Double Up Training

By double up training I’m referring to doing two quality training sessions back to back on consecutive days. Most athletes tend to follow a hard day of training with an easy day, however, depending on what you have done on your hard day, it is possible for athletes to train hard on consecutive days, particularly if you have a good support system around you. I’ve heard of athletes who train really hard for half a week and then take it easy for the rest of the week, it all depends on how your body copes with hard training and how strong you are physically and mentally.

I was coached on the hard/easy principle and it works well for me, I can, and do, train hard but if it’s been a long and hard session my body, usually, can’t cope with anything more than an easy run the next day. I run to a pattern, quality runs on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, Friday is a day off running and the rest are steady to easy running. Most runners have their hard weekday runs on Tuesday and Thursdays, I’m just different. It’s not because I’m anti-social, I used to do the Tuesday/Thursday thing, but the Monday/Wednesday thing stems from a time when I was working really long hours and could never guarantee I would be able to get a run on certain days, starting on a Monday meant if I couldn’t manage a run that day I still had plenty of time to try to fit in two quality runs and if I could run on Monday it was in the bag already. I’ve stuck to the pattern and it gives me that extra recovery before a Saturday race or, if I fancy, an opportunity to throw in an extra quality session before a Sunday race.

There are, however, times when I have doubled up my quality sessions, but I know my body is only capable of doing this for a short period of time. For this same reason I never run two legs in a relay and rarely run two races on two consecutive days. I know plenty of runners who do but I just can’t, and I accept that. In fact another thing that amazes me is how sprightly some runners jog down after a race, I’m usually so spent I can barely move, though usually this is for races over 5 miles or more.

This first time I tried double up training was in 1995 when I first visited New Zealand. I was being coached by Arthur Bruce at the time and, knowing that I would be travelling a lot when I got to New Zealand, he suggested I did a little bit of fartlek most days to keep me ticking over. It was as simple as that so I just formulated my own training based on what space I could find. I did two, three and even four consecutive days of repetitions in the morning, but these were short duration. I then did another, easy, run in the evening. In between sessions I’d be sightseeing and travelling. After a few days I needed a rest or just went on a long run, it all depended on what I had planned for the day and what the scenery provided in terms of running. I came back to England on 16 March and six weeks later I set my 3000m pb, taking a silver medal in the South of England Champs. So ever since then I’ve utilised this type of training leading up to an important short race.

This last week I’ve been to Spain again, Carole needed a break and with a big short race coming up I thought it would be an ideal chance to use my double up sessions. Knowing the area well I knew exactly what I was going to do before I went, the sessions I did were as follows; on one day (1 min – 30 sec rec – 2 min – 1 min rec – 3 min – 1 min rec x 3), on the next day (20 x 1min – 15 sec recovery) and on the 3^rd day I did a session of 30 second sprints with Carole, at her pace, with 15 seconds recovery. Then I’d repeat this, although 2^nd time round I did 21 x 1 minute reps. The 7^th day would normally be a rest day but as we weren’t flying back until the evening I threw in another session of 1,2,3. To round it all off the first day back I finished off with another 21 x 1 minute. Now I was tired but had planned an easier week this week. I felt that I’d been training really well all week, the road surface had given me back the pace that the soft grass of Tatton Park had dulled and my body didn’t seem so tired as it had been recently, until the end of the week.

Monday I planned an easy 8, only it wasn’t, 3.5 miles in and my back spasmed. It was just a quick spasm but I could feel the tenderness for the rest of the way home. I’d known my body was tired and I guess all the stress on the hamstrings had come back to haunt me. The pain got worse throughout the day and I spent a sleepless night twinging every time I moved. I took Tuesday off but hit the kettlebells, I find it helps my back whenever I get a spasm, and so it appears to have done. It’s now Wednesday, I managed a run this morning, albeit a slow one, followed by another session of kettlebells. I’m hoping I can run properly tomorrow as I’m due to train with Lee Riley as he gears up for his next challenge, the 10k world record, carrying his 40lb pack.

Speaking of Lee, one of the things I missed by going away was his attempt on the 5000m world record, carrying the 40lb pack. But I can report that on Sunday 4 November Lee was successful in breaking the record with his time of 20 min 1.86 sec, agonisingly close to breaking 20 minutes. So another world record goes to Lee Riley, that’s his 5^th, hopefully that figure will soon be up to 6 with the 10k.

Another race I missed was the British and Irish Masters International Cross Country Championships which was held this Saturday in Belfast. This year I didn’t put myself forward, the hamstring injury I suffered in the summer prevented me from feeling confident I would make the team so when Carole requested a November holiday I planned it around this event because I thought that I’d have an easier chance of making the Herne Hill team for the British Masters Cross Country Relay Champs. Of course that was before I decided it was time to move on and join Salford. Still it was good to see many of my friends performing well at the event. I was particularly pleased to see Andy Robinson representing England in the M45s. I first met Andy in the early 90s, when he was running some great races, it was a big boost for me when, in 1993, I finished 2 seconds ahead of him on first leg of the TVH relays, but he remained a challenge to beat for some time. Middle age and children slowed Andy down for a few years but since he turned 40 I’ve noticed an improvement in form and he’s now looking as formidable as I remember. It would be interesting to see how I would fare against him in a race now.  

I also missed the Manchester Cross Country League on Saturday, which means I’m drifting down the Salford championship tables.

  

One other event I couldn’t take part in was the National Cross Country Relays, held at Mansfield on 3 November. It was fantastic to see my old team, Belgrave Harriers, win the event again. Mind you it would be even better to see my current team, Salford Harriers, take that title one day. Interestingly, whilst I’ve been a member of Belgrave Harriers, Herne Hill Harriers and Edinburgh AC, each team became National Champions. So with that in mind I’m hoping to continue with my string of good fortune and see Salford Harriers become national champions again.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Don’t Plant a Seed Then Keep Digging It Up To See If It’s Growing!

A useful piece of advice one of my coaches, Arthur Bruce, used to give out. What he meant by this was if you’re injured don’t keep testing it to see if it’s mended otherwise you’ll have to keep starting from scratch again. I often think of this advice when I’m injured, but there are times when I disregard it. It’s not that I’m impatient, though of course I am when it comes to running, it’s just that you sometimes have to take a calculated risk, due to an upcoming event.

But lets start this story at the beginning, Monday 30 July 2012, less than 3 weeks to the biggest race of my year. Things have been going well for weeks, I’ve been getting fitter and faster week by week and along the way I’ve picked up 2 British Masters Championship bronze medals. The knee problem that plagued me in 2011 seems to have taken a long holiday and I’m relatively niggle free. Ok, recently I’ve noticed a couple of twinges but after the championship I plan to ease off. Oh yes I did get a bit of a bigger twinge in the hamstring towards the end of the parkrun I ran on Saturday, but it didn’t last and I took Sunday off to go walking slowly in the Cheshire Peak.

Before my own training run, on this fateful day, I’d been out with my longest standing, and currently eldest, client, and we’d smashed her pb over a 4 mile circuit by 2 minutes. I was feeling great. Then I went for my training run, a set of 5 x 3 minutes flat out with 3 minutes recovery. I was flying, I used the same circuit that I use for when I’m training Ray and the first rep is uphill, but I didn’t care I was smashing it. The next rep started downhill and then went up another hill, I was using the downhill to good effect and then I got a slight twinge in the hamstring, just like at the parkrun. The twinge was gone as quick as it came and I pushed on through, I reached the top of the hill and had less than 30 seconds of the rep to go so I pushed on hard and then it happened, a sharp pain in my hamstring, it felt like someone had gripped it and pulled it sideways. I stopped immediately, despite having 7 seconds of my rep left (runners will understand that). I stretched and pressed and there was a dull ache. I knew I couldn’t continue but I could jog so I jogged back home.

Funnily enough at this point I wasn’t too bothered. It could be a tear, but I thought it more likely a pull and not that serious as I was able to jog. I’d give it a few days rest and see how it was. Actually that wasn’t strictly the case as I had a couple of running clients coming in the evening, but they’re beginners so it shouldn’t be too stressful. The run went well, the two ladies made progress, but my hamstring was sore. It was time to cancel all other running sessions I had planned for the week.

As the days progressed I lightly stretched the hamstring, I stopped myself from using the kettlebells, as I’m quite vigorous with them. Each day I could sense it getting stronger but I was getting more and more frustrated. Come Friday I thought it was strong enough to try it out so I hit the treadmill, that way if there was any problem I wouldn’t have to walk a long way back. I was planning 8k, nice and easy, but I just can’t do treadmills slow and before long I was running sub 6 minute mile pace. I got to 4k and I could feel it starting to pull a little, so I slowed down, then it eased so I continued to 6k. At that point I decided to stop.

