Rest and Recovery

Last Friday I was absolutely cream crackered, I’ve been in a hard training phase and I feel like I’m running well off it. However last week I started to feel that my body was getting tired. I looked at the training I’ve been undertaking for the previous weeks and, as planned, it’s seen my long runs increasing in distance, the pace increasing and the intensity of my quality runs has increased. Understandably the overall effect has been to tire out my muscles. I’ve been doing some intensive training on an uneven grass surface and this has brought on aches around my ankles and knee. Non of this appears to be a problem but it’s time to take a little step back, ease off, allow my body to rebuild and come back ready for more intensity. So I made the decision to take a week off.

Now I should explain that a week off in Roger Alsopland does not mean a week sat on the sofa watching the sport, though I have to admit to having overdosed on that last weekend – and who can blame me, with the Tour de France, F1 German GP and the MotoGP. No a week off for me means a week off high intensity training. In fact it actually means 5 days off. I’ll still run but the runs will be steady, I’ll notice things that pass me by when I’m in full flight. I’ll still do my kettlebell exercises but I’ll do less sets and I’ll still work on my abs.

I was going to start my break last Friday but today (Tuesday) we’ve got the painters in and there’s a requirement for me to be here, some of the time at least, so a perfect time to ease off. Of course this meant that I had to run hard on Saturday and Monday and boy was that a struggle, plus I’m booked in for a session with Ray tonight and now Ray’s getting fitter that means the session gets harder for me. But come tomorrow morning, my break officially begins, and I’m feeling good already.

The other thing that’s tired me out a bit is that I took delivery of another kettlebell last week. I decided to jump straight up to a 12kg and yes, I know that’s miniscule to all the big strong guys and gals who use much bigger ones, but this is me, have you seen me, I’m the skinny guy in the Dennis the Menace singlet (mind you that could be any of Herne Hill Harriers distance runners, except ALG). So I’ve jumped from a 7.5kg kettle to a 12kg one and what a difference. I had fair warning, watching the poor post woman deliver it to my door, but I was keen to use it as soon as I could and threw it, pretty literally, into my regular session. And that’s when I realised what a difference 4.5kg makes. Actually the exercises weren’t a problem, I managed them ok, though I was aware of the extra weight, it was just the effect it had on my inner thighs for the next 3 days.

But this blog’s about resting and recovery, not kettlebells. Rest is important, for the body to recover, whatever the exercise. If you continue to train at a high level you’ll end up getting injured. Text books will advise you to rest the day after a workout, but generally that won’t mean complete rest. The way weight training generally works is that you will work certain body parts one day and whilst they are being rested you work other body parts. But you also need rest between sets, which should vary in length depending on whether you are building strength, muscle bulk or endurance.

As I’ve just mentioned rest does not mean that you should slob about, though if that is your preference so be it, in between heavy weight lifting you should be keeping your muscles working by gently stretching them. As a runner we would generally train hard on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with steady runs on the other days. Once again I fly in the face of convention by training hard on Mondays and Wednesdays, it just suits me.

There are some people who never seem to take a day off from running, most notably Ron Hill, who even runs when injured. My old training partner, Charlie Dickinson, once told me he ran every day. At the time I was running well and found it hard to believe he wasn’t affected by constant training, but it affects us all in different ways. I myself always took Friday off. When I was a Mon-Fri worker this worked well as I could get into a regular pattern, it also meant I effectively gave myself a 3 day weekend; Mon-Thurs = work and train, Fri = work only, Sat-Sun = train only. However that all went up the spout when I moved into a shift work role. Now I’m training other people I don’t always get the chance to rest completely as I run or exercise with my clients, but I treat that as active recovery.

Active recovery is doing an activity different to what you would do on a hard day. So an easy run will help you recover better than doing nothing, or you might choose to go for a bike ride or take part in some other activity. It will help you recover, as long as you don’t give it the same intensity which you give to your main sport. And that’s where it’s all about finding the balance.

Obviously these are general conventions and there are people, who are well trained, who can push themselves day after day, take the Tour de France as an example, but even they will need a rest at some time. I myself sometimes train hard every day on holiday, but I do this by training less time or distance, e.g. I may do 25 minutes of intensive training each day instead of an hour one day of high intensity and an hour of easy work the next.

To become the best it’s not just about how you train but also about how you rest.    

Not only was I worn out but I was noticing my shoes were starting to feel a little less cushioned. I keep my trainers a long time but that’s because I use a different pair for different sessions, irrespective of what some conventions say – see I’m doing it again. I wear adidas supernovas for my intensive training, I have done since I bought a pair for the 2003 London Marathon. Where do I go when I need a new pair of trainers, I go to Belgrave Harriers, who still have some stock of older trainers from adidas. They no longer have my size as I just bought the last two pairs so I’ll be shopping around again in a few months. I also purchased another Herne Hill Harriers singlet, this time from Herne Hill Harriers, Belgrave don’t stock them. This one is on it’s way to New Zealand where my old mate Paul Coughlan will be wearing it. Paul is (or at least was) a distance runner, but he’s not skinny.

Last week they ran Pennington Flash the opposite way round, it would be interesting to see how that went. I was intending to turn up but both myself and Carole were exhausted we decided not to bother. Ray wasn’t available anyway so it wouldn’t have had the same picnic excursion feel about it. I don’t know when I’ll be back there next but I have just entered another 10k, I need to start setting some good times if I’m going to be considered for the England squad.

Inspirational Athlete – Paul Evans

As a pre-note to this week’s blog, I normally write my weekly blog from something that inpired me in the previous week, however I do have a list of ideas set aside for week’s when the inspiration just isn’t flowing. This week’s blog is one such subject, I’ve wanted to write about Paul for some time as I’ll never forget the inspirational run at Tooting Bec on 17 June 1992, in fact I mentioned it previously in my blog about the Surrey 10000m Championship. The funny thing is that since I started writing this week’s blog I came across Paul on Facebook and we’re now friends on Facebook, so I do feel a little embarrassed, writing about him, but I hope, if he reads it, he likes what I have to say.

