Rough Marathon Report

Sorry to have this rushed off but just what I put on the RW site last night...

Many thanks to everyone who came and cheered me on- it was definitely appreciated.

eal game of two halves. Set off in a slightly manic fashion from front of pen one to catch up with the guys I was planning on running with - many thanks to the anonymous RW lurker who was marshalling at the start of pen 1! (Brilliant to be greeted by "oh- so you're hobbling harrier!" before getting head marshall and saying "this guys legit- he won a gold medal last week!" - many thanks for your help!).

Manic start anyways but after about 800 got settled into a very comfortable rhythm and kept moving forward through the field with an absolutely huge group forming together with Coro, MikeB and Christchurch Jon - just clicking through 5:40s. At this point I was incredibly comfortable, my calves were sore almost from the get go but holding up well (despite Coro kicking me). Aerobically I wasn't in any discomfort and legs turning over smoothly. This carried me through pretty much to half-way where I was running strongly as we went through in just over 74 minutes. At this point I was feeling pretty good despite the sore calves and was thinking if I could negative split to get 2:27:xx - sadly that wasn't the case! A few miles later and I was in trouble and couldn't really work out why. Suffice to say the lead few disappeared off and I was struggling to move my legs at all. No real pain just dull through the whole of my legs (GI playing up a bit as well) - it probably wasn't hydration judging by the amount of times I had to go to the bathroom afterwards! Very odd feeling with both inside sides of quads in pain. At mile 17/18 I honestly didn't think I was going to finish but had to just convince myself mentally to get to mile 20. Managed to somehow do that and despite the pain I'd managed to stabilise at just about 6mm. Very hard work both mentally and physically - I was looking for any excuse I could find to drop out but apart from sore legs which weren't moving very fast didn't really have any! I worked out that if I could just keep at 6mm I would still run something okay though sub 2:30 was out the window!

As I got closer got a bit more confident- mile 23 and mile 24 were huge landmarks mentally! I knew I was going to finish at mile 23 and started pushing a bit at mile 24 and finished fairly strongly - especially over last 400m or so as I unfortunately went past a thread hero who was having a monumentally bad day at the office but still managed to finish. Sorry I didn't realise it was you at the time or I'd have cheered you on!

Anyways 2:31:16 - not the time I was aiming for but a fairly solid debut. First British U23 and possibly first U23 in whole race (Kebede is 23 but apparently qualifies...) as well as somehow winning the Varsity Marathon Match (you qualify for a year after you leave) so some very pleasant silver linings.

Training Week Commencing 18th April 2010

The final taper week!

Sunday
AM: 66 recovery @ 8:01mm - enjoyable relaxed run with Martin around Battersea Park

Monday
AM: 59 steady @ 6:49mm w. Clapham Chasers having a good natter with James Ellis going around.

Tuesday
PM: 21 recovery jogging to/from massage.

Wednesday

PM: 18wu, 10:25, 2 x ~450, 10:25, 20wd -10:25s run at about MP+15 seconds

Thursday
PM: Rest- went to expo and moderately late by time got back.

Friday
PM: Rest- just didn't want to risk going over on an ankle- think probably should have run on one of this or Thursday- spent all afternoon cramming food into self.

Saturday
AM: rest- not going to do anything day before- considering ten minute jog but coach reckoned best to save energy.

Totals:
Time: 255 Minutes ~34
Miles: 30
Pace: 7:03mm

Summary: Just a relaxed week leading up to marathon. Ideally would have done Wednesday's run on Tuesday and run 20-30 on one of Thursday/Friday but hardly likely to have done any damage. Generally felt good.

Training Week Commencing 11th April 2010

First week of the taper!

Sunday
AM: 2:25 long run @ 7:31 - very enjoyable long run with Herne Hill Harriers albeit slightly longer than I wanted hence I walked a fair bit of the way home.


Monday
AM: Rest day!

Tuesday

PM: 11wu, 8 x 1650 off 60, 9wd  Final track session w. David's group. Running relaxed but breathing slightly off. Target was ~5:28/1650 (~5:18 per mile)- 5:25,24,26,27,26,27,24,21


Wednesday

PM: 41:38 recovery @ 8:47mm around common

Thursday

PM: 19 wu, 4 miles @ MP w. fast finish, 22 wd - didn't feel good at all here.

Friday
AM: Rest

Saturday
AM: ERRA 12 stage road relays, leg 2 - gold medal for Newham! Still shocked I ended up running in the A team. Ran 15:18 (whch represents a 5k PB of roughly 33 seconds) after going a touch too fast on the hill. Think something around 8 seconds faster might have been doable with better pacing but still a reasonable run and great to contribute a very small part to an awesome team performance. 14 early morning wake up run. 23wu, 15:18 race, 16wd

Totals:
Time: 390 Minutes (~52)
Miles: 53
Pace: 7:38 (without 12 stage leg though...)

Summary: Fairly strong track session on Tuesday followed by a disappointing run on Thursday but nice to run relatively well on Saturday and especially take a gold. Hopefully the start of what should be a very long Beagles career.

Training Week Commencing 4th April 2010

Sunday
AM: 2:49:20 @ 8:27mm - headed to a trail race to be handed a set of very confusing acronyms! Managed to get around but very slowly!

Monday
PM: 36:05 easy @ 7:08mm

Tuesday
PM: Track session w. Urban's group. Ran fairly slowly but picked up at end. 3 x 1000, 3 x 800, 3 x 400, 3 x 200. 200s were fairly decent off ~30 secs was hitting 31s.

Wednesday
PM: 60 recovery @ 8:22mm inc. 8 x strides at Newham track.

Thursday
AM: 68 easy @ 7:53mm

Friday
PM: 17wu, 88:38 AeT @ 5:36mm, 20wd - 9 laps Battersea Park solo - really pleased to have managed to got round this feeling pretty strong.

Saturday
AM: 68 recovery @ 8:40mm - just jogging around Common.


Totals
Time: 604 Minutes (~81)

Summary: Long run was slow but not surprising given circs. Tuesday track session was quite fun with me shifting well on the second half on the 400s and 200s after having done the ks and 800s at close to half marathon pace. Friday was really the focus for this week and it went really well though athough the pace felt relaxed maybe just a touch too fast. Still a great run though.

Week Commencing 28th March 2010

Sunday
AM: 17 wu, 31:37 Eastleigh 10k, 7:20 wd - huge PB and had a great meal afterwards with Lee, Matt and Oz.

Monday
PM: 62 easy @ 7:31mm

Tuesday
AM: 65 easy @ 7:50mm to Office
PM: 61 easy @ 7:20mm home from Office

Wednesday
AM: 37 easy-steady  lunchtime run around Isle of Dogs with Harold Wyber
PM: 62 easy @ 7:30mm home from office

Thursday
AM: 60 easy @ 7:15mm to Office (dull week)


Friday
PM: 14 wu, 79:11 AeT @ 5:37mm, 16 wd - 8 laps of Battersea Park good to have Hywel and Fernando there for a few laps and James Ellis for the whole way!

Saturday
AM: 61 easy @7:49mm through city to London Liverpool Street
PM: 31 recovery @ 8:50mm

Totals:
Time: 615 Minutes / ~82 miles
Miles: 85
Pace: 7:12mm

Summary: Very dull week with lots of running to/from the office as was busy. On plus side great PB at Eastleigh, recovered quickly and a solid marathon pace long run on Friday.

Ready to rumble!

Pre-London Carbs

In addition to pasta, pizza and cereal also large quantities of maltloaf, bread, croissants and lucozade.

Recent Photos...

Photo from Eastleigh 10k - moving fairly well towards the end! Nice to have a Welsh and South of England runner in the background.

And one of me chatting with James Ellis and the start of the Thames Riverside 20...

and finally one from the Wimbledon Park Run...

4 Week Review - 28th February - 13th March 2010

Week 1: 627 Minutes / ~ 84 miles


Run-In XC League at Newport (1st)
64 Aerobic Threshold @ 5:38mm
17:04 5k Tempo @ WC
21.4 Long Run @ 7:21mm

The XC I was pleased with as it was a ridiculously cold and wet day and I wasn't sure how my legs would cope with running XCs on consecutive days. The answer is not particularly well but I was still able to get away. The middle of the week was a stark contrast as the long run was an absolute disaster with me really struggling for energy even running 7 and 8 minute miles. The next day after heading to Oxford, eating junk food and getting uproariously drunk I managed to nail a very solid marathon pace session with Hawcroft, Oz, Anupam and Harper. The WC run was just standard apart from missing the start!

Week 2: 623 minutes, 83 Miles

24 mile long run - 4 miles @ 7:30, 20 miles @ 6:18 - won Thames Riverside 20
Teddy Hall Relays- 3rd on leg 1 / 4th fastest leg - 18:01
69:36 Aerobic Threshold @ 5:40mm
WC Park Run - 17:05 - 1st


A very solid week's work. Tough stuff at times but 3 very solid runs. 18:01 at Teddy Hall was a great run narrowly behind Chris Busaileh and Chris McGurk who both ran stunningly at the Southern and Midland Road Relays respectively. The MP run around BP I was pretty worried about but actually went pretty well- especially solo and late at night. My legs felt very heavy the next day at WC ParkRun but tbh that was expected and nice to sneak the win on very heavy legs. Finally- Thursday evening- definitely a sign of a better attitude - in recent years being tired I'd have just said sod it and stayed in- actually drove to the nearby town and ran in the dark.

 Week 3: 632 minutes, 84 Miles

 23 mile Long-Run @ 7:28mm
4 sets of x 400,800,400 [200 jog,400 jog]
29:55 / 3 laps BP at AeT @ 5:40

This was always going to be a difficult week what with starting work so I was very grateful to get my long run done on Sunday and also slightly further than I was intending. Tuesday was a great session - I was running 70s and 2:22 and I wasn't even working- lactic set on fairly quickly after the 2:18 though and the final 67 was a struggle. Thursday I just felt poor and could tell my legs needed a quick rest despite pulling the MP session back in. In the past I'd have done 3 x 5 x 300 at the track before a race but David reckoned a half hour @ MP would be more beneficial before Reading.