That afternoon the leg was a bit tender and I was thinking I should take another break. But the next morning it felt good again so I decided to go out from home. This time I’d make sure I didn’t go too quickly by going with Carole. I managed about 5 minutes with Carole but I couldn’t go slow enough and she was starting to breathe heavily. So in the interest of marital harmony I decided to drop her and push the pace a little. As the run went on I found I was comfortably pain free so managed to increase the pace to quite a reasonable one. In the end I did 6 miles and no problems encountered with the hamstring, I could replant it and let it grow for another day.

The next day was Sunday, I was up early but too early for the marathon so I decided I was going to do a decent length run at a decent pace. Just over an hour later I returned, having covered about 9.5 miles and feeling good. No problems with the hamstring, tomorrow I’d try some reps again, slower than last week with short recoveries, to stop me blasting them.

Monday, after another run with my client, this time slightly slower than last week, I was off to do my own reps. I’d decided on 5 x 3mins with a minute recovery but then realised this wasn’t long enough for a 10k session so I changed my mind to 7 x 3mins. I hit the first rep tentatively but built up the speed as I went on. Everything felt fine, I continued at a slightly faster rep pace, then towards the end of the 5^th rep I felt my hamstring pull again. This time it wasn’t as big a pull as before but I was clearly unable to continue, I even struggled to jog back to the car.

So what do I do now? I need to come up with a strategy of keeping myself fit, whilst laying off the speed work. I’ve done enough quality over the last few weeks to ensure I’m in good condition but I need to be able to complete the race at race pace and it might, therefore, be better to just run at 6 minute mile pace during the interim and hope I have the memory to run quicker in the event. The worst thing I could do is pull the muscle during the race and then miss my first few months as a Salford Harrier (I tore my hamstring just after I joined Herne Hill and it was torturous waiting to make my debut in the Red & Black). Oh well ce la vie, maybe it’s time to take Arthur’s advice, I might even put down some compost.

What else has been happening this weekend; well there was a big event going on fairly local, the Meerbrook 15k, Katy was running in that and, despite the fact that I had to cancel on her for Tuesday’s session, she managed a huge pb by more than 6 minutes, 1:13:36. There was also the usual fun up at Pennington Flash, where my great rival, Jeff Whittington, decided to do what I couldn’t last week, improve the age graded record, putting it even further away from my grasp. Oh and then there was the Olympics, great stuff from Jess, the medal was never in doubt once she’d finished the javelin. Sympathetically hair coloured Greg Rutherford was fantastic in the long jump, in his pre-event interview he sounded confident enough to win and I believed him, honest. Then the one us distance runners had been waiting for, Mo Farah in the 10000m. I was nervous for Mo as I could see the multiple runners from African nations running to spoil it for Mo, as had happened with Cav in the cycling, but Mo ran an extremely mature and confident race and won superbly. Well done Mo, now go do the double.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Best Made Plans……

I’m a planner, I like to think things through and look for the best path to take to get to where I‘m going. I use lists a lot and like to have a clear picture of what I’m aiming for. For some years I worked as a Planning Consultant, probably the most enjoyable working years of my IT life, though I enjoyed working in Change Management too, because I also like change, as long as it’s well planned. As an athlete I often had a plan that I worked with, particularly during my most successful years. During the more chaotic years in my career, it caused chaos in my training as I was unable to sustain a plan so tended to drift from race to race.

Having a plan doesn’t mean that plan can’t change, there always has to be flexibility and an ability to seize the opportunity. One of my biggest wins came when I had to change my plans and switch to a different race. This was in 1993, I’d had a good winter under the coaching of Arthur Bruce. He thought it would be good if I were to get an early season win under my belt and we planned for the Belgrave 10000m championship, which was usually held around early May. However, for some reason, the Belgrave committee decided to switch the 1993 event to later in the year, so Arthur suggested I went for the Surrey Championship 10000m instead. Because the Surrey’s were attended by some great athletes, including many international runners, in those days, Arthur suggested I hang onto the coat tails of other athletes and get carried to a good time, for the sake of boosting my confidence. So I turned out, with many of Surrey’s best athletes, and hung onto the back end of the leading pack. Lap by lap I hung on in there, not listening to the lap times but concentrating on matching the pace of the athletes in front. Athletes in that front pack started to drift off the back and I’d go round them so I was still at the back of the lead pack. Eventually there was only one man in front of me, International marathon runner, Mike Boyle. I was in a position I didn’t expect to be in and my competitor was an athlete whom I had a great deal of respect for, and believed he was much better than me. But with 3 laps to go I felt fresh and somehow managed to come level with Mike. Now that Mike knew who was tracking him I thought this might give him a confidence booster as I was a relatively unknown athlete to him, so I decided to make a long run for home, increasing the pace just enough to stretch away from Mike and take my first big win. So I got the win and improved my 10000m time by 2 mins, my confidence was high and a few weeks later I found myself in the UK 3000m final, where I came last.

If you’ve been following the blog lately you’ll know that I’m currently working to a 12 week plan, which I’m hoping will serve me well at the European Elderly Athlete Championships. As I sit here today, I have five more weeks of that plan to go, but it hasn’t all been smooth.

It started off well enough, week by week I’ve been getting stronger and faster, and this has been showing in my races, which included a bronze medal at the British Old Age Pensioner 5k race. Alas, two weeks ago I suffered the first blow to my plan. It was during my last treadmill session, which I mentioned in my last blog. I’d just increased the number of reps I was doing and was operating at the fastest pace I could. It was a tough session for me but I hung in there and managed to finish it, tired but in one piece. I was completely spent but that was the aim. The next morning my left calf was stiff. I’ve been there before and I knew it would ease up in time so I wasn’t unduly concerned, in fact I went for a long run in Tatton Park.

The following day it was still tight and I had a hard session planned for that evening. I was due to go to Spain the next day, for some hot weather training, and was due to use the travel day as my rest day, so I didn’t want to miss my Thursday session. And that was my downfall, the calf eased off after a bit of running but the hard work was too much and it seized up again later that evening.

You get an instinct for injuries and I knew this wasn’t a pull or a tear, just a very tired muscle. I’ll admit I was a little concerned but I went off to Spain confident that I would be able to run out there. After the day of rest my calf didn’t feel any better, so I took another day off and just did bodyweight exercises, cherry picking some of my favourite and most challenging ones. It was now two days without a run, I know that would drive some of my friends nuts but I chilled out, used the pool, did my shade bathing and read my kindle. I was so relaxed I wasn’t even bothered by the role reversal that was occurring, Carole was out running whilst I was lounging about, she even started making the dinner, which maybe I ought to have been a little bothered about.

Into day 3, and the calf was feeling a lot better, so I thought I’d try a run. I decided on a short run, that way I wouldn’t be too far from home if something wasn’t right, but within 2 minutes I could tell my calf was going to be ok so I changed direction. I had a sudden desire to do a quality session but I resisted temptation, instead heading uphill to the top of the village. It was hot but I was running within myself, I felt good and was enjoying myself, something I can’t always say when I’m running easy, on my own. The views from the top were worth the run up, though the downhills did put a bit more pressure on my calf. A good plus was that on the way home I found a newly tarmaced area that looked perfect for doing my quality sessions on. Run over, the legs felt fine, if there was no reaction tomorrow I’d be back doing the good stuff.

Day 4 and my legs felt fine, I was raring to go. I decided to do this week’s treadmill session, but obviously without the treadmill. I aimed for the new training area I’d spotted and reached it just as my 6 minute warm-up came to an end, so I started my first rep. Long reps, taken hard, with long easy recoveries. The first one started into the wind and it was hot, which is exactly what I wanted. After a couple of minutes I was out of the wind but now climbing up a long steady hill. It was hard work but I kept the pressure on, knowing I was getting a long recovery after, and boy did I need that. That was just how it felt when I was doing it in the gym, so I must be close to the correct pace. At the start of the next rep I was recovered enough and it was downhill for the bulk of it, so I felt a little better. By the end of the session I was pretty much done in, it was hot and I could feel my body temperature rising. I deliberately hadn’t taken any water out with me as I want to get my body used to working hard when in a state of minor dehydration, so now I was keen to get back to my base. The good news, my calf was ok.

So that was it I did another quality session two days later, shorter reps, shorter recoveries and more of them, after which I was again done in, no shade around either of my training courses. With two steady runs in between the quality runs I finished off on my last day with a shorter quality session, by now my legs were aching so I didn’t want to overdo it.