I was once taken aback at the start of a race, when a competitor asked me who my sporting hero was. I hadn’t actually given it any thought, I didn’t tend to think of sports people as heroes, the word hero, to my mind, was reserved for those who risked everything to save a life, soldiers, members of the emergency services or members of the public who had done something extraordinary to try to save others. So I just shrugged my shoulders and then made sure I beat him in the race, for asking such a daft question. However it did make me think a bit about whom I might think of as a sporting inspiration.

Like so many people of my age group I was engrossed in athletics during the Coe and Ovett era. I loved watching Coe run but, of the two, my support was always with Ovett, he seemed the more down to earth of the two and the one I’d rather share a pint with. Sadly my support of Ovett seemed to dwindle when he grew his hair in a backwards attempt at a Bobby Charlton combover, and I found the experience of watching him cry at the AAA championships, over some misunderstanding about money, a little hard to watch.

An ex-girlfriend, out of frustration for me putting running ahead of her, used to say I wanted to be Steve Cram, but she never really understood my running. If she had she’d have known I didn’t want to be Steve Cram, I wanted to beat Steve Cram.

Inspirational characters, to me, tended to be people that I saw running really well and I always looked up to people who were better than me. I suppose the first person I looked up to, in that respect, was Adrian Thiemicke. Adrian went to the same school as I did, Crewe Grammar (later to become the Ruskin School and now a sports college!). I never really knew him that well, at school, as we were in totally different forms but on school sports day he always ran away from the 1500m field. Adrian is now involved in athletics administration with Cheshire Athletics, sadly he rarely races following knee problems, but I often bump into him at local events. As I took up athletics it was my team mates at Belgrave who inspired me, Don Anderson, John Mather, Martin Lake, Oli Foote and Marcello Bizio being some of the first, and then as I improved so did my inspirational focus.

However the person whom I would list as number 1, with respect to how they have inspired me, would be Paul Evans. For those who don’t know of him, Paul came to athletics lateish, at the age of 25. He was a talented local footballer but, having run well in a local 10k, he realised he had a talent to run, so took up athletics. I don’t know the full story of why he made this decision, I didn’t know him at the time and it’s not that well documented. From nowhere he became one of Britain’s best distance runners, at first succeeding on the track, then at the half marathon before making his name at the marathon, winning Chicago in 1996 in 2:08:52, a time that still lists him as 4^th on the UK all time rankings. He also represented Britain at the 10000m in the Barcelona Olympics, in 1992, and Atlanta Olympics, in 1996, plus the World Championships in Stuttgart, 1993, where he tackled the marathon.

I first met Paul at the National Cross Country Champs in 1990, at Roundhay Park, Leeds. This was my first National Cross Country Champs and I’ve gone into more detail about it in a previous blog. I was part of a weak Belgrave team that travelled up on the train. As I stood around, with some of the other Belgrave team members, Paul suddenly appeared. Bill Laws, the Belgrave team manager on the day, introduced me to Paul, and Paul chatted to me as though we were best mates, something you don’t encounter often from an athlete on the verge of international stardom.

The next time I saw Paul was at the Southern 12 Stage, where he played an important part in Belgrave’s victory. I kept up with his results after that and the next thing I heard he was taking part in a race from Glasgow to London. This was a running version of the Tour de France, even featuring a King of the Mountains prize, organised by British Satellite Broadcasting. During the event Paul emerged as the leading British contender, showing the sort of strength that would soon transform him into Britain’s leading marathon runner. Then the story emerged that Paul had to resign from his work in order to complete the race, as they would not sanction the time off. Whilst this must’ve been a stressful time for Paul, it was clearly the right decision as he earned more money during that race than a year’s salary in his job. It also transpired the company went bust a few weeks later so he would have lost his job anyway.

Paul started making a big name for himself, winning many races and clearly making a reasonable living out of the sport. In 1992 he attempted to qualify for the 10000m in the Barcelona Olympics. He’d already run the London Marathon in a time faster than those selected for the Olympic marathon, but the race came after selection had been made and Paul was only down as reserve. At the 10000m Olympic trials Paul came third, behind Eamonn Martin and Richard Nerurkar but his time of 28:13.71 was outside of the qualifying mark. With very little time to go Paul was left with no other option but to take part in a hastily put together 10000m at the end of a Rosenheim League meeting at Tooting Bec. I’d taken part in a 400m earlier in the evening but stayed on to watch what was to become one of the best track races I’ve seen. As the race set off there were just 4 competitors, Paul, Andrew Bristow (also looking for a good time) and two pacemakers; Colin Reitz and Steve Harris. As I saw it Steve struggled with the pace and only lasted to 3k, Colin took over and kept the pace (around 14 minutes) going to half way. By now Andrew was a long way back and Paul had to run the second 5000m on his own. But this was Paul’s strength and with his coach, John Bicourt, shouting out his lap times Paul managed to keep the pace going lap after lap. The atmosphere at Tooting Bec was electric and the whole crowd was willing Paul on. In the end Paul finishing in 27:59.8, inside the Olympic qualifying mark. What a fantastic solo race and how chuffed the crowd was to have witnessed the event.

I think the whole of the UK’s athletes must have been happy for Paul, such was his popularity with other runners, probably due to his willingness to chat to anyone. Alan Mead, of Belgrave, told me that he and his family were at the Barcelona Olympics and had tickets for the night the 10000m final was on. As the athletes were being led out they cheered for Paul, who heard them, turned around and when he saw them he put his thumbs up and shouted over a hello. In the race itself Paul finished 11^th in 28:29.83, looking tired after having qualified 3^rd in his heat, a few days before, in 28:15.70.

Paul pulled out many more fine performances over the years, he made the final of the 10000m in the Atlanta Olympics of 1996, at the age of 35, but he dropped out of the race, having, again, qualified a few days earlier, finishing 11^th in his heat in a time of 28:24.39. In 1993 he had run the marathon at the Stuttgart World Championships but had dropped out when highly placed. Perhaps his finest race was his victory in the 1996 Chicago Marathon. The last time I saw Paul was at a talk he was involved with, in London. That would have been around 2003/2004. He’s now involved in athletics promotion in Norfolk and, because he’s had some injury issues, he’s rarely competed, though he did set some pretty good times as an M40, before the injuries kicked in. He’s now an M50, could there be a Paul Evans comeback on the cards?