Week 4: 452 minutes, 60 Miles 


Reading Half Marathon 14th Place 69:52 - huge PB!
Clapham Chasers Kenyan Hill session 12 x ascents - 19:21 @ 5:45mm


Great start to the week with the stunning HM PB. Monday was in some ways a bad day (how stupid can you get?) but in other ways I like that I'm able to call a run if I'm having a bad one and make the minutes up either later in the week or not at all (in this case I pretty much traded what would have been 30 awful minutes running very slowly in pain with 30 very enjoyable minutes on Thursday evening!). Thursday's run is still carrying me on right now - meant to be 60 but ended up 90 - just couldn't stop. Actually recovered!

4 Week Period Total: 2334 minutes , 311 miles (627,623,632,452)
Long Runs: 21.5, 24 , 23
Races:4 (6 inc. WC ParkRuns)

Well a very interesting 4 weeks. Obviously the highlight being the huge half marathon PB of over a minute on a PB set about a month ago which was a 3 minute PB in itself! In all honest at the time of Stevenage I felt I was in 71-72 minute shape at the very least (hard to believe when you're running close to 74) given the conditions- it's nice to have now proved that and then some. The first week was a mix with the confidence boosting AeT session following my disastrous long run where for the first time this campaign I was seriously worried. The second week I was glad with how easy running 20 miles @ 6:18 pace felt and then running so well at THR - just annoying McGurk got away! I knew then that I was in at least 15:30 5k shape and probably more like 15:15...  Week 3 pretty much backed that up as I felt easy running some of the fastest rep times of my life. Remembering last winter how I struggled running 69s indoors to now when I was floating around it hardly seems the same thing.

The session I'm probably proudest of is nailing 70 minutes around BP in the dark late at night solo. It was tough but well worth it!

Very pleased that a rest week for me now can be 60 miles - the last week was intentionally very easy with no stress on the pace as I know after a HM I usually spend Monday and Tuesday doing little, recover quickly, spank a session on Thursday and then am in doldrums by Sunday/Monday. I also know that to run a decent 10k I seem to do much better off a week long taper of doing fairly little (in contrast to HM where mileage is fine from what I can tell in week preceding). Worked out very nicely that I did a "half" session on Wednesday where I ran fast but not hard (half sessions - either 3/4 usual volume or being done at one race pace down - are increasingly becoming favourites of mine as opposed to destroying myself in workouts) and was fresh, recovered and ready for Sunday- well- all but the calves! 


Now into the last month before London- fingers crossed!

Club Switch to Beagles

Well- with the Eastleigh results published it looks like the cat is out of the bag as someone has picked up on it on Eightlane...

Early February I moved to London. I now work ~3 miles from the Terence McMillan Stadium. Newham consistently manage to get good teams out to events and not just A-teams but B and C teams as well which was a big part of my decision. Obviously their strength is a big part of it but generally faster runners move to a club for a reason and Beagles were the best choice for me which was why I approached Bob and enquired about joining.

They were the dominant club I knew (also the first I ever heard of!) as I grew up (in my local area Ben Hellmers who was the superstar a few years above me at school and Richard Mead who was the unbeatable guy at districts (4:30 1500 seemed very fast))  as well as Noel Thatcher who for the past 2-3 years I've regularly been training with. Seeing how it has helped propel guys like Kev Skinner who I've known for years to greater things makes it an easy choice.

Appreciate I'm going to be a marginal player at best- but I've done the whole big fish in a small pond thing and whilst it's great for the ego it's not much of a challenge and as I want to improve I need that hierarchy to try and move up through. That means taking my lumps as a weaker athlete and trying to push up to the faster guys (though it can be taken for read that Farah and Geele will always be a fair bit quicker!).

I've also done the thing where I hope that the athletes from the juniors will come through whilst at Herts Phoenix as the few seniors we had gradually drifted away. Herts Phoenix was a fantastic experience I will treasure for the rest of my life but it is near exclusively a junior club. The hard work of legends like Adrian Newman and Richard Bloom together with racing with guys like Lee Reynolds, Matt Carlisle, Chris Saville, Michael and Richard Tarpey, Paul Greaves and more recently Ed Shepherd, Adam Frith, Dave Wilson and Steve Prosser created a great atmosphere but it meant we struggled to be competitive at events even as small as the Southern 6 stage with adminstrative rules preventing us from fielding stronger teams (Prosser and Frith both running for small clubs that would never enter and Shepherd and Wilson usually ineligible due to age). The club was brilliant in a lot of ways but it is very junior centred with little focus on senior athletics and endurance in particular sometimes seemed like the forgotten child which for a club with roots in Verlea is a tragedy. It helped bring me through and for the last few years it's been okay whilst at uni but the lack of having a full team at events has been a real heartbreak at times.

At Beagles I'll get the odd race for the A-team and frequent run-outs in the B-team with committed and talented guys (okay- maybe I'll have to be in the C team then!). There were obviously some other options I looked at - in particular Serpentine who are coming on leaps and bounds and I get on very well with the faster guys there (despite what you might have heard!) and also Thames Hare and Hounds with the obvious Oxford connection where I would be competitive but still with room to move up- in the end though I decided this was the best chance to improve as an athlete.

If anyone has any questions I'm happy to answer them either below or by email. I have applied for a ban exemption but have no idea what the length of the ban will be. As far as I understand it I am able to compete in any road races, open meets etc. but not "Open Team Competition" which is Track and Field Leagues, Road Relays and XC Championships until my ban is over. Herts Phoenix have supported/not opposed my application.

On a more trivial/personal note- the Beagles are also close to where my family came from. My paternal grandparents were originally from Greenwich just south of the river (hence why I'm a Charlton supporter and have been from birth) and have gradually moved north with my dad working in Ilford early in his life. My maternal grandparents live near Telford and seeing as I look much better in yellow and black than in the confused mess that is the Telford vest it was an easy choice!

Training Week 21/03/2010

Sunday
AM: 15 wu, Reading Half Marathon 14th Place 69:52 - huge PB!- calves bit sore to warm down.

Monday
PM: 44:41 @ 9:22mm - life lessons a) running the day after a half marathon is tough b) don't make it worse by eating a doubled up ultimate burger shortly beforehand... Ditched run at 45 mins and caught tube. Wasn't doing any good out there.

Tuesday
AM: 1:11 @ 9:18mm - very slow run into work...

Wednesday
PM: 18 wu, Clapham Chasers Kenyan Hill session 12 x ascents - 19:21 @ 5:45mm, 19 wd

Thursday

PM: 1:32 @ 7:50mm - absolutely perfect run home. Went through deserted city and just kept on adding loops on through BP as wanted to carry on going- one of the runs that really makes you remember why you like to run.

Friday
AM: 62:24 easy - run into work - dull.

Saturday
AM: 40 easy @ 7:22mm with Hayley - she kept on getting lost poor girl - plus managed to assault a poor child's bicycle with her shin- see photo below!

Totals:
Time: 452 Minutes (~60 miles)
Miles: 60.37 (with miles lost near CW more like 64)
Pace: 7:29mm (again- more like 7:10ish)

Summary: Great start to the week with the stunning HM PB (see report below). Monday was in some ways a bad day (how stupid can you get?) but in other ways I like that I'm able to call a run if I'm having a bad one and make the minutes up either later in the week or not at all (in this case I pretty much traded what would have been 30 awful minutes running very slowly in pain with 30 very enjoyable minutes on Thursday evening!). Thursday's run is still carrying me on right now - meant to be 60 but ended up 90 - just couldn't stop.

Very pleased that a rest week for me now can be 60 miles - this week was intentionally very easy with no stress on the pace as I know after a HM I usually spend Monday and Tuesday doing little, recover quickly, spank a session on Thursday and then am in doldrums by Sunday/Monday. I also know that to run a decent 10k I seem to do much better off a week long taper of doing fairly little (in contrast to HM where mileage is fine from what I can tell in week preceding). Worked out very nicely that I did a "half" session on Wednesday where I ran fast but not hard (half sessions - either 3/4 usual volume or being done at one race pace down - are increasingly becoming favourites of mine as opposed to destroying myself in workouts) and was fresh, recovered and ready for Sunday- well- all but the calves!

Hayleys leg after she collided with a bike. The kid didn't make it.

Reading Half Marathon Race Report

Really wasn't sure I was going to even be at the start for this one! Had had no response back from my late entry but finally got the okay from the organisers Friday lunch-time. With my cold and feeling pretty bleurgh I was struggling for motivation but it's so rare a chance to race in a top quality HM with a lot of others comes along that I had to really go for it. My training in recent weeks had been solid with a good leg at THR that I knew even with the cold I had a decent shot at a PB and maybe even tickling the sub 70 barrier...

Got over the day before and kipped at my brother's place. Definitely better than staying at home and going on the day. Felt much more professional even though it was only a bed, duvet and pillow - without creature comforts of home definitely helped me focus better.

Got over fairly early as still needed to pick up my number. Was struggling a bit with what to do as around 9 it was still pretty chilly and I needed to drop my bag off, run for 15 minutes to warm up in my warm stuff and get down to the start in plenty of time. Eventually settled for dropping bag off at half past and stripping down to racing kit with just a bin-bag over the top and slowly jogging down to the start-line. Met Mark (Coro) and Graham Robinson (not Breen!) from GCR who I figured I'd be in a fairly tough battle with through the race before John Hutchins and Kev Quinn joined us from the elite athletes area! Had also seen Chris Smith who I'd had a good battle with at Stevenage before he got away around mile 7/8. I always feel slightly odd racing Chris as on the country he is an absolute demon (9th place in SEAA XC to my 93rd place and 52:xx to my 58:xx) and almost a mile clear of my whilst on the roads we're pretty well matched! Odd case of a runner who loves the mud and one who hates it.

