Nike Heelless Prototype Running Shoe and the Chicago Marathon

Modified with a junior hacksaw!
I was inspired after reading Jamie's blog to attack a pair of old running shoes, once I found it worked and the road test went well I moved onto modifying my Nike Explosions. The results are good I can now run in a more natural style with a neutral ankle position and ball of the foot landing, I now feel more bouncy on my feet and feel like I'm running faster and smoother!
If you saw Sammy Wanjiru winning the Chicago Marathon you can see the running style I'm trying to aim at!
A Zero heel lift allows for a more more powerful stretch reflex action from the calf and tendons.
Ok, so get an old pair of running shoes and cut the heels off with a hack saw, do a few test runs and if you are happy with the results move on to a pair of your normal trainers!

GOOD TIME, LONG TIME, RUNNING!

2000 ft of fun! I arranged to meet Eddie for a long hill run at one pm, this meant I could get 4 hours in bed after a hard night shift. The alarm went off at 11.50, I guess I'd just gone into a deep sleep as the alarm brought me around, the thought of just 10 mins more in bed was to good to resist! I woke with a jolt! Shit I'd over slept, I jumped out of bed and rushed to put my contact lens in, Dam it fell to the floor and I had to search for a good 10 mins to find it! I quick call to Eddie,
" sorry going to be a little late!
Eddie's training for an off road marathon so we ran for 2 hours over the hills of Parbold and Ashurst Beacon [ basically two fell race routes in one go]. conditions were idea and it was good fun blasting up and down the hills and running over the dirt paths.
We took the first climb steady up stoney lane, I even had time to look around at the local scenery, once at the top we took a left then followed the road for a bit until we got to the quarry path. A quick detour down a narrow path and we came out above the quarry pool, Wow! what a awesome panoramic view! We scramble and slid down the rocks and then head downhill, running a loop round to the start of Hunters Hill. I really enjoyed going up Hunters hill with the wind on my back, I pulled away from Eddie half way up, working at driving my knees forward and up, I was flying!
Once over the top we head downhill through the fields at high speed. Next stop Ashurst Beacon, I felt good again and half way up push the pace, as we reach the church we turn left and follow the cobbled path up to the beacon, near the top it get really steep but I find driving my Knees forwards and up gives me good progress.
Talking to Eddie at the top he said he was trying to push into the ground but it did not feel right, so I told him to try concentrating on knee drive, it works!
At the top we turn left and go past the starting point for the Ashurst Beacon race, flying downhill I reach 14.6 mph, near the bottom we turn left and follow along the dirt paths until we reach the Leeds Liverpool canal, over the bridge and the climbing starts in earnest once more, up along the side of the old Parbold quarry. the path gets really steep for a bit, but soon I come out onto the top of Parbold Hill and wait for Eddie to catch up!
WE cross the road and follow the Parbold race route for a while,climbing through peaceful fields and dirt tracks, one last plunge downhill through the fields again and we make it back to the car,
We finished the run feeling good about life! A run to remember, for sure! = 2.00

Why tempo runs and sprint training are so important in your quest to run faster

Arthur Lydiard's training plans include a fair few Time Trials or Tempo runs as well as quite a bit of sprint training, here are some of the scientific reasons why they work!

How to Offset Muscle Fatigue , The other limiting factor

CLICK HERE

5.44 pace for 5 k seaside tempo run

Brian asked me to help him measure out some distances over 100 and 200 m along the old coast rd.
After I asked him to pace me on his bike round the first half of the Southport Seaside 10K course. I asked Brian to ride at 5.45 pace and I would try and hang on. It helps alot to have someone to follow and the first mile seemed easy in 5.45,
I was feeling quite strong and smooth, working at driving my knees forward as quickly as possible, 3 k went by in 10.46 without a problem but at 4 k you have to run across a small section of grass field which was sodden by yesterdays very heavy rain, this dropped my speed down under 10 mph, I picked up a big stone from the gravel path in my shoes tread and as I got back on the old coast road the shoe made a loud tapping sound, dam! Concentrate-concentrate, I was picking up speed again and I hammered the long finishing straight along rotten row, finishing with a 12.8 mph sprint finish with 17.58 on the Garmin for 3.13 miles [5.44 pace]. Maybe if this had been a race I might have managed around 17.30, but anyway it was a good warm up for next weeks 10k race. CLICK ON MAP TO ENLARGE

ON SUNDAY MY BROTHER ANDY RAN THE LOCH NESS MARATHON
Read Margot's report HERE

MY TRAINING FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS AND HOW MANY 'VIRGINS' ARE RUNNING THE LONDON MARATHON

Barry was quite interested to hear that I was running in the 'VIRGIN' London Marathon, he reckoned I'd have a good chance of winning, as there could not be many 'virgins' left in Britain!!!
Here is my training for the next 2 weeks to take me up to my target 10k [thanks Barry].

