here we go ... and it's good to be back

OK I know I haven't posted for a while and there's a good reason for that.  I haven't had anything to write about.

I still don't have much to write about at the moment but I have been busy planning my training schedule which will take me to my next 24 hr race - the Six Nations event in Perth over the first weekend in September.  That's Perth in Scotland, not Australia.

When I arrived home from Brive I took a few days mental recovery before trying to find out why I ran a substandard distance in France.  After the Commonwealth Championships I reviewed my training and made slight adjustments for, what I thought, the better.  I now believe these changes, especially in the running side of things, were wrong and so I've reverted to a very similar running schedule to the one I used last summer.

The other aspects of my training:  although I'm still incorporating cycling and strength/conditioning exercises it will probably be a bit less of the former and a bit more of the latter.

Flexibility training remains unchanged.

At the end of May I took part in the second Harrogate League race.  It was only seven days after the World 24 hr Championships and the plan was just to run the 5 mile course.  I managed 41 minutes on the hilly route at Temple Newsam, Leeds.  Although my left hamstring ached a bit I was happy with that.

Then I ran on alternate days - 6 miles, 7 miles, 8 miles and 9 miles.  My hamstring getter better daily.  Since then my weekly mileage has improved to 40 miles.  Next week 50 then 60 then increasing by about 5% weekly.

Yesterday I took part in the third Harrogate League race.  Five and a half miles from Yeadon, near Leeds which included a hilly stretch through and beyond Spring Wood.  Managed 38:05.  Sub 7 minute miling and a good springboard to faster racing over the next few months.

Ah yes, one last thing, my club [Otley AC] decided to award me the accolade of Runner of the Month for May.  I can only assume that no-one else had any good runs last month.  Or is that me being overly critical ?

No recognition for ultra runners

At Thursday evening's committee meeting (I'm secretary of Otley AC, a medium sized club based in Yorkshire, England), I nominated Phil Robertson for our Runner of the Month award - in December he completed the Round Rotherham 50 in 9h 47. Considering the terrible weather and the fact that this was his first ultra I felt this was a remarkable achievement ... no one else did though.

At the meeting I was shown Athletics Weekly's (27 Dec issue) annual review. Guess what ... not a single mention of anything longer than a marathon. Another example of ultra runners getting a raw deal.

As far as my recovery goes I was doing fine until yesterday when my achilles started playing up. I guess 3 sets of 10 'step stretches' is a bit too much at the moment so I'll stick with 3 sets of 9 for a few days. Need to get up to 3 sets of 25.