So, I’m back in serious training again and it appears to be working, I feel like I’m running faster and stronger, it’s taken a while to build the fitness up, following the two months I had off in the winter, but I now feel like I’m getting closer to good form. Of course the build up in my training means I’m tired, my muscles ache and I’m constantly hungry, but to combat these I’m being sensible, easing back when necessary, wearing the compression socks Ronhill supplied and eating, appropriately, when I need to. I’m not down to my previous racing weight of 10 stone 2lb but I put this down to the additional muscle I’ve developed from the weights and kettlebells. I’m now looking for some good races to show my form.

And, to finish off, speaking of old Belgrave team mates, and another of my facebook friends, I came across Dalton Powell in my Sunday paper, he’s fronting an advert for NatWest Bank, not sure if he’s on for a bankers bonus.

Illnesses and injuries - to train or not to train

I’ll dedicate this blog to former Edinburgh AC team mate and sub 4 minute miler, Kris Gauson, who gave me the idea after complaining about hay fever on facebook. Hope you’re no longer suffering Kris, looks like you’re ok judging by the weekend results. This blog covers more than just hay fever and is about how to deal with illness and injury when you’re a regular trainer.

The general advice is that if you are feeling unwell or have an injury you should rest until the illness/injury has passed. It is, however, perfectly feasible to continue to train with minor ailments or minor injuries, though it is advisable to ease back on the effort level somewhat. Don’t take this as my personal recommendation, you should always be careful not to overdo your training, but we probably all know people who will train through injury and illness and on many occasions they carry on without any serious implications. Each individual situation needs to be assessed by yourself, or a healthcare/fitness professional, there is no definitive list of when you should or shouldn’t train and I have done it both successfully and unsuccessfully. Also I’ve been advised to continue exercise whilst having treatment on many occasions, from the healthcare professional I was being treated by. The key is to recognise what has potential to cause serious illness and injury and avoid it. The wise man says, if in pain, don’t train. Of course that is a different sort of pain to that pleasurable pain induced by physical activity.

I’ll start with hay fever. I used to get it a lot in London and there was a period when my life was hell as my nose would run and sneeze all day. It was a particular issue standing on the tube in a full carriage, hanging onto the roof of the tube, with my nose running constantly. It also caused me problems sleeping so for about a month I was really tired and grumpy, for the other 11 months I was just grumpy. I actually found that my nose was much better when I was running, it gave me a relief, I probably should have done marathon training in that month. The other thing that seemed to relieve it was an air conditioned office, my favourite time of the year to work long hours. I did try homeopathic remedies, though I don’t really like putting any drugs into my body, but they never really worked for me so I just tried to ride out the storm. It never stopped me running and, although I worried it might do, I don’t think it had any effect on my form. When I moved up to Edinburgh I suffered a lot less, with hay fever that is, the only time I can actually recall suffering from it was when I went for a walk in the Pentlands and passed a rapeseed field. Back now in England and I am suffering again. So far it’s been the odd sneeze and itchy eyes but a couple of weekends ago I was at a Simple Minds concert in Delamere Forest and about half way through my nose started running and it was constant suffering for the rest of the concert. Thankfully, irritating as it was, it didn’t ruin the concert and I rate that as one of the best I’ve been to. So you can exercise through hay fever, however, because the sneezing comes on without warning, I would suggest you need to be careful if contemplating any exercise involving equipment, particularly any heavy lifting.

One thing we all get is the common cold. Colds can range from a little sniffle to the fully blown up flu like ailment. Flu is much worse and you should not consider training when suffering from it. I have continued to train through the minor cold symptoms, though at a lesser intensity, but I always stop if the cold is bad, my way of looking at it is, if I can exercise then I can work, if I can’t work I can’t exercise. Consequently I have a very low sickness record at work. My worst cold hit me in 1996, I’d had a good start to the year and was running into some good form. I was 2^nd in the Surrey 5000m and won the 10000m, but the rest of the summer turned into a bit of an anti-climax. However, I remained injury free and continued to train hard. As we approached the autumn my form returned and I produced some good road relay results. At the first Surrey Cross Country League I produced my best result to that point, finishing 13^th and went on to my first cross country race win in the South of Thames Junior Championship (more of that in a later blog). I was now in full swing and training hard, my focus was on the Surrey Cross Country Champs, I firmly believed I was a contender to win. Two weeks before the championship the guy who sat next to me at work got a really bad cold, but continued to turn up to work. Eventually it came my way, it had taken a full 8 days to reach me but when it did it knocked me sideways. It was probably the worst cold I can remember. I was desperate, 5 days to race day and I could hardly move. I spent a few days off work and training in the hope it would go away. Come the Saturday I went for a 1 mile jog. I can’t say I felt great but I convinced myself I was fine, big mistake. The race was that afternoon, at Coulsdon, 7.5 miles of cross country. I was still confident when we kicked off and hit the front row straight away, but then at about 1 mile I hit what can only be described as the wall, I suddenly had nothing left and started to fade. I continued to run as hard as I could, dragging my wall with me, but spent the next 6.5 miles watching other runners pass me. Understandably I didn’t win, I probably wouldn’t have anyway as it was won by Gary Staines (European Silver medallist) with John Solly (Commonwealth Gold medallist) in 2^nd, but I think a top 5 position was on the cards that day. 15 more guys got the better of me that day, as I faded to 18^th position. The one consolation is that I made the 6 man Belgrave team which won the team event for the first time in 30 years. No consolation really when you appreciate what damage I’d done. For the next few weeks I struggled with my training and when I came 34^th in the next Surrey League race, in what was quite a weak field, I knew something was wrong, so I went to the doctors for tests. I was lucky, I could so easily have caused serious damage, I’ve heard of Cross Country skiers having heart attacks by training through colds. I had strained my heart, the doctor told me it was just like straining any other muscle, I needed to rest and start back slowly. Ever since then I’ve been more careful about running with colds. Ten years later I got a cold the week I was due to make my debut for Scotland in the British and Irish Masters Cross Country event. I was still unsure if I should run on the day but my heart rate was close to normal so I gave it a go. This time I got away with it but I’m not convinced it was a sensible decision.

