bits and bobs

First of all many congratulations to Matt Podd and Matt John on completing their first ultra race last weekend in north Yorkshire ... a trail race but it's a start.  Hope they plan to do some more.

Earlier this week the Olympic kit was launched for team UK.  There has been quite a lot of things written in the media about 'the missing red' but the best thing I saw was on Terry Lonergan's blog - Running On Empty.

Also found some good stuff on the West Highland Way website from a 'night of inspiration' held in Edinburgh recently.  A few hundred people turned up for talks by various knowledgeable people including Adrian Stott and Dr Andrew Murray.  Videos and downloads are on the site and are well worth looking at.

My training this week has been a bit tiring.  Tempo run on Sunday then two long runs (Tuesday and Wednesday) followed by two 7 mile (11.2 km) runs yesterday and speedwork this morning.  Plus lots of core and strength work.  Yesterday's early morning run was completed with heavy legs but the porridge back at home was well worth the five or six minutes effort in making it.  The combination of oats, milk, fruit and spices soon had me back to normal and the evening training run with the club saw me moving much better.

This morning's speed session was also quite good as, once again, I managed to hit all my targets in the cold early morning mist.

A good week but a bit tiring.  The improving weather is definitely helping - almost spring like at times.  No training tomorrow ... a scheduled and well earned rest day.

training and helping

Over the past week or so I've had a few requests for help from fellow club members who have either entered today's Hardmoors 55 or are running the 52 mile Slieve Bloom Way at Easter for charity.

I'm always happy to help and pass on the benefits of my - relatively short - experience, especially if those runners are likely to think about doing more ultra stuff.  Especially on the roads and/or track rather than trail.  That's just my personal bias, I've nothing against trail races really.


I always try to be careful not to provide to much information at first (I don't want to scare people away) because, unlike the shorter distances there is much more that runners need to know and be aware of.  Hopefully they will enjoy their first forays beyond the marathon and want to run more, and try to increase their times and/or distances.  Keeping me on my toes too.

So, all the best to Matt and Matt today and to Liam in a few weeks time.

For me this morning was a speed session.  Very early.  12 x 200m at 7.30am is anything but easy, especially with a weighted bag on my back.  I often do stuff to make my training harder than it need be - somehow it makes the training a bit different ... and the races a bit easier !!!!

Ran well though and hit all my targets before spending an hour on the bike and then doing some core exercises.  A good day's work.  So far.