Going Down to Liverpool to Not do the County Champs

This weekend it was the county championships. I’ve done the counties many times before, mostly in Surrey, sometimes in the East District of Scotland and for the last two years in Cheshire. I’ve been reasonably successful in all of them but this year I decided I wasn’t interested.

The main reason was that I was concerned that running too much on mud would be detrimental to my achilles and, whilst it’s pretty much fixed, I have been training hard lately and it has started to ache a little. Had there been a Salford team in Cheshire or were my origins Greater Manc or Lanc then there would have been pretty much nothing that would have stopped me turning out but as the lone Salford Harrier in the Cheshire champs it’s a lonely place to be when you’re in pain. Too many years of running as the sole Herne Hill Harrier in Scotland and the North West meant I had very little interest in the event this year. True, for the last couple of years I’ve had good runs and been 2^nd M45 in Cheshire, it’s possible I could have made it three in a row or even gone one place higher, but we’ll never know now.

It was however good to see my colleagues and ex-colleagues doing so well in their respective champs; Tom Cornthwaite and Gary Priestley were 1^st and 2^nd in the Lancs, Joe Bailey took 2^nd in the Greater Mancs with Salford taking 1^st team. Back in Surrey it was good to see my old clubs doing well; Herne Hill Harriers took silver in the mens event with Belgrave bronze, also getting bronze in the womens event.

I do enjoy the counties, hopefully I’ll be much stronger next year and will feel more inclined to take part, especially if they move it back past 16 Jan so I’ll be fresh in the M50s instead of hanging on the the M45s, not that the M50s will be a pushover.   

Talking of old clubs it was with some surprise and a great deal of sadness that I heard, this week, of the death of one of the stalwarts of Surrey athletics, Stan Allen. I was only with Herne Hill Harriers for about seven years so I don’t feel qualified to say much about Stan’s athletic or club activities but like any athlete of my era, I knew Stan and Stan knew me. When I first met Stan I was a Belgrave Harrier and there was a bitter rivalry between the teams. Despite my twenty three years shared between the clubs I never really got to understand why this was and it almost stopped me from joining Herne Hill when I did, for fear of upsetting people at Belgrave, in the end I decided my future was more important than people getting upset over triviality. Despite this rivalry I personally always had a good relationship with members of Herne Hill Harriers, though it was a bit shaky with Geoff Jerwood for a while when he pushed me off the track in a sprint finish – getting back on the track and beating him that day was justice enough. With Stan I was for a while, during the early days, on the back foot, partly because of the club rivalry and partly because I didn’t fully appreciate his sense of humour, but over the years we both showed our endurance for our respective clubs and I found myself in races being cheered on by Stan, unless there was a Herne Hill Harrier nearby. Mutual respect brought us closer together and when I decided it was time to join Herne Hill, Stan was one of the first to welcome me onboard. Sadly my move to Edinburgh meant my contact with Stan was more correspondent than social, but he was a big man in a big club. All clubs can lay claim to people who stand out in the club, but Stan was more than this and his influence on athletics was evident by the many messages I’ve read on facebook. And that’s all I’m going to say, other than, next Saturday’s Surrey League match is set to mark the 125^th anniversary of Herne Hill Harriers, but it’s now a poignant reminder to one of Herne Hill’s greatest. I wish I could be there to help remember him but my thoughts will fly with you.

One of my favourite photos of Stan by Ray O'Donaghue, shows his loyalty to both club and family.

So because I told Carole I wasn’t racing this weekend she seized her opportunity and booked us in to see a pantomime in Liverpool. Yes pantomime that’s right. I used to love pantomimes, but we’re talking 40 odd years ago, I’ve kind of grown out of them a little since then, but Carole did explain it was a Rock n Roll panto, so I happily went along. To make it more worthwhile we decided to make a weekend of it and stay over. Naturally it was training first and I was flying in my run on Saturday morning, made me wonder if I should’ve entered the Cheshires afterall, but luckily I can carry that form over to something else. Then it was off to Liverpool to book into the hotel and wander. We visited the Liverpool museum, which was fascinating, a quick look at Liverpool 1 and back to the hotel to change for an early dinner at Alma de Cuba. The restaurant, along with the panto were recommended by some of Carole’s colleagues, and they were spot on. The food was great and the service matched it, mind you we were in at 17:00 so hardly busy. Then it was off to the theatre to pick up the tickets and enjoy, unfortunately not having the tickets in our hands meant Carole forgot which theatre we were due at, so we found ourselves at a theatre the other end of Liverpool. Luckily Liverpool isn’t that big and we made it back to the correct theatre (thank goodness for mobile phones) in time to get a drink in before the curtain went up. It was Aladdin at the Liverpool Playhouse and straight away I could tell I was going to enjoy myself, rock music, though some was a little suspect, childish jokes and a cast that was having so much fun it made me wish I was an actor. I even got up from my seat, waved my hands in the air when asked and sang along to some classic rock. What a great night. The next morning we were up and out for a run along the Mersey, not the most exhilarating run but at least I was running along a promenade rather than limping like last time we went away. It was a dry run but after breakfast we were in the Tate gallery as the rain started to come down, it was horrible cold drizzle so we decided it was time to head home instead and watch Nottingham Forest play West Ham in the FA cup.

The weather has been particularly bad in the UK these past weeks, but we’ve been sheltered from the worst of it in Cheshire, the grounds soggy and it’s as windy as anywhere else but the flooding hasn’t affected us. It’s not stopped me running, in fact I’ve done some good sessions in the wind, just means I have more kit to wash each week as I layer up.  

I’m still deciding on my next course of action, from a running perspective, I think I might venture back onto a cross country course for my next race but after that I’m going to work out what’s best for me long term.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

I’ve Not Lost That Winning Feeling

No blog last week, it’s been a busy time and when I wasn’t working or training I was painting and cleaning. A week of virtually no leisure time which left me drained by the end of the week. I wasn’t even intending doing a parkrun on Saturday but Carole persuaded me as she enjoys getting up early on a Saturday morning and getting physical.

But before we get into the parkrun, some good news. Following my last blog, where I voiced my opinion on the team medal situation at the BMAF 5k, it appears they have now retrospectively added club team medals. This means Salford Harriers have once again won medals in all male categories; gold in the M35-44, M45-54 and M55-64 and bronze in the M65-74. Most importantly, for me, it means I have become a National Champion again, and also means I’ve been part of a National Championship winning team with all my clubs; Salford, Herne Hill and Edinburgh AC, with the exception of Belgrave, where I only picked up National silver. This one’s particularly pleasing as I’d only been back running for a few weeks, after my injury, and I was still having concerns about my achilles when I ran the race. But I’ve come through ok and it’s time to move forward. Mind you it could be a while before I receive my medal.