Right- to the race plan- I figured the plan had to be to go out at 70 minute pace (5:20) and see what the hell happened. Mentally I had the splits I needed down as 26:40 and 53:20 at ten miles - I was actually slightly out as whilst the pace needed was 5:20 it was 5:20 and a bit and the splits needed were 26:43 and 53:26... I also figured that Mark and Graham would both be looking to run or at least head out at 5:20s so if I stuck with them I'd probably be okay. Keith (TT) as well as I figured he'd be looking at very similar if he wasn't doing it as part of a long run!

So- race began and I was feeling pretty crap tbh. I was coughing and spluttering all over the place trying to clear my system out. The pace felt far too quick for HM pace. I fairly quickly found myself on Mark's shoulder and before long Graham joined us. Keith was nearby and then an AFD athlete (Breen) joined us shortly after and I could hear someone catching us from behind. It was Chris Smith and with that battle was joined! We clicked through the first mile in around 5:20, and the second mile very similar for 10:41 with Keith easing off from us somewhere between these I think. I was a little worried that we were only just on pace but given how poor I was feeling (thoughts of dieing badly sadly dripping through my head) I was happy just to let the pace go. The third mile contains a fairly decent hill in it which I was glad to get to the top off with our group still intact with the mile in 5:30. 10 seconds off the pace now but I figured most of that was the hill. The next mile we sped up a bit and the group was shifting along fairly nicely but I was still finding myself occasionally bumped around a bit and took the lead a few times just to get some space as well as dropping off the back. I was having a tough time and wondering if I was going to get through when we hit a fairly substantial downhill just after the fourth slightly faster mile in 5:16 and Breen started to push clear. I was lucky here as earlier I had been a metre off the back but right now I was in place and accelerated to stay with him with Chris Smith joining us but getting the sense a few of the others had slightly dropped off. We scuttled through that mile in 5:15 which gave us 26:44 for 5 miles. Okay- but 4 seconds off- given how I'd been feeling earlier I'd definitely take that though! I then took a brief stint at the front through the twists and turns after almost falling over Chris Smith at one tight turn and during this mile we caught Glenn Saqui of Highgate. That mile was a very quick 5:09 and have to admit I was definitely feeling it as we went through 10k in 33:07 (7 second road PB!). The next mile was a bit slower with the twists and some gentler uphills taking their toll together with the pace as we clocked 5:29 but were still just about reeling in Stu Huntingdon who was running a very solid debut HM despite some fairly serious stomach problems and blisters. We caught him on the monster of a hill at 7 miles - thankfully knowing this was the last one in the course we worked together and whilst I drifted a bit off the back I caught them up again on the flat with the split of 5:33 being slow but knowing we had now done all the major hills.

Our group had been working for a while now each taking turns in the lead (with Graham being the real powerhouse taking most of the slack), and we knew we were going for a good time. Miles 8-10 were actually pretty good for me. My left calf was tight but I knew I was on for a good time as we alternated and got the important miles done and dusted. 5:20 before a moderately stunning 5:04 using a downhill on the 10th mile to go through in 53:22. Queue a quick conversation with Breen, Me: "We're on for sub 70 pace" Breen "Great", Me (to clarify) "70:00", Breen "Feck!". At the time I thought we were 2 seconds out as opposed to 4 seconds under.

I really started to feel it in my legs and lungs over the 11th mile as we started really pushing with a 5:21. It felt much tougher though- especially as Chris Smith edged to the front and started building a small gap. Breen and Smith were both clear of me at the 11 mile mark but not by much and the gap wasn't growing- we were also finally reeling in Josh Guilmant who had been a tall ghost in the distance most of the race. Breen caught him whilst still 5m or so clear of me and I surged a little bit to get onto Josh, rested for a second and then pushed again. I was back on Breen as we went through 12 miles in 5:19. The last mile and I really had nothing as my legs were tired and mental fatigue was starting to set in - I clicked my garmin to lap time just so I had proof I was actually getting closer. Chris was still 30m or so ahead but I was focused on just getting to the stadium. I could hear the names (Lindsay!)being announced as they finished. I saw the entrance to the stadium and the 13 mile mark and glanced down at my watch "69:23" - I had a shot! I surged into the stadium to see Kev Quinn finishing and just threw everything into it to try and get to the line in time - I was terrified of going over on the 90 degree bend on the slightly odd and slippy flooring! I still didn't believe it even as I crossed it with 69:52- sub 70 accomplished and some awesome runners behind me. Very pleased with a 63 second PB (which was only set a month ago!). Slightly strange to have come all the way to Reading for Chris Smith to finish in the place ahead of me again but I'll definitely take it and was also made up for Graham Breen to break 70 as well which he totally deserved as the engine and workman of our group.

Hopefully a photo up soon!

Splits:

1 5:20
2 5:21
3 5:30
4 5:16
5 5:15 (26:44)
6 5:09
7 5:29
8 5:33
9 5:20
10 5:04 (53:22)
11 5:21
12 5:19
13 5:19
13.1 0:29 (69:52!!)

Week Commencing 14th March 2010

Sunday
AM: 2:50 / 22.84 miles / 7:28mm - very enjoyable run with Sean Renfer who might be moving to Clapham. Headed down running easy to WC where I met him, then a loop around Richmond Park (glad Sean was there as I assumed the trail around the outside was 7.2 miles - apparently it's the road which is 7.2 and the trail is much longer!) - dropped the pace a bit on way back from WC with some 6:mid miles.

Monday
AM:40:30 @ 8:14mm - recovery run around Clapham Common with 6 x strides before first day of real work.

Tuesday
AM: 82:44 @ ~8:15mm ran to work at Canary Wharf getting very lost in the process.
PM: 17 wu, 4 x 400,800,400 [200 jog,400 jog], 26:27 wd - session at Battersea Park with Urban Bettag's excellent group. Ran with Fernando Del Valle till the final set where he dropped a bit. 400s all ~70 with a final 67, 800s 2:23,2:22,2:22,2:18. Jogs fairly quick ~8mm.

Wednesday
PM: 68:36 @ 7:10mm - ran home from work a slightly more direct route this time and pushed a bit at various points. Rucksack still a pain to run with but not noticing it too much.

Thursday
AM: 62:26 @ 7:49mm - finally found close to most direct route into work. Much less stressful knowing roughly where I'm going now.
PM: 18wu, 29:55 /3 laps BP  at AeT @ 5:40 - was very lazy on first 5 minutes or so dropping around 30 seconds so had  to work hard to bring it back in,  17wd


Friday
AM: 66:31 @ 7:53mm - ran into work again but a bit more relaxed this time as legs felt quite tired after last night.

Saturday
Rest- First rest day in what seems like months. Went shopping with Hayley (KCHMcS) then travelled over to Reading.

Totals: 
Time: 632 Minutes / ~84 miles
Miles: 83.32 acc. Garmin (lost a fair few this week around CW)
Pace: 7:36mm

Summary:
This was always going to be a difficult week what with starting work so I was very grateful to get my long run done on Sunday and also slightly further than I was intending. Tuesday was a great session - I was running 70s and 2:22 and I wasn't even working- lactic set on fairly quickly after the 2:18 though and the final 67 was a struggle. Thursday I just felt poor and could tell my legs needed a quick rest despite pulling the MP session back in. Thankfully next week is a rest week!

What with work beginning, a progress test already! and finally a cold hitting me on the Tuesday this was a good week - especially with what happened on Sunday!

Training Week 7th March 2010

Have the garmin times but too tired to post so here is the week roughly! Will add in important work-out splits...

Sunday: 4 miles @ 7:30mm, 20 miles @ 6:18mm at Thames Riverside 20- good run and felt like I was jogging along with bloke in second place before putting 6 seconds into him over final 100m.
Monday: hour easy running to Liverpool Street
Tuesday: hour steady with OUCCC @ 6:43 - good natter with Matt, Chris and Lee.
Wednesday: 15 warm up, Teddy Hall Relays (18:01- 4th fastest leg- huge number of big scalps - reckon it's worth ~ 15:15 for 5k), 15 wd 
Thursday: Travelling most day. 40 recovery at ~ 5 in the evening. PM PM (about 9)- 15 easy, 20 steady (~6:40mm), 15 easy.
Friday, 15 wu, 69:36 @ 5:40mm (7 laps Battersea Park, fast first lap, rest all between 9:55ish and 10:00- 10:00 = 5:42mm), 18 wd 
Saturday: 35 wu jog to WC Park Run, Ran it at tempo in 17:05 pushing last few hundred to break Andrew Mercer (course worth at least 30 seconds possibly up to /over a minute depending on conditions - is a bog at the moment), 40 wd on way back home.

623 minutes run (~83) with Garmin spitting out average pace of 7:12 and 86.52 miles which is probably a bit more accurate!


Summary: A very solid week's work. Tough stuff at times but 3 very solid runs. 18:01 at Teddy Hall was a great run narrowly behind Chris Busaileh and Chris McGurk who both ran stunningly at the Southern and Midland Road Relays respectively. The MP run around BP I was pretty worried about but actually went pretty well- especially solo and late at night. My legs felt very heavy the next day at WC ParkRun but tbh that was expected and nice to sneak the win on very heavy legs. Finally- Thursday evening- definitely a sign of a better attitude - in recent years being tired I'd have just said sod it and stayed in- actually drove to the nearby town and ran in the dark.

Training Week Commencing 28th February 2010

Sunday
AM: 16 wu, 26:09 @ 6:04mm, 2 wd - Run-In XC League 1st- Absolutely ridiculous conditions. Raining and gusting wind. Course is half fields, quarter usually decent trails and quarter concrete so getting right shoes is a sod. Broke away early on, minor mistake took me off course and back into second then the ford which was meant to be calf deep was chest deep. Got clear again and won fairly comfortably despite sore legs from national. Conditions were so poor just couldn't warm down. More risk of catching hypothermia.

