Birkdale Sand Dunes To Be Fenced Off And Turned Into Sheep Pens!

Our rights and freedom to use the area will be denied! Contact Southport MP John Pugh HERE today and complain in the strongest terms possible. Stop this happening NOW Be proactive Act NOW!

Story from Southport GB

Southport.gb.com Online News News as it happens by our team of reporters, every day, 365 days a year. Email press@southport.gb.com or text onthespot on 07930 717137. The only local news where you can have your say! latest headlines email a friend printable version

SEARCH THIS SECTION

View First Unread

Page 1 of 2 1 2 >

ShareThis

Grazing pens will cover 90% of nature reserve! Fri 25th Feb 2011, 01:37 PM Reported by: onthespot

Grazing pens will cover 90% of nature reserve! Sefton Coast and Country have started the preparations to turn the Ainsdale and Birkdale dunes into farmland, even though there is no scientific evidence that it will benefit the biodiversity of the SSSI. 90% will be fenced off in grazing pens. It will cost £100,000 for the fencing and £140,000 for an Environmental Impact Assessment. Can Sefton Council afford to spend money on schemes such as this when front line services are being cut? Onthespot - your online reporter Do you have a story to tell? Please text or phone 07930717137 or email press@southport.gb.com

Graeme Superman Obree Podcast and breathing new life into my running!

First, here is a truly brilliant interview with Superman cycling legend Graeme Obree.VCDL Episode 9 – The Obree Interview Click Here










Graeme Obree says he didn't 'TRY' to break the world Record, he went without any doubt that he was going to break it, to say 'TRY' he says means you've already giving yourself a get out clause ! To say TRY is a route to failure!

Sat
Me and Tess set off for another long easy run at level one.
Canutes post How should a runner breathe?on breathing and improved running performance was a wake up call to me.
I'd spent some time working on breathing and improving oxygen uptake last year, but had lapsed back into shallow inefficient upper chest breathing so I spent the 3 hours and 5 mins deep breathing into my diagram.
Result I felt a new lease of energy return to my body!
I believe if you want to improve you have to try every legal method available to reach your goal.
We ran over the sand dunes between the two golf courses then on through Ainsdale pinewoods then a lap round the scenic Formby forest before retracing our route home.
No drinks or energy bars, just a bowl of cereal before I set off.
A really good time on feet and fat burning session.
Total Time 3 hours 5 mins

SOUTHPORT TORCHLIGHT 5K RESULTS

TORCHLIGHT 5K RESULTS
CLICK HERE

Torchlit Tip 5k Run Thu 24th Feb 2011, 08:17 PM Reported by: roving-eye

Last night saw thirty local runners brave the elements for the final in the night time Torchlit Tip 5k series. Held on the reclaimed refuse land on Bentham’s Way, the Tip 5k race is usually held in summer evenings and is an extremely popular event. The Torchlit Tip 5k is run along the same course but held during the Winter evenings where runners are guided by glow-sticks marking the route and their head-torches lighting the way. This unofficial training event was the brainchild of Andrew Hudson, looking for some way of getting local runners together during the dark winter months for a more exciting training session than just plodding the local pavements.The previous sessions were held in December and January and the final event took place last night and has proved to be very successful with an increased number of attendees of both runners attempting to break their previous record and new runners eager to participate in this novel experience. Last night's fastest time was achieved by Steve Mclean, completing the course in 18:26 in a close-fought battle with second placed Steve Lewis (18:29) and third placed Rick Bowker (18:34)

Event organiser Andrew Hudson completed the course in fourth position in a respectable 19:28 with Vicky Harvey being the first woman home, in fifteenth place overall, in 22:43.

Thanks to Nicola Hudson for the report

Marathon Training Methods By Renato Canova (ITA)

READ HERE

Roberto who just ran an amazing 2.39 marathon on a very hilly course left this comment on my blog after I commented to Scott Brown that I didn't think Roberto's training method was too dissimilar to Marius Bakken's program.
Hope you find this of interest.

