Keir has now returned to University in Coleraine, Northern Ireland. We were a bit worried about him travelling alone through Belfast when there is quite lot of trouble there at the moment.
He was due to arrive at about 9.00pm and we had asked him to text us when he arrived. At 10.30pm we still hadn't had a message and we were, by now, starting to get concerned. Half an hour later we sent him a text knowing that he almost always replies within a couple of minutes. Another thirty minutes passed and we decided to not go to bed until we had heard from him ... or at least knew what had happened.
Within ten minutes of that decision he phoned to say that he had forgotten to send a text [teenager speak for 'stop worrying'].
Running continues to progress, and slowly improve, which is pleasing. Running non-stop for half an hour is quite tiring though !!! Even at 8:30 per mile (5:17 per km). I know that will soon get better though.
In the meantime Here's something I've recently found which addresses the issue of whether or not to eat/drink during training. Over the past few years I've read lots of evidence and anecdotes which have been contradictory and seem to be inconclusive as to which is the better protocol. For me this article by Andy DuBois clarifies everything nicely.
To finish this post I found something on the BBC news yesterday about a man who had recently received a hand transplant - the first in the UK. And the hospital where the surgery was performed is only 10 miles (16 km) from here. What caught my attention was that he needed a new hand because of complications arising from gout. I'll make sure I take my medication and be a good patient.
Showing posts with label BBC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BBC. Show all posts
Saturday, 5 January 2013
Thursday, 17 May 2012
flapjack and racing
That flapjack ... well, it wasn't unpleasant and it was very slightly salty. No problems at all on a 24.5 mile run (39.5 km) through Airedale and Wharfedale. In fact I don't envisage any problems for a long ultra too and it seems to me to be a convenient way of taking on board the necessary electrolytes.
I found the basic recipe on the BBC website to which I suppose you could add almost anything you would want.
Anyway that trial happened on Tuesday morning and later that same day I took part in race two of the Harrogate District Summer Race League - a fantastic series of six races between early May and late July. This race was in Thirsk over a course described as 'a little under 10k'. Last year I ran that in 37:28 but wasn't expecting to get too close to that time this year because of the morning's long run.
So my 37:01 came as a complete shock. I started conservatively and seemed to get progressively faster with each passing mile. Although in reality I guess that everyone else was slowing down at a far greater rate than me. Still, I've got to be happy with Tuesday's training: over 24 miles in the morning, 9.5 km (?) in 37 mins in the evening.
This morning I went for a run in the rain again and felt myself perversely enjoying it. Perhaps I'm getting used to it ... or perhaps it's a different type of rain.
Friday, 24 February 2012
speed work, races and the BBC
Speed work today. Lots of short reps ... well, ten anyway. Not easy with a gale force wind blowing so that some reps were 20 seconds per mile (12.5s/km) faster than others but with less effort !!!
A good training session though and I hit my targets for AVERAGE pace which I'm pleased about in the conditions. Also working hard on form as mentioned in the previous post.
I'm pleased that Pam Storey appears to have finally got her ultra races off the ground with the news that she's planning to stage a 48 hr and a 24 hr race in Horsham, near London in August. I really would love to take part in the longer of the two but it is a bit close to this year's World 24 hr Championships - early September in Poland.
That's if I'm selected of course. And therein lies the problem ... UK Athletics have not yet announced any selection criteria or guidelines. Plenty of stuff for other international events but nothing for this when common sense dictates that the longer the race the more notice the athletes should have so they can plan the rest of their season. Long races means long recovery.
Perhaps the powers that be have decided not to send a team to Katowiche. Stranger things have happened ... but I just wish they would tell the athletes.
There's been a good article on the BBC website recently about sleep and how humans evolved to take sleep in four hour blocks and not eight hours at a time which most people believe. Of course ultra runners - especially multi day runners - have always known that short periods of sleep are best.
Continuing with the BBC, an episode of Horizon next Tuesday may prove interesting. It's entitled The Truth About Exercise.
A good training session though and I hit my targets for AVERAGE pace which I'm pleased about in the conditions. Also working hard on form as mentioned in the previous post.
I'm pleased that Pam Storey appears to have finally got her ultra races off the ground with the news that she's planning to stage a 48 hr and a 24 hr race in Horsham, near London in August. I really would love to take part in the longer of the two but it is a bit close to this year's World 24 hr Championships - early September in Poland.