Monday
AM: 41 recovery @ 9:42mm (probably faster- garmin playing up)
PM: 65 easy @ 7:37mm w. Clapham Chasers

Tuesday
AM: 47 steady @ 6:41mm + 13 recovery / drills

Wednesday

PM: 2:37 easy(!?) @ 7:21mm - awful run - really struggled badly especially in last few miles

Thursday
AM: 5 wu, 63:36 AeT @ 5:38mm - 11.284 miles (8 laps Uni parks (1.4105)), 18wd

Friday
PM: 86 easy @ 7:26mm - ran two different routes to work- slightly longer one by Chelsea Bridge along embankment and then back via Elephant & Castle

Saturday
AM: 34 wu, 17:04 5k Tempo at ParkRun (missed start), break then 10 Tempo back + 25 wd.

Totals:
Time: 627 Minutes / ~ 84 miles (ass. 7:30mm)
Miles: 86.35 miles
Pace: 7:12mm

Summary: Odd little week. Race at the start was okay but struggled in the poor conditions with the previous day's race in my legs. Monday and Tuesday I was very lethargic in both runs. Wednesday's run was a disaster and just really struggling to clump along at even 7:30mm. By contrast Thursday was fantastic and was just floating along very relaxed. Friday and Saturday more happy mediums- quite pleased to have run 17:04 at the ParkRun (10 seconds slower than 2 weeks back) but having arrived 30 seconds late and had to weave through the entire field and staying relaxed this time am not really too worried.

On whole- decent mileage (tomorrow's 24 miler will give me a 7 day total of ~104 - joint highest ever with Portugal) at a decent pace. Got through a very tough long run, won a race, did a good MP work-out and Tempo run this morning and finally some decent easy-steady running fleshing the week out.

 

Winning XC team. Overall, Mens and Ladies. Three of us on the back row (Me, Nick and Andrew) went 1,2,3 at the last two fixtures.

4 Week Review - 31st January - 27th February 2010

Week 1: 579 minutes, 78 miles

19 Long-Run @ 7:01
27:21 tempo @ 5:25
22:17 AeT @ 5:34

Good week where I hit a good LR early on then a decent two tempos in the middle.

Week 2: 460 minutes, 62 Miles

Great Bentley Half: 13.1 @ 5:25 - 70:55 3rd Place PB
Easy session with Paul Evans

Recovery week following Great Bentley- just got my legs ticking over with some steady stuff on the Tuesday.


 Week 3: 602 minutes, 82 Miles

 22 Long-Run @ 6:54
5 x 4:30 off 90 @ ~5:15-20 w. CC
5 x 1200 off 90 (4 x ~3:59 + 1 x 3:32)
Run-In XC League 4.74 miles 28:18 (5:59mm) 1st 
Parkrun 5k - 16:54 @ 5:11mm 3rd

Solid week with the move and v. nice to get my first 20 (and 21!) miler in - looking back despite the "easy" sessions- this week had 2 interval sessions, 2 races and a long run in which is really too heavy...

Week 4: 600 minutes, 80 Miles 

 20 @ 7:07mm (inc. hour at 6:13mm)
4 x 1600 (lap jog)  (5:17, 5:19 ,5:11 ,5:05)
3 x lap Battersea Park (2.84km) (90) - 10:03 ,10:27, 9:47
National XC - 43:58 (5:54mm) 171st

This was an interesting week coming off a very heavy Sunday/Monday (38 miles) - the Tuesday track session was suitably relaxed and the Battersea session likewise. The National was a reasonable result- might have been interesting fully tapered and having done some hill work. Muddy courses just don't suit me though.

4 Week Period Total: 2241 minutes , 302 miles (579,460,602,600)
Long Runs: 19, 22, 20
Races: 4

Interesting 4 weeks incorporating a move and me getting used to doing some proper long runs. What has been particularly odd about this month has been that I don't think I've had a single interval session where I have had to push. A case of perhaps realising that just because I can do it- doesn't necessarily mean I should do it. The nice part is that because I'm so used to banging out hard interval sessions week-in, week-out I can realistically go to the track and run 4-5 x mile in 5:10-5:20 and it feel like a jog and not compromise the rest of the week. The results over the next few weeks might throw up a few surprises as we see how this has worked out.

This might also be contributing to my consistent mileage - this has to be one of my better blocks ever - as part of that I need to remember that my legs are going to start feeling tired occasionally and that niggles are likely to appear. That is why massage and stretching are more important than ever right now. I am very pleased to hit 3 x 80 weeks and a 60 recovery week. 80s definitely feel "normal" now and a 90 wouldn't be a huge stretch. I usually calculate mileage based on the minutes and averaging 7:30 miling- from the garmin it seems I actually average 10-20 seconds faster so am actually likely running a couple of miles more.

In terms of training theory- right now it's fairly clear that I'm working on my long run and basic endurance in this block with a decent amount of work at tempo pace. Maintenance has been on 5k/10k speed and on MP work. The next month will see a decrease in the tempo work and more work done on MP (with hopefully the gap between them closing) as my body should now be more comfortable with the long runs.

Racing-wise there has been an exceptional result (Great Bentley), two quite decent results (National XC is definitely my best ever run in a "major" over a hilly course and a substantial improvement on the Southern. In the run-in XC league I was fairly pleased to win and moved well on the harder surfaces) and a poor one at the Wimbledon Common Parkrun which I'm having to write off due to poor tactics and poor dealing with the mental side of it. It all seems to confirm I'm moving in the right direction - and also that I still can't run particularly well on tough muddy XCs - from results it appears that I lose ~30 seconds / 15 minutes run on these sort of courses to good XC runners.

On the whole- very solid month and good progress though the lack of sufficient running at MP (usually either above or below) is a worry.

Lee

Training Week 22nd February 2010

Sunday
AM: 2:24:46 / 20.32 miles / 7:07mm - good long run bagging another 20 - did first hour v. easy with club over muddy/hilly terrain with 1:00:25 / 7.76 / 7:45ish before leaving with Oz, Anupam and Matt (for 15 minutes) to nail out half an hour up then down the fairly muddy canal - 1:00 / 9.65 / 6:13 - pace started relaxed at 6:10-6:20 chatting with Matt then picked up a bit when he headed back. Then after the turnaround Anupam started nailing it (5:48,6:03,6:04) before he knackered himself and we eased down to 6:20s or so. V. pleased as was really relaxed at that pace and then we all jogged back through town for the last bit.

Monday
AM: 55:02 steady @ ~6:50mm - Garmin not locking on for love nor money. First run with Lockett's Rockets with Paul (I think!) for part of it and Matt Morgan who I'd done a long run with previously.
PM: 48:06 steady/AeT @ 5:56mm + 15 wd jog

Tuesday
PM: Track session with Urban's Group - 18 wu (inc. extensive drills + strides), 4 x 1600 (lap jog) + 5 x 100 hard, 20 wd - 1600s in 5:17, 5:19 ,5:11 ,5:05

Wednesday
AM: 40 recovery @ 9:20 (might be a bit faster as garmin struggling for signal)

Thursday
AM: 37:08 recovery @ 8:06mm inc. 5 x strides with Hayley
PM: 15 wu, 3 x lap Battersea Park (90) - 10:03,10:27,9:47 21wd - the warm up for this session began less than 5 minutes after eating a McDonalds...

Friday
AM: 42:03 recovery @ ~8:30 

Saturday
AM: 23 wu, National XC 171st 43:58 (5:54mm), 7 wd

Total: 600 minutes / ~ 80 miles

Summary: Start of the week was incredibly brutal with the 38 miles with the majority done at ~6:30 pace or better. I'm not totally sure I'm not still feeling this in my legs. Sessions on Tuesday and Thursday were both deliberately done well under what I could do them at. Was actually quite pleased with the national- far better performance than Southerns ~30-60 seconds better I reckon over a shorter distance. I went out pretty hard and so was gradually drifting back - aerobically I can compete much further up but I really struggle on the hills and any attempt at seriously running XC would need extensive hill work. The muddy and tough courses really don't suit me. On the whole another very solid week and good progress I think...

Training 14th February 2010

Week Commencing 4th January 2010

Sunday
AM: 56:49 easy @ 7:36mm, Run-In XC League 4.74 miles 28:18 (5:59mm) 1st, Short wd - ran with Steve for an hour around Stortford before the race. During the race was in flats which was tough on the muddy bits but lots was crushed gravel. Ran with Nick till 2 miles when I edged clear- spent more time watching over my shoulder to make sure Andrew was clear for a Strider clean-sweep! Winning mens, ladies and overall means we've won the ladies and overall outright and as long as we don't finish last at our home fixture the mens as well! V. happy.

Monday
AM: 2:30:03 / 21.75 miles steady @ 6:54mm - long run starting out with Hayley and Anupam. First few miles were uphill and slow (~8:00) then once we got onto better footing the pace gradually dropped until by the end we were going through mud at 6:50 pace- dropped the pace to 6:00 for the last 1.75 miles- felt good.

Tuesday
PM: 39:03 recovery @ 8:34mm - first day in London flat- didn't get out till 11ish- explored trying to find Battersea Park but failed.

Wednesday
AM: 40:41 recovery @ 8:13 - found Battersea Park.
PM: 18 minute wu, 5 x 4:30 off 90 w. Clapham Chasers paces were (5:20,5:39,5:39,5:15,4:30(!?)) - ran with affable chap called Neil for most of it then pushed on a bit on my own on last one- more like 4:48 pace- garmin was playing up around the Park- 5:39s more like 5:20 pace. 23 wd

Thursday
AM: 41:41 recovery @ 7:13mm - surprisingly fast- found route to Wimbledon Common (i.e. A3) but a bit too far to go on a recovery run.
PM: 24 wu, 5 x 1200 off 90 seconds (accelerating at 600 and 1000 from 10k->5k->3k pace or in my case, HM->10M->3k/1500), 20 wd First 600s were (2:04,2:08,2:05,2:05,1:47), 400s (79,80,80,81,71), 200s (36,35,34,35,34) - yes that meant the last 1200 was in 3:32...