This Saturday, I could be found lingering around the start area for the Delamere parkrun, this time with my insect repellent covering my legs. I felt buoyant and reasonably confident that I’d get under 18 minutes on the course, despite the tiredness. As we waited for the start I chatted with a couple of Vale Royal athletes, Graham Miles and Steve Caldwell and I could tell that Steve was one to watch out for, he was also intending to break 18 minutes. When we set off I managed to make a faster than normal start but was still unable to give it everything and once again got left in the dust of those able to start faster. That initial 400m is up, down and uneven and always proves painful on my dodgy ankle. Luckily I’ve learnt to cope with the pain but it does slow me down a little. As I watched the lead runners pull away from me I was thinking that I might stay away from Delamere for a while until I build up my ankle. I reached the relative flat of the Mere path in 3^rd place but Steve had already made a determined effort at the front and was pulling away from second place. I settled into my pace and went past second and after Steve. There was nothing between us pace wise and the gap was proving difficult to close. As we got further into the race my strength started to come to the fore and I gradually reeled him in, then went past him to open up a small gap. But the race wasn’t over yet, Steve showed some reserve, he wasn’t going to just roll over and let an old man take his victory, he came back strong to catch me up again. Now it was a battle of minds! Since my comeback I’ve been running to get fit, this was the first time I’d actually been in a situation where I was competing for a win and it felt a bit alien. It would have been so easy to just give in and let Steve take the win, but that’s not what I preach, or practice. The easiest option is always to give in, but take the harder option and it’s a lot more satisfying. With that thought in my mind I focused on getting my first Delamere win. Raising my tempo a little was enough to create another gap but I sensed Steve wasn’t going to give in so I had to keep that tempo going all the way home. It was tough being back at the front and trying to set a pace that would see me stay there to the end, particularly as we went uphill, but I did it, another parkrun win at another venue. But the best thing about that run was that I now feel competitive again. Sure I’m still a little slow and I’d struggle to beat the best in my age group but I’m gradually getting fitter and I’ve got that desire to win again. I realise it’s too late to do much about getting my speed up for the summer so I’ve switched into strength training mode, ready for the cross country, oh dear that means Boggart Hole Clough!

It wasn’t just me in action this weekend, Ray and Sharon were also running, Ray pacing his son round, and Carole ran another consistent time around the course. Onto cycling, nothing to do with the Tour de France, one of my clients was taking part in a time-trial over 52 miles on Sunday. He’d been looking at 2 hours 30 minutes but ended up with 2 hours and 6 minutes. He’s been coming on well for some time but that shows we’ve been focusing on the right things in our sessions.

These past few weeks I’ve been working with a group of lads and lasses from the Round Table. They contacted me to do them a one off session and ideas for activities to help them prepare for their three peaks challenge. The session was successful and they booked me in for a regular once a week session, which recently became twice a week. They’re a great bunch, we have a good laugh and, naturally, I make them work hard. This week they’re off to do their challenge so I wish them luck. Over the weeks I’ve seen them all improve in fitness and strength but it’ll still be a tough challenge for them.

I’ve mentioned previously that I was contacted by a journalist with regards to older people running. The feature he’s written is in this month’s Runners World (UK edition - not sure if it’ll go global). I haven’t seen it yet but friends have told me it’s quite good. The one drawback being that somebody mixed up the pictures and I have the picture of a man in his 60’s attributed to me, whilst he gets to look quite good for his age, having my picture attributed to him. I’m sure it’s no big problem, people may be surprised when they meet me for the first time but mistakes happen and nobody died as a consequence. The magazine have apologised and are even sending me some new trainers to make up for it, so I’m looking forward to them arriving as my step up in mileage is wearing into my current crop of trainers.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Am I Nearly There Yet?

This week has been a particularly encouraging week for me, in fact I’m more than encouraged by the progress I’ve made, I’m amazed. For 10 weeks I had suffered the torment of not being able to run and then last Monday I was given the all clear to start again. I had tried to jump the gun four days previously but realised I wasn’t quite ready. Last Monday night I set out on my first, tentative, attempt to run. For 5 minutes I shuffled through the streets of Northwich, feeling like a pantomime dame with his feet tied together. It was slow, it was painful, and I was embarrassed. After that I thought it would be a long time before I found my running feet, and yet, yesterday, only 8 days on, I ran for 60 minutes over the undulations of Tatton Park. How was this possible, considering the extent of my injuries? Well here’s how I got from where I was to where I am now. It’s not a glamorous story, rather a patient torment and not giving in to the doubts.

Day 1 – Monday 29 April. Today I went to the physio, we talked, she prodded, and at the end of the session she told me to start running again, gently. I went home and later that day I set off on my first 5 minute run. I’ve already said how it went but I was running so tense, just waiting for the achilles to go again. My ungainly attempt didn’t leave me feeling any encouragement and I was left wondering if it was still too early.

Day 2 - Tuesday 30 April. This morning I was working in the gym, but before I started working with my clients I went for a 10 minute run. Surprisingly it felt a little better. I was still a little tentative, a little tense, and a little ungainly but I managed 10 minutes, a little faster than yesterday. When I was coming back from my last injury I started this way but ran twice a day with the aim of accelerating the recovery. It’s a risky method but I decided I was going to try it again, so this afternoon I went out for a further 15 minute run. Again it was faster, further and a little less ungainly. This was the moment where I started to believe I could get back, I just wasn’t sure when.

Day 3 – Wednesday 1 May. Maintaining the daily mantra of further and faster each time today I managed a 20 minute run and a 25 minute run. Still a little painful as I ran but no repercussions afterwards.

Day 4 – Thursday 2 May. Saw me working with Lee Riley. He was doing track work but there was no way I would be able to run 70 odd second laps, so I confined myself to jogging with him during his recoveries. I actually found this run really hard, perhaps it was the accumulation or maybe it was just the stopping and starting, which kept stiffening my leg muscles. I was finding out, during my running, that I was stiff for the first 5 or 6 minutes but then my ankle would loosen up and I could run properly. I decided I would call it a day with the one run today, but then I changed my mind and went out for a 37 minute run in the evening. That was a big breakthrough. During that 37 minutes I felt more like a runner than at any other run this week, things were starting to come together, I was floating along nicely, ok a little heavier footed and a lot slower than normal but I felt like I was broaching the 20 minute 5k barrier.

Day 5 – Friday 3 May. Having made it past the 30 minutes yesterday it was now time to cut back to one run a day, but make it longer, so this morning it was 45 minutes. Again a little faster but I was still experiencing a little pain. I was still so concerned about overdoing it, yet at the same time fighting to get fit for the BMAF Relays. All the tensing was making all my muscles ache and I was breathing a lot heavier than I should be for such a pace. I still felt like progress was being made so I was looking forward to tomorrow’s run.