Following on from the 1996 cold story, I struggled to regain fitness for the rest of the winter, but only on the relative scale as to where I’d been in November. My heart recovered, I didn’t have any further issues, and still haven’t. So I was still fit but annoyed that I’d been in such great shape and thrown it away over one race. So what did the less sensible version of Roger Alsop do? Yep that’s right I drove myself hard to get back to that level of fitness. I remember I went for a week’s holiday to the Lake District and before I went walking I’d do a really tough hill session or a flat out run over a 5 mile undulating loop, no rest days for me I had races to win. It worked, I got my fitness back, but I was putting my body under too much pressure. I managed a 3^rd place in the Surrey 5000m, irritated that it should have been a victory if only I’d been in shape. Over the next three weeks I noticed a dull ache at the top of my foot, near the toes. It didn’t stop me running so I just kept training. It was getting gradually more painful but I’d had pains before and run through them. Then on 31^st May I ran a 1500m at Tooting Bec. It was a tactical race, with some good runners in it but I wasn’t looking for a win I wanted to reassert myself and run a good time, so I hit the front to push the pace on. Entering the start of the 3^rd lap I was still in the lead, with a bunch right on my shoulder. It was at this point that the biggest long jumper I’ve ever seen, got out of his sandpit and without looking stepped onto the track, right in front of me. We hit hard and I was stopped dead in my tracks, this felt like a thicker wall than the one at Coulsdon. I don’t know how many runners behind me were also affected but nobody fell over. The race continued and I finished a disappointing 5^th in 4:12. I hadn’t felt any pain during the race, but as I walked back to my kit I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my foot. I hobbled home and went to the hospital, nothing showed up on x-ray so I sought help for what I suspected was ligament damage. Two weeks later I was still in pain, another trip to the hospital and the tell tale deposits confirmed that I had actually got a very fine fracture to my metatarsal. 9 weeks off running, unfortunately not 9 weeks off work, but actually that was a godsend as my boss sent a computer home for me to work on and that kept me sane as I sat cooped up in my flat. 

But it’s not all doom and gloom I’ve been running for 22 years now and most times, I recognise when I shouldn’t train and usually seek out expertise when in pain or ill. However, training at my level I always get niggles and it’s sorting out the niggles from the problems. I’ve often run with niggles and they’ve eventually gone. Earlier this year I took two months off to get rid of a persistent knee problem. When I started running again I was ok for a couple of weeks but then my knee started niggling. I identified what caused the pain and adjusted my training accordingly. After a while the pain went and now I’m able to train properly again.

 

Tiredness and stress, whilst not an illness, needs to be managed as it’s very easy to run yourself down. During my first year in Scotland I worked nightshifts for the first time in my life and I was also under a lot of pressure to perform for a job that clearly wasn’t suitable for me. Consequently I was under a lot of stress. I was still training hard and, surprisingly, running quite well. I headed down to England for the BMAF 5k in Horwich and remember being on the start line feeling like I was going to faint. For a moment I was worried I’d have to pull out or drop out. Then the gun went and I was away. I ran 15:44, still my fastest 5k since I turned 40. A few weeks later I didn’t fare so well over the half marathon distance.

That’s all I’m going to say at this point, regarding training with illnesses and injuries. Obviously there is a lot more that could be covered, such as training after recovery from a serious illness or pregnancy but that would make the blog quite long and take away subjects for other weeks. I would say that I have continued to train on many occasions, with minor ailments, and I haven’t suffered any long term issues, usually if there is a real problem it will become apparent early, however I would advise that you take care if you think you may be ill or injured, and get yourself checked out by a professional.

To finish off a quick update on what I’ve been up to. If you’ve been following my blogs, weekly, then you’ll know I’m now getting myself into some good form by gradually increasing the intensity levels of my training and the mileage. I’ve got my Australian client, wwwthegirlthatruns.com following a similar programme, if a little less intense than mine. I’m now able to run for longer than an hour without getting any pains in the knee. I’ve also noticed that I’m running quicker, comfortably, in my steady runs, and I’m loving the grass reps, which are mentally stimulating and right on the cusp between speed and endurance. Last week I did 18 of them and I felt like I was running each one as hard as the others, though there is no scientific fact to base that on as I don’t track the times, that way it doesn’t shatter any illusions, if I feel I’m running fast and hard then there’s no point in trying to dent my confidence. I have to say, though, that as soon as I finished there must’ve been a lactic switch turned on, because I could barely move. It reminded me of a training session I did with Richard Nerurkar, but that’s another story. I’ve used the same grass session for Carole and she loves it too, less reps of course. Tonight it’s Ray’s turn to sample it. Last Saturday I decided to run Pennington Flash again. I didn’t really want to but Carole was keen, so I mentioned it to Ray (getting Ray’s buy-in makes it harder for either of us to change our minds). I woke up feeling tired and still didn’t want to run, but at the end of the day it’s just training and at least it’s out of the way early. It had been raining for a couple of days so I was anticipating the ground to be soggy, in fact it wasn’t too bad but there was a strong wind. As we parked up, who should park next to us, only Jeff Whittington, my rival for age group victory. It was the first time I’d actually spoken to Jeff and it was nice to find out a bit more about the character behind the man. It was a good attendance at the race, 59 completed the course. Once again I was allowed to take the early lead and set my own pace. I knew I wasn’t going to set a blazing time, with my tiredness and the wind but I pushed all the way, reluctant to ruin my average time around the course. I actually thought I was pushing to avoid running in the 17:50s so was amazed when I crossed the line in 17:20, my 2^nd fastest around the course. Ray ran great to improve his pb and, although not setting a pb, Carole was 3^rd lady and 1^st in her age group. We went for coffee in the Ranger’s hut and it was nice to chat to some of the other runners. So that’s 5 runs completed at Pennington Flash, I’m not sure when I’ll next be back, but I will be.

