night than running any marathon!

FEELING GOOD!

Rain gave way to sunshine and just a light whisper of wind by early evening as I set off on my run.
Straight away I felt fresh, hitting marathon pace within a few steps and it felt almost effortless ! This was good, very good!
I ran down to the waterloo rd rugby ground and did Arthur Lydiards LEG SPEED SESSION, REACHING A MAX 14.7 MPH, quite an improvement in only a couple of weeks!
On my way back my speed picked up until I was holding 10mph, once again it felt almost effortless!
I think the return to LYDIARD type training is doing me a world of good, hope I feel this good on sunday when I have a 10k race.
6 x 150m, max 14.7mph = 40 mins