Wednesday 21 April 2010

"The indispensable first step to getting
the things you want out of life is this:
decide what you want."
- Ben Stein

The problem is knowing what you want or what is right to have a desire for. In running it's easy to set goals:
- Run a certain race;
- Run a set distance in a set time;
- Raise X amount of money;
- X amount of miles in training etc.

In a sense, historically, humans have had their goals related to running. It's only in the modern world that we have more "spare" time so we get confused and fill it with junk.

Please watch this video to see what humans were like when we were normal... Running was decided for us: Run or have no food! David Attenborough - BBC - Life of mammals

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=826HMLoiE_o

Sunday 18 April 2010

The greater danger for most of us is not
that our aim is too high and we miss it,
but that it is too low and we reach it."
- Michelangelo

Recently I've been thinking about my diet and comparing it to the Tarahumara tribe and other great Ultra-distance runners. They seem to eat more beans, lentils, seeds etc. I remember a couple of years ago I got into eating sprouted seeds and stuff. I also read Dr Gillian McKeith's book on You Are What You Eat.

So in the next couple of weeks I'm going to try and eat more sprouted stuff. I started today with breakfast (quinoa). Here's a useful link for anyone interested...

http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2009/01/why-sprout.html

I've also been running barefooted a little and I am increasing it slowly. Yesterday I ran about 1 mile barefoot. After putting my shoes back on I was surprised to feel how heavy my shoes are. Here's another link for anyone interested in barefoot running.


Yesterday I went for a 20 mile run and I did it with 3 other running buddies, Andy, Daz and Chris. They are all great runners and it was good to run with them.

Thursday 15 April 2010

"We can't all be heroes because someone has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by." - Will Rogers

I went for a lovely spring 12 mile run this morning and decided the night before to try and run 2 miles on grass barefoot. I'm trying to incorporate barefoot running into my running plan in order to strengthen my feet and to improve my running form. However, I learnt that my feet can't withstand (at the moment) more than 200m on grass that it frozen. I forgot that my feet are very sensitive and can not withstand frost. I wonder if, when feet are hardened, they can run on cold ground? I'll have to do an internet search on it! Anyway I'm still on target for this week: 100miles run, 65 miles cycle and 3K swim.

I also ran on a local field in Wrexham today known as the Morgan Clwyd fields on Cefn Road and I noticed a newly painted 400m track. This is such a good idea and I will use it a lot in the future. I must remember to send a thank you email to the council.

I keep thinking I could've done more for the Marathon training but I need to remember that in Dec, Jan, Feb when training should be base training I did spend time exercising. This time was not clocking up running miles but in the swimming pool and cycling. It equates to the same time, roughly to Feb, Mar in 2009 which I spent running. The 2010 training has worked because my race times are quicker, e.g. Twin Piers, Farndon, XC and BL positions. I've also felt good this week even though I've increased the training. This shows that I'm stronger too.

Tuesday 13 April 2010

Quote and run

"Victory belongs to the most persevering."
- Napoleon

"What happens if you step in dog poo?" This is what a kid playing football asked me this afternoon when I decided to try out barefoot running on grass. The barefoot running felt good and it's something I will be trying more often in the future.

This morning I ran 12 miles and saw a beautiful sun rise. This pm I ran 8 miles in total which included 8 1/2 mile reps at an average of 2:36 (5.12m/m pace). The first two reps were a couple of second quicker and which I completed barefooted. My shoes felt heavy when I put them back on. I had to put them on because my feet where hurting from the twigs in the grass etc. Hopefully my skin will harden. They feel fine now.

Sunday 11 April 2010

"A lot of people run a race to see who's the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts." - Steve Prefontaine

Race: Borders League race number 6: Prestatyn.
I was pleased with today's race. I was 5th which is my best finishing position in the league. The distance was 5.15 miles
Here are the mile splits:
5:06 5:23 5:27 5:44 5:40 43s Total time: 28:06.
Full results: Link http://www.bordersleague.org.uk/

Photos: Link http://www.flickr.com/photos/71941728@N00/sets/72157623831947542/

I went fast for the first mile because the wind was on my back along the promenade.

Friday 9 April 2010

It's elevating and humbling at the same time. Running along a beach at sunrise with no other footprints in the sand, you realize the vastness of creation, your own insignificant space in the plan, how tiny you really are, your own creatureliness and how much you owe to the supreme body, the God that brought all this beauty and harmony into being. - Sister Marion Irvine, 2:51 PR and 1984 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier

This last week I've dreaded some of my runs but whilst 3/4 of the way through most of them I've thought "this is not as bad as it seems" and "was that it". I am trying to remember this before each run. For example, I went for a 10 miler this morning. When I got up at silly o'clock my legs were hurting but I thought once I'm 2 miles down the road I should be hunky dory and guess what: I was.
I'm reading Born to Run at the moment and the chapter I'm on talks about a very experienced coach in America who knows everything there is to know about VO2 max, Lactic Threshold, Nutrient and is trying to work out why the American standard of Long Distance Runners has gone down since the 1970s. He is eluding to the conclusion that it is love for running. Nobody told the running guys of the 1970s that with running 100 plus miles each week should injury you so they did it! Nobody told them that running when fatigued or running over 90% for your max heart rate for X amount of time is wrong. They just ran because they loved it.

This next few weeks in my training I am going to add some marathon pace running to ingrain this my into my muscle memory for the Chester Marathon.

That's all folks.

Sunday 4 April 2010

Ill train like a madman, un loco. Well, not like a madman, perhaps, but as if it were my last race. - Rudolfo Gomez, prior to the Los Aneles Olympic Games

I really didn't feel like going out for todays LSR. I wanted to go to church this morning which meant I had to run alone :( Once I got going I was fine.

Today's mile splits for my 18 miler.
6:44 6:39 6:50 6:30 6:17 6:20 6:26 6:29 6:34 6:27 6:56 6:45 6:38 6:36 6:39 6:40 6:23 6:28