Why I like Northwich, from a fitness perspective and other reasons

From the age of 7 until I flew the nest at 18 I lived in a village called Holmes Chapel.

You may not have heard of this village, until the X Factor put it on the map as it’s the same village that Harry Styles, of One Direction, lived in at the time. He even worked in Mandeville’s, which I recall used to make a good pork pie. Holmes Chapel is situated about 8-9 miles away from Northwich but, because I went to school in Crewe, my friends and social life were very much in Crewe and Nantwich. It wasn’t until the Sixth form, when I became good friends with Simon Foster, that he introduced me to the drinking dens of Northwich.

Of course Northwich was much smaller in those days and, other than the Bee Hive pub, I don’t actually remember a great deal about it. Since I left school I’ve been living in London and Edinburgh, so Northwich became a bit of a forgotten place to me. Two years ago my partner was relocated to Cheshire, with her job, and, as I’d had enough of 12 hour shifts, I made sure I was in a position to be given redundancy to enable me to move with her. This meant we would come to Cheshire together to start another new life. Unfortunately the terms of my contract, and, as those in the know will know, I don’t break contracts, meant I wouldn’t finish up in Edinburgh until December but Carole would be down in August. What this meant was that Carole bypassed Northwich, in her search for accommodation, and we ended up in Hassall Green. Now I have nothing against Hassall Green, it is a nice little village (a little too close to the M6) and has some great running along the canal, plus it’s near to Sandbach which is a really nice small town and the scene of my first ‘Run with Rog’ sessions, however, it’s too rural for me, after 23 years living in capital cities.

When our contract, on that house, ended I was able to persuade Carole to take a look at Northwich. This would give us a chance to get to know another part of Cheshire, to help us to decide where to buy a place of our own. So last July we moved into a house in the Kingsmead area of Northwich (this area was just fields in my Bee Hive days but is now a nicely laid out area of Northwich). As is the case whenever I move somewhere knew, I quickly get out on a run and try to discover as much of the place as I can. I was pleasantly surprised, what a truly attractive place Northwich has become.

So lets start off with Northwich from a runners perspective, though you can count cycling in this as many of the running routes are also suitable for cycling. There are countless runs that can be done. You can run along the river Weaver, almost into town, and out as far as Winsford (I say as far as Winsford as I’m still on a max distance of 7 miles running and my bike’s still in Edinburgh, it may be that you can run further and no doubt one of my VRAC friends could point that out). You can also run along the A556 for some distance in either way, this is often a route I use when doing my repetitions and running with clients, though I’m finding more places each week (more about a challenging run I’ve just found later). There are a few small parks near town, which you could aim for but another of my favourite running places is the conglomeration of parks at the top end of town (Carey Park, Neumann’s Flash, Ashton Flash, Marbury Country Park, Anderton Wildlife Park, etc) which run for miles and offers some great terrain for training in, there is also a canal that runs through it as well as the river Weaver on the edge of it. It was here that I organised Lee Riley’s killer session on his way to breaking the Marathon World record. This is a great area of open parkland and I often use it for taking a nice casual walk after a hard training session. Parts of the park are also used for horse riding. Of course there are many more places to run, which I’ve still to discover but this is a good starting point. I’m sure my friends at VRAC know many more, I know they train at Gadbrooke Park for part of the year because I trained there with them for a while. And there is another point, if you are an athlete, like myself, Vale Royal AC are a really friendly club to be associated with. Of course my allegiance is still with Herne Hill Harriers, but I’m friendly with a number of the VRAC athletes – though work has meant I haven’t seen them in weeks.

Of course not everybody likes running but, as I’ve mentioned, a lot of the above is also suitable for cycling, walking or horse riding. You could also use in-line skates on the tarmac’d paths. Northwich also boast it’s own rowing club, why wouldn’t you when you have a great river running through the town, plus the Sir John Deane’s College appears to have it’s own club for pupils there. Rowing is something I’ve never tried for real, I’ve used a concept II as part of my training regime to great effect, though I’m currently waiting for a convenient time to bring that down from Edinburgh, but I wonder how good I might be. Maybe it’s something I’ll look into if I suffer from injury again, or, perish the thought, get board of running. Anglers also use the river, often my only company on my early morning runs.  

Tennis is another sport where there is a club in Hartford, is Hartford a separate place to Northwich or is it a bit like Leith in Edinburgh? I’ll leave the established locals to fight that one out, all I know is that you pay a lot more for a house in Hartford but you get a lot less for such a large amount.

There are gyms in Northwich, there’s LA Fitness, for those who like to be associated with a big gym, also Dave’s gym, which charges from £1 a session, and a ladies only gym (which I can never remember the name of seeing as I’m no lady). There’s Moss Farm Leisure complex, which hosts a number of leisure interests, Winnington Park Recreation Club, which hosts cricket, hockey, bowls, archery, football, and table tennis amongst other things, and Sir John Deane’s College which has football and badminton as well. There is also an outdoor fitness suite in Vickers Way Park, which is suitable for inexperienced people to try some light exercise. Having my own gym (more about that in a later blog) I have not yet tried out the Northwich gyms.

I read in the news last week that a new boxing club has been set up in Queen Street. It doesn’t just cater for boxing but will have martial arts classes too. I go past it on some of my runs so maybe I’ll check it out sometime.

There appears to be a good following for motorbikes, perhaps due to the proximity to Oulton Park, and every year there is a motorbike Thundersprint competition, which takes place in the town centre. I went along this year and it was quite fun, but if you’re really interested in motorbikes you would really enjoy it. You may ask where this fits in with fitness but it’s still sport, isn’t it! Plus I like to promote local things, as I’m now a local.  

Northwich also has football teams; Northwich Victoria and Witton Albion (don’t ask me which league, quite a way down from the Premiership) plus a Rugby Union club, there may also be other minor league teams, and of course you are not far from the heartland of Rugby League or the great football teams that grace Manchester and Liverpool, not forgetting Crewe Alex (or my nephews will be mad with me).

Northwich is where I base my Personal Training business, whilst I cover the whole of Cheshire, I’m looking to concentrate more of my business within the Northwich area, there is so much to take advantage of here and with my capacity for creating varied sessions in different locations I look forward to receiving more clients from the area.

