Catchup and Minimalist/Barefoot running

My last post was just after the National Cross country/mud bath with the Intercounties just on the horizon. In the weeks up to the race i put in a longer week (70+ miles) and then eased down again to about 50 miles for the intercounties. Last year i had a really good run (by my standards) finishing 56th , however this was coming off the back of what was my best ever winter and performances. This year i knew i wasn't going to be in the same sort of shape but was still hoping to be about 20 places lower than last year. I finished 105th and a minute twenty seconds down on last year. Clearly a bit of work to be done however I have to say I'm probably about a month to 6 weeks off the sort of fitness levels I was this time last year.

Since then I have had a couple of weeks training and the Northern 12 stage in Catterick, the training has been going well, felt a little tired at times with the amount of miles and sessions completed, but I have been sure to take the easy weeks easy to give me time to recover.

The relay were ok, i was disappointed with the time (23:04 for ~4.6 miles) and the fact i had the sprint of shame at the end. I am staying positive and looking forward to the National 12 stage where i will hope to improve on my time from last year.

The next little thing i want to talk about is the minimalist/barefoot movement that seems to be rumbling on in the back ground. I was bought the book 'Born to Run' (pictured) by my girlfriend for Christmas. She was recommended it after telling people i was a runner, it is considered the bible of barefoot running. Now i'm not going to tell you the whole story, you'll have to read that yourself, however there is an interesting underlying theme about minimalist and barefoot running and the evidence backing it up is quite compelling. The thought is that our new trainers with their motion control and cushioning is doing more harm than good. After all we've survived for thousands of years without them and it wasn't until the 1970's that these sort of trainers were developed. Rather than land on our forefoot, as nature designed, allowing our feet, achilles, calves and legs take the force the new trainers cause us to land on our heels putting more pressure on our knees, hips and backs while also causing damage to our achilles and calves. If you don't know any runner who has had achilles, plantar faciitis or calve problems they must all be made of steel/barefoot runners! It has been proved there has been an increase in injuries of this sort rather than a reduction. After reading this I thought to myself it all made sense and why not give it a try, I knew I ran the risk of aggravating my achilles injury but my thought it was caused by the way i was running so changing it it may help. I also realised it would and still will be a slow process gradually removing my orthotics and changing my shoes. I have made conscious efforts when going out running to land on my forefoot which inturn shortens your stride but puts less pressure on the various points on the body.
With regards to the shoes there has been the movement towards the 'less is more' ethic from shoe companies, for example the Nike Free's, Saucony also released their first foray into the minimalist area in 2010 with the introdction of the Kinvara, a lightwight, low heel to toe drop shoes (4mm compared to 13-18mm in most trainers). I have recently received my pair and from the few runs i have been on I am delighted with them. They feel a lot lighter on my feet and have noticed a fair increase in my steady run pace. I will definitely be getting another pair once my Hurricanes give up. I will keep you informed in the future about how they hold up and thoughts on them.

Next up will be the National 12 stage in two weeks time, I expect i will be puting in a couple weeks of hard training, racing and then preparing for my favourite time of year, TRACK!
Bailey

Where do i start..

It has been far too long since my last post, my running has been blighted mainly by illness but things are back to normal and i have been able to get back to some form of fitness.

The end of 2010,running wise, was something to forget, my last post was way back in August i had just returned from the European Championships (watching not racing) and was looking to get my running back on track. I had began building up from what felt like nothing at the end on August and gradually was upping the milage each week. Then in September i came down with a virus, raced in the Northern 6 stage and was then out for around month with the virus, cold and just to finish it off a week and a bits worth of stomach upset. Well done me not listening again.

When i finally got back to some sort of health it was a case of starting all over again. The first few weeks was just running, getting something in the legs and gradually upping the milage to a 'reasonable' level. The sessions started in November, back at the car park at sports city. The first few sessions were slightly demoralising, i was way off the pace and i felt i was going full out, it was expected but still a shock. I systematically increased my milage and sessions through December as well as adding in my weights session once a week.