And then it was back home, using the travelling day as a rest day. Back to the rain and cooler temperatures of home. We’d watched the TV once during our stay in Spain, that was the European Football Cup Final. It was a good final to watch, for a non football fan, the score failing to give credit to how well the Italians played, but the Spanish were the better team and once Italy were down to 10 men it was no contest. I also tend to keep my phone turned off when abroad, giving me a little reminder of how life used to be before we all started carrying them around, how peaceful. What that meant, however, was that we were completely unaware of what was going on in the UK, whilst we trained in the sunshine and heat of Spain, my friends back in the UK were running in the rain. We were unaware of the controversy around the Olympic team selections, didn’t realise Andy Murray had made it to the Wimbledon final, though I was wondering how Bradley Wiggins was getting on in the Tour de France, I have high hopes, he’s my kind a guy, tough but scrawny and a bit ginger.

There was live music on three nights, two don’t really warrant a mention but a guy called Curtis was recreating rock music at Lo Marabou (an English style pub). He was pretty good, though he did have a propensity to follow the lead of many a 70’s guitarist and play ‘off-piste’ a bit too much. I’d recommend him, if you like rock music, http://www.ghostpromotions.com/

So back in the country and it was time to catch up and watch some sport. I’m not a tennis fan so I went off to do something else and wait for my turn to watch Moto GP and the British GP, whilst Carole watched the tennis. I did see bits, and in those Murray seemed to have some good play but he was outclassed by Federer. Bradley Wiggins had taken the yellow jersey, that was good news but it’s going to be a battle to keep it from Cadel Evans. F1 was a bit disappointing for a Brit but it was good to see Webber get past Alonso for the victory, I still have Moto GP to watch, only so many hours…..

Incidentally, yesterday I ran this week’s treadmill session on my old course and felt like I was absolutely flying. True it was hard work, it has to be, but the main thing is I had no reaction from the calf. So a minor change and we’re back on track.

Finally I thought I’d mention the book that an old friend and colleague, from my Belgrave days, has just published. I haven’t read it yet, it came out just before I went to Spain and I’m considering getting the kindle version, but I’m very interested to read it and I’m sure many of my running friends would be too. The book is called ‘British Marathon Running Legends of the 1980s’ by Gabrielle Collison (ISBN 978-0-9572186-0-4). It’s going to be on Amazon and there will be kindle and pdf versions available. I’ll be aiming to do a bit of a review when I get my copy and get a chance to read it, I’ve only just got round to reading Shackleton’s attempt to cross the Antarctic and that was written almost 100 years ago.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Fartlek Training

Ever heard of fartlek training? Ever tried it? If not then now is your chance to find out something about it and give it a try. I was introduced to fartlek when I joined Arthur Bruce’s training group in January 1992. Like anything new, it was hard work, plus I’d just come back from an injury lay-off so I was completely unfit. But even when I got fit again it was still hard work, because you make it hard work. Despite being hard work, many Saturday afternoons we’d return to the Belgrave changing rooms absolutely cream crackered, I loved it. Mind you I do have a tendency to love hard training sessions.

I always had an idea about the origins of fartlek but never the full story so for the sake of accuracy I did a little research, I didn’t spend a lot of time on it so it may still be slightly inaccurate, but it makes a good story. Fartlek, which means ‘speed play’ in Swedish, though I’m no linguist so perhaps my Swedish reader might have a different interpretation, is supposed to be an unstructured session of varying length and varying speed repetitions, in effect you are playing with the variants to make the training hard for your body. It was created in 1937 by Swedish coach, Gosta Holmer (apologies for inaccuracy here due to using an English keyboard). Apparently the Swedes had become a bit cheesed off by being beaten by the Finns throughout the 1920s so designed this programme of training to help them improve. Arthur told me that when he started training with fartlek, the more established runners at Belgrave asked him why he kept stopping and starting.     

That’s the history lesson over, the rest is about my fartlek experiences. I prefer a more structured approach to fartlek, I’m a planner by nature and want to know where I’m going, however I can see the benefit of the unstructured approach too.

Our group ran 4 different fartlek sessions. The original, and best, was the one we used to run on a Sunday morning (later switched to Saturday afternoon), which went from the clubhouse, onto Wimbledon Common (where the first two repetitions took place), then across to Richmond Park (where a further five repetitions took place), back onto Wimbledon Common (for the final two repetitions) and back to the club house. It was a total distance of 10-11 miles and repetitions ranged from about 45m to 1 mile. The first repetition was run more as a build up and the last one was either a flat out sprint or, if you were too knackered, a half effort. All the other repetitions were taken flat out.

The repetitions were a mixture of uphill, flat and downhill and were all on the grass, except one which was on a compacted gravel path. Just after the mid point, both in distance and repetition number, was the long one, we called it the White House as it finished at the White Lodge. I guess we could have called it the White Lodge but that would have failed to inspire our creativity. This one was feared by some but I loved it and made it my own. It had all the elements, up, down and flat and the aim was to complete it in under 5 minutes, it was the only repetition we timed. Not many people managed the sub 5 clocking but I had a collection of sub 5 timings and held the training group record of 4:50, I was helped along by a herd of stampeding deer on that day.

At the end of the fartlek we’d go back to the club house, shattered, have a shower, a cup of tea and a slice of cake. It’s at this point that we would plot our future races and the old boys would tell us tales of how it used to be in the 1950s. I often nodded off, not from boredom as these boys had many an inspirational tale, but from a tiredness induced by the run. It was the perfect end to a training run, though I suspect crashing out in a comfy chair by a log fire with a pint of bitter would come close.

In the winter we’d do a fartlek session around Tooting Common on a Thursday evening, but after a while we switched to Battersea Park, I can’t remember why perhaps it was the interference of the prostitutes who would hang around the Tooting course. In the Summer we’d do a shorter version around Wimbledon Common, in the Thursday evening slot.

They were all fun and got you fit, you were encouraged, by each other, to give your all in each repetition and it certainly got you fit. With the odd exception, the fact that they were based on effort and not time meant you didn’t have any negativity comparing times week against week. You knew you’d always given it your best, and if not, then there was usually a good reason for it.

I haven’t done a fartlek for many years, but as I trained in Tatton Park, the other week, I was thinking what a good place it would be to have one.

This weekend I contested the Lymm 5k, another race put on by those lovely lot at Spectrum Striders. I’d never done this one before but heard it was a tough course, so I wasn’t expecting a particularly fast time and set my sights on a sub 17 clocking. I set off to get there about an hour before the start, but misjudged how easy it was and ended up one and three quarter hours before the off. Luckily, when I’m in race mode I don’t get bored. I was also experimenting, Ray had given me a couple of caffeine shots to try. I’ve never taken any before and wasn’t sure what benefit I’d get. I tried my first one on this week’s treadmill session and I flew, but would I have flown anyway? So I took the shot before the start. I’m still undecided what effect it had on me but I surprisingly found myself in the lead by the first turn, I’m not entirely sure how that happened but I wasn’t going to hold back on a downhill section, unlike my younger, faster, competitors, who seemed to be asleep. I reached 1k in 2:57, was that the caffeine? I knew it was a little fast but hey, nothing ventured. Then people started to overtake me, but only 6. It was a hilly course, but not that bad, in fact I really enjoyed the race. I was slower than recent times, but so were three of the guys in front, who also did Hollins Green, and my older competitors Graham MacNeil and Mike Hatton. It was a 16:48 clocking, nothing to write home about but I was 7^th in the race and 1^st M45 again. Unfortunately we couldn’t hang around for the presentations so missed seeing the various friends getting their overall prizes, My mate Louise Blizzard had another good run to come in 1^st lady, she was also slower than at Hollins Green so I think I justify my time. We had an evening do to go to, an Abba Tribute night at Cottons Hotel.

Well that was fun, Carole is a big Abba fan so I thought I’d treat her, and it was a good laugh, the food was excellent and they served a good pint of draught Thwaites bitter. There was a hen night there so you can imagine what fun it was. A late night and then an early morning the next day as I fitted in a 9 mile run before a day out at a charity event with my parents. Another good meal and the generous portions took me back to a time when I used to compete against James Ryle and Bruce Barton to see who could eat the most servings without gaining any weight. Happy memories.

Also on Sunday, Katy was running the Stone 10k and set a new pb, 44:02.

This week it is week 5 of my 12 week plan, it starts to get tougher as I added another repetition. I was in the gym this morning, it was hot there today and I struggled a bit, but, despite wanting to ease off, I pushed through, using all the psychology in my armoury to keep at it. But boy was I done for at the end, so done for I could only manage one round of kettlebells. So I went for a swim to cool off and then into the spa pool to massage the legs and then a sauna to remind me of the old days in Germany. Then, with my client late, I managed to finish off the other kettlebell sets. I’ve got three more weeks of this before the plan gets tweaked again. It’s getting tough but that’s what I need to be if I’m to beat the best. 