Friday
REST
Saturday
AM: 36:26 @7:50mm / 16:54 @ 5:11mm (Parkrun 5k - 3rd)/ 44:09 @ 8:38mm

Totals:
Time: 10 Hours 2 Minutes
Miles: 81.62
Pace: 7:22 mm

Summary: Solid week with the move and v. nice to get my first 20 (and 21!) miler in on a v. good run with Anupam - bit annoyed not to do a bit better at the Parkrun and really poor mental attidude during it but there's another one every week! Really feel like I'm making progress now.

Training 7th February 2010

Sunday
AM: 15:24 wu,  Great Bentley Half 3rd 70:55 @ 5:25mm, 15:11 wd - Report up shortly!

Monday
Rest day

Tuesday
 AM: 42:43 recovery @ 8:39
PM: 15 easy @ 7:13, 30 steady @ 6:26, 15 easy @ 7:54

Wednesday
AM: 41:52 recovery @ 8:41mm
PM: 65:21 easy @ 7:35- went out in Harlow with Noel - absolutely skating on the ice so we ended up going to a park and running around this large slightly uneven field in the pitch black - now Noel's partially sighted but coped with it much better than I did!

Thursday
AM: 40:32 recovery @ 8:46
PM: Short wu, Session with Paul Evans, ran out on track for time, then recovery then had to run back at same pace. Track ended up getting totally jammed up at end and having to run in 5th/6th lane. 1,2,3,3,2,1 (and of course return runs), 16 wd

Friday
Rest

Saturday
AM: 57:17 easy @ 7:41

Totals:
Time: 7 Hours 40 Minutes
Miles: 62.28
Pace: 7:24mm

Summary

Training 31st Jan 2010

Slightly changing the format from now on- just found out that the garmin I use for every run actually has a weekly total and average (which won't be particularly relevant due to rep recoveries etc. but could be interesting) so am going to do training on a Sunday-Saturday schedule now!

Sunday: 70:27 easy @ 7:04mm - run into Oxford with backpack then 50 minutes easy with Hayley around Oxrad.

Monday:
AM: 2:15:10 / 19.25 miles / 7:01mm - first 50 with Hayley then linked up with Hawcroft and Das- lap of Oxrad with Hawcroft nattering away (some useful fueling tips) before a final lap with Das - awesome run - really pleasant.

Tuesday:
AM: 41:45 recovery @ 8:19mm
PM: 40 @ 6:18mm / 8:28 @ 5:45mm / 11:31 @ 8:37mm - 40 steady with Striders then picked it up for a bit before a nice warm down relaxing jog with Tim (60)

Wednesday:
PM: 13 wu, 27:21 tempo @ 5:25, 25 wd - set out hardish on tempo with Steve on BSTT course - slowed a little up long final hill (is a tough course) - set new CR by 70 seconds.

Thursday:
AM: 40:57 recover @ 8:10mm
PM: 23:24 wu, 22:17 AeT @ 5:34, 4 x 200 avg 31, 20:45 wd

Friday:
AM  17:36 wu, 15 @ 6:22mm, 14:56 wd

Saturday:
AM: 36:32 recovery @ 9:01mm

Totals
Time: 9 hours 29 minutes
Miles: 77.66 miles
Pace: 7:19mm

Southern Mens Results

Sorry for the bad quality- if you save it and then print it it'll come out better but my scan is here...

If you can't save this one then go to the below link and use that one...


Direct Link to Scan

Training 25th January 2010

Week Commencing 4th January 2010

Monday
AM: 77:53 easy @ 8:17mm - started slow and got down to mid 7s
PM: Ex. Bike - 45 easy after watching a dismal Charlton performance at the Valley...

Tuesday
AM: 38:03 recovery @ 8:35mm - again started 10s down to 7s...
PM: 13:09wu, session (as below), 11:31 wd

• 1600 (5:11 - 78/lap)[1:54 rec.]
• 1700 (5:22 - 76/lap) [1:40 rec.]
• 8 x 450 [40s rec.per rep] (400 splits of 71,70,69,69,69,71,70,70,68) then [1:30 rec.] before
• 1000 (2:56 ~70/lap)
  

- First lap of first rep in 81 hence why so slow overall. Very pleased with 450s off 40 seconds recovery and the 1000m. Worked very well with Hugh Torry alternating reps.

Wednesday
AM: 42:43 recovery @ 8:33
PM: 75:01 easy @ 7:52

Thursday
AM: 43:05 recovery @ 8:37
PM: 21:50 wu, 3 x 5 x 300 (100/500 jog recovery) ~52/53 AVG, 21:30 wd (73:34)

Friday
AM: 44:37 recovery @ 8:53mm

Saturday
AM: 15:05 wu, 58:22 Southern XC (93rd - bit dissappointing- legs struggled with damp, soggy ground at Parly Hill), 10 wd

Sunday
AM: 70:27 easy @ 7:04mm - ran into Ox with backpack then 50 minutes very enjoyable loop of Oxrad with Hayley - fell over and got muddy.

Total: 607 minutes / ~ 81 miles

Summary: Good track session on the Tuesday especially after tough Sunday long run. Thursday was a bit poor on the track and was just generally feeling pretty bleurgh - probably Tuesday and Sunday catching up on me. Saturday was again a bit dissappointing as a few guys I've beaten recently got me (some by substantial margins) - but I'm not too worried as A) I wasn't tapered and B) I'm not sure why it is but the soft, wet XC courses are awful for me. My feet hit pretty heavy and usually that power is rebounded into my running stride but on courses like Parly Hill I just sink. Looking at my results it can very easily be seen that "hard" courses like Herts XC last year and the Broxbourne XC I run substantively better than on "wet" or "soft" courses like Parly Hill.

Couple of pictures below - apologies if infringing anyones copyright!

The Stick

Mostly doing this as a test run for sending a blog update from my phone but this is the Stick and it's a self massage took I got for Christmas which thus far has been very useful- anyone else tried using one?

Training 18/01/2010

Week Commencing 18th January 2010

Monday
AM: 68:42 easy at 7:25mm - last few miles sub 7 pace.
PM: Ex Bike - 60 @ 1:48/km

Tuesday
AM: 16:27 wu, 45:11 AeT @ 5:46, 16:04 wd

Felt fairly relaxed maintaining this for 45 minutes - 2:30 is another question entirely. Haven't lost much fitness though...


PM: Ex. Bike - 60 @ 1:48/km

Wednesday
AM: 73:13 easy to steady @ 7:36mm
Odd one- Stortford town loop with Steve and pace definitely felt faster than 7:36.
PM: Ex. Bike - 60 @ 1:58/km- really didn't fancy this one but did it anyway.

Thursday
AM: Rest
PM: 20:05 wu, 8 x 1000 (~57), 15:14 wd AVG : 3:15 - did this session with Lee- he did his tempo run getting progressively faster and I did 1000m on, then jogged 100m back to meet him going around again and set off - felt hard at first but by end I was cruising - just getting used to pace again- splits were 3:26, 19, 16, 12, 12, 13, 15, 12

Friday
AM:Rest
PM: 45 minutes ex. bike 2:00/km

Saturday
AM: 71:36 recovery @ 9:16mm (beer festival previous night was a bad idea...)
PM: 45 minutes ex. bike 22.78km

Sunday
AM: 2:00 @ 6:18mm (19 miles!) - went for a long run with Jamal Mohammed - distance approx due to Greenwich tunnel but fairly close- my first ever 19 miler- very pleased with pace- started out easy and then about 2-3km in it very quickly wound down to 6mm before staying fairly consistently there till about the hour mark Jamal started throwing down some 5:41/5:42 miles- went with it but legs started to feel it a little bit- aerobically was fine though- words can't describe how pleased I was with this run and how strong I felt- was seriously considering running for an extra 40 minutes or so and just trying to nail out a rough marathon time...

PM: 45 minutes ex. bike 22.75km

Total: 480 minutes running (~65 miles) 315 minutes cycling
Total Aerobic Volume = 795 minutes

Summary: Best ever long run. Decent Aerobic Threshold run. Relaxed but very reasonable session- all in all a very good week as I'm back running injury free. Cycling seems to be helping as well.

Flat Hunting and Getting Back to Some Running

Am going to experiment for a little bit with doing more frequent short little blogs and seeing how it goes- plus probably a little bit more about my daily life where I hopefully won't get fired for posting something about my time working at my firm! I'll also start the training log each week and update it as I go along with the week's training.

Well with the big accountancy (yes - dull I know!) job starting on March 15th it's time to start flat hunting. Headed down last Thursday with Jan who I'm sharing with and spent the whole day searching around Clapham with highlights being "double" bedrooms which would fit a single in at a squash. No - not a single bed - a single person and several flats within "10 minutes walking distance" of the tube that I swear I couldn't get to in ten minutes at race pace. Midway through the day it was looking pretty bad but then in our last viewing of the day we found a fantastic little flat just off of the Common just outside our price range but hopefully with them coming down as we made an offer today after viewing a couple more properties. The highlight this time being a property "right by Clapham North" which ended up being in Brixton. Yes, Brixton.

Anyway- now we've found a decent property providing we get it then I should be moving into London on February 13th so anyone with suggestions for good training groups and partners in South-West/Central London around Clapham I'm looking forward to hearing them! Part of the reason Clapham suits me so well is that it's about 4-5 miles run from Blackfriars (where I start work) and probably 6-7 miles from Canary Wharf where I'll end up in 6 or so months time I expect. Perfect for a morning and evening run. Just need to find some convenient showers now!

Managed to get a 39 minute run in this morning. Foot held up really well- honestly reckon it might have been able to take 60+ but being cautious and not risking it at the moment. Average pace was down to 8:04 over fairly snowy terrain. Pace this week has consistently come down from ~9:30 to 8:00 - obviously this is totally small fry compared to race pace work but shows I'm getting a bit more confidence in the foot.