My first race wasn't until the new year, a Greater Manchester league in Woodbank park, Stockport. It ended up being a reasonable result however the week later in the Cheshires' was a different story, a muddy 5 lap course already cut up by the age groups and women showed up my lack of strength and i struggled finishing 8th. John and I decided from then on i would only race every 2 weeks until the strength came back. The following weeks included 70+ mile weeks and some good sessions, things were looking up.

The Northerns in Sunderland were next up and after my 38th place finish last year i was hoping to get close again this year. Disaster struck when i started suffering stomach cramps halfway round the second lap, i considered a Paula but decided against it and suffered through to 50th place.

Two more hard weeks (70+ and 80 mile weeks) followed by an easier week led to the National or as it as better known the Muddy Hell. I arrived with Tom and Graham Lancashire to be greeted by the bog that was the spectators area, the course was ok... until people started running on it and it cut up like a cows field. There are horses for courses and i am not a muddy horse. 120th, way off what i expected but i'll let this one slide.

Next will be the Inter-counties in Birmingham this weekend, hopefully dry and firm!

Hopefully a few more posts in the coming months rather than a bi-annual update!

Bailey

Back to the drawing board

First of all i would like to say a big congratulations to all those athletes that competed at the European Championships. I was there for the first few days, although i wish i'd been able to stay longer, and the performances of the athletes that i saw was 1st class. I was able to watch the 10,000m final and Mo's finish along with Chris Thompson's gutsy finish was inspirational. The performance on the whole bodes well for future championships and here's to the big 2012.

As for me, well, last time i was cutting back and trying to deal with the fatigue that was hindering my races. I raced the England championships at Gateshead and in all honestly i shouldn't have. I felt flat as soon as i started the warm up, the race wasn't much better as i started struggling after 1k. After the race i spoke to fellow Sale Harriers and friend Stuart Stokes and he gave me some advice and kindly offered to sit down and go through things. I decided to call a close to my season i was just digging myself into a deeper hole.

Since then i've not run for 2 weeks, done a lot of sleeping and had many conversations. I'm just getting back into things, doing one steady run a day and will build up towards the end of August.

Sorry it's short and sweet but not much to talk about in the last few months.

Not Again...

It's been a while since my last post and there has been a reason for it... i may have been over doing it again.

I raced in the AAA's for the first time since 2007, and it was a great experience again. The crowds and cameras were different from the usual races, as was my performance. Again i was with the leading group, well chasing group after Luke Gunn shot off after 800. I was hoping to sit in and cover the breaks as they occured. I did that but with 1k to go the wheels fell off again and i struggled home in 9:09. Shocking considering how easy i felt the last time i ran 9:09.

Since then i have been completely drained, i have not been able to barely any running. The following week i was drained i took most of the week off as i was so out of it. I raced in the British league that Saturday and finished 4th in 9:20. The next day as i was walking round i felt physically sick.

I went to see John Rogers, my friend a GB doctor, and he has gone through all the symptoms and ran some blood tests. These tests have come back normal and this in turn has pointed to the overtraining syndrome.

Since then i have been limiting my self to one run a day no more than 25-30 mins. I am starting to feel better and am planning to start doing sessions this week. I am planning on racing at the England champs in Gateshead, depending on how i react will depend on what happens for the rest of the season.

I am not going to record my training for the past few weeks as i think it's in the region of 50 miles for 2 weeks.

Right direction

The ast few weeks have seen 1 race and a bit of training. Last time I updated I was building up to the BMC at Watford. The week had gone well with the sessions and runs feeling strong, i had organised to head down and stay over on the Saturday with Matt Barnes, although there was a change of plans when Matt hadn't recovered from a cold so one Matt was changed to another with Matt Bond jumping in for the journey and night in the hotel.