1) I personally like a lot the training plan of Marius (from what I read here...) and I was even considering to buy it for my knowledge.
It is very balanced and focus a lot on long hard runs and progression runs which is the same method used by Canova, etc (the system that I try to follow).
So I am for sure an "endorser" of his methods...
Also it is very "natural" way of running compared to killing our body in track intervals


2) some posts ago I noticed that Rick asked Marius about the usage of hill sprints for Master runners, etc.
Well, I honestly believe Marius might have misread the question because "smart strides" and "hill sprints" work exactly in the same way: they are submaximal sprints of short duration. So the body get neuromuscolar signals to learn running fast, but without the stress of a real 100% sprint on the flat...
Anyway "smart strides" is a sure methods and no point to leave it

3) right in this week, there are very interesting posts from CANOVA on letsrun.com
He does not say anything different from his usual meethod, but is always refreshing.
His systems is so logical that a "stupid" coach would disbelieve that it could be so simple...

Thanks for your input Roberto.
To read comments in full please check out yesterdays post.
I highly recommend you read his blog and look back at how he overcame serious injury to run such an amazing marathon.
Check out his blog HERE

Train Your Brain No More Barriers

READ HERE

How should a runner breathe?

by canute1

SOUTHPORT 5 K

The Torchlight 5k is on this Wed at 7pm.
Very exciting event, last in the series, don't dare to miss out.
DETAILS click here







Amazing Marathon performance by Roberto
[ Run back by 7]
After serious injury he has fought back and produced an amazing Marathon Performance
READ HERE























MARIUS BAKKEN LONDON MARATHON TRAINING
WEEK 8
Mon
Club Interval Session [400m up to 800m efforts, 5.00- 5.30 pace].
Felt really strong tonight, which surprised me taking into account the long hard sessions I did last week.
Was pushed quite hard by Steve Lewis but felt strong and in control of my efforts.
Kind of reminded me of my form back in the distant past when I could knock out 22.18 for 10 miles on the bike :]
Ran down and back including 6 special strides.
Total time 1 hour 57 mins

HOW TV FUCKED UP YOUR LOVE LIFE!

Training
I worked like a dog through the night [do dogs work?] then got 3 1/2 hours in bed.
then it was time to get up and RUN!
What is it that drives me?
I get a lot of satisfaction out of pushing myself and seeing how far it will take me.
I like the feelings running brings me, confidence and control in my life!
But most of all it pushes back the boundaries of what is possible!
Tess and me completed Marius's wishes with a 3 hour run at level one 65-70 % of max pulse rate.
Strange how once you get into a pace it seems almost impossible to imagine going any faster.
Ran over the big sand dunes, then Ainsdale and Formby pinewoods before returning between the two golf courses.
Total time 3.06
Glad to get home, put my feet up and ave a cup of tea, ha NO make that a few pints of quality beer :]

Elite runner changes from heel strike to forefoot and gets rid of long term injuries
READ HERE

Imagination Is Everything

Japan to host first ever robot marathon

Wow check this out, I think I could win this race [If only I was a Robot ] !
Seems the crafty Japanese have come up with a plan to beat the Kenyans at there own game!
Oh and the first Robot in the video looks a bit like Ewen! VIDEO

And more NEWS Mo Farah leaves UK for Portland USA shock horror!
READ HERE

Keitany smashes Half Marathon World record

READ MORE
She's Running the London Marathon in April, will Paula Radcliffe's Record go?

Figgin Hard 19 Miles Progression Run, You Know I Bet Even Ryan Hall Swears Sometimes!