Day 6 – Saturday 4 May. Carole and I had decide to spend the Bank Holiday weekend out of the country, for some reason we’d chosen Cardiff. Of course, when we’d decided, I wasn’t running, but now I was back into a rhythm and I didn’t want it to stop. We were going to head off early morning so I got up earlier for a run. My body was so stiff I decided if I ran now it would more than likely set me back, maybe I might do something in the afternoon. We got into Cardiff just after 12:00 and spent the afternoon discovering the town. I’ve been to Cardiff before in 1998, for the Inter-counties cross country champs, but then it was a case of bus up from London, race, bus back to London, so I never really got to see the place. I knew it had been developed a fair amount since then but I was surprised with how nice a city it was. Excellent shopping and restaurants/bars, all very close together, and Bute Park (where I had raced before) was a really pleasant park to walk around. Unfortunately all the walking made me feel a little stiff, so I decided to play the rest day card and went for a swim instead.

Day 7 – Sunday 5 May. It was a beautiful morning, perfect for a run in the park, and that was our intention. Before breakfast we were going to run up to the park together, about 4 minutes away, then I was going to leave Carole and try to pick up the pace. But within a minute I was feeling awkward, trying to run at Carole’s pace was putting too much pressure on the achilles so I decided to leave her and run on at my pace, solely concentrating on my own form. Another couple of minutes and I still felt like I was running awkward and I was feeling pain around the achilles. On the verge of giving in and walking back to the hotel, I decided to keep going at least to the entrance to the park, and then suddenly the pain eased. As I entered the park I started gradually increasing the pace. I was nervy, still a little tense, and not at my most comfortable, but I felt better at a better pace than I’d done all week. Not having a garmin I can’t be absolutely sure of my pace but it felt similar to how I’d run in Germany, when I ran a 17:37 5k. I had planned to only run for 30 minutes but in the end I tagged a bit on and did 38, not a huge difference in normal terms but significant enough when you’re on the comeback trail. I felt great afterwards and, thankfully suffered no repercussions. After breakfast we decided to pop out of Cardiff, into the countryside, and visited Dyffryn Gardens. With it being such a nice sunny day it was relaxing to stroll through the grounds and sit in the sun reading the Sunday paper.

Walking was just the thing I needed to enable the leg muscles to keep working and stretching. After a while we returned to the hotel and walked down to the Cardiff Bay Area. I’d heard it had been developed and was interested to see it, but I wasn’t expecting it to be quite so crowded, all the bars and restaurants were chocka. Admittedly the warm weather and the fact that they were setting up a stage for a concert, to celebrate Cardiff City FC’s Championship victory, probably made it busier than usual but it was a nice place to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon. We walked over the barrier towards Penarth and back again, returning to the hotel, where, because it was still warm and sunny, we plonked ourselves on some seats and enjoyed a couple of beers, whilst we waited for the Cardiff City FC bus to drive past, spraying spectators with champagne, whilst one of it’s occupants belted out a karaoke rendition of champione.

Day 8 – Monday 6 May. We were due to leave Cardiff and head home but first the small matter of today’s run. Uplifted by yesterday’s run I decided the time was right to start my speed work and decided on my old favourite the 1,2,3. This time I left Carole at the hotel door and set off on my own. I felt good all the way to the park and was ready to put in some efforts. The first one felt really awkward and slow, I really wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing but I persevered and by the time I was on my 3^rd rep I was feeling more comfortable. I still wasn’t able to go as fast as I’d like to but I was running like a proper runner again. 38 minutes later I was back at the hotel feeling pretty happy with myself. Then it was breakfast and the drive back home.

On the way home we visited Tredegar House and Country Park. This was the scene of Herne Hill Harriers BMAF Cross Country relay victory in 2005, when we surprised the mighty Bristol & West. I hadn’t been back since but the start and finish area still seemed familiar to me and I recalled Dave Robinson flashing past the house to bring us the championship ahead of Bristol & West’s Nick Rose. Oh happy days. Then it was back home and a chance to sit in the garden before the sun went down.

Nice setting for a race, especially when you win.

Day 9 – Tuesday 7 May. A busy day at work but in between client sessions I managed to find the time to do a 60 minute run. It wasn’t as fast as I’d done in Cardiff, but it was over the undulations of Tatton Park. By now the pain around my achilles was becoming minimal and I decided to try another quality run tomorrow.

Day 10 – Wednesday 8 May. I made a big decision last night, today I was going to run my fartlek course. This morning I did it, still not at 100% effort but a little faster over an intense course. Just a slight niggle around the achilles but nowhere near as bad as it’s been this last week. Now I’m really starting to feel confident and can’t wait to try it out in a proper race. Tomorrow is the Mow Cop Killer Mile, but I think it’s too soon, so I’ll leave that for Lee to smash. The big question is no longer can I get round a stage of the masters relay, it’s can I get round fast enough to justify a place in the Salford team. The body is definitely moving more freely, I’m getting faster all the time and I feel that it’s the stiffness rather than my lung capacity that’s holding my speed back. Once I’m clear of pain and stiffness I’ll be able to really turn on the taps and push my lungs to their limit.

       

While I’ve been hiding out in a pair of cycling shorts those that can have been running. One guy in particular just seems to be getting better and better the older he gets, Kerry- Liam Wilson, one of my Scottish rivals from Ronhill Cambuslang seems to be winning everything put before him and last weekend set a pb over the marathon 2:27.20, at Belfast, pretty impressive for a 42 year old, earlier in the week he’d run a 5k pb of 15:02, possibly even more impressive. Well done Kerry, hope to catch up with you soon.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

The National 12 Stage

Last weekend it was National Road Relay day, in this event there are 12 stages for men and 6 for the women. The 6 stage legs are all the same length, same as the men’s short stage,  whereas the 12 stage alternates between long (5.38 miles) and short legs (2.99 miles), the 1^st leg being long and the last being short. As regular readers will know I love relay events and naturally I have a 12 stage history. It’s one of those events where I’d have loved to have been in the winning team, I got close, agonisingly close, alas no cigar.

Running for a club of Belgrave’s calibre and history, they were 12 stage champions in 1934, 1935, 1936, 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1951, medalists in 1930, 1932, 1933, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1960, 1964, 1968 and 1969, it was baffling to see their lack of success during my early years at the club. Clearly the club was full of fantastic athletes in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s and the 60’s didn’t look too bad either but what happened from 1970 onwards? The club I was in seemed to have numerous internationals within it and yet it seemed almost impossible to get everybody out together for the big events. On the one occasion that this occurred they won the Southern 12 Stage relay, in 1990.

Of course in those early days I didn’t really know much about these relays, it was fun to watch the Southern 12 Stage on Wimbledon Common but I wasn’t good enough for the team so I had no illusions about making the National squad. Funnily enough, due to lack of interest, I got my call into the National squad before I got called into the Southern squad, but the call came too late, I had other plans. So I made my debut at Sutton Park, the same year I made my Southern debut, the year the Southern 12 Stage moved from Wimbledon to Thurrock, 1993.