I was hoping for a fast time, close if not faster than my PB, and the race was certainly set up to do that. Fellow Sale harrier Stuart Stokes was pacing the race in 8:40 ish pace (he was also racing the race!), the race started off well with the first k in 2:52 i was just off the pace in about 4th or 5th and as the race continued i made sure to move up as people moved up. By 2k Stuart, Sam Farah and i went through in about 5:50 so the pace had dropped slightly but we were 25 min clear of the field. However at this stage i was starting to feel the pace and i started to drop back with 2 laps to go. I finished with 9:01, a seasons best but well down on what i expected. However i have to admit that my hurdling throughout was terrible and i was losing a lot of time each lap. Although i was disappointed with the time when i spoke to my coach he highlighted how although the wheels came off they came off later.

You can watch the race here 3000SC With thanks to Athleticos.org.

With these in mind my last few weeks have been focusing on improving the hurdling technique as well as a bit more endurance. i have doe one specific session (which unfortunately was ended early due to cramp) and hurdle drills after every session.

The next race will be the AAA's in Birmingham, i will be aiming to break the 9 minute barrier in this one and then look to build on each race.

The last 2 weeks training in brief.

Sunday 6th June: 10:23 (1hr 13min, 10.55 mi, 6;55min/mi)

Monday 7th June: 8:00 approx 27 min

19:00 (WU 16 min, 2.0mi 4*600 3 min rec (90, 88, 87, 87) WD 15min 1.5mi) Good session unlike the last time i did this where i was lay out on the track for 20 mins.

Tuesday 8th June: 12:54 (29:54, 4.21mi, 7:07 min/mi)

18:25 (31:15, 4.69mi, 6:40 min/mi)

Wednesday 9th June: 7:49 (24:35, 3.43mi, 7:10 min/mi)

19:06 (15:43, 2.13 mi, 6*300 45 sec rec (avg 44) WD 14:22, 1.99 mi) Felt good tonight all ready for the weekend.

Thursday 10th June: 12:40 (20:57, 2.97 mi, 7:03 min/mi)

17:52 (29:15, 4.24 min/mi, 6:54min/mi)

Friday 11th June: Rest day

Saturday 12th June: WU 10 min 3k steeplechase 6th 9:01 WD 10 min)

Week total: Approx 45 miles

Sunday 13th June: 8:35 (1hr 20min, 11:42 mi, 7:04min/mi) stead with Matt in Watford.

Monday 14th June: 8:04 (23:11, 3.20 mi, 7:15 min/mi)

19:08 (WU 16:50 min 2.16 mi, 3*1k 2 min rec 10 min WD including hurdle drills) Tired in the legs after the weekend, had spent nearly 9 hours in the car over 2 days.

Tuesday 15th June: 7:27 ( 24:45, 3.32 mi, 7:27 min/mi) felt tired this moring.

12:35 (32:43, 4.72 mi, 6:56 min/mi)

Wednesday 16th June: 12:11 (25:26, 3.82 mi, 6:40min/mi)

18:24 (WU 15:37, 2.13 mi, 2*800 over hurdles ( had to stop on third due to cramp in my calf) WD 10 min 1.5 mi) Was going well until the i had the cramp, probably a little dehydrated.

Thursday 17th June: 7:45 (21:59, 3.02 mi, 7:17 min/mi)

17:42 ( 36:40, 5.80mi, 6:19 min/mi)

Friday 18th June: 12:55 (47:01, 7.22 mi, 6:31 min/mi)

Saturday 19th June: (WU 16min, 2.0mi, 2*1600, 1*1k, (4:32, 4:31, 2:45) WD 10 min 1.2 mi including hurdling drills) Felt good in the session was leading out the 5k Session of Barnsey, Bond and Gaz Raven.

Week total: Approx 55 miles

Fairly steady couple of weeks including the race, been told to ease off after wednesday for the sunday race. Probably close to 45-50 miles up to the Saturday.

Where is that come from?