Written by Roger Alsop
http://www.rogeralsop.co.uk/

Join The Club

Running can be seen as a very individual pursuit. If you want to run you just do it, no need to book a court or organise 10 other men and an opposite team to play against. You don’t need company and if you really get bored of looking at scenery or want to avoid what’s going on around you, you can always use a MP3 player. But it doesn’t have to be so, running is a great way to meet like minded people and an opportunity to meet people with widely different beliefs and lifestyles in an unforced scenario. The best way to meet these like minded people is by joining a club. These days the choice of club is almost endless, not just the traditional harrier clubs of my generation but also many new clubs born from the jogging boom and there are also some clubs that cater for a specific aspect, e.g. marathon runners or women only clubs.

There are so many benefits you can get from joining a club you should seriously consider it. What are these benefits?

• You’ll meet people.
• Learn from others.
• Be able to enter races that are club only races.
• Get reduced entry to races.
• Reduced prices of running kit.
• Have company on your run.
• Try different runs.
• Get involved in social activities.
• Run as part of a team in races.
• Win things as part of a team, that you wouldn’t do as an individual.

But don’t just join up with the first club that you come across, check out a number of them, think about what is important to you and if it is offered by that club. Go along to a few of their training nights and meet the people that you will be running with.

When I began running, in the last century, I was very lucky in my choice of club. I really didn’t know what I was looking for other than I wanted to be part of a team and run with people. I had no idea what clubs did, had no concept of racing, but I just knew that I wanted to be active. As I’ve mentioned in a previous blog I had no idea how good I could be so I was just looking for a local club, having come from a background of hockey and football I didn’t want to just run on my own. Hercules Wimbledon was my club of choice, but only because a friend had recommended them, but, with Hercules being shut on the night I chose to approach them, I ended up around the corner at Belgrave Harriers. Neither club meant anything to me, at the time, in fact I doubt that I knew the names of any clubs other than Crewe and Nantwich. But I didn’t sign up with Belgrave on day 1, I went along to training on a number of occasions before deciding that I’d fit in. Lucky for them because I certainly didn’t feel that way after my first run with them.

Belgrave are one of the more traditional clubs that date back to the 19^th century and have a solid history of achievement behind them. At the time I joined they weren’t really an ideal club to join if you were more of a social runner but luckily I was interested in getting the best out of myself so it was a good choice for me. Since then things have changed and it caters for a wider choice of runner and even has a triathlon section. Belgrave fulfilled everything I was after and as I improved as a runner so my ambitions got bigger, luckily I found that Belgrave fulfilled those too so I didn’t have any desires to join anyone else. Of course it was nice to join up with other runners from different teams to run for your County or for NatWest Bank but all of the benefits I mentioned earlier were there for me in Belgrave. During the 16 years I was at Belgrave I met many different people from all walks of life and got friendly with many top British and International runners, who represented the club, as well as many of my opponents from other clubs. My introduction to the coaching of Arthur Bruce changed my life, changed my attitude towards training and, to some degree, my philosophy on living and is responsible for many of the good things I have achieved (I won’t blame him for the bad things I have done or the failures that have occurred, they were all my own doing). Back in the day races tended to be organised much more around the clubs, they were generally organised by the clubs for club athletes. Admittedly the London Marathon, which created the jogging boom in Britain, had been going for seven years but the huge choice of charity 10ks just wasn’t around in those days. So most of the races I entered were on the track, cross country or established road races. These days it’s much easier to feel part of the setup without belonging to a club, but I’d still recommend it for all the advantages it holds.

For a long time I didn’t enter many road races, I considered myself a track and field athlete, but if I did I saved money on the basis that I was registered with a club, this still occurs today, not in every race, and it’s about a £2 saving, not a lot but if you enter a lot of races it adds up. Another benefit I’ve enjoyed over the years is reduced price kit, most independent sports retailers and some chains will give you a 10% or more reduction off the price of non sale items. I also happened to be at Belgrave at the time that we started up a Sports Promotional Company, in fact I was Company Secretary at inauguration. One of the sidelines was selling adidas kit, which was reduced to members of the club.

Club training is usually fixed to times that benefit the majority of the clubs members. For most clubs this tends to be Tuesday and Thursday nights and Saturday and Sunday, sometime during the day. But for me, once I’d become established at Belgrave, I had a key giving me access to the club, so I could arrange to meet likewise runners at the club on other occasions. As a beginner it was a great way to meet different people and progress from pack to pack. It was good to have people to take me on runs I’d not thought of doing, there were always some established routes that were like folklore. The other thing I enjoyed at Belgrave was that there was always tea and cake available, in the clubhouse, on a Saturday afternoon, a good chance to chat with other members and catch up on some of the tales of past races and current injuries.

Most clubs have a social aspect too, at Belgrave there were times when it was very active. There was a Social Secretary who’s job it was to utilise the Hall, which is a good space, for social activities and there were various things going on. At some point my wife and a lady named Nina were on the social committee and by default I became the resident barman, which also entailed buying in stock and recycling empty bottles. We’d start the year off with a Burns night, which was always great fun, with one of the Queen’s chefs doing the catering, a piper, a band (The Roods – who were fantastic) and, naturally, haggis, neeps, tatties and whisky, plus wine and beer if you wanted it. In the Summer there was a race night with fish and chip supper, Autumn would bring a cocktail evening and then Winter would see the annual darts tournament, for the Denmark Pot, followed a few weeks later by the annual dinner and dance. In fact Belgrave Hall was such a good venue I used it for my wedding reception, which was a great success.

The main thing I got out of being in a club was the fact that I wasn’t just running as an individual, I was part of a team too and it was always nice to make a difference to that team. It’s a great feeling to win, but it can be a lonesome celebration as an individual, celebrating a team win with your team mates and supporters is much more fun. Being part of Belgrave enabled me to win medals that I couldn’t have achieved as an individual, and the same can be said for my time in Edinburgh AC and now with Herne Hill.

I was very fortunate to be at Belgrave when I was, it was a transitioning period from being a good club that had potential, to becoming the top club in the UK, and I was in at the thick of it. I was road and cross country captain for a number of years, a regular at the top events, including representing Belgrave in European competition and spent two years on committee as club secretary. I loved being a part of the club and had no desire to leave, until I turned 40. At that point I could see no future at the club for me, as an aging runner so had to make the painful decision to resign and say goodbye to a possible term as President.

As an elderly man I still had a desire to race, and not just for fun, I was still competitive. Belgrave had some talented M40 men, with more to come just a few years down the line, but there just didn’t seem to be anybody embracing masters athletics, other than Charlie Dickinson and myself. So I made the decision to look elsewhere. Initially, I still wanted to retain my membership of, and ability to race for, Belgrave, so I looked north of the border to Cambuslang. But I didn’t know anyone at Cambuslang and I thought I was maybe getting a bit too serious joining a Scottish club with no link to Scotland, just so I could stay a member of Belgrave. After a chat with Andy Lea-Gerrard, I decided the sensible thing would be to join my local rival club, Herne Hill Harriers. Whilst it would mean I would have to leave Belgrave, at least I was staying local, I also knew a number of the guys at Herne Hill and, whilst fierce rivals on the race track, counted a number of them as friends. They also had some very good runners in or approaching the masters age group, to which I would make a significant difference. So that was it, I handed in my notice at Belgrave, went to Australia for a few weeks and came back a Herne Hill Harrier. I was made very welcome at Herne Hill, of course I wasn’t the first to leave Belgrave for Herne Hill, two of my mates, Kevin Quinn and Owain Lewis had preceded me. Within a matter of months, and despite having torn my hamstring, Herne Hill did become British Masters Champions, with me making a contribution.

I was happy at Herne Hill, it was nice to be local, unfortunately I hadn’t banked on the mid-life crisis, caused by my wife leaving me. This shook my whole life up and I just felt I needed to get away from London. I considered going back to contracting or even looking at a possibility of looking for work abroad and as it turned out that’s exactly what happened. When my bosses at RBS heard what my thoughts were they promoted me and shipped me up to Edinburgh. It wasn’t what I was looking for but luckily I fell in love with Edinburgh, even if I wasn’t always happy there. Being in Scotland meant I could run first claim for both a Scottish and an English club, so I chose to stay at Herne Hill, even if it meant I wouldn’t race for them too often. I wasn’t in a hurry to join a Scottish club because I wanted to focus on my new job, which was quite demanding and stressful, but as it transpired Edinburgh AC got to me first, courtesy of Jim Buick and that proved to be another very successful club relationship.        