1993 was the year of my breakthrough but it’d been a ‘nothing special’ winter. Coming into the Southern 12 Stage I was handed a long stage and ran solid enough to seal a place in the National event. Come the National event we had some good runners but we weren’t going to set the world on fire so my coach told me to request an early short stage. There were two reasons behind this, eight days later I was competing in the Surrey 10000m and a three mile leg would give my legs a good workout without taking too much out of me and early in the race I would have other runners around me enabling me to race rather than time trial. The manager allowed me to run 2^nd leg and I was to take over from Steve Halliday, a 1500m specialist who had run the 4^th fastest long leg in the Southern event. I was expecting a lot from Steve and pictured myself being handed over to somewhere near the front. Steve was in the lead for a while but it appears he went off course and lost a good chunk of time. As runner after runner handed over in front of me I started getting concerned, perhaps something had caused Steve to drop out! But then Steve appeared and handed over to me in 18^th position. I ran a pretty good leg, 14:40, but only managed to pull back 3 places. Still I was happy with my run, which proved to be our fastest short stage, on the day, and remains my fastest time around the circuit. With Steve’s incident, Kassa Tadessa was our fastest long stage, 22 seconds faster than Steve. Notably our 2^nd fastest short stage was former Commonwealth Games silver medallist, John Gladwin, with 14:50. Shaftesbury Barnet were the winners on the day, with a team that included my, current, Salford team mate, Paul Simons. Belgrave finished in 35^th position.

In 1994 I managed to get a short stage at the Southern 12 Stage and blessed with my favoured 2^nd leg I brought Belgrave home in 2^nd place, managing to run the day’s 12^th fastest short stage. Things were looking good and I was keen to get another short stage at the National event, once again the manager obliged. Sadly Steve had now given up competing so it was Kassa who was our lead off man. Kassa had real talent but even I was surprised when Kassa came storming up the hill in 1^st position. Some people hate this scenario, and I can understand why as it is a pressure situation, being at the front of a race knowing faster people will be hunting you down, but I love it. Put me in the lead and I’ll do my best to maintain position, which is what I did here, for about 5/6 of the course. Morpeth’s International, Terry West, caught me with about a mile to go but, instead of going past me, he just sat on me. This was a surprise as I’m sure he was capable of pulling away, perhaps he’d given so much to get up to me or didn’t know who I was so didn’t want me to sit on him and kick past at the finish. Whatever reason, we ran hard together along the bottom section before we turned into the hill, then he went for it, leaving clear space between us. I came in 2^nd, having run 14:43, which was 10^th fastest for that stage and Belgrave’s 2^nd fastest short stage, behind Darren Mead’s 13:49 (2^nd fastest of all). Kassa had run the 9^th fastest long stage of the day but with our next fastest long stage being two and a half minutes slower we understandably drifted down the field to finish 34^th, still an improvement on last year’s position and, more importantly, I’d been given a taste of what it was like to lead the National 12 Stage and I wanted more. Swansea Harriers, after three consecutive 3^rd places were winners this time.

In 1995 we finished 31^st in the Southern 12 Stage and failed to qualify for the National event. This was the only Southern 12 Stage I missed between 1993 and when I left Belgrave, in 2005. The National event was won by Blackheath.

In 1996 I was in great form for the relays. I ran a very good long stage in the Southern event and was looking forward to the National, even tempted to try a long stage this year. Unfortunately other’s weren’t as keen as me and we failed to turn out a team. Bingley were this year’s champions.

In 1997, despite recovering from a strained heart, I ran Belgrave’s fastest long stage at the Southern event, but once again, despite qualifying, we failed to send a team to the National event. The year Salford won the championship.

1998 was the last time the Southern 12 Stage was located at Thurrock. I went out with a good short stage. But once again we qualified yet failed to send a team to the National event, won by Birchfield. I’ll admit I was getting a little frustrated, I loved running in the big events but we’d consistently failed to turn out teams for the National 12 Stage and the Southern and National 6 stage. I considered joining another club but my coach talked me out of it. Then I got injured, thought it was the end of running for me and took the rest of the year off.

Having started back running in December, I was surprised how quickly I got back to reasonable fitness in 1999. I managed to make the Southern 12 Stage team, on a short leg, at the new course in Milton Keynes. I think we surprised a few people by taking silvers. We had almost a complete new team, many of whom had arrived whilst I was injured. This brought a new atmosphere to the club, we were no longer a club that wasn’t interested in major championships, we now believed we could make a difference in them. Nevertheless, come the National event a number of the Southern team were missing and we finished 31^st. Still at least we were there and we’d improved on our position from last time we were there, but there was still work to be done before we could get into the top 10. My 15:08 short stage, once again on stage 2, showed how much fitness I’d lost through injury, but I was still good enough for Belgrave’s 3^rd fastest short stage, behind Mark Miles (13:49) and Kassa Tadessa (14:50). This was Tipton’s year.

More newcomers joined before the 2000 event and it was getting harder for me to make the team. Only a bronze medal at the Southern event but we improved dramatically at the National, finishing in 17^th. I was still on short stage duty but this time on leg 6. My 14:59 was an improvement on last year and meant I was Belgrave’s fastest short stage runner. It was Salford’s win this year.

The 2001 Southern 12 stage at Milton Keynes provided us with more medals as we once again took the bronze. I was on 1^st long stage duty and ran one of my best legs, despite having my heels constantly clipped by the WSEH B runner. I don’t know if it was deliberate, but it was a bit annoying and went on far longer than you’d expect for an accidental kick. Leading up to the National event we were all excited, all the top Belgrave runners wanted to turn out and we thought we could win. I wasn’t sure I’d make the team but I did with one place to spare. It was a difficult decision as to who our 12^th man would be and when the decision was made it was tough for the number 13 runner. Two days before the big day, Paul Evans pulled out. Frustrating but we still had a great team. Unfortunately our original reserve couldn’t make the trip so we had to put number 14 in instead, but there was so little between numbers 11-13 any two of us could have made the team.