Of course there may well be numerous other fitness / sports related things to do in Northwich, but I’ve only been here a few months and I don’t know everything yet.

But, getting back to the point of why I like Northwich. I think it is a great place to get fit, by whatever means you choose, and there are many different walks for pleasure along the river or in the parks. It’s also only a few miles away from Delamere Forest and Tatton Park. Communications with Manchester and airport, Liverpool and airport and Chester are really good and you are close to the M6, making travel up and down the country easy. The people appear to be friendly and the town centre does have it’s own charm to it, though it’s in need of a bit of a refresh. We could do with a cinema and some restaurants in town but then it would need the local people to support them. Now that we’ve bought our place, and I have my own gym, I really feel at home here and hope that the, promised, regeneration of Northwich goes ahead, as I believe, with the right planning, Northwich can become somewhere desirable for people to, both live and visit. 

Enough about Northwich, what about me. I’ve just started my build up to winter training. I know that sounds a bit daft with Summer just beginning, but because I was lacking fitness at the start of the year I’ve been gradually building this up. I’m now at the point where I can really put the effort in and build up on that 7 mile max I’m on currently. My quality efforts are scheduled to gradually increase in length each session, up to the 30 min marker (then maybe I’ll push out to 40), plus I’ve found a really good circuit of uphill grassland which I’m hoping will not only get me cross country fit but will help me knock Jeff Whittington off the top spot at Pennington Flash. Jeff ran a fantastic race last Saturday, setting a new pb and moving to the top of the age graded results, by a big margin. I think if I’m to knock him off that spot I’ll have to break the course record, that’s a pb by 40 seconds. Can I do it, you bettcha, well I’ll give it a go anyway. SMART or THICK goal, you decide.

Training in the Heat

No blog last week, we decided we needed a holiday. Mind you this being a Roger Alsop holiday it involved a certain amount of training, and that meant for Carole as well as me. We went to one of my warm weather training bases. I have two: one in Ciudad Quesada, Spain, and one close to Dermirtas, Turkey. This time it was Turkey time.

I used this venue to great effect, around the same time, last year. I was preparing for the European Masters T&F Championships, taking place in Hungary. I figured it would be hot in Hungary, I wasn’t disappointed, so needed to get my body used to the conditions. Normally on these holidays I do reduced sessions but last year I was fighting fit and pushed with everything I had in very hot conditions. It paid off too, as I came away from Hungary with a European bronze medal in the 10000m, 25 times round a track in full view of the sun, or so it should have been, but for some reason I ended up running 26 times and gained my medal the hard way. Actually I should have won gold in the 10400m championship, because nobody else was stupid enough to go the extra quarter mile.

This year I don’t have a championship in mind, numerous problems and changes have made this year a more low profile one for me, but now we’re starting to get things settled I’m looking forward to some late summer form in the hope that I can gain selection for England in the Masters International Cross Country. Don’t write me off yet, I’m usually flying in October when things have been slow at the early point of the year. But back to Turkey, once again it was very hot, so I decided not to travel up to Mahmutlar where we usually train on the promenade, instead I attempted the hill on which the property is situated, Sultan Hill.

Day one - it was hot but I was feeling fresh. I remember the hill from 3 years ago but think I can still make it up 20 times. It’s not that far, perhaps 80-100m but it gets steeper as you get further up and the last 10m are a real struggle as lactic burns and the steepest point is reached. It’s the sort of hill you drive down in 1^st gear and we noticed other people were having to stop a number of times when walking up, what a joy it is to be fit, you get to run up, again and again. The first one seemed so easy I thought I might have to add a few more reps but then I hit rep no. 2 or perhaps I should say rep no. 2 hit me, I made it up but boy my legs felt like jelly. I got to about 14 and my legs were asking me to stop, but I ignored them as I generally do. Finally I made number 20, a short warm down followed, which required running back up the hill again and then a quick abs session before heading back down to the pool for a cool down. Carole gave it everything and managed 15 and a bit hills, not quite up to the top but still a good effort for someone who trains a fraction of the time I do.



 

View from the bottom of Sultan Hill, view is better from the top but you have to get there first, 20 times.

 

 

The swimming pool that awaits you after a hard session



 

Day two – it was hot, Carole was unfortunately busy! but that meant I could run into the interior. A nice little run for about 38 minutes but it was a busy road and Turkish drivers are the most scary I’ve ever come across, so I won’t be doing that again.



Carbo loading with an impending sunset, in preparation for another Sultan Hill session. This isn't me by the way



Day three – it was hot as we attempted Sultan Hill again, but now I remember what a killer session it is I decide to just do 18. Mentally I’m telling myself I did 20 on Sunday so 18 should be a doddle, physically it wasn’t, as continuous days and nights of hot temperatures took their toll. But we did it and followed up with another abs workout.

Day four – I think you know what the weather was like, and it didn’t change all week, except the temperature seemed to creep up day by day. We didn’t feel like running today, we’re on holiday, so I came up with a body weight and cardio session similar to the sort I take my clients through. These sessions are tough with very little rest but I manage to motivate clients into their 60s to complete them, obviously I tweak them for each person and quite rightly I tweaked ours to make it extra hard – 30 squat jumps is a bit of a killer but followed by 30 walking lunges with a twist is the sort of training that makes me smile. Not sure that was a smile coming from Carole but she didn’t complain, probably didn’t have the breath or the energy. I have to hand it to Carole, when I’m giving her a session I tailor it to her ability and fitness but if she’s doing a session ‘with me’ it’s at my ability and fitness levels, so good on her, oh and no additional breaks….

Day five – I’m sick of that hill so we head off into Demirtas, where they’ve built a new pavement just outside the village. It’s a nice pavement but not terribly long as we run up and down it to get in the required number of reps. 20 x 1min with 30 secs recovery for me and 15 x 1min with 1 min recovery for Carole (I was in a good mood). It was dry as anything and the wind made it even harder, by rep 15 I was desperate for a drink but the drink was somewhere else. I survived them, as did Carole. No abs today.