My stay in Edinburgh was all too short, I met Carole and fell in love. She was much more in demand than I was and, soon after, she was offered a new job in Cheshire. I could have had a tough decision on my hands, afterall I’d escaped from Cheshire when I was 18, but any decision was made much easier when RBS made me an offer I would have been a fool to refuse and even if I was a fool I didn’t actually have a choice. Still being made redundant meant I didn’t have to bother resigning and whilst many other people, who were made redundant, were unhappy or took time off with work related stress, I went into work each day with a huge smile on my face.

I’ve been back to Cheshire for three years now and we’re settled in Northwich. I’m still at Herne Hill Harriers, not with Edinburgh AC although I retain a link with many friends there – two long distance clubs would just be silly. I’ve thought about joining a local club, it was tempting to join Salford, as I have a number of friends there but I don’t really want to leave Herne Hill and running 2^nd claim doesn’t make me eligible to represent the teams so what’s the point. I already have a good relationship with the runners from Vale Royal AC and South Cheshire Harriers, so at least I know some local runners to chat to at races.  

It may be that you feel that a running club isn’t for you, it can be a bit daunting to go running with people that have been running for years and sessions do tend to be geared up for experienced runners, but it’s always worth checking with your local club and go along to see for a few weeks before making a decision. There is of course a Jog Scotland or Run England option, which cater for beginners. I am a Run Leader at Run England, I haven’t organised a group for a while, I’ve been too busy settling in, but I’m thinking of starting a midweek beginners group in Northwich. It’ll probably be in the spring so if anybody is interested let me know and give me an idea what days and times best suit. You can contact me through the website www.rogeralsop.co.uk.

Today is valentines day and I need to dash off to cook something special for ‘er outdoors, but first I need to pop down to the gym for another cardio session. We decided to stay in this year so I’m doing the catering, making some of Carole’s favourites: (actually she doesn’t know some of them are her favourites, but they will be)

Champagne

Squash and cashew nut soup

Macaroni Cheese with a chilli oil and tomato dressing and garlic mushed mushrooms

Mississippi mud pie (ok I bought that, I attempted a 5 minute chocolate cake in a mug at the weekend and burnt my fingers, I hate microwave cookery).

I’m taking a brief break from blogging, so in case you get bored have a look back on some of the old ones.


Written by Roger Alsop
http://www.rogeralsop.co.uk/

Personal Training

I’ve started watching a show on Channel 4 called ‘The Fat Busters’. I missed the first one, when I saw the write up I thought it would be just another gimmicky weight lose programme featuring people that just aren’t real, so I didn’t bother watching it. However one of my clients made a reference to it so I thought I ought to watch it, if only to explain reasons for not doing some of the things they do, i.e. wearing high heels in the gym. Since then I’ve watched every episode and some of it is a bit gimmicky and some of it is different to the things I do, but, most of the stuff being stated and the training the personal trainers are doing is pretty good stuff and there are a number of things shown that I either do or I would do if I had more space and equipment. So actually it’s not a bad watch and the characters do seem to come across as fairly good Personal Trainers who care about their clients (though editing has clearlytaken place so I can’t be absolutely sure of that), unlike some of the Personal Trainers I’ve come across.

One of the things I found of particular interest, last week, was that Matt (Miller the Pillar), the bodybuilder, used another trainer to help him to achieve his own goals. This is how I got to be a reasonable runner, by the use of expert coaches Arthur Bruce and Dave Lucas, and, although I’m now self coached, I will still, occasionally, try another coach’s session, to try something fresh for me and take the thought process out of the equation. It’s also how I have built up a reputation for training other Personal Trainers, so far I’ve helped four other Personal Trainers to achieve some specific goals.

Why does anyone need a Personal Trainer? We’re all a bit more gym savvy these days and of course there are loads of books, magazines and internet pages available to tell you how to train, so why does anyone need a Personal Trainer?

• A Personal Trainer can review your goals and will know exactly what is required to achieve them and can be quite frank in telling you that.
• A Personal Trainer can devise a specific programme of workouts for you that will help you to achieve your goals.
• He/she can add variety and challenges to your workouts and ensure you are pushed harder as you develop.
• A Personal Trainer will motivate you when times get tough and can ensure you don’t slacken off when the desire takes you.
• A Personal Trainer will ensure you use correct technique and appropriate weight, and work out at an appropriate pace.
• A Personal trainer will advise you on nutrition and other types of exercise you could try.
• A Personal Trainer will introduce you to activities you would never consider yourself.
• A Personal Trainer will cater for any illness or injury you are suffering from.
• A Personal Trainer will always have safety in mind.

When would you use a mobile Personal Trainer instead of a gym based Personal Trainer? Not everybody feels comfortable working out in a gym or in the public eye. That’s when a mobile Personal Trainer comes into play. A mobile Personal Trainer will visit you at a place of your convenience and choice, so that you will already be comfortable before you start. He/she will bring their own equipment with them appropriate to the type of session you will have discussed.

• No need to feel embarrassed to enter a gym.
• No need to pay gym bills.
• No need to queue up to use a particular piece of equipment.
• Use of the Personal Trainer’s equipment will help you to understand what to purchase should you choose to get your own equipment.
• The Personal Trainer may use some different equipment that you won’t have seen at a gym.
• You’re in your own environment and comfort zone.
• No need to travel to a gym.
• You can get fit or lose weight without anyone knowing, until they start to see the transformation.
• You won’t end up watching people with poor form, think it’s normal and copy them.

As you’ll have gathered by now, I am a Personal Trainer, and although I have my own small gym I work as a mobile Personal Trainer. Whilst I have non portable equipment in the gym, which I do use with clients who come to me, I also have a large array of portable equipment that I can take along to client sessions away from the home. I have a mixture of client types, some visit me at my gym base, others will meet me at a convenient location and others will invite me into their home to provide their workout.

But what is it I have to offer that might set me apart from other Personal Trainers?

• I’m qualified to REPS Level 3, and I’m always looking to update my skills and knowledge. I’m also a Run Leader and trained in the use of First Aid and Defib. (if you wish to see the full list of my qualifications in the fitness industry visit www.rogeralsop.co.uk/about-us/roger-s-qualifications).
• I have full liability insurance.
• Although I workout hard myself and work in the fitness industry it is not all consuming in my life and whilst I’m training my clients I’m able to hold a sensible conversation with them about things that are important to them.
• I’m able to understand their lifestyle and adjust the session to fit around any stresses they have been going through.
• I don’t try to sell extras as part of the session, I’ll happily pass on my thoughts on particular products but I won’t plug something just to make money for myself, I only endorse things I truly believe in.
• I’m mature in years and have a wise head that goes with that maturity.
• Whilst I come from an endurance background and do base a lot of my training around endurance principles, I’m well versed in all areas of fitness.
• I’ve trained some of the best; Paratroopers, Royal Marines, Personal Trainers, National Champions, World Record Holders.
• But I’ve also trained relative newcomers, people recovering from injury and retired people.
• Finally, I’m a nice guy, sometimes we do win.

To find out what some of my clients really think of me visit www.rogeralsop.co.uk/home/testimonials

How did I get into personal training? Good question, it was never high on my list of ideal careers, in fact I hated going to gyms, but, as an athlete of many years, who had benefited from some good coaching, I wanted to pass on my experiences and knowledge, to help others to achieve their own success. I held off from becoming a coach for a few years because I was training really hard and also working abroad a lot, so I didn’t feel I could give the commitment I felt was required. Then I became a shift worker, which meant working awkward hours on different days each week, so again I couldn’t make a formal commitment. But at 42, and slowing down in my own running, I decided enough was enough and now was the time to start training to become a coach, even if it meant taking holidays to attend courses. I had to wait a further 9 months before I could get on a course, but qualified at Level 1 fairly quickly. During my training and qualification I helped out with the athletes at Edinburgh AC but found it frustrating that I wasn’t officially allowed to use my own initiative. To get my Level 2, which would give me more freedom, I realised I would have to wait some months with no guarantee of getting on a course that year. I loved working with the athletes, encouraging them and making sure they didn’t get too much recovery between reps, it was this that prompted me to look at an alternative career choice and train to become a Personal Trainer. After all my employers, Royal Bank of Scotland were starting a difficult period, having over exposed themselves, and it was clear that the employees, not Fred, would be the ones to suffer. Knowing that redundancy was a very real possibility I put all my efforts into qualifying as a Personal Trainer, which I achieved in 2009. Since then I’ve worked in a few gyms but found I enjoy the role of mobile Personal Trainer suits me better and I now cover the majority of Cheshire and South Manchester.