Kassa was back in the team and took 1^st leg duty, but unbeknown to us he was not 100%. Despite being up with the leaders he had to stop repeatedly to vomit and trailed in a lowly 35^th, 2 minutes 16 seconds behind the leaders. That’s a big gap but not insurmountable. Richard Ward, Paul Freary, Rick Hayman, Justin Chaston and Kevin Nash gave their all for Belgrave and at half way we were up to 4^th place and only 49 seconds behind the leaders. Mark Miles was our next man out and he ran the fastest long stage of the day to arrive at the handover in 1^st place. I’d given up my favoured 2^nd leg for our younger runners but that meant I was in my favourite position, 1^st place. I’d never felt pressure like it, we were leading the 12 stage with only 4 stages to follow mine and I was only 10 seconds ahead of Tipton’s Seb Shepley. While we were waiting to start I heard Bud Baldaro telling Seb how to beat me, but that didn’t bother me, it just made me more determined not to let the team down. Three miles later on I handed over to Spencer Barden, the relief was enormous, I’d done my bit and hadn’t let the team down, in fact I’d increased our lead over Tipton to 21 seconds (I ran 15:06). With Spencer, Rob McHarg and Alaster Stewart we arrived at the 12 leg still in the lead, 35 seconds ahead of Tipton. This was just what Lee Hurst was waiting for, he’d been thinking about how he should cross the finish line for the traditional front page photo on Athletics Weekly and surely a runner of his calibre wasn’t going to surrender a 35 second advantage. 15 minutes later it was all over, we finished 2^nd to Tipton, by 6 seconds. How could that happen, I still don’t understand it. I can only assume that the pressure I felt increased significantly with each leg. Lee was a great athlete, far better athlete than me, and in his prime but the weight of expectation must’ve been a heavy burden for him that day. It wasn’t all down to Lee, if we could each have pulled out another second on our legs we’d have been victors by 6 seconds. It was a disappointed Belgrave team that headed down the motorway but, despite that I was happy to be in possession of a National silver, I’d been around longer than most of the other guys and unlike the other long time Belgrave runners, Justin and Kassa, this was my biggest achievement to date. Sure I was disappointed but it was better than 35^th or not turning up. Besides my personal disappointment was still to come.

The following year manager, Alan Mead, was determined not to lose again. The team was strong and the win came, a victory of nearly six and a half minutes. Unfortunately for me I was the one who was in the position of consideration for the 12^th man alongside Charles Herrington and despite bringing the team home, on last leg, to our first victory in the Southern event for 12 years, it was Charles who got the nod. I’d been reserve in previous events and it’s not nice, I’m a doer not a watcher, but this time it was particularly galling knowing that I could have run minutes slower than I was capable of and still won a National gold, not that I would have run slow. It was a long day for me but I did get to run last leg for Redhill, understandable it wasn’t the same as running in the Belgrave team and my time of 15:18 shows that. To be honest it didn’t make up for missing the biggest day in my Belgrave life and I shouldn’t really have done that but hindsight is a great thing. I don’t blame anybody else for my lack of inclusion, I should have run better at the Southern event, though I ran a pretty good leg, it’s always tough to make those decisions and there is always somebody who is going to miss out, it just so happened, on this occasion it was me. At the age of 37 it made me realise I’d had my opportunities for Belgrave and it was unlikely I’d ever make the 12 stage team again, so I made the decision that next year I was going to run the London Marathon.

2003 and we won the National 12 Stage again. Once again I was, surprisingly, in the running for a place. The marathon training had brought me into some good form and I’d had my best run in the Southern event, bringing the team in 7^th on leg 1. But with the team we had available for the National it wasn’t good enough and I was once again travelling reserve. Yes it hurt, but after last year I’d written myself off so the pain wasn’t quite as bad.

At the grand old age of 39 I was surprisingly back in the team for our 2004 challenge. I wasn’t even in the running for the Southern event until I shocked everybody by winning the Wimbledon 10k in a 31:56 clocking. That gave me a short stage for the Southern event and I duly ran my fastest short stage at the event. Come the National and I was in the team, another short stage, but as I’d proven I could hold my nerve it was down at leg 10. I took over more than a minute and a half behind leaders, and eventual winners, Aldershot and 3 seconds behind, eventual bronze medallists, Salford. I made no headway, my old training partner and friend, Kevin Quinn, pulled Aldershot further ahead and Duncan Mason took Salford a further 3 seconds clear of us as my 15:15 was the best I could muster. We eventually overhauled Salford and I became a twice silver medallist.

And that was the end of my National 12 Stage career to date. The following year I switched to Herne Hill Harriers and never made it into their National 12 stage squad. Now at Salford I would have been in their squad, not really sure if I’d have made the A team, who went on to finish 3^rd in the Northern champs (run in conjunction with the National event this year, due to earlier cancellation) but I definitely would have made the B squad. And who should surprise everybody with a win this year, my old team Belgrave, much changed from the team I last ran in, to be expected after 9 years.

     

This week sees the London Marathon. This year I only have one athlete I have trained for this event, but I have a lot of friends who will be running it, so good luck to all of you, run well and enjoy this special occasion. Of course it’s not been the best preparation for a marathon, following the awful events in Boston last Sunday and ongoing as the hunt is on for the suspects.

As for my current status, with regards to running, I’m almost there, I’m at that difficult point where you keep feeling that it will be one more day and then it’s not quite right so it’s another day. This next week will probably try my patience more than the last eight, but patient I must be, even though my presence is requested at various races.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Planning 2013

I’m not one for making new year’s resolutions, but the start of a new year is a good opportunity to look back over what has occurred the previous year and to decide what I’d like to achieve for this year. I’ve had some loose plans for a while, but now it’s time to start firming things up.

But first lets take a look back at 2012. This time last year I didn’t have much to look back on, despite winning a 10k, at the end of 2011, and 7 parkruns, 2011 had been my least successful year to date. But instead of letting this get me down I was determined 2012 was going to see me back winning medals. Straight away I was in the mix with a respectable 17^th in my first race of the year, and first cross country race for 10 months, at the Cheshire Cross Country Championships. I placed 2^nd in the M45 age group, which was good considering the depth of Masters talent in Cheshire, but the down sides were that there was only a medal for 1^st and I was about 2 minutes behind Ian Wetherall, who took the medal. Consistent training saw me gradually improve as I took more parkrun victories and then, in full flow of training for the European masters 10000m, I took my first medal in 19 months, a bronze at the Masters 5k championships. Still improving I took another bronze in the 5000m at the Masters track and field championships. All was looking good for the Europeans, but then disaster, I tore my hamstring, which put paid to any ambitions in Germany. However thanks to the physio and my own strengthening work I was back in action earlier than anticipated and, although far from my best, I managed 9^th place in the European Masters 5000m.

It was while I was injured I had time to reflect on my running over the last few years. I’d joined Herne Hill Harriers when I turned 40 because I thrive on team spirit, at the time Belgrave had no interest in Masters athletics but Herne Hill had a solid team of old men. When I joined it tipped the scales and Herne Hill’s Masters started winning national masters events. But less than a year later my work asked me to consider relocating to Edinburgh. It wasn’t a tough decision to make at the time, but it was tough leaving behind the team mates, other running friends and all the races I was familiar with. Whilst I retained membership of Herne Hill, and won a number of national medals with them, I was also able to represent a Scottish club, Edinburgh AC. This helped me to survive some dark times by using my training and racing as a means of keeping strong when other things weren’t going my way. But then came a further move, back to England, and back to my childhood county of Cheshire. Whilst I was still a member of Herne Hill I was unable to count with a more local club, and I didn’t want to leave Herne Hill because they were my mates and besides, with all the recent upheaval, I wasn’t altogether sure how long we’d be in Cheshire. There followed a tough three years of running very few times for Herne Hill and being the only Herne Hill runner in the races I entered. Despite that I didn’t feel too lonely as I soon managed to make friends with a number of runners from various local clubs. But the team spirit was missing from my life and the other thing I felt I needed to help me to improve was regular cross country. So in Germany I decided it was time to move on, to a more local club, but which one? I looked at Vale Royal, Sale, Altrincham, Salford and Wilmslow but it was Salford that stood out to me as the club I was most likely to settle into, even though they were the furthest away. So I left Herne Hill after seven good and successful years and joined Salford. So far it seems to have been a good decision for not only have I enjoyed being a member of Salford but I’ve been made welcome by a fantastic bunch of athletes and supporters and to cap it all won a BMAF silver as part of the cross country relay team. As we look forward, as a club, to 2013, there is the possibility of much more success for Salford and I want to be part of it.