Training ---

MON --- J --- 1hr run with 10 x 100 mts sprints & 100 mt jogs between

TUE --- B -- 1 hour with light fartlek

WED --- L -- 200 mts and 3k T/Ts --with 5 mins between

THU --- W -- 45 mins jog

FRI -- O -- 10 x 100 mts fast strides with 300 mt jogs between

SAT --- L --- 5k T/T

SUN --- A/W -- 2hrs easy

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MON --- H -- 16 x 45 mt dashes with 55mt jogs between

TUE --- B -- 45 mins with light fartlek

WED -- L -- 1600 mts --or 1 mile T/T

THU --- W -- 50 min jog

FRI --- Rest day

SAT --- A/W -- 20 mins + N -- 3 x 100 mt strides + 5 min jog .

SUN --- Race .

LONDON MARATHON 2010, I MAKE THE GRADE!

I will soon be consulting with Barry Magee on when to start my Marathon build up after getting my London Marathon acceptance. Exciting times ahead!

TRAINING FOR THE WEEK
Sat 3rd
Long steady run with Tess over the big sandhills and through the pinewoods, very windy! =2.16
Fri 2nd
Easy run with Niz along the velvet trail
= 33.30
Thur 1st
5k tempo run [road] 3.11 miles at 10.0 mph av, 6.00 min per mile pace, this was 8 sec per mile slower than my best time just before the London marathon in April. 18.39, total with warm up/cooldown
=50 mins.
Wed 30th
Long easy run over the big sand dunes , inc running drills, felt very tired, =1.38
Tue 29th
6 mile tempo run on the Clieves hill circuit, 1min 6 sec faster than last month [ felt quite strong] 6.17 p, 9.5 mph av, 37.44, total time = 1.17
Mon 28th
Easy fartlek session on the sandhill 6 course.
30 sec-1 min-2 min-3 min-3 min - 2 min - 1 min - 30 sec with = recovery
= 1.07

Pete Magill podcast on how masters runners should train to get FASTER!

Click on photo to listen

Pete Magill Stats

Born: June 19, 1961
Lives: South Pasadena, CA
Masters PRs: 1500m: 3:55.42, 3,000m: 8:31.08, 5k: 14:34.27, 10k: 31:27.30

Masters' Log

Typical two weeks of training for Magill (pace of training runs varies from 6:00 to 8:00/mile depending on how his body feels):

Sunday: Medium run (approximately 10–11 miles)
Monday: a.m. --- Short run (approximately 5–6 miles) p.m. -- Medium run
Tuesday: a.m. -- Short run p.m. --- 3-mile warm-up, 20 x 400m @ 5K effort (approximately 70 seconds) with 100m jog recoveries; 3-mile warm-down
Wednesday: Medium run
Thursday: a.m. -- Short run; p.m. -- Medium run
Friday: a.m. -- Short run; p.m. -- Technique drills; short run afterward
Saturday: Long run (approximately 14-15 miles)

Second week:

Same, except Tuesday p.m. speed work, which he exchanges for 3 x set of 1 mile at 15K pace, 1200m at 5K pace, 800m at 3K pace, 400m at mile pace; all with 400m jog recoveries; 3-mile warm-up and 2-mile warm-down. If race on Saturday, he does only one workout on Thursday (medium run) and Friday (20 minutes of jogging and stretching).

Training philosophy

"Put away your watch, stop counting miles and start listening to the body. Our bodies will tell us more accurately how fast and far to run than a watch or training log ever can. And our bodies will warn us when we're courting disaster - injury or overtraining - long before our minds are willing to accept the premise. More importantly, when we learn to listen to our bodies, we learn how to race."

6 mile tempo run comparison test, I KICK MY OWN BUTT!