Enough about Personal Training, what about my personal training? For the last week I’ve been increasing the intensity of my sessions, both running and the gym work. Not increasing the weights, just working the evening cardio sessions harder. I’m managing to push myself almost to exhaustion in each 5 minute segment but by the time I’ve fixed myself onto the next machine I’m ready to do the same again. I’ve been managing just shy of 1400m in 5 mins on the rower, which is getting closer to where I was in my mid 30s. All this intense cardio is showing benefits in my running, I feel more comfortable when I’m running, even at pace. Today I managed my longest run for ages, 1 hour 30 mins. As I’ve stated before, my knee starts playing up if I run further than the hour but I’ve been working on strengthening the muscles around it. I chose today, for this long run, to empathise with Ray, who was running in the 4 villages half marathon at Helsby, also because Carole is working in India this week so I don’t have to compromise my training. I found it windy as anything on my run, so I’m sure that will impact Ray’s time. Yesterday I was planning to make the trip to Pennington Flash, for the parkrun, but with Ray resting and Carole not feeling too great in the morning I decided against going on my own and did 3 x 10 minute reps with 2 min recoveries (yes Richard Meade I was very generous to myself, but I needed it as the first 18 minutes were into a strong headwind). This coming week I’ve got my old pal and best man, first time round, Al Stewart, visiting. It’s been ages since we last got together so it will be good to catch up. But that’s not going to get in the way of hard work, I’m piling it on now as I’ll be taking a three week period of specific light training and speed work. It’s all part of the grand plan, success doesn’t come by accident.


Written by Roger Alsop
http://www.rogeralsop.co.uk/

Memories of the Surrey 10000m Championship

At the weekend Chris Thompson ran a fantastic 27:27.36 for 10000m at Stanford, California. A time which ranks him 3rd on the UK all time list, behind Jon Brown and Eamonn Martin, though more than a minute off the world best of 26:17.53, held by Kenenisa Bekele, and only ranks as the 363^rd fastest 10000m, at this current time (multiple times by athletes taken into account). Coming up this month are the County Championships. While these would appear to be two completely distinct items, I’ve used a spurious link for this week’s blog, to reminisce about my participation in the Surrey 10000m Championships.

The 10000m is a tough race, both mentally and physically, and feels completely different to running a road race over the same distance. You would think that it would be easier as you can pace yourself every 400m as you run round the oval track 25 times. The track has no undulations, though you do tend to notice the wind more, as it hits you at the same place every lap. The 10000m can be hell as you watch people drifting further away from you, particularly when you can see them a clear 200m ahead of you, and it can be heartbreaking when you get lapped, even worse if you’re lapped by the same person more than once. Having said that, when you’re running well and challenging for position it can be a fantastic feeling to drop off your opponents. I’ve seen some great 10000m races in my time and one can easily conjure up memories of any of Haile Gebrselassie’s races, particularly against Paul Tergat. But one that sits most prominently in my mind is the 10000m at Tooting Bec in 1992, where Paul Evans ran an, almost, solo effort to run a qualifying time for the Barcelona Olympics.

My first experience of this race came in 1990 when I decided to enter the Surrey 10000m Championships. They were held at Woking and I was fairly positive going into the race, I was just into my second year running and had come off an improving cross country season. I had no illusions about where I would finish, I was up against guys that were finishing in the top 15 in the Surrey League, whereas I’d just snuck into 78^th position in the last race. I just wanted to see what I was capable of and I set myself the target time of 35 minutes. I don’t actually remember that much about the race but I was pretty much in no mans land for the bulk of it, not knowing how to pace myself, but I didn’t struggle as I finished in 7^th position in 34:52.1. The race was won by Terry Booth in 32:14.3. Clearly I had a lot in reserve as I ran my next race just over two weeks later in 33:34.7. 

I enjoyed racing, particularly as the distances got longer on the track, so I entered again in 1991. This time the race was held at Norbiton. It was a close race at the front, with my Belgrave team mate, Frank Ward, setting the pace, only to be outkicked over the last lap. Jerry Weightman won the race in 30:59.2, with Terry Booth coming second in 31:02.6 and Frank taking bronze with 31:04.9. I advanced a place to 6^th, running 32:31.3, which was a pb and would remain so for two years.

Having missed the 1992 event, because I’d missed half the winter with injury, I next ran the event in 1993. It was held in Wimbledon Park, at the time I was living in Southfields so I was able to saunter down to the track nice and relaxed. I hadn’t originally intended entering, my coach, Arthur Bruce, was now directing my race choices, to some extent, and he had wanted me to get a good win under my belt. So we had focused on the Belgrave club 10000m championships, but for some reason the club had decided to switch the race to a date later in the year. Arthur suggested I enter this race and see if I could get dragged round for a good time. Again I had no particular hang-ups when I saw the other entrants, as I expected to feature around the same place as the previous two attempts, though I had been running well of late. Some of the entrants had a history; Barry Atwell – someone I didn’t know at the time but he’d been pretty useful over the years, Terry Booth – the 1990 winner and 1991 runner up, Jerry Weightman – the 1991 winner and 1992 runner up, Mike Boyle – former international Marathon runner, Dave Robinson, a new name to me at the time but, as I’ve found out since, there were also a few other runners with decent pedigree.

The race set off at a fairly sedate pace of around 80 seconds a lap. I’d let the big boys sort out the front positions and I was tucked in somewhere around mid field. After about 3 laps of this sedate pace Mike Boyle went to the front and set off on his bid for victory. Mike covered all but the last 3 or 4 laps in an average of 74 seconds. The pack went with him and stuck like glue. I’d missed the initial break but ran consistently for a couple of laps to latch onto the back of the leading pack. Gradually, as we continued at this pace for a number of laps, someone in front of me would drop off the pace and I’d move up one position in the lead group. With seven laps gone there was a sudden surge from Barry Atwell, who ran round the field and picked up the pace considerably. I thought it was a brave attempt and Barry must be a great runner to run that fast so early. The pack picked up the pace and tried to bridge the gap, only for Barry to drop out after a further 200m. Clearly, for whatever reason, he’d decided not to continue and wanted to see what he could get to 3000m in. The pace settled down again and soon the lead group was made up of the two Herne Hill Harriers, Mike Boyle and Dave Robinson, Hounslow athlete, Terry Booth, and me, still sitting at the back. I had no idea what the pace was, I didn’t wear a watch in those days and was concentrating on keeping up with the others, I felt good, I also felt I had a chance of a medal.

Dave was the next one to drop off the pace, but every time I tried to go round him he fought me off. As this kept us in the lead pack I didn’t put up too much of a fight, afterall it didn’t matter what position I occupied at this point. A few laps later Dave drifted a bit more and I put in a spurt to go round and keep up with Mike and Terry. Now I was really confident I had a medal in the bag. With about 5 laps to go, I’m afraid I can’t remember the exact lap, Terry unexpectedly pulled up. There was a lot of shouting from the crowd and that made Terry carry on (I spoke to Terry after and he thought he’d pulled his hamstring). So now it was just Mike and myself. I was comfortable sitting behind him but approaching 3 or 4 laps to go (again I can’t remember the exact lap, I always thought it was 3 to go but a report I’ve read states 4) I sensed Mike was either tiring or wanting me to take over, there was a slight slowing down and I found myself level with Mike entering the lap. I looked across at Mike and thought I could see defeat etched in his features, so I went for it. It wasn’t an explosion but I managed to up the pace to 71 sec per lap, Mike couldn’t match me and I pulled away lap by lap. As I crossed the line a big smile came over my face, this was my first proper championship victory and I’d beaten some of the best runners in the county to get it. It was only later that I found out the time 30:33.7, almost 2 minutes off my pb. Mike finished in 30:42.1, with Dave coming in 3^rd in 31:00.7. Terry hung in there and finished in 31:10.9. Not bad times for a county championships. In fact 7^th place finished in 32:28.7, a time that could win some future championships.

Following the race I had many cut and thrust battles with Dave Robinson, mostly he came out on top. Mike Boyle was always that much better than me, and still is. Now, of course, we’re team mates and enjoy racing together in team events. I have video footage of the event, taken by Ray O’ Donaghue. I used to watch it before a major championship, to get me in the right frame of mind, sadly I no longer have a video and am looking to get it converted to DVD.

I didn’t enter again until 1996, choosing to concentrate on shorter distances. The 1996 Championship was held in Walton. I’d never been to the track so left early to ensure no panics. Unfortunately, for me, they cancelled the train I was due to catch so I had to wait on Wimbledon station for 30 minutes until the next one. It was a hot and sunny day, the temperature was rising all the time and the race was due off early afternoon.