Know I can't have lost much fitness having only not run for a week and having got straight on the exercise bike (another 60 minutes this evening- including a 1:09 1k TT - down 6 seconds on my first one - and yes I know that ex. bikes are nothing compared to the real thing but seeing as that's all I do it works to compare them internally!) - but feel like I've not run for months. Silly isn't it. Could probably still crack out a PB over any distance but feel unfit. Ridiculous.

What I am vaguely interested in is just how much running I need to do to maintain fitness levels- obviously last week I ran 11 miles- clearly not enough unless composed of 22 x 800 TTs (in which case it'd be interesting...). I rekon that on 30-40 of mostly aerobic stuff with a few faster miles can keep me in condition for a month or so but really not certain. Any thoughts from the more experienced runners out there?

Training Week 11/01/2009

Week Commencing 11th January 2010

Monday
AM: 39 @ 8:05 - nice to get 40 done pain-free.
PM: 60 on Ex. Bike - included a 1k hard burst (1:09/1:10)

Tuesday
AM: 45 on Ex. Bike
PM: 41:45 steady @ 6:12 - Quicker run around hilly Saffron Walden - was running with Nick till about halfway till he unfortunately managed to hurt his calf.

Wednesday
AM: 28:02 easy @ 7:26 - Run around very snowy Uni Parks and out back with Hayley- nice run. Still no pain/soreness.

Thursday
AM: Rest- drove back from Ox - meant to be training at Cambridge track for a Paul Evans flying coach visit but he cancelled.

Friday
AM: 15:51 wu / 15:21 tempo @ 5:26 / 17:26 wd - First tempo run back - pace was fairly reasonable - obviously short for this one but good to be moving at pace again.
PM: Ex. Bike - 60 @ 1:52/km - included a 1km burst at 1:07/1:08 - personal best by 3 seconds.

Saturday
AM: 15:54 wu / 30:18 AT @ 5:48 /15:40 wd - felt much more relaxed on this run than yesterday- target pace was around 6:00 for a steady but was a bit quick- need to get used to doing runs like this in normal weeks with sessions.
PM: Ex Bike - 60

Sunday
AM: 15 wu, 30 LT @ 6:07 (XC- heavy mud), 15 wd - 1st place at Ware XC - Striders won mens and womens team races!
PM: Ex Bike - 60 @ 1:51/km - last few minutes a bit quicker

Total: Running - 279 minutes (~ 37 miles) / Biking 285 minutes
Total Volume = 564 minutes

Summary: Not quite the running or cycling volume I wanted but it ended up being quite a good week in the end with a nice split between the two. The start of the week was about making sure I was good to run 40 minutes and trying a bit of marginally faster running again - job done with a decent Tuesday run. Then took two days relatively easy as I was driving a lot, away so couldn't use my ex. bike and then when I got back late Thursday my "test" session was cancelled. Middle of the week was a nice break though to make sure there weren't any flare ups from the faster running on Tuesday and stopped the constant "faster or longer" trend.

Last section of the week I was really quite pleased with. Friday was a solid "tester" but I was very worried with how intense 5:26 pace felt (as Tuesday had felt tough as well) - that said it was the first time running sub 6 pace in a couple of weeks and it was solo. Saturday was pretty much the golden run where everything slotted back into place. 5:48 pace felt very relaxed and I was cruising along comfortably for half an hour with the run totally the hour. Usual service resumed!

The race was an odd one- in recent years I've been really bad at just sitting in during races till really very late on and the then trying to make a break for it. I almost seem scared of leading these days which seems crazy given I used to be a committed front runner. I think it's partly because the perceived effort level just goes up massively even if I'm not running that fast! Whilst this is a very legitimate tactic at elite level it sometimes seems a bit poor in lower level races. This race starts directly through a muddy very tight bottle neck so I went hard from the start, got to be first through the bottle-neck and found myself about 10-20m clear.


At this point I had the option of either drifting back or pushing on and I decided to push on (partly in the vain hope that my reputation (when I'm fit) at this level might mean they'd just let me go!) - accelerating along a downhill and fairly rapidly getting about 50m lead over Steve Prosser. Usually either a Herts Phoenix or BSRC team-mate but today a rival! Steve was fresh off a very good Essex league result where he beat (what must be a very unfit!) Adam Hickey and got 16th place 10 places clear of the winner of the previous race of this league. I eased up slightly on the basis that I didn't want to run myself into the ground and let him zip past later on and concentrating on moving through the mud as economically as possible over the very muddy fields. I must have put some decent space on though as about a mile later when I sneaked a peak going around a corner Steve had dropped well back and Andrew Mynott my new Striders team-mate fresh off a 56:39 run at the tough Buntingford 10m course had moved up remarkably well after a slow start.

At this point I had something like 100m or so lead (maybe marginally more) and really just settled into cruise control - the course itself is a tough course compared to most XCs (muddy fields over the whole first half and gravelly for a fair bit of the second half making spike choice a sod). I did have to stop for a second to re-do some laces on my spikes but I started enjoying it maybe a mile or so from the finish... Maybe a little too much!


I was very relaxed over the second half of the race.

This week was an interesting one as I actually ran not far off a normal training week just with Aerobic and Lactate Threshold runs instead of sessions and biking every day for 60 minutes instead of a recovery run. I'm not totally sure how useful the biking is but that said it gets my legs just gently turning over.

I'm interesting in seeing just how significant the training difference would be with running sessions/steady running every evening and just a 60 minute cycle instead of a 40 minute recovery run most days. I can't imagine the difference would be that huge (especially given I run usually 8:30-9:30 pace usually on these morning runs) and the decrease in the amount of pounding the legs takes is substantial. Certainly something to consider for the future...

As regards next week- my plan is to hit around 60-70 miles with the biking continuing to replace recovery running where appropriate. The big change will be doing sessions on Tuesday/Thursday and getting a long run in again on Sunday.

Training Week 04/01/2010

Week Commencing 4th January 2010
Monday
AM: Rest- giving it another day though less sore than it was.

Tuesday
AM: 7 @ 10:00 - test run- not too much pain but could definitely feel something wasn't right yet.
PM: 60 on exercise bike - good to get used to it again.

Wednesday
AM: 90 on exercise bike

Thursday
AM: 16 @ 9:38 - very tentative run in the snow - seemed pain-free with little bits in last minute or so.
PM: 60 on exercise bike

Friday
AM: Flat hunting all day in Clapham
PM: 7:30 on treadmill @ ~10:00 - clearly wasn't running right- had felt foot whilst walking about London and so stopped treadmill once realised was even a slight problem.
60 on exercise bike

Saturday
AM: 25:01 @ 9:20 - run through some very deep snow- couple of twinges but foot felt best yet- no real problems.
PM: 62 on exercise bike

Sunday
AM: 29:02 @ 8:29 - still on snow and felt v. hard for the pace - by far best yet as felt nothing from foot (frozen?!)
PM: 90 on ex. bike

Total: Running - 85 minutes / ~ 11 miles Cycling - 420 minutes

Total Volume: 505 minutes

Summary: Just glad to I was able to run fairly regularly this week- foot was twinging on Thu night/Friday but much better over weekend. Am hoping that hitting decent cross-training will limit the amount of fitness I'm losing. This week should hopefully see a return to 50/60 miles hopefully averaging about 60 minutes a day. Really depends on the foot though. Important thing is that I just get some running in most days ( I honestly think the vast majority of bottom end fitness can be saved in the short term with 30 MPW) and hit the X-training relatively hard with some pseudo-sessions before next week being a proper week again.

Training Week 28th December 2009

Monday
AM: 12 wu, Buntingford 10m Race 54:23 PB 1st Place , 12 wd Really pleased with this race as it felt very smooth and controlled generally. Sat in main pack as people dropped off, made a few mini-breaks taking the lead but Steve Watterson stayed with me - broke away over last half mile or so getting a 12 second lead. Warm down with Adam, painful stomach cramps after race. On plus side is a very hilly course and took nearly 3 minutes off the old PB.

Tuesday
AM: 59 @ 8:39 - recovery
PM: 37 @ 6:52 - ran with Tim Ellis around a very icy Saffron

Wednesday
AM: 76 @ 8:04 - recovery/easy - ran with Martin on one of his very rare excursions back home- good to catch up.
PM: 60 @ 8:32 - recovery

Thursday (NYE)
AM: 40 recovery @ 8:25
PM: 60 easy/steady @ 8:01 - 3 minutes jogging up and down a cul-de-sac waiting for others to get ready and 20 minutes jogging at the end lowers average pace - in reality most done at sub 7mm around Rottingdean with locals Joe and Dan and Anupam "I don't really feel like running" - some good surging going on up the hills.
PM PM: 2 mile walk home after NYE party- thankfully in trainers whilst Anupam went barefoot...

Friday (NYD)
PM: Day in Brighton then 43 @ 8:30 around Woodingdean with Chris McG, Anupam and Dan T showing us the way - last 5 minutes my right foot started to hurt on the outside and sole- when I took my shoe off was in a lot of pain and struggling to walk.

Saturday
AM: Attempted to jog before Sussex XC champs intending to get some sort of work-out done- was still very painful so canned that- then intended to jog during the race to catch Dan but one moment of intense pain caused me to come to my senses - long drive home ~24 mins running. Managed to resist temptation to leave Anupam stranded at a service station south of London.

Sunday
AM: Rest- giving foot time to heal.

Total: 477 minutes /63.6 miles

Summary: Great start and a crap end to the week - I'm consistently picking up little scrappy niggles the week or two after 10 mile / half marathon races- this time despite keeping every easy. I was really worried about the foot as it's in exactly the same place as I completely screwed over the ligaments back in '06. Was very worried about it Friday and really shouldn't have even tried jogging on Saturday. In retrospect I think I wore some lighter weight trainers for the Thursday and second Friday run- they might possibly have combined with the hills and the cold to create the problem.

To the exercise bike...

Training Week Commencing 21st December 2009

Reasonably starting week before losing it to a knee niggle - started building back up after two days out.