Unexpected performances come in two ways, the first is where you will go out and run a huge PB, feel easy and read to do it all again 15 minutes later. The other is where Murphys law comes in (not to be confused with Tuckers law, see Thick of it), everything that could go wrong will go wrong. For everyone, the good unexpected is what we hope for everytime we race, if not you expect to perform close to how you've been training. However when the other happens you'll scratch your head, try and figure out what happened, how it happened and why it happened. In the last 3 weeks although i have not experienced the good side, i have experienced the bad. I had a 3k at Stretford, a follow up to my opener 2 weeks prior, was hoping to go close if not quicker to that previous race. This time there were no pace makers, i was hoping that some one would take the pace on but after a slow opening half lap i had to go to the front and get the pace to around what i wanted. After the first half i was pulling through 4 others at a time i felt comfortable and happy with without feeling too pushed. However after 5 laps everything went wrong, the wheels came off and i went backwards. i ended up finishing in a time of 8:41, a time i will hope to be running quicker than over the steeplechase barriers! My coach and i tried to dissect what could have happened, i had some blood tests and looked at the training. I came to the conclusion it was just one of those days.

Since then i have raced twice and both have been a lot better performances, so that race is definitely one to forget about.

I'll give a quick overview of the last 3 weeks otherwise this will be a very long one!

Sunday 16th May: (1 hr 8 min, 9.27 mi, 7:20 min/mil)

Monday 17th May (32:40, 4.91 mi, 6:39 min/mi)

Tuesday 18th May (WU 10:57, 1.53 mi, 3k stretford 8:41, WD 16:39 2.15 mi)

Wednesday 19th May (25:00, 3.61 mi, 6:56 min/mi) Pm WU 15:53, 2.13 min, Tempo, 2.13 mi, 5:12 min/mi) Felt shattered was thinking of doing speed work but called it a day.

Thursday 20th May (43:10, 6.51 mi, 6:38 min/mi) pm (25.15, No gamin)

Friday 21st May Rest day

Saturday 22nd May (Wu 15:31, 2.13 mi, 3*1k pace making 5k session (2:47, 2:47, 2:44) WD 15:30 2.10 mi)

Week total Approx 40 miles

After the race i felt awful for the next few days and came right off everything. Started to feel better come Saturday.


Sunday 23rd May (1 hr 22min, 11.57 mi, 7:08 min/mi)

Monday 24th May (21:55, 3.03 mi, 7.14min/mi) Pm (WU 16:01, 2.11mi 4*600 (91, 86,87, 88) WD 10 min)

Tuesday 25th May (29:08, 4.23 mi, 6:53 min/mi) pm (31:24, 4.63mi, 6:43 min/mi)

Wednesday 26th May (24:02, 3.57 mi, 6:45 min/mi) pm (WU 15:35, 2:09, 7*300 (avg 44/45) WD 14:06, 1.95mi)

Thursday 27th May (28:59, 4.35 mi, 6:40 min/mi) pm (31:16, 4.74 mi, 6.36 min/mi)

Friday 28th May (28:17, 4.25 mi, 6:40 min/mi)

Saturday 29th May, (WU 13:18, 1.90 mi, BMC 1500 C 3rd 3:48.02 PB, Pace making 1500 E race (2:02) WD 14:12, 1.90 mi) Happy with the race, sat in the first 2 laps and then started to move through the field, with 300 to go was about 5th or 6th, was pushed into lane 3 by some argy bargy around 200 to go. Coming of the final bend the front 2 had got away so just powered home. Felt strong, hopefully more to come.



Week total Approx 54 miles

Feeling so much better than the previous week, happy with the race, hopefully the first of many this season. Looking forward to first chase next week, just going to get back into the rhythm before Watford. On the monday i did something to my left knee in the last rep, had a massage on tuesday and he diagnosed problem as slightly strained knee ligaments and tight IT band, had to do a lot of stretching during the week.

Sunday 30th May (1hr 14 min, 10:03 mi, 7:27 min/mi) Knee was very tight after previous night.