Finishing off 2012 with half a cross country season and, in particular, tasting success at Derby, has left me feeling pretty confident about 2013. I know I’m not the best runner in Britain, in my age group, but I’ll always give my best and when I’m at my fittest I can be up with the best, also when I’m surrounded by team mates giving as much as me that makes us a strong unit.

The last few weeks of December saw a lack of cross country running for me, probably a timely break as too much can wear you down. I was anticipating a training consolidation period but then I ended up doing 3 parkruns. I’ve already mentioned, in a previous blog, that I turned up for the inaugural Congleton parkrun, well that was intended to be my last race of the year. But things don’t always work out and Ray twisted my arm to go along to week 2 at Congleton. I wasn’t really in the mood but a wet, windy, miserable and muddy parkrun was better than the alternative, a wet and windy hill session on my own. So what did I have to lose? The answer: my 2012 100% parkrun record as local M45 rival Malcolm Fowler turned up and took me to the cleaners. Well I’m not bothered about statistics, winning streaks will always come to an end and I certainly wasn’t going to lock myself up in a room for the rest of my life so I was never again beaten, but it was a bit disheartening to be beaten by another M45, even if it was by one of the best M45s around. At least Malcolm didn’t take my course record, though he sits above me on age grading, due to being a year older than me. The following week I turned up again for Congleton’s 3^rd parkrun, again I wasn’t intending to do so but Carole was keen to run one. As it turned out Carole was in bed sick with man flu but as I’d arranged to go with Ray I decided to go anyway. Once again Malcolm was there, which meant I had a challenge on my hands, much better than a lonely hill session. This time both of us got stuffed by a youngster from Stoke, who became the first sub 17 minute runner and took my course record from me. But I ran my fastest time around the course, retaining my M45 record, finishing a few seconds ahead of Malcolm, though Malcolm still retains the top position on the age graded league. Beating Malcolm was a timely boost to my confidence as I saw him as one of my main challenges for the M45 title in the Cheshire Cross Country Championships the following weekend.

On the way back from that parkrun Ray and I were discussing our goals for 2013, which turned out to have a number of similarities. This led to my thinking about what else could I add to our training to make our goals happen. Then it dawned on me, something I loved doing, was very effective, but I’d neglected for a number of years – fartlek. So the next day I purposefully went out and designed my own fartlek course, which starts close to my house and finishes close to Ray’s. 12 repetitions ranging from 40 seconds to just over 3 minutes, featuring 5 hills (in Cheshire!) and varying lengths of recovery, the shortest just 15 metres. I ran it hard that day and have since used it with one client. I ran it hard again today and I love it, can’t wait to try it out on Ray.

So onto my 2013 goals. Well the first one was to have a good run at the Cheshire Cross Country Champs. I felt I had a chance of 1^st M45, but so did others, including Malcolm Fowler, who’s name is listed more times than anyone else I know in the history of medal winning at the Cheshire Champs. The race took place last Saturday, at Reaseheath, a course that was 1/3 suitable for me and 2/3 not very suitable for me. But I wasn’t going to let that get in the way, I’m working on improving my cross country running and little by little I’m improving. I know I’ll never be a Mike Deegan but I can be a better Roger Alsop. Despite making a schoolboy error, thinking the start was 2:30 instead of 2:15 (thanks Ray for the timely reminder) I managed to get to the start line nice and relaxed. As we headed out I was nicely positioned alongside Malcolm, but with James Noakes (another M45) and the possibility of another M45 ahead of me I wasn’t going to focus solely on Malcolm, so when Dave Alexander, an M40 of some repute, went past me I tried to go with him. Into the muddy field and Malcolm came back past me, after that he pulled away to a convincing victory. I struggled to cope with the mud in those fields, during that first lap, and a group of runners containing Graham MacNeill, 1^st m50, James Noakes, Tom Bush and a couple of City of Chester guys (one of whom I think was M45 Duncan Harris), pulled a gap on me. I was on my own as I tried to find the best way through the mud.

It was hard work in those fields but towards the end of the lap we were back on firm ground and I got a little respite. Out of the woods I was still looking at a largish gap to the group in front of me. Malcolm was way ahead so it was a certainty M45 gold had gone, particularly with his cross country reputation. Knowing that last year there was only a medal for the age group winner I could easily have given up at this point but I wasn’t about to, I’m striving to improve in these conditions and the only way that is going to happen is if I work hard in my weak area. So I relaxed and pushed. It seemed to work, I was finding it much easier to plough through the mud, I still had the odd moment of instability but I appeared to be gaining on the group ahead. The gap was getting smaller and, upon reaching the firmer ground again, I got some extra vigour. I sailed past 3 of the guys before entering the woods, passed another couple just after the woods and soon there was only Graham MacNeill up ahead. Graham was going well and it took me a while to reel him in but he came in all the same. I had about half a lap to go, I wasn’t going to let anyone come back to me. No looking back, just forwards and push all the way. I maintained position, finishing 14^th, a disappointing minute behind Malcolm, but I felt like I’d managed to kick off a demon. With a little more work maybe I’ll make a cross country runner of me yet. Once again I was 2^nd M45 so went home without a medal, only to find out, that evening, that someone had decided to hand out other medals and there is a Cheshire M45 silver medal with my metaphorical name on it.

So with my first, almost success, out of the way what are my plans for 2013: I’ve still got a way to go on finding my cross country feet but I’ve some time and a number of races to go before the one that matters, the BMAF Champs. Two years ago I was 2^nd M45, what I’d give to beat that, but it won’t be easy (if it was easy we wouldn’t be doing it, is something I keep telling my clients, at least I practice what I preach). I’ve decided against the European indoors (too much going on at that time) and I’ll probably miss the track completely this year (though I might think differently about that later). I really want to help Salford to some national gold medals this year and I’m thinking about venturing into Europe for the non stadia championships. Other than that I think it’s time I did some 10ks and possibly a 10 mile or half marathon. With BMAF championships very much in mind, both for myself and Salford, I think that’ll keep me pretty busy. I’d also like to gain selection for England again.      