Monday
AM: 35 at 8:03 per mile- v. icy, was an awful journey back home from Gran's as we went south for Pistol's funeral (really nice ceremony- particularly good songs which really exemplified Pete's attitude to life) - then got caught in an awful snow storm coming back up the M11. 8 or 9 hours in the car.

Tuesday
AM: 38 recovery at 8:53- loads of snow
PM: 58:41 (5:52mm) for 10 miles on treadmill at HR 153 avg- just set it at 6mm and then at about 4 miles started adding 0.1 occasionally until ramping it up for a 5:20 final mile.

Wednesday
PM: 118 minutes at about 7:40mm - did first hour and a quarter and knee started playing up a few miles before got back to clubhouse- rested a bit till everyone else was ready to go out and did an extra 45 which was probably a bad call...

Thursday
AM: Rest- knee sore- quad muscles v. tight pulling on it- not major but needs a day or two.

Friday
AM: Rest- knee improving but needs one more day- got the stick to try and sort it out for christmas!

Saturday
AM: Witham 5 cancelled so just go out for 40 easy at 7:17mm. Little bit of knee pain on way back but nothing like Wednesday. Felt awful going up the valley and very dizzy.

Sunday
AM: 60 easy at 7:39 per mile - relaxed run - knee fine and much better than yesterday- managed to get a last minute entry to Buntingford 10m the next day so hopefully tapered form won't go to waste. Enjoyable pint at Harvest Moon with Scott, Anthony and Tristan.

Total: 356 minutes / ~47.5 miles

Summary: Knee definitely ruined any chance of decent mileage but the two days have sorted it - for 48 miles to be a week with a niggle in it isn't bad- treadmill run was actually quite good- always pleased when I do actually jump onto a treadmill and run relatively hard- HR seems v. low though. Thankfully ran okay at Buntingford and now back to some decent mileage after two very easy weeks comprising a Christmas Break of sorts...

Training Week Commencing 14th December 2009

Monday
AM: Rest - I'm a lazy sod- this week is intended to be a much easier week given Telford on Sunday. Then the snow came as well and I was lazy...

Tuesday
PM: 42:56 v. slow with Striders for Tinsel run - see below photo! Did one km fast in middle.

Wednesday
PM: 7.2km TT at Stortford - aim was to guess how long it'd take you (no watches or GPS allowed!) - my guess of 24:30 was almost dead on as I ran 24:29 but one person managed to get it dead on so only second! Well clear of rest and ran a fairly relaxed 5:30 pace on a very hilly course. 17 wd with Phil.

Thursday
AM: 61 easy at 7:56mm

Friday
Rest

Saturday
AM: 40:22 recovery pace at 8:09mm

Sunday
AM: Telford 10km- big target race for last 3 months and sub 32 attempt cancelled due to ice- to be fair was icy as hell. Huge CNBA for rest of day.

Total: 186 minutes (~25 miles)

Summary: Wow- didn't realise this had been such a paltry week- even by my standards - think body probably needed a break from running after 3 very hard weeks and when tapering for a race or on a rest week I find it very hard to run- still poor though!

Training Week Commencing 7th December 2009

Monday
AM: 30 recovery at 8:31mm
PM: 74:04 steady at 6:32mm - progressive- started at ~7:30 and closing last few miles in ~6:00.

Tuesday
AM: 40 at 8:33mm
PM: 72 minutes including session of 400,600,800,1000,1000,800,600,400 with generous recoveries (90 seconds to 3 minutes)- splits were roughly 400s : 65/66, 600s 1:42 (68), 800s 2:21 (70ish...), 1000s 3:00/2:59 (72). Bit dissappointed despite the fact the pace was fairly good that my legs weren't moving quick (no real lactic or hard breathing- the legs just weren't moving!) until I actually totted my mileage up and realised since Sunday lunchtime I'd run 43 miles including this session.

Wednesday
AM: 40 recovery at 8:40mm
PM: 29 easy at 8:05mm with Lloyd from work.

Thursday
AM: 39 recovery at 8:33mm
PM: 25:43 warm-up, Stevenage 5km 15:51, 16:40 warm-down. Splits of 3:16,09,07,09,09 - marginal PB but this course was much tougher than the previous one (this course is worth~20 seconds to track) - unfortunately misread the finish and so was just gearing up for a 50-100m all out blast after we turned the corner when unfortunately turned the corner and the finish looked to be there as there was a clock so slowed down- only to realise finish was actually about 2m further on! Wouldn't have cost me more than a few seconds but there were 3 people about 2 seconds ahead of me!

Friday
PM: Long day at work followed by 120 steady @ 6:53mm (17.46 miles) - probably my longest run ever and quite pleased with the pace- tough work though and going to be interesting trying to lower it down to 6mm for the same duration.

Saturday
AM: 41 at 7:27mm

Sunday
AM: 18 wu, Sunday League XC - 3rd 34:50/6.11m/5:42mm 15 wd. Didn't try and chase Lee and Nick Torry when they dissappeared- stuck with Steve Harrison of FVS Tri- about 18/19 minutes in he tried to break me- covered it and then he slowed substantially- after Hugh Torry caught up I broke away and got about 50m which held till the end- nice run and not working that hard - that said neither were Nick or Hugh!

Total: 612 minutes / ~82 miles

Summary: Good week with a solid 5k and a decent Sunday league. Particularly pleasing to knock out the two hour run so well. Also the interval session was very reasonable. Third week of a very hard block that I've never trained so well for- 72/83/82 is definitely a higher level than usual and especially combining it with such good sessions.

Mileage, Mentality & Magnesium - An Evening with Jim Harvey

Yesterday I attended a seminar with Jim Harvey (coach of Irish record holder Mark Carroll and US Olympian Amy Rudolph amongst others) with Bud Baldaro (UK Endurance coaching guru- in particular for his work at Birmingham University and Tipton Harriers) chirping in from the sidelines. When you consider that Carroll's 3k PB (7:30) is faster than the British record and that he has clocked more sub 13:20 times than any British athlete- there is clearly something to be learned from Harvey. Carroll also boasts a 1500m time of 3:34, 5000m of 13:03 and marathon of 2:10 in his only attempt. There was a lot of good material covered which I've attempted to discuss below with substantial editing, corrections and alterations together with some of the sections contributed by David Chalfen (England Athletics Area Coach Mentor) who organised the evening. I've attempted to gather together Jim's historical and training based advice mostly based on his work with Mark Carroll and other athletes over the years in addition to his general training philosophies and view of current US versus UK distance running. In general it concerns senior athletes living as full time athletes whether as collegiate runners or full-time pros.

The first part of the presentation mostly centred around Jim's training philosophy and how his athletes progressed from the end of the season until they were ready to start racing at the summer and what struck me about his approach was it's simplicity. He would have his athletes running 95-105 miles a week (though mileage itself wasn't the target but rather the volume if that makes much sense- there was no chasing of specific mileage targets but there was a determined approach to fit as many miles in as appropriate and necessary if that makes sense and pushing the "outer envelope" of an athlete's aerobic capabilities). The event focus was for a 5k specialist on basis that this provides a great and relevant basis to move up to 10k and – adapted as required – to the marathon; and downwards it will deliver top results at 3k and 1500m.

In the early autumn there would be a two week break after the track, the first week of which was spent resting and the second week or which was rest or general low level jogging. This was then fairly rapidly ramped up with about 60 then about 70-75 miles in successive weeks and by the fifth week the ongoing max of 95-105 is achieved and maintained for roughly 12 weeks with 5 days around Christmas which ease off slightly. This is obviously in stark contrast to the "1 easy week every 4 weeks" pattern quite frequently proscribed.

A weekly schedule would look something like:

Monday: Distance double AM: 6 PM: 10-12 both steady
Tuesday: AM Easy PM Track session
Wednesday: Midweek long run - 12-15 miles steady
Thursday: Distance double but easier than Monday
Friday: AM Easy PM Track session
Saturday: Single run of around 75 minutes;10-12 miles easy
Sunday: Long run 18-22 miles max.

For many this is a Monday to Sunday cycle but needn’t necessarily be. He stresses that the two hard workouts were on Days 2 and 5 to spread the intensity load and to make the weekly long run more than just a fatigued plod. He never has 3 hard workouts in a 7 day cycle.

There were never more than 2 sessions per week and the timing of the sessions was such that there was a healthy break between the two sessions and the long run in order to recover fully. This is perhaps slightly inaccurate as when later questioned about speed development and leg speed Jim revealed that his athletes quite regularly would go down to the track, sometimes twice a week and do 10 laps of striding the straights and jogging the bends or something like 10 x 150 in order to keep them ticking over. he mentioned Rudolph in particular benefited from regularly keeping in touch with her speed over the winter and bio-mechanically ran much smoother than otherwise.

This added up to a weekly schedule of around 95-115 miles generally.

The sessions were of 10k in volume pretty much year round from the Autumn right through till about 6 weeks before the track period which mentally must have been very tough. The sessions were long reps with staples being 6 x mile, 10 x k, 5 x 2k or one particular "Tergat" work-out was mentioned which was 3k, 2 x 2k, 3 x 1k which anecdotally I know Alan Storey has used in the past though at much faster paces as more of a peaking workout. Another session given which had some pace variation was 1k,2k,1k,2k,1k with the Ks at a pace roughly 3s per lap faster than the 2ks or alternating between 10k pace and 5k pace I believe. Later in the session Jim clarified that all of these sessions were run at 10k pace as opposed to 5k pace and off of relatively short recoveries. When there where shorter reps of less than 1000 they were run at 5k pace though and often there were shorter reps interspersed between the longer ones. One point I was hoping to get some further detail on was whether he worked at athletes target 10k paces, current 10k paces or 10k effort pace which with the number of miles in the legs, and the time of season could be substantially different though I suspect it might well be trivial. It was these sessions which helped give the athletes the aerobic base they needed to be strong in races which he felt was crucial. Every third or fourth work-out was a tempo run of about 5 to 8 miles at approx LT, either sustained constant pace or cutting back 10 secs per mile from about 5.15 pace and the usual heart rate run at was approximately 180 and about 85% of MHR.