It wasn’t a good turnout for the race and my main rivals were Pete Groves, silver medallist the previous year, and John Towse. I was a different athlete to the surprise winner from three years ago, I’d produced some fast times over 1500m, 3000m and 5000m and was in reasonable shape this year, though I’d only ran 32:22 at the Inter Counties, a few weeks earlier, and I didn’t have any knowledge of John Towse, so, though I was confident of winning, it wasn’t a foregone conclusion.

Because of the heat I’d walked from the station to the track and did some light stretching whilst the other competitors ran around warming up. We set off and I immediately settled into third place, letting Pete and John take on the pacemaking. Water tables were out and every few laps we took on water. I noticed that Pete and John were drinking theirs from the plastic cups, whereas I didn’t really need a drink but didn’t want to take on the pace either, so I just poured mine down my chin. At half way, I decided to make my move, I made the move over towards the water table prompting Pete and John to do the same, but whilst they took a cup I switched back inside and injected some pace. I made a good gap over the next lap and just maintained pace and by the end of the race I was 32 seconds in front, as Pete and John settled for battling out for 2^nd, John got the better of Pete running 32:25.1 to 32:31.9. My time was 31:53.9.

I won again on my next attempt, in 1999. By now the champs had moved to September and were being held at Tooting Bec. I’d not been having a great year, failing to get under 15 minutes for 5k, but I was in reasonable shape and knew I had a chance to win again, depending on who turned up. The main opposition in this race came from my mate and Belgrave colleague, Paul Coughlan. I was confident I could out kick anyone in the race so set off at a sedate pace, but Paul was having none of it. His attitude was that if he was going to lose he might as well go down fighting. So Paul picked up the pace and I just went with him until I felt the time was right to make a break. I ran 31:43.2 and Paul was second in 32:29.3 with Rob Jacobs taking bronze in 33:29.4. It was nice to be cheered on by my old rival, Mike Boyle, particularly as there wasn’t a lot of love lost between Herne Hill and Belgrave. But that just shows the respect that racers have for their rivals.

In 2001 I decided to dispense with my three yearly outings at the Surrey 10000m Champs and entered again. I’d had another non-descript year but felt I had a chance for a 4^th title. Again the field was small as people started to avoid county champs. My main rival this year was Karl Corpes. I knew Karl well from years of racing him, he was a tough runner who could have some great races in cross country but he wasn’t anywhere near as good on the track. I pretty much knew I’d won this one from the off so didn’t hang around. As I entered the last lap I’d lapped everyone but Karl so put in a bit of a spurt and sprinted down the last 100m to finish about 10 metres ahead of Karl’s 24^th lap. A bit mean, I know, but not often you get a chance to lap the entire field in a championship event. My time was my slowest in the event at 32:34.7, with Karl 2^nd in 33:56.8 and Rob Jacobs again taking the bronze in 34:02.1.

2002 was to be my last attempt to win the championship. Having dispensed with the three yearly entry, I guess I got greedy for my 5^th title, but it was not to be as Jason Simpson entered the race and won in a time around 30:33.0. This year the Belgrave championships were incorporated into the race and I only came third in that as Mike Trees finished second to Jason in 31:52.3, with Charles Herrington finishing 3^rd in 31:55.2. However, as Mike and Charles didn’t qualify for Surrey I took the silver medal as I’d finished 4^th in 32:29.1.

I lost interest in the track after this so failed to enter again, when I could, then I moved to Edinburgh in 2005 and now live in Cheshire so I’m unlikely to enter again, but never say never.

Kettlebells

I’m a big fan of kettlebells and use them regularly as part of my training regime. Sometimes when I talk to friends and clients about them they’re not sure what I’m talking about until I explain in greater detail. So I thought I’d give a little insight into them.

A kettlebell is, quite simply, a bulbous lump, like a canon ball, with a handle at the top and a flat bottom. This lump can be as light as 2kg or as heavy as 44kg, perhaps there are heavier ones but I’ve not come across them and I certainly wouldn’t want to be lifting them. Kettlebells have been used in Russia for over 300 years and fit into that nostalgic area of pre-WWII exercises that you often see in black and white films, featuring large groups of fit youngsters performing exercises in unison. However, despite many more modern pieces of fitness equipment, they are gaining popularity with fitness fans in Britain, particularly with ladies.

I first came across kettlebells last year, when I was based at Fitness First in Crewe. One of the other PT’s used them with his clients and I watched him in action. I was impressed with what he was doing and clearly the client was enjoying training with the kettlebells, so I decided to find out more. I did some background reading and bought a small kettlebell, to try out some moves. Since then I’ve expanded my repertoire and my collection of kettlebells.

Kettlebell training is very effective and versatile, they are great for burning fat, increasing muscle mass, improving muscle endurance, increase your core strength and stability, as well as giving you a bit of a cardio workout. It’s the swinging of the kettlebell that gets you using those lower body muscles, as you bring the swing higher you start putting more emphasis on the back and core muscles and once you start bringing the kettlebell to chest height your arms start working harder. By using all the muscles in a series of different exercises you can package up a good workout into about 20 minutes, the same workout using conventional weights would probably take about 40 minutes longer. That’s not to say that there isn’t a place for conventional weights, but if you’re short on time and you want an effective training session, you can’t go far wrong with kettlebells.

You can also use kettlebells to do some of the moves that you would normally do with dumb bells. I sometimes throw in a move, such as a renegade row, to my kettlebell session. At the same time you can use dumbbells, weight plates and medicine balls to carry out some of the kettlebell moves. 

I’ve read recommendations that ladies should start with a 6kg kettlebell and gents with a 10-16kg kettlebell, but I’d advise you to start as small as you feel comfortable. I myself, with my weedy arms, started with a 4kg kettlebell as I wanted to master the moves first, I’m now using a 7.5kg kettlebell, which I find effective for what I want. Of course, rather than going up in weight you can use two of the same weight to make one armed exercises more complicated.

When I’m working with my clients I usually select four different exercises and will either do one or two sets. All my clients seem to enjoy the kettlebells, some have even purchased their own. When I’m doing my own workouts I select four or five exercises, alternating between two handed and one handed exercises, and will do up to five sets. I’ll take a one minute break or one minute thirty doing a plank on the swiss ball between sets. I usually do kettlebells just twice a week, fitting it around my other training sessions.

This weekend I ran another park run at Pennington Flash. I’ll admit to finding it difficult to motivate myself for these races in the same way I do for other races, perhaps it’s the 09:00am start! However once I get there I manage to get that competitive switch turned on about 10 minutes before the start. I find them an effective training session in a very friendly environment. Pennington Flash is a particularly tough 5k, as it is three laps of a hilly, rough trail. This week it was a little damp, causing a few muddy patches and there were midges galore on one section. For some reason I seemed to have been found particularly attractive by the midges as I accumulated them in my eyes, mouth, hair and neck wrinkles. Once again I was second in the race, I felt I ran well but was 4 seconds slower than two weeks ago. I put this down to the conditions, did I say it was also a bit windy, and this can be borne out by my two partners in crime, Ray and Carole, who were 11 and 22 seconds down on their times of two weeks ago. I’ve now done three park runs and it’s interesting to note that if I’d turned up a week earlier, or later, at any of them, and run the same times, I would have been first each time. As it is I have an 8^th, 2^nd and 2^nd to my name. Oh well I’ll just have to run faster next time. This week was also the first week the course record hasn’t gone at a park run I attended, though the winner was only 7 seconds short of that, and with that wind and midges, on the George Stacey conversion tables (ask Arthur Bruce) it could be considered that he did break it.

This week I’m taking it easyish, my legs are tired from weeks of hard training and racing so it’ll be easy runs for me, or as Arthur would say I’m going out to pick a few daisies. I’ve entered the Air Products 10k, next Sunday, I think I’m in sub 36 minute form, and it’s possible I’ll be running a leg on Saturday, for Herne Hill at the National 12 Stage Road Relay.  

Coaching

It’s unlikely that anybody in life becomes successful without a little help along the way, even the most self centred must have to admit that somebody was there to help them at some stage of their life. This is where coaching comes in, and yet there are many people running without a coach. I’m not sure what the reason might be, it could be that they don’t know how to get a coach or it could be that they don’t think they are good enough for a coach or it might even be that they think they are good enough without a coach.

Whatever the reason, I disagree, and I should know, as I owe my success to the coaching I’ve received over the years. Also as a coach and personal trainer I know that my own coaching has helped others to achieve success. Having said that, not every coaching experience is good and you should be prepared to change your coach if you are not satisfied.

When I first started running, in 1989, I was completely clueless. On my first run, with members of Belgrave Harriers, I was taken on a long run, and left for dead when I couldn’t keep up. Thankfully, despite not knowing the area, I managed to find my way back to the club house. I’m amazed, but grateful, that this first experience didn’t put me off and I returned the following week for more. Luckily, this time, a couple of 800m runners took me under their wing and had me doing a far more appropriate session for a beginner.