CLIEVES HILL 6 MILE TEMPO RUN
Running in the Zone!
I chose the Clieves hill circuit to do my planned tempo run, the weather was not looking to good with strong blustery winds and heavy leaden Sky's. I parked at the top of the hill and ran a lap to get warmed up, the legs felt sluggish at first but they came around before I'd finished the 3 mile lap. I'd seen a running video yesterday that reckoned that it was important to keep your head up and dropping your head down would reduce your speed, I'd noticed as I ran that my natural style was to drop my head down and if I LIFTED MY HEAD MY SPEED INCREASED, COOL I'LL WORK ON THIS! I kicked straight into the session as I set off on 2 laps which included 2 x up the 3/4 mile hill. I felt quite strong once I got going and remembered what Canute had said about concentrating on the moment and not letting your mind drift on to negative thoughts such as how I'd feel on the second lap etc, It seemed to work and despite the strong winds I went through the end of the first lap faster than last month, into the second lap I powered down the hill then worked hard to maintain pace into the strong wind, a couple more minutes and I took a left turn and got some shelter from the wind. Soon I was out on to the main road with the wind on my back with my speed reaching 10.6 mph before the gradual uphill took its toll! One more left turn and I was on my final climb up Clieves hill, pumping my knees up the hill I tried to lift my effort to the finish. I looked at the Garmin and was pleased to see I'd run 11 seconds per mile faster than a month ago!
Now, if I had a time machine I could go back in time a month and kick my own butt By a whopping minute and 6 secs!
'6 miles Clieves hill circuit in 37.44, 6.17 pace, max speed 12.8 mph, plus warm up and cool down = 1.17

RYAN HALL on Mental Training;
RH: I am still learning a lot about the mental side of training and racing. What I am focusing a lot of lately is just being in the moment. I, and I think all runners, have a tendency to think too much. Whether it is worrying about Heartbreak Hill, thinking about what a competitor is doing, or get flustered because the last mile split was too slow, we all have a tendency to have our mind cluttered with a lot of junk. I am learning to clean out the trash and just be where I am and poor myself into the step I am about to take. I find that I get more out of myself when my mind isn't cluttered with so much garbage.

Can Vitamin D prevent Swine Flu and the common cold?

And can Vit D improve Athletic Performance

HARD DAYS NIGHT!

3 DESPERADO'S CRANK IT UP ON A MOUNTAINOUS 3 HOURS PLUS RUN!
I met up with Paul and steady Eddie for a long run round Parbold, Eddie was full of his normal excuses [ cold, virus- cough,cough and sore calf] that Paul and me have come to take with a pinch of salt!
We set off from the village uphill through hilldale and then the first climb up the quarry road to the top of Hunters hill, Eddie was soon lagging behind as Paul and myself talked are way to the top of the climb.
After regrouping we headed down through the fields, Eddie's girlfriend [ the cow that was making eye contact with him, last time!] was know where to be seen, much to the relief of Eddie!
Next was the 2 mile climb up to the top of Ashursts Beacon, after 3/4 the way up on the road I take them along a cobbled foot path just before the church, near the top the path gets really steep as we make our way between trees before coming out onto open land with the big stone Beacon just in front of us.
After a short break for Eddie to stretch out his tight calf we followed the path back onto the road and headed for Up Holland, we then turn right at the village following the main rd for a mile before moving onto country lanes. Next destination the awesome 'Crank' climb.
This climb was a first for the other 2 Desperado's, they were in for a 'treat'!
It starts as a gentle ascent but half way up as you climb along a beautiful tree lined rd there is a hairpin bend and all of a sudden the true nature of the beast is unveiled before your eyes!
Paul tells me to go for it, so I work at pumping my knees and driving the arms, I make good progress and reach the top in good form. Paul is not far behind, but Eddie has gone missing again, so I go back to look for him, seems his 'womens' bladder is playing up again!
A nice long downhill follows before a very steep hidden climb back to Upholland, a right along the B road and a couple more miles until we turn left for the final climb, a side lane up to the top of Ashurt again, past quaint cottages, once more Eddie's having a hard time and drops back as the climb steepens.
Just a fast 2 miles downhill to Parbold to go, giving us over 3 hours of very hilly running.
Eddie thought this was the hardest run he's ever done, inc Marathons!
Poor old Paul had only about an hour to get to work, HE WAS DOING A NIGHT SHIFT ON THE AMBULANCES!
Barry had told me to take it easy this week so most of my runs have been on the easyside but I still got in over 9 hours running.
Next week sees a 5 and 10k tempo run plus a fartlek sessiom, as I get ready for my 10k challenge!

More photo's from Langdale