The pace of the recovery and steady running was also brought up. He opined that far too many athletes run their steady/easy/recovery runs at a pace which is far too quick for them and that Carroll rarely ran under 6:15 minute miling for easy running and that it was often slower than that - doing quite a lot of his running with his wife Amy Rudolph (who is no slouch herself!) and over 7 minute miling. Perhaps the phrase that best summed up his approach to the pace when queried about it was that as long as they were able to get the workouts in at the right pace it didn't really matter what pace their runs were and valiantly refused when attempted to be drawn into naming set values for heart-rates, paces or percentages. Very old school. Faster steady running was done about 5:40 pace or quicker. It was key to avoid the "grey area" which for athletes of Carroll's level is about 5:40-5:50 pace which is too fast for recovery but not sufficient for aerobic advancement. Jim's approach seemed to be that he had his athletes running the schedule he had set with each run having a purpose and that as long as the runs were done and the volume put in then the pace of those runs wasn't the greatest issue. The relevant paces – also combined to some degree with how the runner feels on the day – were guided by physiological tests at the beginning of the autumn period and then set against heart rate zones. Ongoing lactate tests not were also mentioned, so the heart rate monitor was a regular tool. What I would love to know is a more accurate breakdown of the paces which Carroll ran at over the course of the week even if they weren't set. Were the mornings runs recovery runs at 7+mm and the evening runs generally faster at the mid 6s.

An interesting anecdote was shared by Bud whilst discussing mileage about a GB international who was training at a Kenyan camp (this is a key difference and most Kenyan training is different). When he arrived being a bit cautious he asked the coach "how many miles will we be running this week" and he was told "70" - "Only 70" thought the athlete "I can cope with that" - so they headed out in the morning and ran for 60 minutes all very slowly. Then came back and had breakfast and chatted, told a few jokes etc. Then they went out towards the middle of the day (I'm thinking that'll be quite hot...) and ran incredibly fast. Then they took another long break before heading out for the evening run of 60 minutes (again very slow) - at the end of the week this athlete totted up the mileage in his journal and it added up to 150! He took it to the Kenyan coach and asked "I thought we were doing 70?! There's 150 miles here!" at which point the coach looked concerned and took hold of the journal. He studied it for a short while then took a marker pen and carefully put a thick line through every morning and evening run before turning to the athlete and saying "that doesn't count- it's too slow". Take from that what you will but I generally think it's a pretty good argument for lots of "junk" as they're put or recovery miles even if some might take offence at an "inflated" training diary.

The longer run in evenings and general run length was really the third issue to come up. Jim was heavily of the opinion that a 12 miler gives a substantially higher development though no particular reasons for this were given and it'd be good to see if there are any apart from what he's learned over the years (which generally means it's probably right and the science will get there eventually...) - what I'd also like to know if he thinks it is 10-12 miles per see that gives the big jump or more the time frame and intensity. For Carroll the difference between 10 miles (~60 low) and 12 miles (~72) puts him perfectly in that bracket of the longest sort of aerobic run you can do before it becomes a long run - possibly a delayed onset muscle soreness issue starts around 10 miles and in particular for most athletes at least, runs of over 75 minutes (12+ for Carroll, 10 miles for mortals) in duration are fatiguing. Run length in general he felt was very important (as he pointed out at one point - it's pretty easy to run 70 miles a week if you just run 5 miles twice a day!) and that it's the last third of each more challenging run or session that brings the performance development element. The same in sessions as the first third should feel an absolute breeze, the second you're starting to work and the final third is where the hard work and the development really comes in. In particular for this he highlighted a session he used to test fitness which was 3 x 3 x 800 with a minute between reps and 3 minutes between sets with the average pace sustainable close to an athlete's 5k pace.

Which brings us on to the next period which was the transition phase or as Jim put it "when the really hard work starts" and occasionally in this phase mileage would be scaled back in order to accommodate the much harder sessions run at a substantially faster pace 3k leading on to 1500 pace or quicker. An example of this was 5 x km with 3 minute recovery Mark could get close to doing in 2:30 at his peak. About 6-8 weeks before the track season this transition period would begin which would generally involve 2 work-outs per week of hard anaerobic work which brought him on substantially in a very quick period (bringing to mind I think a Bideau quote about Mottram that he could be in PB shape at any time of the year with 6 weeks notice) with two hard sessions in each week. Following this intense and difficult period a final "test" workout would be done and after this Carroll would know that he could go to Europe and stand on any starting line confident in his ability. With full recovery this session varied from year to year but generally seemed to be along the lines of "Mile, 2 x 800, 1 x 600 or 2 x 400" with paces such as 3:57, 2 x 1:51, 82. One year with the aid of some training partners doing in and out 400s Mark ran a 7:37 3k in an abandoned stadium - this was done because he hadn't had sufficient races that year and was still looking for a bit of sharpness.

There was very little XC racing for Carroll – because the US XC season is so early he felt that this would detract from delaying a real track peak until mid/late summer, and wouldn’t present Carroll in a suitably competitive state for the XC races. Carroll during the autumn/winter period would generally only do 2 or 3 races just as a progress check on how training was going. He always avoided having a long indoor season as it was felt that it was near impossible to have a successful indoor season and then go on to peak successfully at a major track championship.

The issue of female athletes was brought up and overall, in his experience women (and he’s coached fewer number of females) tend to max out about 15% less mileage than men – seem slightly more injury prone and also more vulnerable on iron deficiency which he stressed should be monitored thoroughly with regular tests for ferritin levels with a number of specific values mentioned. He also stressed magnesium deficiency is a factor in under-performance. Lost heavily through sweat and alcohol intake inhibits its absorption (which coaching Irish runners is obviously a huge consideration not made up through Guinness despite their best efforts) magnesium levels can be critical. For athletes low in magnesium it is well worth considering magnesium supplement (not magnesium sulphate or oxide though as these tend not to work particularly effectively.) Magnesium is rarely tested for and so is often an unrecognised factor.

Because of the professional set up, Harvey is able to delegate the detail of this to professional S+C experts. He was very low key on his involvement and didn’t discuss in much further detail but he clearly has a good eye for runners’ bio-mechanics (in particular stressing "symmetry") and knows what to do with any weaknesses he observes. He also made the point that as a coach part of the role wasn't to know everything but to know your limits and send athletes to someone who does know everything about a given subject taking the ego out of the process - as he put it "it's all about the performance".

Hills weren't used extensively but in the second part of the base phase, over about 6-8 weeks, an 800m hill of a moderate gradient such that good running for was still possible was used. The format was 6 to 8 reps in roughly 2.30, driving back down in a pick up truck for the purpose of recovery.

One issue discussed in quite a bit of detail was why the US is experiencing such a strong upsurge (50 athletes under 13:46 this year) and especially in comparison to the UK and this including the obvious teenage prodigies Derrick and Fernandez with Evan Jager making the Olympic team only a year older. High school xc was discussed including at age 15-17 – ‘500 mile club – a target for runners to hit 500 miles in the 10 week summer holidays. A few he accepts should do a bit less but he mentioned that it’s not exceptional for some to thrive on a bit more and in particular mentioning Dathan Ritzenheim. In 2000/2001 the US had a truly prodigious year group (Webb/Hall/Ritz- each an American record holder now over the Mile/HM/5000 respectively) with Tegenkamp only a year earlier and this has driven the resurgence to a high degree from a low in 2000 with only two qualifiers for the Olympic marathon.

Harvey believes strongly in the approach outlined above. We give a huge amount away to the Kenyans in terms of aerobic miles run by the age of 20 and believes that the only way forward is volume driven to take us closer to what we did in the 80s as opposed to the interval driven approach which was dominant in the US in the 90s and is still present in the UK to a lesser degree. In particular he stressed the use of the internet in particular mentioning Letsrun and Flotrack for showing athletes across the country how others were training and fostering a very positive almost community aspect. As young athletes see the sort of mileage that is capable of by their peers it generally encouraged them to try and emulate them and look at being competitive on a national stage as opposed to just beating their class-mates. Whilst this philosophy could be altered in the UK (and some I'm sure would argue it already has been) a serious problem for us is that whilst remaining minority sports XC is much more seriously taken in the US particularly in High School and also in University. Harvey would strongly recommend now that many UK athletes take the advantages of a Collegiate education as it essentially allows them to run as near professional for 4 years with superb medical back up and coaching though he also stressed that he would only recommend it at certain institutions. He also pointed out that athletes must be aware that racing demands and the like would be made on them over those 4 years but that after that they have the rest of their career to race exactly the way they want.

Harvey highlighted that there were problems in the US system and in particular that lots of US athletes were now being attracted at a very early age towards the marathon and not particularly reaping the rewards. Ritzenheim didn't run to his enormous potential after being tempted into a very early début at New York and has since run much better once stepping back down to the track (Ritz of course being coached at Colorado by Mark Wetmore (of Running with the Buffaloes with high aerobic mileage usually in singles) and then Brad Hudson before finally shifting to Salazar) with a blitzing 12:56 5000 and World Half bronze in 60:00 (a superb turnaround from a 2:10:00 London Marathon) however it was also agreed that the huge aerobic base he put down had helped him in his current shorter races. Likewise Hall who was struggling post-collegiately had a fantastic turnaround with a mileage focused approach leading to a 59:43 HM at Houston and an American record in a totally solo run. Following this though, and despite some very strong marathon performances, he has started to look flat, particularly at the Olympics after running London in a superb 2:06 and subsequently at Boston and New York despite respectable finishes, and Harvey also believes that maximising 5/10,000 speed before stepping up, given that he believes you generally run your best marathon as your second or third, is absolutely crucial. Of course quibbling as to whether a 2:06 marathon or a 12:56 5000m is a better result for an athlete is a place British Endurance would love to be at the moment.

He makes it sound very simple but when you try and drill a little deeper you find the wealth of knowledge there.