That's if I'm selected of course. And therein lies the problem ... UK Athletics have not yet announced any selection criteria or guidelines. Plenty of stuff for other international events but nothing for this when common sense dictates that the longer the race the more notice the athletes should have so they can plan the rest of their season. Long races means long recovery.
Perhaps the powers that be have decided not to send a team to Katowiche. Stranger things have happened ... but I just wish they would tell the athletes.
There's been a good article on the BBC website recently about sleep and how humans evolved to take sleep in four hour blocks and not eight hours at a time which most people believe. Of course ultra runners - especially multi day runners - have always known that short periods of sleep are best.
Continuing with the BBC, an episode of Horizon next Tuesday may prove interesting. It's entitled The Truth About Exercise.
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
TV news coverage
Did anyone watch television last Sunday evening ... in particular the Sports Personality Of The Year on BBC 1. Here are my thoughts:
Let me begin by congratulating the BBC on a first class program. As always it provided an excellent general review of the sporting year.
This year though I felt that something was missing. As the program was essentially a review of the sporting year I feel that mention should have been made of a Commonwealth Championships which took place only three months ago.
The championships in question had 16 gold medals at stake which included men, women and teams. British sports men and women won well over 50% of the medals on offer. Yet no mention was made of their achievements either on sports programs or news reports at the time or on the Sports Personality Of The Year program. A little unfair I believe.
What's more, these championships were not for a so-called minority sport such as darts, gymnastics or archery but for two branches of the mainstream sport of athletics known as ultra distance running and mountain/fell running.
In my event, the 24 hr running race, John Pares (Wales) claimed an individual bronze medal in the men's race. The England women's team were awarded the gold medal and the England men's team the silver medal. Sharon Gayter (England) won the women's race with Vicky Skelton (England) finishing second and the Scottish women claiming a team bronze medal to add to the team bronze medal their men had won.
Yet no mention of any of this on a national news or sports program when the event was held in September.
In May next year the 24 hr World Challenge will be held at Brive in France and many people have predicted that the UK runners have a good chance of bringing home some medals. Hopefully mention will be made on BBC news and/or sports programs of all their achievements.
As England's first finisher in the Commonwealth Championships (fifth overall) I know that ultra distance runners are just as dedicated and train equally as hard as athletes such as Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah - but without any lottery funding whatsoever.
The overall perception of ultra distance running with the public is not helped by commentators such as Brendan Foster who portray the marathon as the ultimate endurance race. It isn't, for ultra distance runners such as myself 26 miles is just another training run - not a particularly long one either.
Hopefully things will change regarding media coverage of our events ... but I fear it will be almost as long as some of our races.
Let me begin by congratulating the BBC on a first class program. As always it provided an excellent general review of the sporting year.
This year though I felt that something was missing. As the program was essentially a review of the sporting year I feel that mention should have been made of a Commonwealth Championships which took place only three months ago.
The championships in question had 16 gold medals at stake which included men, women and teams. British sports men and women won well over 50% of the medals on offer. Yet no mention was made of their achievements either on sports programs or news reports at the time or on the Sports Personality Of The Year program. A little unfair I believe.
What's more, these championships were not for a so-called minority sport such as darts, gymnastics or archery but for two branches of the mainstream sport of athletics known as ultra distance running and mountain/fell running.
In my event, the 24 hr running race, John Pares (Wales) claimed an individual bronze medal in the men's race. The England women's team were awarded the gold medal and the England men's team the silver medal. Sharon Gayter (England) won the women's race with Vicky Skelton (England) finishing second and the Scottish women claiming a team bronze medal to add to the team bronze medal their men had won.
Yet no mention of any of this on a national news or sports program when the event was held in September.
In May next year the 24 hr World Challenge will be held at Brive in France and many people have predicted that the UK runners have a good chance of bringing home some medals. Hopefully mention will be made on BBC news and/or sports programs of all their achievements.
As England's first finisher in the Commonwealth Championships (fifth overall) I know that ultra distance runners are just as dedicated and train equally as hard as athletes such as Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah - but without any lottery funding whatsoever.
The overall perception of ultra distance running with the public is not helped by commentators such as Brendan Foster who portray the marathon as the ultimate endurance race. It isn't, for ultra distance runners such as myself 26 miles is just another training run - not a particularly long one either.
Hopefully things will change regarding media coverage of our events ... but I fear it will be almost as long as some of our races.
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