Monday 31st May (24:51, 3:48 mi, 7:09 min/mi) Pm (Wu 15:48 2.11 mi, 4*800 over hurdles (2:15, 2:13, 2:13, 2:11) WD 14:56, 1.62 mi)

Tuesday 1st June (32:19, 4.81 mi, 6:44 min/mi) pm (Approx 30 min, watch dies mid run)

Wednesday 2nd June (Approx 28 min) Pm (WU Approx 16 min 7*300 (avg 44) WD approx 12 min)

Thursday 3rd June (26:14, 3:55 mi, 7:23 min/mi) pm (29:22, 4:29 mi, 6:51 min/mi)

Friday 4th June (26:17, 3:58 mi, 7:21 min/mi)

Saturday 5th June (WU 9:45, 3kSC 2nd 9:09, 1500 6th A 3:54 WD 15:04, 2.01mi) Felt a complete fool after the chase, sat in the first 2k feeling very easy, took it on and opened up a 20m lead coming off the last barrier i was easing down but was shouted at that second place was coming after me by the time i reacted he was besides me and pipped me by 0.11 of a second. This won't happen again! 1500 was a gradual wind up, 2:07 through 800, 2:52 through the bell and winner finished with 3:48.

Weekly milage Approx 50 miles.

Although stupid in the chase i felt really good, lots left in the tank, which bodes well for Watford. Will ease off towards the end of the week and hope for a good time!

Bailey

I'll have confidence to go.

I'm sure i'm not the first person to say this but if you could bottle and sell confidence you would be an overnight millionaire. In all walks of life confidence puts people ahead, be it work, the opposite sex or in my case sport. Being able to go on to your life/sporting arena feeling unbeatable gives you a one up on the competition, it's something people crave.

When i 16 and 17 i oozed confidence, i would go into races feeling unbeatable and in quite a lot of the instances would come out on top. However over the years this confidence has gradually drained away for one reason or another and the self confidence when i come to compete can sometimes be lacking. I openly admit this and it is something i am looking to improve, mainly by having a long conversation with the person staring back from the mirror.

You hear about confidence coaches who give people back their self esteem, what i need to start winning races or running PBs. With these i should get back to level i feel i should be at. If you believe in yourself that's greatest battle overcome.

Last weeks training:

Sunday 9th May: 9:37 (1 hr 13 min, 10:51mi, 6:58min/mi) Out on my own, felt good, pace and distance ok, looking forward to a fairly hard week.

Monday 10th May: 7:33 (23:16, 3.26mi, 7:08min/mi) Steady morning run nothing of note to mention.

Lunch: Light S&C session.

19:07 (WU 15:45, 2.13mi, 1k 3min 600m 10 min pulled out of second set WD 15:54 2.05mi) This was meant to be more of a 1500 session. First set went ok, 2:34 and 91 for reps. Got cramp in calves in first 300 of second set, this is something i seem to suffer from in these sort of sessions. I have tried to overcome it with compression socks but the cramp actually comes above the socks. Looking into new ways of overcoming it.

Tuesday 11th May: 18:26 (47:35, 7.39mi, 6:26min/mi) Just the one run today because i overslept and had a work event stopping me going at lunch. No major effects from previous night.

Wednesday 12th May: 12:38 (24:19, 3.61mi, 6:44min/mi) Steady run, felling fine heart rate normal.

18:27 (WU 15:12, 2.14mi, 8*400 over barriers (avg 64 sec) WD 12:00 1.62mi) First proper hurdle session felt good, although technique still needs a bit of work. Started fairly quick (62) but held them together.

Thursday 13th May: 8:00 (21:09, 2.98mi, 7:07min/mi) Hips and groin a little sore from the night before slightly affected my running style.

13:11 (38.13, 5.89mi, 6:30min/mi) Still a little sore, glad to be having massage in the evening.

Pm Massage.

Friday 14th May: 13:26 (24:41, 3.62mi, 6:49min/mi) Sore and slightly tired.

19:26 (24:54, 3.69mi, 6:45min/mi) Nearly didn't go for this run, felt very tired.

Saturday 15th May : Cycled to and from session 14 miles

10:38 (WU 15.10, 2.14mi, 7*300 (Avg 45), WD 7:47 1.09mi) Felt good in this session was leading the younger group through, feeling ready for Tuesday.

Weekly Mileage: Approx 55 miles running + 14 miles bike

Ok week, annoyed with the session on the Monday. My masseur suggested drinking tonic water before, because of one of its qualities, to help with the cramps. Going to try it next speed session. Will have a steady few days before the 3k at Stretford on the Tuesday.

Bailey