Marrius Bakken Progression Run.
Running a good marathon sure ain't easy, but to me running these sort of long progression sessions feels even harder, without the adrenalin or fresh legs it can feel like a real mental battle to push on through and and finish on target.
I wanted to do this session in daylight so after working the night shift I got just 3 hours in bed then hit the road at 1 pm.
I did this session in my P.B. build up last year and found it pretty dam hard.
2 hour 10 min Monster tempo run March 2010
In fact I seem to have improved my times just slightly, but still felt as bad, the legs just did not feel as sharp or as springy as I would have liked, maybe in retrospect doing this session later in the week might have given me more recover time.
I set off on a big loop to Ainsdale at level one which should have been 7.33 pace, I went a little faster 7.23 pace.
At Ainsdale station I lifted the pace, pushing hard up the hill, then along the coast rd back to Southport. I was now pushing Level 3 [ marathon-1/2 MP pace] after 20 mins I reached the Birkdale roundabout with an average of 6.14 pace, it didn't feel smooth or easy, would I last till the end of the session?
Next I dropped back to Level one and averaged 7.33 pace for the next 30 mins.
I ran through Victoria Park then moved into Kings Gardens.
I was hoping the one K loop would be pedestrian free, but the sun had brought out families with young children, students and even an ice cream van!
Anyway the distraction of dodging in and out of people distracted me from my pain as I started my next level 3 effort.
Bystanders looked on in awe at my incredible SPEED [ OK, OK only kidding! :]
I felt like I was moving faster than the Garmin was showing, in the end I just put my head down and went by feel trying to get in the groove.
Lap after lap went by and at last 20 mins were up, result 6.18 pace.
10 more mins at level one 7.33 pace followed before my final hard effort, this time at level 4 [ 1/2 MP - 10K pace].
Marius says don't worry if you find this hard, gees after almost 2 hours running your not kidding mate!
3 laps of the Kings Gardens = 3K so I just kept the thought of all the races we use to do in here in my mind.
I pushed hard, very hard, in fact I started to feel much better but try as I might I could not average better than 6.02 pace even with a strong last lap!
What can I say I gave it my best shot!
19 miles, average pace 6.55. total time = 2 hours 11 mins
30 mins 7.23 pace 20 mins 6.14 pace 30 mins 7.33 pace 20 mins 6.18 pace 10 mins 7.33 pace 10 mins 6.02 pace 10 mins 7.33 pace
GARMIN DATA

I LOVE THIS FUCKING SONG :]

Greg Lemond on drugs in cycling and braking news Alberto Contador cleared of doping!

It’s official: the Spanish cycling federation has cleared Alberto Contador of doping charges in a dramatic U-turn in his ongoing case of alleged use of clenbuterol. READ MORE

Check out this talk by Greg Lemond [ maybe the last 'CLEAN' winner of the Tour De France ] on drugs in cycling - Lance Armstrong and more!


I use to LOVE the sport of cycling, even raced for 10 years myself.
But pro cycling has got pretty fucked up and turned into a real chemical farce.
Can it ever be made CLEAN ?

LONDON MARATHON TRAINING WEEK 7 AND THE RUNNING SCHOOL!

RICK'S RUNNING SCHOOL!
Club coach Brian was away so he left me in-charge of the monday session.
Certain club members seemed to take this as a challenge to disrupt proceedings [a bit like naughty school boys taking on a new teacher and trying to push the limits of what they could get away with] mentioning no names [apart from Neil and Steve] everyone was well behaved!
I'll be writing up my report and passing it on to Brian.
'Neil likes to rely on his natural ability but can be lazy and negative when it comes to training'! 4/10 for effort :]
Anyway I stuck to my plan and we did a pyramid session followed by 2 longer efforts, the last being from Pontins back up the hill to Ainsdale station, Neil hates this one so Brian recommended I made sure Neil completed it.
This was punishment for his poor attendance rate!
TRAINING THIS WEEK
I ran down and back inc 6 x special strides at the end of my run.
Total time 1 hour 56 mins GARMIN DATA
I've got a 2 hour progression run and a 3 hour long run on my schedule for this week.
Marius is certainly starting to push me hard!