But with the hard training comes the possibility of injury and I’m conscious of a little niggle in my left knee, again. So better get those victories in before it goes again.

I should say well done to my Salford colleagues for all the success they had in Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Middlesex championships. Proving we are a great club of great athletes – we just need a few more in Cheshire.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Salford Silvers Take Gold

If you’re into your omens then this weekend was looking good for my chances of picking up another British championship medal; the event was a relay and relays bring out the best in me, it was taking place in Derby where I have always run well and every club I’ve been a member of has won a national championship during my time there. But getting back to reality; I have been running well in the lead up to this race, I did some very specific training for this event during my week in Spain and I had a very solid team of Salford Harriers around me, who all seemed to be as keen as me. Looking on the less positive aspects; Leicester seem to have made the M45 category their own so were obviously going to be strong on the day, I was expecting Thames Hare and Hounds to enter and have strong teams too and, as I mentioned last week, I’d injured my lower back and it was inhibiting my ability to run during the week.

We had entered strong teams in all sections; M35, M45, M55 and M65 plus an M35 B team consisting of those who didn’t quite make it from the various other teams. We were keyed up and we meant business. There was even a mini bus bringing the majority of the team down, so team bonding was bound to be a plus on the way to the race.

But lets go back a few days: It was Monday morning when my back went into a spasm. It wasn’t that painful until I went to bed, then the inactivity meant every movement, during the night, was agony. The next morning I looked over my training diaries for the previous two occasions my back had gone into spasm and it wasn’t looking good, one showed I had to take a week off before I could start running again and the other, that I had to take two weeks. I pondered over letting the Manager know but thought I’d leave it a couple of days. The spasm hadn’t felt as bad as either previous occasion so I hedged my bets and got to work on some mobilisation work and kettlebells. By Wednesday I was running again, albeit a very slow 3 mile jog. I’d had to try as I was due to train with Lee Riley on Thursday. I made the training with Lee, we were running mile reps at just under 7 minute mile pace, a lot quicker than the previous day but a lot slower than I’d need on Saturday. Admittedly the last 2 minutes of the last rep was run under 6 minute mile pace but it didn’t give me any real indication of how I would be on Saturday, however I came through it ok, though still in a little pain. Friday was a rest day, apart from continuation of the mobilisation exercises.

Come Saturday I felt a lot better so there was no question of not being able to run so we set off, myself, Carole and my mum and dad, for Derby. I hear so many people, who’s parents died before their children made their mark, saying I wish they’d been around to see my success, so I’ve made a habit of karting my parents around various parts of the country to watch me run in National competitions, whether they wanted to go or not, in the hope that they would see me being successful. And I feel I’ve fulfilled my duty of making my parents proud of me.

Over the years I’ve done many big relay events for Belgrave, Herne Hill, Edinburgh and now Salford. 9 times out of 10 the team announced on Monday becomes a totally different team by the Saturday, this must’ve been number 10 as the team lining up on the day was exactly as announced on Monday; Deegan, Birkett, Crewe, Alsop and Lockett. So I was feeling pretty confident. Leicester were there and had a strong team, but I was disappointed that Thames Hare were a no show.

Before the race I jogged around the course with Mike Deegan, though as always in these situations the jog increases in pace throughout and we were busy chatting about the things that runners chat about so I had to go around again on my own to get a good picture of the course in my head. It was a good course, one to suit me. Mostly flat, just a couple of small rises, mostly firm going, just one bad soggy patch and a few soggy areas, it was well marked and was interesting, featuring the grass area close to the track, on two levels, and a short loop through the woods.

The first race was for ladies and really old men and this was our first chance to get in the medals. We were always in the hunt and led the O65 event briefly before having to settle for silver behind a strong Bingley squad.

Now it was time for the youngsters, a race featuring the M35, M45 and M55 teams. Our first leg runner, in the M45 team, should by rights have been in the M55 team but he’s so good we needed his talent to have any chance of winning and Mike ran an excellent leg, mixing it with the M35s and Mike Hagar. Mike brought the team home in 3^rd place, in the M45s, behind a stong starting Lincoln Wellington and Leicester, but crucially only 28 seconds behind the leaders and 26 behind Leicester. Paul Birkett was next man out and ran a time close to Mike’s, just 2 seconds down. Paul had pulled back the deficit on Lincoln Wellington to 11 seconds, however Leicester’s Gordon Lee had run the day’s fastest time, 10:16, they were now in 1^st place, 1 minute 10 seconds ahead of us.

Derek Crewe, another one who’ll soon be looking for a berth in the M55 team, was next to go. It didn’t take Derek long to take 2^nd place from Lincoln Wellington and his 11:08 pulled back 4 seconds on Leicester. It was on this leg that the Leicester runner took a slightly shorter route through the handover area, on his first lap. Whilst it was a shorter route I didn’t see the incident myself so I’m not sure if there was a gain or, in the confusion, an overall loss for Leicester, but it was a shame that such a mistake was made during a championship event.

66 seconds behind when I took over from Derek, I went off hard but my run was nearly ruined before I’d got going as a first aider walked straight across the racing line just as I reached him. I was so focussed on picking my line that I didn’t even see him until this lime green vision flashed past my peripheral vision, or rather I flashed past him. I didn’t have time to worry about what could have happened I had a Leicester vest to catch. I shot past a couple of V35 teams and just as I reached the sticky patch I heard the encouragement of the Salford supporters, this spurred me on and I shot up the hill and into the woodland. I felt I was going really fast, everything was hurting and my lungs were burning. Mike Deegan was in the woods and he told me I had gained 10 seconds, that was encouraging and it spurred me on even more, but as I left Mike I had a little reflection on what might happen if next time I saw Mike I had actually lost time. Oh well no point worrying about that now, there was a Leicester vest 56 seconds ahead of me. I finished the lap feeling tired but seeing Dave Lockett waiting in the wings for last leg gave me just the incentive I needed to keep pushing. I sped round the corner, no first aider this time, I could hear the encouragement from my family and various Salford supporters and every shout helped push me further through the pain. Next time I saw Mike he told me I had made 20 seconds on Leicester. It was not really enough and I was running out of time, I just had to hope Dave could run a blinder and Leicester ran out of steam. I wasn’t through though, coming out of the woods I put in a long sprint for home finishing gasping for air. Despite that I’d still only made up 20 seconds on Leicester.

Dave did run a blinder, running our fastest M45 leg (10:31) but Leicester didn’t run out of steam and Dave was only able to take a further 11 seconds out of them to finish in silver position, 35 seconds behind.

We’d given it our best shot, we’d shown our intention, and we’d be back for more. It was a consistent showing from the team, only 37 seconds separated the fastest man from the slowest man, but that’s what you’d expect at this level. We’d gained our first medal in this age group, in this event, finishing 4^th overall in the race. On a personal point I’ve finished the year with 1 silver and 2 bronze BMAF medals and further justified my decision to join Salford.

