Fast Runners

For most, running is an enjoyable experience at a pace which suits the individual. A lot of enjoyment and satisfaction can and is derived from being able to get out and run freely whether it be in a race or just a training run. What is scary about running now is how fast the elite runners are going. They are talking about who will run the full marathon in under 2 hours - yes, under 2 hours  !!!! That equates to around 4.5 minutes for every mile.... WOW.
Good luck to them, their bodies are finely tunes machines, whereas the ordinary runner is still happy to run at a comfortable pace to themselves at whatever the time.

Starting to Run

When starting out you should take things very easy and you need to settle how many times in a week that you think you can run without overdoing it. I would suggest 3 times a week, which gives opportunity for plenty of rest in between. Rest is very important as your body needs time to recover and repair after periods of exertion. View rest as part of the overall training that you are doing. Never do 2 days back to back running in your early training - learn to rest, it will pay off in the end. 
Get hold of a good start up programme and try and stick to it. It will seem hard at first, but it will get easier.
NB. It is important to do some warm up exercises before starting any running - this should be at least 5 mins. of movement to get your body mobile.

Another great run

It was a joy to watch Mo Farah in Birmingham on Sat. he ran another brilliant race and won going away from the field. It is really satisfying when you see a runner who is able to judge pace like that and know that when the button is pressed for the final burst, a good win is assured.
A bit different from that was the Cross Country racing I attended briefly in my home town on Sat. no great or particularly famous names there, but the object was the same - to run well and do the best you can. The runners had a tough course which was well cut up with the weather but that did not deter them too much and I'm sure they all enjoyed it....
For myself, I am enjoying building my distance up again, albeit slowly. Today I enjoyed a 2 miler which was slightly longer than my last 1.5 miles - easy does it. I hope to be at the 5k distance by mid March.

Making a return - at last

Well, after a long period of inactivity - 6 months - I have finally managed to get back out on the roads running. Admittedly the first run was only half a mile, but it was a start and I have been able to capitalise on that with a further 4 x 1 mile runs. So everything is going well. My startegy is to build up slowly and be running 3 miles by the end of March and then progress to 6 x miles by June. We will see how things work out

A Stupendous Feat of Running

News today of a Belgian guy who has just completed 365 marathons in 365 days !!!! This is some feat of endurance especially when as a child he had asthma and was told he should not take part in sports. Makes you think doesn't it. If you are in training for a race then this kinda puts things in perspective. Yes, you can do it, it is only one race. This 49yr old guy woke up every morning and completed a marathon every day for a year. The mind boggles...... Wonder how many pairs of trainers he went through ???

Slow Runners

As I drive around I see a lot of runners out on the streets and I wonder why do they seem to run so slowly. I mean these folks are not going fairly slow, they are going really slow. My first reaction is ''why bother'' then the more I thought about it the more reasons dropped into my mind. Maybe they have went through life threatening surgery and are out there giving it their best to try and get ready for their chosen race in which they can raise sponsorship for their particular charity. Maybe they are on a phased running schedule which means that for this particular run they are just ticking over slowly, a recovery run perhaps. It may be that they have just returned from injury and are gingerly making their way back to some sort of running pace. Of course maybe they are just so slow at running that perhaps this might be their last run. I came to the conclusion that there are many reasons for people running slow and although it may not look so good, for each individual it is part of their running journey, whatever that may be.

Tips from the Top Runners

Enjoyed watching the Cross Country Races in Edinburgh last weekend. It was good to see how the top performers started their new year debuts. When watching the main race, two things became evident that resulted in a good win for Mo Farah. Firstly, he paced himself really well, he sat in the pack near the front runners and then gradually worked himself into position so that when the really hilly part of the course came up he was ready to make his move to the front. Secondly, when tackling the steep hill - they did it three times in the race - he really attacked it and also kept going really strong over it. This gave him a great advantage and he went on to win the race easily. As runners, these 2 points are very important - Pace yourself correctly and attack hills both up and over them.