Day six – I decided we’d do another body weight and cardio session. This is great for me as I don’t do them myself very often, they’re designed as an alternative to doing cardio blocks in a session and they’re very effective.

And that was it, back home overnight on the Friday/Saturday, we arrived home at 3am (5am Turkish time which meant I’d been awake about 18 hours). The next morning I was up by 8am, I don’t lie in as I have too much energy to burn off. I attempted a 20 x 1min session with 30 secs recovery, I knew I’d be tired so didn’t want to make it too tough. But when it came to it my legs felt like somebody else’s, not sure who’s probably Colin Moir’s, so I switched to 15 reps, which was enough. The rest of the day was spent in relative limbo, a bit like I used to feel after a night shift (boy am I glad those days are over).   

So what can you deduce by all this waffle. You can train hard in hot conditions but be prepared to do a little less and make sure you’re properly hydrated. Sun cream and hats are a very good idea. I have some ultraviolet protection running gear, kindly presented to me by Ronhill and Hilly Clothing Company, not only do they protect me from the harmful rays of the sun but the hat is the most comfortable baseball cap I’ve ever worn. Roger Alsop creates great sessions for his clients. Driving in Turkey is not for the faint hearted.

While I was away I missed one of my favourite races, the BMAF 5k at Horwich. It was a shame as I’ve always run well there and I love the course but sometimes you have to prioritise. However, my pal Ray, who’s benefiting from my training and advice, went there and ran another pb – knocking a further 11 seconds off his time – well done Ray.

View from the balcony



If you found this interesting and fancy following my footsteps in Turkey, get in touch and I can put you in touch with the owner of the property.

The Highs and Lows of Racing

I’ve been competing for 22 years and, like most other athletes, I can confirm that my racing life has been littered with both highs and lows. The highest moments for me have been when I’ve won a race, whether that was as an individual or part of a team, in particular when it was something I’d been aiming to win a race for some time (South of Thames Junior Championship springs to mind). But it’s not just about winning and I’ve always felt great satisfaction in achieving a personal best or even just a faster time than I’ve run for a while. I was also pleased as punch when I finished my London Marathon, without stopping or suffering any issues along the way, the fact that I was slower than I had hoped for became irrelevant in that battle of attrition.

However I’ve also suffered the lows, coming 4^th and missing a medal, being outsprinted for victory, tearing my calf in the Surrey 5000m championship when in a strong position to win and my shoe falling apart 1 mile into a 9 mile Southern Cross Country Championship, amongst others.

It’s a little like life, you have think beyond the bad stuff and look for some positives. I often use the mantra ‘look for the positive’ when I’m talking to other runners who are disappointed with a run, it’s often the case that there is something positive that can be taken from every situation, if you just seek it out.

This week’s Parkrun at Pennington Flash was a good example of how a race was filled with highs and lows. We had the Mother-in-law down for the weekend, so in anticipation of a shopping trip I decided to do the Parkrun and informed Ray. Ray’s wife, Sharon, was also going to run, her first Parkrun at Pennington Flash. Then Carole decided she’d like to do it, obviously still on a high from the previous week’s Hollins Green 5k, afterall, with a 9:00 start, we’d be home in time to go shopping, oh great.

I woke up early on the Saturday, it was a sunny day and the curtains don’t quite fit yet so the light woke me up. As usual, once awake, my brain gets active so I decided to get up. The last 3 times I’d run at Pennington Flash I’d just had a banana for breakfast, but with extra time to play with I reverted back to my normal breakfast, albeit a smaller bowl, of porridge. I’d had niggles in the week and had taken Friday off training to help my body settle down, today my body felt relaxed but full of energy. We set off up the road, with the sun out, but as we got towards Warrington it was becoming decidedly dull. I had visions of there being a downfall during the race, that’s what the BBC weather had suggested. But the weather stayed fine, at least until we went shopping.

We did the usual stuff, very little warm up, chatted to other competitors we recognised and Bill, the organiser. As the race began I set off at a pace that I thought was steady, I could hear footsteps behind me on the first section towards the finish line but by the time I got to the gate I was on my own. It was windier than I had thought and by the time I got up the first hill I was starting to breath heavily. The wind was in my face all the way round the bottom of the course and it didn’t abate until I’d climbed the first hill. With the wind in your face for about 2/3 of each lap, I’d given up on running a fast time. I used to hold the age graded record but now I was lying in 3^rd place behind Stephen Williams and Jeff Whittington, my aim had been to try to regain that top position, but with this wind I now wanted to just maintain my average between 17:33 and 17:37. I could see there was nobody close to me so this helped me to push on, even if I were to overdo it I was still likely to win the race. It’s so easy to just ease off the pace on the third lap, knowing the end is near but suffering the consequences of this tough multi terrain, hilly, course, but I kept pushing, at least the surface was dry and this gave me a good springboard for each step. By now I was lapping people and it was nice to get some encouraging comments as well as issue a few words of encouragement back. As I passed the gate, with just the finishing straight to go I glanced down at my watch and miscalculated, thinking I was going to be around the 17:40 mark I gave it everything to try to get to the finish below that 40 seconds.

As I crossed the line I stopped my watch and couldn’t believe it when I looked down, 17:15. I was tired as anything but still managed to find a few words to express my delight. As always Bill and the team were on hand to congratulate me and take my barcode. Then it was back down the course to thank the marshals and encourage other runners, during my cool down. It wasn’t long before the 2^nd man home came into sight and then Jeff Whittington finishing strong in 3^rd. I was keen to get back to Ray, he’d been training well and I was sure he was also going to set a new pb, afterall, if I could, so could he. More and more runners were coming in, but no Ray. Then he came into view, he was running strong and I had no idea what his time was so I gave him a shout and carried on encouraging others.