Our M55 team also took silver behind Staffordshire Moorlands, though if Mike Deegan had been in that race they would have won gold, which would have released Stan Curran to the M65 team where they would have won gold too. But that’s not to throw any criticism on team selection, it’s not easy to make those decisions and the teams selected were selected on making the most of our athletes on the day. So that was 3 silver medals.

The pick of the lot were the M35s who won the overall race with another consistent team performance and so were the only Salford silvers to take gold. Not a bad day, 1 gold 3 silvers, and judging by the atmosphere, morale and inter-team support, we’ll be coming back for more. Particularly as someone had the bright idea to replace the usual post race cakes with post race beer.

I will be writing up a full report on Salford’s participation in this event, which you will be able to find at www.salfordharriers.co.uk later this week.

And while we were drinking beer in Derby the other Salford Harriers were racing in the 2^nd SE Lancs league, which they won. Good day all round.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

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

Running in Tatton Park

I really do like training in the Northwich area, there is so much variety and it has everything I need, except a tartan track. So I do the majority of my training around here. However, because I’ve built up my portfolio of clients in the Knutsford area, I’ve started to do more of my training in Tatton Park. In short: Tatton Park is a big area of parkland, owned by the National Trust but leased to Cheshire East Council, and they charge you for taking some vehicles into it. It also houses National Trust buildings and a garden, some nice lakes. Plus it hosts a number of events during the year. If you want to find out more about Tatton Park go to www.tattonpark.org.uk/ But I like going there for a ramble at the weekend, and, as I’ve already written, it’s a great place to do my training, particularly since I started to increase the length of my long runs.

At this time of the year it is probably at it’s best for an endurance athlete as the softer conditions underfoot, if you run on the grass, like I do, make the running that little bit harder and the sapping effect on your legs feels like you’ve done a hard run, even if you’ve only been a for a plod. I personally think that running on soft ground is a great way to build up leg strength, but of course it’s not the only way.

I’m not sure how to describe what I mean by soft ground. Too soft, i.e. waterlogged, and it becomes more of a pain than a pleasure. If your feet are constantly wet then it’s not doing you any good and if it’s too soft you’ll just be slipping around all the time. The grass needs to be firm enough to run on without fear of slipping but have just enough give to make each step a bit of hard work. The woodlands in Northwich are great for running around, it covers a vast area and changes from trail to forest to canal path and to road, but, although it’s softer than the road it drains well and doesn’t have the same give as parkland, so not the same sapping feeling. Having said that I know places where you can train that’ll sap the energy from your legs.

Tatton Park also has road, path and absolutely soggy patches but the bulk of it is good undulating parkland, with just the right level of firmness that I like. The uneven surfaces and undulations make you work your core and ankles as well as all the leg muscles. For any of my London friends, or people who run in South West London, who might read this, it’s very similar to Richmond Park, which is still one of my favourite training venues. So runners of Knutsford, get off those treadmills and go try some fantastic undulating parkland, and while you’re at it, look out for me and say hello.

The other thing about this time of year that reminds me of my training runs in Richmond Park, are the rutting deer. They’re very noisy and, a little, scary with their enormous horns. I’m always keeping my eyes open for them as I run around, taking the occasional avoidance route around a group of potentially testosterone fuelled males. A couple of times, in Richmond Park, I had stags charging at me, but I had the good fortune to be with a slower running partner, plus I was a lot younger and did have a decent kick. These days I’m generally on my own, am a lot slower and have the kick of a 3 legged race participant, hence I give the deer a wide berth.

I’m not sure if it’s the running around Tatton Park, the readiness to outkick a deer or the fact that I feel so much a part of the Salford Harriers setup that is making me feel like I’m running well. I’m certainly a lot happier knowing that I have more purpose to my training and it’s great to feel part of a team again. That’s not to say I wasn’t part of a team at Herne Hill, they’re a great bunch of guys, but being some 200 miles away meant I rarely saw them and that was what I was missing. I absolutely love running in relays and that’s just not been that possible for the last few years, while I’ve been the only Herne Hiller in the village.

This weekend I got another opportunity to feed my love for relays with my 3^rd relay race in 4 weeks for Salford. This one was a little more low key, the Manchester University Relays, and a number of our top guys gave it a miss, which meant I was elevated to the A team. There’s something special, for an ambitious runner like myself, about making the A team and it does add a little bit of pressure to not let the team down, but I love that pressure, just like I love the pressure of being handed over to in first place in a National relay event. I feel that it gives me that extra bit of drive to run that little bit harder.

Coming up to the weekend I was still recovering from my cold, by Wednesday I felt ok to push myself a bit in training and did so, but I didn’t feel 100%. There were no more hard training sessions planned after that, before the race, so come race day I was a tad nervous about how my cold would affect my performance. Having gained promotion to the A team I didn’t want to appear an A team flop.

Travelling to the venue was an experience in itself, I didn’t know the way so used sat nav. Now I’m not saying I’ve got the thickest sat nav in the country but it took me to the Trafford watersports centre. Then it tried to tell me I was at my destination in the middle lane of the M60, finally I arrived at Wythenshawe hospital. By now I was a little frustrated and rang up Sean the Man. If I hadn’t got hold of Sean I think I would have gone home, but, as luck would have it, Sean actually answered his phone. He gave me some hints and I set off again. After another circuitous journey and some help from Sale Harriers, I didn’t tell them I was with Salford, I arrived at the venue and promptly found myself on first leg, handing over to Tom Cornthwaite. For those who don’t know, he’s pretty good, was 21^st in the World Mountain running championships in 2011. So understandably I didn’t want to hand Tom over in a rubbish position, though I did think it was appropriate to give him something to chase.

As the race started I was swamped by a mass of teenagers, someone must’ve shouted ‘free beer’. But after a short while I started to move through the field as youthful exuberance and the realisation that the free beer was about 2 miles away started to take it’s toll. Clearly some of these youngsters were actually good runners and not just here for the beer, so I wasn’t going to get to the front, but I pushed through the pain barrier to ensure I was within sight of the front runners at the finish. As I finished I glanced down at my watch, which said 9:55 (actual time 9:54). Beforehand I’d read up about the race and it was apparently 2.1 miles with a course record, held by our own Andi Jones, of 10:18. Had I finished in first place I’d have thought I was running pretty well, but the fact that there were 13 runners ahead of me made me think that the course had changed (indeed it had, for some reason they’d cut out a couple of fields). So I’m not exactly sure how far the run was but I ran hard and was quite happy with the time, when I finally got a chance to compare it against the other runners. Tom did manage to tear through the field and the rest of the team ran really well to get us an end position of 11^th. I’m happy with that.

The next race I’m planning to do is a full length cross country race, i.e somewhere between 5 miles and 10k. That’ll be a real challenge for me, after all the short races I’ve run recently.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk