Personal Training

I’ve started watching a show on Channel 4 called ‘The Fat Busters’. I missed the first one, when I saw the write up I thought it would be just another gimmicky weight lose programme featuring people that just aren’t real, so I didn’t bother watching it. However one of my clients made a reference to it so I thought I ought to watch it, if only to explain reasons for not doing some of the things they do, i.e. wearing high heels in the gym. Since then I’ve watched every episode and some of it is a bit gimmicky and some of it is different to the things I do, but, most of the stuff being stated and the training the personal trainers are doing is pretty good stuff and there are a number of things shown that I either do or I would do if I had more space and equipment. So actually it’s not a bad watch and the characters do seem to come across as fairly good Personal Trainers who care about their clients (though editing has clearlytaken place so I can’t be absolutely sure of that), unlike some of the Personal Trainers I’ve come across.

One of the things I found of particular interest, last week, was that Matt (Miller the Pillar), the bodybuilder, used another trainer to help him to achieve his own goals. This is how I got to be a reasonable runner, by the use of expert coaches Arthur Bruce and Dave Lucas, and, although I’m now self coached, I will still, occasionally, try another coach’s session, to try something fresh for me and take the thought process out of the equation. It’s also how I have built up a reputation for training other Personal Trainers, so far I’ve helped four other Personal Trainers to achieve some specific goals.

Why does anyone need a Personal Trainer? We’re all a bit more gym savvy these days and of course there are loads of books, magazines and internet pages available to tell you how to train, so why does anyone need a Personal Trainer?

• A Personal Trainer can review your goals and will know exactly what is required to achieve them and can be quite frank in telling you that.
• A Personal Trainer can devise a specific programme of workouts for you that will help you to achieve your goals.
• He/she can add variety and challenges to your workouts and ensure you are pushed harder as you develop.
• A Personal Trainer will motivate you when times get tough and can ensure you don’t slacken off when the desire takes you.
• A Personal Trainer will ensure you use correct technique and appropriate weight, and work out at an appropriate pace.
• A Personal trainer will advise you on nutrition and other types of exercise you could try.
• A Personal Trainer will introduce you to activities you would never consider yourself.
• A Personal Trainer will cater for any illness or injury you are suffering from.
• A Personal Trainer will always have safety in mind.

When would you use a mobile Personal Trainer instead of a gym based Personal Trainer? Not everybody feels comfortable working out in a gym or in the public eye. That’s when a mobile Personal Trainer comes into play. A mobile Personal Trainer will visit you at a place of your convenience and choice, so that you will already be comfortable before you start. He/she will bring their own equipment with them appropriate to the type of session you will have discussed.

• No need to feel embarrassed to enter a gym.
• No need to pay gym bills.
• No need to queue up to use a particular piece of equipment.
• Use of the Personal Trainer’s equipment will help you to understand what to purchase should you choose to get your own equipment.
• The Personal Trainer may use some different equipment that you won’t have seen at a gym.
• You’re in your own environment and comfort zone.
• No need to travel to a gym.
• You can get fit or lose weight without anyone knowing, until they start to see the transformation.
• You won’t end up watching people with poor form, think it’s normal and copy them.

As you’ll have gathered by now, I am a Personal Trainer, and although I have my own small gym I work as a mobile Personal Trainer. Whilst I have non portable equipment in the gym, which I do use with clients who come to me, I also have a large array of portable equipment that I can take along to client sessions away from the home. I have a mixture of client types, some visit me at my gym base, others will meet me at a convenient location and others will invite me into their home to provide their workout.

But what is it I have to offer that might set me apart from other Personal Trainers?

• I’m qualified to REPS Level 3, and I’m always looking to update my skills and knowledge. I’m also a Run Leader and trained in the use of First Aid and Defib. (if you wish to see the full list of my qualifications in the fitness industry visit www.rogeralsop.co.uk/about-us/roger-s-qualifications).
• I have full liability insurance.
• Although I workout hard myself and work in the fitness industry it is not all consuming in my life and whilst I’m training my clients I’m able to hold a sensible conversation with them about things that are important to them.
• I’m able to understand their lifestyle and adjust the session to fit around any stresses they have been going through.
• I don’t try to sell extras as part of the session, I’ll happily pass on my thoughts on particular products but I won’t plug something just to make money for myself, I only endorse things I truly believe in.
• I’m mature in years and have a wise head that goes with that maturity.
• Whilst I come from an endurance background and do base a lot of my training around endurance principles, I’m well versed in all areas of fitness.
• I’ve trained some of the best; Paratroopers, Royal Marines, Personal Trainers, National Champions, World Record Holders.
• But I’ve also trained relative newcomers, people recovering from injury and retired people.
• Finally, I’m a nice guy, sometimes we do win.

To find out what some of my clients really think of me visit www.rogeralsop.co.uk/home/testimonials

How did I get into personal training? Good question, it was never high on my list of ideal careers, in fact I hated going to gyms, but, as an athlete of many years, who had benefited from some good coaching, I wanted to pass on my experiences and knowledge, to help others to achieve their own success. I held off from becoming a coach for a few years because I was training really hard and also working abroad a lot, so I didn’t feel I could give the commitment I felt was required. Then I became a shift worker, which meant working awkward hours on different days each week, so again I couldn’t make a formal commitment. But at 42, and slowing down in my own running, I decided enough was enough and now was the time to start training to become a coach, even if it meant taking holidays to attend courses. I had to wait a further 9 months before I could get on a course, but qualified at Level 1 fairly quickly. During my training and qualification I helped out with the athletes at Edinburgh AC but found it frustrating that I wasn’t officially allowed to use my own initiative. To get my Level 2, which would give me more freedom, I realised I would have to wait some months with no guarantee of getting on a course that year. I loved working with the athletes, encouraging them and making sure they didn’t get too much recovery between reps, it was this that prompted me to look at an alternative career choice and train to become a Personal Trainer. After all my employers, Royal Bank of Scotland were starting a difficult period, having over exposed themselves, and it was clear that the employees, not Fred, would be the ones to suffer. Knowing that redundancy was a very real possibility I put all my efforts into qualifying as a Personal Trainer, which I achieved in 2009. Since then I’ve worked in a few gyms but found I enjoy the role of mobile Personal Trainer suits me better and I now cover the majority of Cheshire and South Manchester.

Enough about Personal Training, what about my personal training? For the last week I’ve been increasing the intensity of my sessions, both running and the gym work. Not increasing the weights, just working the evening cardio sessions harder. I’m managing to push myself almost to exhaustion in each 5 minute segment but by the time I’ve fixed myself onto the next machine I’m ready to do the same again. I’ve been managing just shy of 1400m in 5 mins on the rower, which is getting closer to where I was in my mid 30s. All this intense cardio is showing benefits in my running, I feel more comfortable when I’m running, even at pace. Today I managed my longest run for ages, 1 hour 30 mins. As I’ve stated before, my knee starts playing up if I run further than the hour but I’ve been working on strengthening the muscles around it. I chose today, for this long run, to empathise with Ray, who was running in the 4 villages half marathon at Helsby, also because Carole is working in India this week so I don’t have to compromise my training. I found it windy as anything on my run, so I’m sure that will impact Ray’s time. Yesterday I was planning to make the trip to Pennington Flash, for the parkrun, but with Ray resting and Carole not feeling too great in the morning I decided against going on my own and did 3 x 10 minute reps with 2 min recoveries (yes Richard Meade I was very generous to myself, but I needed it as the first 18 minutes were into a strong headwind). This coming week I’ve got my old pal and best man, first time round, Al Stewart, visiting. It’s been ages since we last got together so it will be good to catch up. But that’s not going to get in the way of hard work, I’m piling it on now as I’ll be taking a three week period of specific light training and speed work. It’s all part of the grand plan, success doesn’t come by accident.


Written by Roger Alsop
http://www.rogeralsop.co.uk/

Marathon Mode 2012

I’m in marathon mode at the moment. Nope I haven’t entered one, I stand by my decision to sit on those particular laurels and let the many runners I know get ready for their own particular marathons, while I concentrate on shorter races. I’m in marathon mode because I’m helping out three clients to run various marathons. Two, Ray and Katy, are doing specific sessions with me in preparation for their Manchester marathon. Rich, who trained with me, last year, in order to kick off his running experience, is taking bespoke training schedules from me and we plan to get together nearer the time to do some specific training together, before he tackles the Edinburgh marathon.

So I’m doing a lot of thinking about how I can best prepare all three for their respective marathons, because they are all individuals with different commitments so it’s not a one plan fits all. Of course I’ve got lots of knowledge to draw on, having been coached by a very successful marathon coach, Dave Lucas, for a few years. During my time with Dave I ran my marathon, but I was always very aware of his marathon training as most of the group were training for marathons. Dave managed to train a number of women to sub 3 hour marathons and national medals and two guys to become national champions. So thanks Dave for giving me a start to my marathon education and long may you remain a successful coach. I’ve now adapted my training approach to what I’ve learnt since then, everything moves on. 

So far I’ve been pretty successful, having helped Lee Riley to break the world record for running a marathon with a 40lb pack and I’ve also helped Ray to numerous pbs over the last year. Not forgetting that I’ve also coached myself to a fair bit of success since I moved away from London and decided to coach myself.

I’ve taken a decision that, if I’m to run and set sessions with marathon clients I need to remind myself of what they feel like. Therefore I need to do a certain amount of marathon type training myself. This could potentially be a problem, as my knee generally starts to cause me an issue if I run for longer than an hour, so to tackle this problem head on I’m also working hard in the gym to strengthen the muscles in my knee. Last week I started pushing myself with a session that is hard both mentally and physically, and it was tough. But that’s what you’ve got to do to tackle the marathon.

I have one specific session, I call the killer session. I’m not going to go into detail of what the session is about, when I told Katy she was both horrified and excited so lets just leave it at that, but once you’ve done the killer session you’re ready for the marathon. The killer session was something I have to give credit to Dave for, he used it year in year out with his groups, but when it was my turn to do the marathon I was working in Slovakia so I took Dave’s idea and adapted it to my own circumstances. It worked for me, yes it was hard, probably the hardest training session I’ve ever done (and I’ve done a few) but I was totally exhilarated afterwards. Of course I need to adapt the session to each client as everybody is different, but the trick is to reach a certain level of exhaustion by the end of it. I used it with Lee and made it particularly tough by using a soft surface and including a difficult hill that had to be repeated, and he was carrying his pack, but it worked, weeks later he broke the half marathon world record for carrying a 40lb pack, and then went on to smash the marathon world record. So that’s something for Ray, Katy and Rich to look forward to, oh and me as I’ve agreed to run it with Katy, just have to hope that knee holds out.

Of course I’m hoping to gain some benefit from all this additional training. When I was training for the marathon I was producing some pretty good results, consistent 31/32 minute 10ks, I was a member of Belgrave’s Southern 6 and 12 stage winning teams, I went over to Portugal to represent Belgrave in the European Champions Clubs Cup at the half marathon and finished, only, 4 minutes behind regular London marathon winner, Pinto, I produced my best ever Surrey League cross country result, a half marathon pb, my highest position in the national cross country champs and the week before the marathon ran sub 25 minutes on the 8k+ long stage at Milton Keynes. So I’m hoping I might get some good results this year, particularly as I’ve been training fairly consistently since my comeback from injury, early last year.  

  

It has taken it’s toll though, at the end of last week I was feeling pretty tired, as I’ve also been working harder in the gym, virtually to exhaustion on each of my cardio pieces (it’s amazing how you can burn out on one piece and then by the time you’ve unravelled yourself from that to get onto the next one you’re ready to burn yourself out some more), I do 5 minutes on each piece (I have 3 pieces) and then a further 5 minutes on the piece I started on, then I follow that with an abs, kettlebell or weight session. By the weekend my knee was beginning to ache, but I’ve realised that I’ve not actually had a day off training since the start of January, and most of that has been two sessions a day. I’ll take a break soon, I have plans.

All this tough training helps me to feel young, mind you that’s getting harder each year that passes. Today is my 47^th birthday, yes incredible 47, I’m almost 50. I suppose that’s one thing about being the youngest sibling, my brother and sister will be well past 50 when it hits me, in fact my sister already is. I’m not doing too bad for an oldie, in fact, I feel a hell of a lot healthier than when I was working shift at RBS. Not only that but I’m a lot happier too.

For my birthday treat we revisited another part of my past, spending the weekend in Lytham St. Annes. I used to live there, when I was very young, about 40 years ago, obviously I don’t remember a great deal about the place but I enjoyed my brief life there. In fact it’s probably more than 20 years since I was last at Blackpool so it was a good opportunity to see what the area had to offer. On the way up we visited the Sweatshop in Ribby Village, I’ve had a voucher since coming in as first M45 at the Hollins Green 5k, just haven’t been able to get to a Sweatshop since then. I was looking for a pair of racing flats, it’s been some time since I bought a pair, I actually can’t remember when that was but I believe it was some 15 years ago. Since then I’ve had a couple of pairs of adidas, specifically made for me by a friend in the company, and a New Balance pair I won in the Wimbledon 10k. They’ve lasted well but are showing signs of wear so I figured it was time to invest in some new ones, particularly as I intend to race more big races this year. I was lucky there was a pair going in the shop, a Brooks ST 5. Now I’ve had Brooks before and I wasn’t impressed but then I’ve also had unimpressive New Balance as well as good ones. So I tried them on and they felt pretty good. So that was the voucher used up. It was also good to catch up with Dave Norman, who happened to be working there on Saturday. Dave is a very good athlete who runs for Altrincham & District and is also involved in the organisation of the Partington 10k, which is a great course that produces fast times.

Then onwards to St. Annes. We parked up at the hotel and walked along the beach to Blackpool. It was a lovely sunny, but cold, day and there were lots of people out walking, but it was more like a ghost town in Blackpool as most of it was shut, perhaps everybody was at Ipswich watching the Tangerines. Back to St. Annes and a scout around for somewhere to eat dinner. It was almost another Derby Dining Disaster as everybody seemed to be fully booked, but we managed to get into a Greek restaurant, albeit earlier than we’d have liked. Cocktail in preference to pudding ended the evening and away to the hotel for some good kip. The next morning we were up nice an early for a run, not a long one as we had plans but I decided to go the other way down towards Lytham. Not as nice a view over the estuary but the views across the green towards the big houses was pretty good. After breakfast we drove down and had a walk along the green and into the town, which is really quaint. Back home and then out for another walk along the river Weaver, during which we bumped into Ray, who was out for a run, wearing a rather smart Ronhill jacket.

But my birthday really starts today, it was nice to get up early for a client, even if it did mean scraping my windscreen. We had a good workout, or rather he did and then it was back home for my own workout. I chose to do one of my hardest session, such is my mindset, and for some reason it actually felt really easy. I’m hoping that’s because I’m getting so fit I’m coping with the training better, but perhaps it was just that now I’m so old I can no longer run hard enough to get out of breath. Oh well the proof of the low fat pudding is in the eating and we’ll soon see how things are progressing, when I do my next major race.

And speaking of Ray, he is now producing apps for the I-phone so if anybody has any ideas for an app that would make their life easier, let me know and I’ll pass them onto Ray.

County Cross Country Championships

I have taken part in many county cross championships, they’ve been an important part of my build up to bigger championships, they’re always tough, being generally longer than the local league races and they usually bring out the best athletes that county has to offer, in one race. It’s also a good opportunity to pick up important medals and gain selection to represent your county in the forthcoming inter-counties cross country championships. What I also like about them is that you get a chance to race against athletes you don’t necessarily get a chance to in local league races.

I’ve had mixed results in the county champs but I’ve not allowed those days when I’ve finished well down the field to affect my belief in my own ability, which after nearly 23 years of running I’ve got a fairly good idea of what it is. Through perseverance I’ve picked myself up from the defeats and worked hard to bring future success.

My first shot at the championship was in December 1990, in those days the championships were held prior to Xmas, nowadays they’re held the first weekend of the year. Still fairly fresh into my running, having started less than 2 years earlier, the championships were run on one of my least favourite courses at Coulsdon. There were two reasons I disliked the course, it had a path with stones poking through it and a section where you ran on a camber. After many years of running Surrey Leagues, Surrey Champs and South of the Thames Champs I managed to adapt to the course, gaining some good results on occasions, but I never liked it. This particular year I managed 98^th position. I didn’t expect any better and despite the course I enjoyed the competition, having my own race with the guys around me.

It was December 1992 before I took part again, where else but Coulsdon. By now I’d settled down into my running but I was far from the finished article. I was impressed by Bob Treadwell who was over 40 and won his 7^th Surrey cross country, but then Bob was a class athlete over the country. My own position of 43^rd was nothing to get excited about but I was at least placed around the same position as a host of athletes who would feature in my races for the next few years, the likes of; Jim Estall in 40^th, Peter Groves 41^st, one of the two Robbies (James in this case) in 45^th and Vic Maughn in 48^th. If you’d seen me run that day and looked at the results I doubt anyone would have put money on me being a Surrey Champion and ranked in the top 50 in the UK within the next 6 months, but such is progress and good coaching.

The 1993 Championships were held at Frimley, a venue I’d never visited before. It was a good course going through the woods with a long finish on the fields. Terry Booth was the victor on this occasion, Terry a fine runner and on his day unbeatable. Geoff Hill was 2^nd with Hugh Brasher, of  Sweatshop fame, in 3^rd. I was running with more confidence but still only managed 14^th, just behind 1992 runner up and New Zealand dentist, Alistair Miller. Just behind me were the two Robbies, James and Phillips, and following in my wake were some very good local athletes; Tony Bignell, Dave Robinson, Jerome Brooks, Jerry Weightman, Gary McIllroy, Mark Duncan, Jim Estall and Andy Weir. It was this run that earned me my first representation for Surrey.

Back at Frimley in 1995, having missed the previous year’s Championship, I could only manage 27^th as Belgrave colleague, Chris Sweeney took the title. There were a lot of great runners in the race so Robbie Phillips 12^th position was a great effort. Just ahead of me were many Surrey regulars; Jim Estall, Andy Thomas, Barry Attwell, Stuart Major, Geoff Jerwood (I didn’t quite get close enough for him to push me off the course this time), Karl Corpes, Ian Lamplough and Ian Munt, with Robbie James, again, one place behind me, followed by Bob Treadwell.

In 1996 the event was again held at Coulsdon. This was the year I ran with the cold that was to prove my undoing. I thought I was recovered enough but any weakness will be found out by cross country, particularly on this course and even more so when you have Commonwealth athletes; Gary Staines and Jon Solly competing. I’d been in such good form coming into the race and was looking at this event for me to gain my first individual cross country medal. There were again some great runners in the race but I feared nobody, unfortunately I didn’t see the virtual brick wall that I ran into about a mile into the race. Had I known that I would come out of this race with a strained heart I would have stopped right there but I was fighting for my place in the Belgrave 6 man team so pushed through the next 6 and a half miles of pain until I reached the end in 19^th place. As Gary went on to win the race from Jon, I was 4^th Belgravian in, for a momentous team victory, the first in 30 years. At last Robbie James got the better of me, finishing two places higher but I managed to keep Bob Treadwell behind me.

The 1997 championship was back at Frimley and I finished in my highest position to date, 10^th. Team mate Kassa Tadesse was champion, ahead of Solly, but we only managed bronze team this year. Dave Robinson got the better of me but I finished back in my customary position, one place higher than Robbie James, with Karl Corpes and Paul Haywood following him home.

1998 was back at Coulsdon. By rights I shouldn’t have run, I’d had my last race in June and had been sidelined for about 5 months. I started running again in the last week in November so the obvious advice would be to miss this tough 7 and a half mile race. But I don’t do obvious or easy, my summer injury was indirectly linked to the run at Coulsdon, two years previous and I was out to extradite my demons. With lashing rain and the muddiest course I’d seen in a long time, it was understandably my worst championship position for 8 years as I finished down with the old men in 66^th place. But it was a comeback and was the first step towards much future success. And to be perfectly frank, 3 months earlier I’d thought my athletic life was over so I was as happy as Larry to get through such a tough re-introduction to racing.

The winter of 99/00 saw the championships move to the New Year, which was good for me as I was home from my work in Germany. The race was held at Lloyd Park, notoriously wet at times but I was in pretty good form, finishing 7^th, top Belgravian, just ahead of my future best man, Al Stewart. Sadly we lacked a team with Will Cockerell next man in 37^th and Don Anderson in 78^th. But it was always good to beat Al and at least I saw my future wife finish 8^th and lead home the Belles to a team bronze.

It was Lloyd Park again in 2001 but I wasn’t in the same kind of shape this year and could only manage 21^st.

I missed the 2002 race but took part again in 2003 at a new venue, Banstead. Slightly better than my previous attempt, due to the high mileage I was doing for my marathon debut. I was 16^th. Again I was 1^st Belgravian, one place ahead of Richard Ward, with Will Cockerell in 77^th being the only other Belgravian to finish, so once again no team. I didn’t know it at the time but this was to be my last Surrey Senior event as other events took over.

In 2005 I turned 40, which at the time was the opening age to become a Master’s athlete, now it’s 35. I’d had a good start to the year and then tore my hamstring, but come October I was regaining my form, just in time for the Surrey Veterans cross country champs (the title Veteran or Master is used dependent on how you feel about the wording, at this time we were all called veterans, now we’re called masters. I have no personal preference, it’s too insignificant a difference to lose sleep over, but it is confusing for those not involved). For years I’d had a desire to win the Surrey cross country title but I was never close, perhaps my closest opportunity to get a medal was lost in the cold of 1996. However, now as a Master I had regained the desire. The championships took place in Richmond Park, one of my favourite venues, it was sunny and the going was firm, my favourite conditions. I was full of confidence, my favourite feeling. I set off steady, wanting to see who would put their head above the parapet. Nobody did and I quickly found myself at the front, then we were going downhill and I wasn’t going to waste the downhill so I let myself go at full flow. I had some competition for a while but was always confident it was going to be my race. Half way around the 2^nd lap I put my foot down and pulled away from the rest of the field to win my 3^rd cross country race and first county cross country championship. I was now running for Herne Hill Harriers and I also picked up a team bronze. Soon after this I moved to Edinburgh so had no further involvement in Surrey championships.

It was 2008 before I competed in another county type championship, this time it was the East District cross country champs at Cupar. It was an icy day and I made the mistake of leaving my spikes at my front door. Perhaps it was the shift work but I was pretty annoyed with myself for this stupid mistake. I contemplated not starting but found the ground was quite firm. I’d brought an old pair of racing flats to drive home in so decided to wear those. They almost came off on one occasion but I had a good solid run for 31^st. I was 7^th over 35 but had they not changed the age limit would have been bronze medallist in the over 40s, still Edinburgh AC, my Scottish club, won the Masters team race and we also got bronze in the senior event. Not a bad day considering I nearly didn’t start.

By the end of 2009 I was back in England, Cheshire. I hadn’t been here long enough to qualify for the Cheshire champs in early 2010, which is a shame because I was about to find some very good form. In 2011 I was injured.

So this year I made my Cheshire cross country champs debut and it was close to home at Winsford. I popped down to the course last Thursday, to take a look at it, it was a very windy day and the course was boggy, my feet were soaked in seconds and it was a most unpleasant run. Two days later, on race day, I decided not to jog around the course, after seeing the churned up finish area, because I didn’t want to get my feet wet before the race, I wish I had because I would have found that the soggy areas had dried up and, whilst still offering challenging terrain, the course was firm enough to get a reasonable purchase in spikes. Instead I warmed up on the road and spent time talking to those locals I knew. One non local was Martin Jones, former commonwealth games representative and a great athlete in his time. I met Martin when we both worked at adidas, in Germany. When we raced he left me for dead, even though I was coming into some of the best form of my life, when we drank it was the same story. Martin’s daughter had just come 3^rd in her race. I chatted to one of my local rivals, Rob Tudor, who told me who my chief rivals were. They generally came from his training group, but not Rob who had a chest infection. Then there was M50 British marathon champion Mike Hatton, who offered me the use of the South Cheshire Harriers tent, I’d already put my stuff in the Vale Royal AC tent. I caught up with Stu Doyle, who has been one of my most memorable opponents since I arrived in Cheshire, he gave me further advice about my rivals. Then just before the start I caught up with Belgravian Sarah Murphy, who gave me some good advice on a line to take after the steps. What steps? I hadn’t seen any steps on my reconnaissance, what an idiot I’d taken a wrong turn on my reconnaissance. Oh well it’s all grass and mud, and some additional steps.

12 minutes before the start and I was putting my spikes on, snap, one of my laces went. I couldn’t believe it, who brings spare laces to a cross country race. A quick problem solving session, using all the methodologies I’d learnt during my years in IT and I ruled out using one of my trainer laces and decided to tie the two ends of my lace together instead. It took a few minutes, and I wasn’t at all confident it would stay together, but time to stop any negative thoughts. It was off to the loo and then to the start. On the way I decided my shoes were too loose so I retied my laces, much happier now and off to the start. It was there that Julian Spencer of Spectrum Striders started speaking to me and telling me I ought to hook up with Graham Houghton to train with, as we were about the same standard, well I wasn’t about to go seek him out now but he was right, he beat me.

Then the guns went off, for some reason the starter was holding two, probably couldn’t decide which one to use so brought them both. I set off cautiously, I wanted to find my way round on the first lap of four. Perhaps I was too cautious as my main rival for the M45 title, Ian Wetherall, shot off with the leaders. Coming to the steps I saw that my mate Dave Gough was marshalling there, he told us to be careful but I wasn’t quite expecting to go down 4 uneven steps after picking up speed on a firm, slightly downhill, part of the course. It was the only bit of the course I did not like, the rest was flat and fairly firm, or at least by the 4^th lap I’d found the firm line. In fact, apart from the steps, the only other downer for me was that there weren’t any tough hills. I had some good race long battles, most of which I won but some I lost, particularly with Dave Alexander, James Wood and Rob Grantham. Every time I came to the end of the lap there was a switch back and I could see 3^rd place M45, Graham MacNeill, was only about 20 metres back, so come the forth lap I just put my head down and pushed all the way round.

I finished in 17^th, 4^th over 40 and 2^nd over 45. I was disappointed when Adrian Thiemicke told me there was only a medal for first M45, but that’s life and I’ll have to try better next time. I’ll admit to being a little disappointed at first with 17^th, but I know I’m better than that and one race does not a season make. I also know that, and so will you if you’ve read more of my blogs, I’ve had some pretty uninspiring county champs in the past and achieved greater things in the spring. So here’s to the spring, for which I’m working on my training and racing strategy.    

Don’t Give In

‘When the going gets tough the tough get going’, a saying that’s universally used. I agree with it to some extent, it does define winners from losers, however sometimes the smart people are the ones who give up today to be stronger tomorrow. Over the Xmas period I’ve been watching the World’s Strongest Man on the TV. Carole doesn’t understand what I see in it, big blokes pushing their bodies to the limits to beat other big blokes. Naturally it’s the competition that I’m interested in and seeing people lift, pull and push huge weights is pretty impressive, even if it occasionally makes me wince to watch men lifting in a way that would cause injury to most people (and indeed did to a number of the competitors). Of course the most interesting events for me involved some element of endurance and it was good to see that some of the contestants had a good deal of stamina. But the point I want to make is that on occasions one of the guys had easily won his event and then went on to showboat by lifting even heavier weights. Whilst there may be a good reason for this, to gain confidence for the final, on most occasions it was wasting vital energy that could be used in the next event and also could have led to an unnecessary injury. Those smarter blokes would just do enough to get through to the final and then just enough to win each event.

This can also be true in running with respect to giving up on racing for first, when it’s clear someone else is better, and concentrating on 2^nd. Though that is something non of us athletes really wants to do, but it is better to be 2^nd than 4^th, despite what some people call the ‘1^st loser position’. I’ve never been a subscriber to that particular way of looking at it, I do what I can to win but if I can’t win then I’d rather be 2^nd than 3^rd, 3^rd rather than 4^th and so on.

However there are many times when you just want to give in when you could go on, and the reason for this blog’s subject is to try to present an argument for carrying on instead of giving in.

We all have to start somewhere with our fitness levels and there will usually be someone fitter than us, so it can be off putting when you’re struggling to keep up with people. In my early days as an athlete I trained with guys who had been running for years and initially I couldn’t keep up with them. It was off putting and I tried so hard to keep up I ran out of breath and had to stop and walk. This is natural and is encouraged for people new to running, walk some, run some, walk some more. When you’re having to stop to walk it’s also easy to make the decision that running is not for you and give up on it, but I say persevere and in time you’ll find your running feet. Over time your body will develop and running will become easier for you, but it does take time, I remember going for 4 mile runs on my own and having to stop to walk at 2 miles, and that was some months after I’d started running, but I persevered and ran the marathon without stopping, despite wanting to at 15 miles. As you get fitter you’ll also enjoy the running more.

It’s not just beginners who have to put up with the desire to stop, good, even great runners have to battle to keep going sometimes and you’ll see many of them drop out of races, particularly in something as tough as a marathon. I have faced the call to stop on many an occasion, and at times, in training, I have decided enough was enough, usually when you know something isn’t right, e.g. a cold or a muscle tightness, and in such circumstances it’s better to live to fight another day, but I’ve never given up on a session just because I’ve found it too hard, though I may have adjusted my expectations a little. In races too I’ve had that familiar voice ringing in my ears telling me that all the pain will go away if you just stop running, it usually says that when I’m not having a good race and indeed I think if I’d listened in 1996, when I ran the Surrey Cross Country Champs with a cold, I’d have been a better runner for I wouldn’t have spent months recovering from a strained heart. I have dropped out of races on two occasions, once when I tore my calf muscle 6 laps into the Surrey 5000m Champs. I was lying 2^nd and on the shoulder of the leader, poised to pounce so I wasn’t happy but there was no way I could continue, the other time was when my cross country spike disintegrated in the mud of Parliament Hill Fields, early in a 9 mile cross country event, I ran with one shoeless foot for 3 miles before I realised it was pointless and stupid to continue, it was cold and painful and I risked injury from tree debris and the fact that one foot was sliding out to the side at every step. But I’ve also had the desire to stop, on occasions, when I’m running well. I really don’t understand why but I guess it’s somewhat similar to having the desire to jump from a tall building, even though you know it will result in death. My most recent example of this was when I was running the Pennington Flash parkrun, a few months ago, I was leading by a clear margin but I suddenly had a strong desire to stop, or at least slow down. The desire was weighing me down like a 40lb pack until I realised what I prat I’d be if I followed my desires and just got on with the race. 

So I’ve yet to drop out of a race through desire alone, my reasoning is that if you do it once it’s easier to do it again, so I’d rather push through the pain, which of course is temporary, than face the longer lasting pain of facing up to your own stupidity.

So I hope this blog has encouraged you to push through the desire to give in, remember having the desire to give in is understandable, but having the willpower to continue is what sorts out the winners from the losers. However, also remember that it is better to give in than become injured or ill.

It’s two weeks from my previous blog, my busy Xmas and New Year period got in the way of my usual weekly waffle. The week before Xmas I was training really hard, once I got over the knee niggle, having the cycle in my gym has really brought a new element to my training and helped me to strengthen the knee. However on the Friday before Xmas I strained my calf whilst putting one of my marathon running clients through her paces in a big session. I didn’t realise it was strained, I thought it was just a bit tight and, having planned to take the next day off, I wasn’t bothered. On Xmas day I followed my own blog and set up a 40 minute paarlauf (I realise I spelt it wrong in my previous blog) for Carole and myself to run in a section of Bonnyrigg. It was cold and hard work running into the gale force winds and my calf tightened again. But we did it and ate our Xmas lunch without a hint of guilt. The next day was an easy run so I thought it would help to ease out the stiffness, but it wasn’t as easy as I thought as I ran 2.5 miles uphill into another gale, the stiffness got worse and I had to take the following two days off running. But that and the self massage seem to have done the trick and I’m now back on track for what is looking like an interesting race schedule for 2012. Incidentally the client I was training with, when my calf strained, just ran 1:39.06 for a half marathon, the first time she’s gone sub 1:40, so things are looking good for the Manchester marathon. We also had my Australian client staying with us around New Year, it was great to catch up with her but I had to send her out for a run with Carole as I was doing a marathon build up session with Ray.

Here’s wishing you a healthy happy and successful 2012, but an even happier and more successful one for me.