By the time I’d jogged round the course again most people were settled at the finish. Carole didn’t time her run but reckoned she’d done ok (she knocked 52 seconds off her pb), Sharon had done a fine run for her first effort on such a tough course, with 29:19, but Ray had run 12 seconds slower than his pb. At this moment in time I was still chuffed about my time so didn’t pay too much heed to the other’s times but as the day went on I started feeling a bit disappointed that Ray hadn’t managed to join the others in setting a pb, I started to question myself as to what it was I hadn’t done, afterall I’m his coach. Over the weekend I thought his training through and decided what it is I need to do this week so that he can run well at Horwich. Then only this morning, during my efforts, it suddenly dawned on me, Ray and I are at different stages in our training development, I’ve just taken a step up and will now stabilise around this new level, Ray has already stabilised and will take his next step up when his body is ready, of course I’m still going to give him some good hard training this week anyway.    

So my time, officially 17:14, moves my age grading up to 82.88%, I’ve moved above Jeff, who also ran a pb of 19:55 and now has an age grading of 82.68%. Both of us are a long way off Stephen Williams 84.39%, I reckon I’ll have to run about 16:44 for that. Yes I know I can find the site and look up exactly what I have to do but I don’t want to limit my ambition to that, afterall the faster I can go at Pennington Flash the better I’ll be able to go on a flat road course. The age grading makes for an interesting concept, I may not have had anyone close to me in the race but knowing that Jeff is so close on the age grading I’ll have to keep pushing hard each time to ensure I beat him in the age grading race, and I’m sure he’ll be doing the same. Here’s to the next time.

Moving Home

Anyone who has been reading my blogs over the last few weeks will know that I have been moving home, with some degree of difficulty. I’ve managed to continue with my weekly blog, though due to moving around between computers it appears to have caused some formatting issues. Also there have been a few typos creeping in. So apologies if you’ve considered moving onto someone else’s blog, but I hope I can get back on track and write blogs that keep you both informed and entertained. On that note, it would be nice to get some feedback on what you think of the blogs, any subjects you’d be interested in me covering. There is a place for entering public comments, I know that doesn’t always suit everybody so feel free to email me at rogalsop@googlemail.com.

I’d always known that moving home was supposed to be stressful, but if you search the internet you’ll find lists that vary it’s position from top 5 to top 10 to out of the top 10 completely. One has going to jail as higher, which I suppose it would be if you went to jail. Clearly the stats can be weighted any way you like, I’m sure more people move homes than go to jail, but how stressful is moving from jail to another jail. Anyway to cut a long discussion short, yes I agree, moving home can be stressful.

I don’t do it that often, at least I try not to, but this time, like the previous time the move was instigated through a change in job. I thought this time would be different, I’m self employed so I thought it would be easy to juggle my work commitments around house purchase activities, as long as I made sure I kept a clear space each day when I could be close to my solicitors. We left it a few weeks, from making the offer, to handing in our two months notice on the rental property, which gave us 10 weeks in a supposed chain freeish situation. Plenty of time, with a good amount of contingency, which could be put to good use decorating, etc, if we got the chance.

But as it turned out, the original expected completion date was missed, in fact it was only then that we realised how far we were away as many things had not been carried out by the vendors, on the plus side we’d done everything the solicitors asked, ahead of time – planning never too far away from my heart. Despite missing the first expected completion date we still had the contingency and the vendors were now pushing to get their end sorted, but as it turned out this didn’t work out either. An extension of a few days in rented and then the short move from Northwich to Northwich became a move from Northwich to Holmes Chapel to Northwich. Half our stuff went into storage and the other half went into my parents house, along with us, and my sister’s house. Thank goodness for families, though they may not be feeling the same way. Of course mum and dad wouldn’t take any money so I gave my mum a free kettlebell session instead, boy was I impressed as she swung the kettle around like a sprightly teenager, managing two sets of 5 exercises, not bad for a 76 year old. She would have done more but ‘Loose Women’ got in the way.

Naturally my training had to suffer as I was packing and shifting, but I was still able to continue training on a daily basis. Runs were kept short, to 6 miles, and abs/core and Kettles were kept to 15 minute segments. Completion took place on 3 June and, as I was due to race the following day, it coincided with a rest day. Some rest day, spent directing, and helping, the removal men, moving carloads of stuff from Holmes Chapel to Northwich and spending the afternoon cleaning the kitchen, which I have to say was in a pretty poor state. Once again my mum showed she’s not ready for the retirement home yet as she joined me on scrubbing duty.

Saturday, race day. The Peter Lowe Memorial 5k at Hollins Green. I ran this race last year, finishing 5^th in 16:03, and really enjoyed the friendly atmosphere. Spectrum Striders organise the event and they’re a really nice bunch too. Bill, who organises the Pennington Flash Parkruns was also there and it was nice to see him get a run for a change, though he was the official last man so I’m sure it was an easy one for him. After all the cleaning and shifting, I wasn’t exactly in the mood for a race, but with it being a nice sunny and warm day, and seeing an opportunity for a break from unpacking and cleaning I decided to give it a go, albeit I decided on taking it steady and having a social run instead of trying to achieve anything. (Social runs don’t feature in my vocabulary very often, I usually use the term cross country). I did run steady, though I ran a faster steady than I expected, I really enjoyed myself, though the last km was uphill and into the wind and seemed to go on forever. Surprised with 12^th position and first M45 in 16:39. Ray, who’s been training really well with me, knocked over 30 seconds off his pb with a 22:17 clocking and Carole, who doesn’t get out much, found it really enjoyable too, but obviously didn’t run hard enough as she had a kick left at the end. Once again the organisation was faultless and the fun run went smoothly too. The only down side for me was the attitude of a runner from Styal AC. I’m always very grateful for all the support I get at races so as soon as I finish I jog back along the course, thanking the marshals and encouraging the runners still coming in. This particular idiot, not happy with my support, told me to F Off. I had the last laugh though as I jogged back I saw him lying on the grass totally breathless, that’s the kind of attitude we don’t need in athletics, particularly at an event where there are so many children around.

It’s now Wednesday, a little later than usual for my blog, but I’ve had a busy time with clients, shopping and unpacking. Today we’ve had a washing machine and dishwasher fitted and we’re thinking about a new cooker and decorators and doing stuff with the garden. Last night I had my first client to use my new gym, it also needs decorating and I need to organise my equipment and also bring some stuff down from Edinburgh, but it was nice to use it.