At some point during that summer, having decided I was going to be an 800m runner, someone suggested I went down to the local track to get some coaching. I turned up, on my own, not knowing anyone, and found a coach. It was daunting seeing so many people running around the track with such speed, grace and confidence. The coach asked me to run a lap of the track at 80% but as I wasn’t entirely sure what that was I just ran flat out. When I got back to the coach I was exhausted and couldn’t do any more running that night. The coach in question seemed more interested in his more established athletes and didn’t have any time to talk through my experience or offer encouragement so I went home and this time didn’t return. I did however go back to the club house the next week to continue training with the 800m runners.

This arrangement suited me and after some months I started training twice a week, then in the winter I found cross country and raced regularly. Naturally I became fitter and stronger by this arrangement but I was still lacking any kind of direction. For the next year I just trained at whatever anybody else was doing and racing all distances from 100m to the half marathon. I was enjoying myself but I wasn’t actually achieving a great deal. In the autumn of 1990 I decided it was time to try coaching again.

I was introduced to another club coach and this time I met everyone before the session started and the other lads in the group were all of a similar standard and similar to myself too. The coach ran with us and was not significantly better, such that this made it worthwhile for him to do so. However it was noticeable that his coaching was directed solely at himself and there was no real guidance for anyone else, he also had a tendency to try to prove he was the best in the group by always ensuring he was first in any repetition. Still this wasn’t a problem for me as I was improving, enjoying myself and became good friends with Adam Armstrong (who used to be in Grange Hill) and Junior Galley (who was to become a National Champion over the marathon distance). Where it did become a problem was the following June when we both entered the same race. At some point, coach, decided to drop out whereas I came third. When the race was over the coach was gone, he’d left without saying a word and we didn’t see him again. I’m sure it can’t have been because I was ahead of him before he dropped out!

So once again I was coachless, the group drifted apart and I was left to make up my own training. During the following winter I injured my anterior cruciate ligament and took a five week break. While I was out of action I decided I was going to join up with another coach and asked Arthur Bruce if it was ok to join his group. I didn’t know Arthur but he was well spoken of around Belgrave. Arthur was in his 60s and had been a good athlete during the 1950s, from which period he was able to tell us numerous stories about his contemporaries. The other good thing about Arthur’s group was that there was a good mix of individuals but also included Charlie Dickinson, who was, and remains a very talented Masters athlete. I also brought along two of my contemporaries, James Ryle and Mark Anderson. After I regained fitness Charlie, James, Mark and myself were all of a similar general ability, although Mark was a specialist middle distance runner, James was a strong cross country runner and Charlie was a good longer distance runner, I was yet to find my area of expertise and in the end became reasonably good at all three.

Arthur didn’t attend all our sessions, but he was there regularly enough and between the members of the group we drove each other on. Arthur introduced me to fartlek, which I really enjoyed, and to train at above race pace. He also taught me to be selective in my races and to ease down and rest appropriately. We also incorporated hills and regular time trials into our training. Within a year and a half with Arthur I reduced my 10000m time by two minutes when winning the 1993 Surrey 10000m in 30:33.7. This ranked me in the top 50 in the UK and gave me a huge amount of self belief that has never left me.

After winning many more championship medals and setting some good times over multiple distances I left Arthur in 1998. Over the summer I had a problem with my back that caused a great deal of pain in my calf muscles when I ran. After unsuccessful attempts at resting and comebacks I decided to see a specialist and ended up taking a 5 month break. When I decided to come back I thought the only way I could regain my motivation would be to try something different. So I started working with David Lucas. I’d known David for a few years as he was coach to one of my great rivals, Jim Estell. With David I trained over longer distances with shorter recoveries. I also did a lot more training on my own which helped me build up my mental capacity to push myself. As a consequence I also started to enter road races, Arthur had restricted my road racing to concentrate on the track. David got me back to winning ways and I again started to produce good times. Some of the coaching was now becoming remote as I spent time working in Germany and Slovakia but it worked as I was good at interpreting David’s requirements and he knew me well enough to know how far to push me. David was also there to help me in my first, and so far only, marathon, in 2003.

Throughout my years training under Arthur and David I had always retained some level of autonomy and made some training decisions by myself, this was more evident in my later years as I tended to be away from home a lot and had built up quite a good knowledge of training. So when I moved to Edinburgh in 2005 I decided I would become self coached. I still employed some of the methods of Arthur and David but also started looking around for inspiration from others and even picked up a good session from an article I read about Andy Badderley (though I adapted it significantly to cater for my requirements the original idea was good). I also took advice from local coach Alex McEwen.

Since turning 40 I’d started to think about qualifying as a coach, I’d been running for 16 years and had a good knowledge of how to produce the best in someone. It was also evident that I was no longer able to perform to the same level as my earlier days and I wanted to give something back. Unfortunately my move to Edinburgh also meant a move into shift work, and whilst I was still able to train myself at odd hours, including sessions in the wee hours of the morning, I could not make any commitment to other athletes. So I put my qualifications on hold until moved off shift. Even then it was not easy, as I waited almost a year to get onto a UKA course. I qualified as a level 1 assistant coach and spent many Tuesdays assisting at Meadowbank with the youngsters. But my heart was in coaching middle distance and with more mature athletes so once I was qualified I switched to assisting Alex McEwen’s group, which was great fun. I did get a reputation for inflexibility on recoveries but it was in their own interest and actually, I did occasionally give them an extra couple of seconds recovery. It was great grounding for me but it looked like I may have to wait an unknown number of months before I could move onto my level 2 coaching as UKA were reorganising their courses. This was unacceptable to me, as I’d made a commitment to coaching, so I made the decision to train to become a Personal Trainer.

This was a great decision as, although I knew lots about running and different energy systems, I’d never used weights, I’d rarely done any core workouts and never did any abs workouts. I learnt so much in a short time and also qualified as a run leader, which allows me to lead a group of endurance athletes (effectively coach them but you have to be careful with wording where UKA are concerned).

I’ve now been a qualified Personal Trainer for about 16 months and it’s great to be in a position to guide others through exercise plans, ensuring they use correct form, and ensuring they do appropriate training in order to achieve their goals. Whilst I have a number of non running clients I do still attract some who want me to help them with their running and I do this in three ways;

1. Organise the training and stand in one position with a stop watch to keep them appraised of repetition times and ensure they stick to recoveries, I can still be pretty tight on these but it all depends on how the client reacts to the recovery.
2. Run alongside the client to encourage them to keep a particular pace going. I find this is really effective as it’s within my comfort zone and I’m able to adjust the effort slightly, if necessary, and encourage them all the time. The problem here is that there is a limit to how much running I can do without my body giving up and also I need to be careful it doesn’t impact my own racing, so I restrict the number of clients I will do this for.
3. Remote coaching, whereby I find out a client’s goal, what they are currently doing, what their lifestyle is like and I produce a bespoke training plan. We then have regular e-mail contact to revise as necessary. This enables me to train anywhere and at times that fit in around my other requirements. I currently have a client in Australia who uses this service, which means I can get updates as soon as I wake up and can offer advice back before she wakes up.  

To summarise, coaching is good for you, though not all coaches are good or some may be good but just not good for you. Coaching is not just about the exercise it’s also about planning appropriate sessions and events and it’s also about ensuring appropriate rest. Other things I add to this are advice about nutrition, stretching and motivation. So, if you haven’t got a coach think about it, it may just be the thing that propels you from being the person you currently are to being a much better one.

As usual, I always end my blogs by giving updates on previous blogs. In my last blog I wrote about Lee Riley, one of my clients, who was making an attempt on the official world record for the half marathon, carrying a 40lb pack, at the Shakespeare Half Marathon in Stratford-Upon-Avon last Saturday. Well I’m pleased to say that Lee achieved his goal, running a time of 1 hr 36 min 56 sec, knocking almost 7 minutes off the current record. It’s now full steam ahead for Lee in his marathon attempt. Well done Lee.

On Saturday I also raced, though mine was a more modest effort as I continued my come back. I ran at the Heaton Park Run over the park run distance of 5k. It was nice to get back into racing fastish again and although I was some way short of my best times I was happy with 8^th position in a 17 min 26 sec clocking. What made the day even better was that Ray, one of my clients that I’ve been running with for the last 8 weeks and who gave me a lift, improved his pb for the second week running.

This Saturday I will be in Birmingham taking part in the BMAF Cross Country championships. Once again I’m not expecting to achieve anything significant, other than to get a hard run out and meet up with old (literally) friends. At least it shouldn’t be as muddy as Alton Towers.