Tuesday 26 June 2012

Fartlek Training

Ever heard of fartlek training? Ever tried it? If not then now is your chance to find out something about it and give it a try. I was introduced to fartlek when I joined Arthur Bruce’s training group in January 1992. Like anything new, it was hard work, plus I’d just come back from an injury lay-off so I was completely unfit. But even when I got fit again it was still hard work, because you make it hard work. Despite being hard work, many Saturday afternoons we’d return to the Belgrave changing rooms absolutely cream crackered, I loved it. Mind you I do have a tendency to love hard training sessions.

I always had an idea about the origins of fartlek but never the full story so for the sake of accuracy I did a little research, I didn’t spend a lot of time on it so it may still be slightly inaccurate, but it makes a good story. Fartlek, which means ‘speed play’ in Swedish, though I’m no linguist so perhaps my Swedish reader might have a different interpretation, is supposed to be an unstructured session of varying length and varying speed repetitions, in effect you are playing with the variants to make the training hard for your body. It was created in 1937 by Swedish coach, Gosta Holmer (apologies for inaccuracy here due to using an English keyboard). Apparently the Swedes had become a bit cheesed off by being beaten by the Finns throughout the 1920s so designed this programme of training to help them improve. Arthur told me that when he started training with fartlek, the more established runners at Belgrave asked him why he kept stopping and starting.     

That’s the history lesson over, the rest is about my fartlek experiences. I prefer a more structured approach to fartlek, I’m a planner by nature and want to know where I’m going, however I can see the benefit of the unstructured approach too.

Our group ran 4 different fartlek sessions. The original, and best, was the one we used to run on a Sunday morning (later switched to Saturday afternoon), which went from the clubhouse, onto Wimbledon Common (where the first two repetitions took place), then across to Richmond Park (where a further five repetitions took place), back onto Wimbledon Common (for the final two repetitions) and back to the club house. It was a total distance of 10-11 miles and repetitions ranged from about 45m to 1 mile. The first repetition was run more as a build up and the last one was either a flat out sprint or, if you were too knackered, a half effort. All the other repetitions were taken flat out.

The repetitions were a mixture of uphill, flat and downhill and were all on the grass, except one which was on a compacted gravel path. Just after the mid point, both in distance and repetition number, was the long one, we called it the White House as it finished at the White Lodge. I guess we could have called it the White Lodge but that would have failed to inspire our creativity. This one was feared by some but I loved it and made it my own. It had all the elements, up, down and flat and the aim was to complete it in under 5 minutes, it was the only repetition we timed. Not many people managed the sub 5 clocking but I had a collection of sub 5 timings and held the training group record of 4:50, I was helped along by a herd of stampeding deer on that day.

At the end of the fartlek we’d go back to the club house, shattered, have a shower, a cup of tea and a slice of cake. It’s at this point that we would plot our future races and the old boys would tell us tales of how it used to be in the 1950s. I often nodded off, not from boredom as these boys had many an inspirational tale, but from a tiredness induced by the run. It was the perfect end to a training run, though I suspect crashing out in a comfy chair by a log fire with a pint of bitter would come close.

In the winter we’d do a fartlek session around Tooting Common on a Thursday evening, but after a while we switched to Battersea Park, I can’t remember why perhaps it was the interference of the prostitutes who would hang around the Tooting course. In the Summer we’d do a shorter version around Wimbledon Common, in the Thursday evening slot.

They were all fun and got you fit, you were encouraged, by each other, to give your all in each repetition and it certainly got you fit. With the odd exception, the fact that they were based on effort and not time meant you didn’t have any negativity comparing times week against week. You knew you’d always given it your best, and if not, then there was usually a good reason for it.

I haven’t done a fartlek for many years, but as I trained in Tatton Park, the other week, I was thinking what a good place it would be to have one.

This weekend I contested the Lymm 5k, another race put on by those lovely lot at Spectrum Striders. I’d never done this one before but heard it was a tough course, so I wasn’t expecting a particularly fast time and set my sights on a sub 17 clocking. I set off to get there about an hour before the start, but misjudged how easy it was and ended up one and three quarter hours before the off. Luckily, when I’m in race mode I don’t get bored. I was also experimenting, Ray had given me a couple of caffeine shots to try. I’ve never taken any before and wasn’t sure what benefit I’d get. I tried my first one on this week’s treadmill session and I flew, but would I have flown anyway? So I took the shot before the start. I’m still undecided what effect it had on me but I surprisingly found myself in the lead by the first turn, I’m not entirely sure how that happened but I wasn’t going to hold back on a downhill section, unlike my younger, faster, competitors, who seemed to be asleep. I reached 1k in 2:57, was that the caffeine? I knew it was a little fast but hey, nothing ventured. Then people started to overtake me, but only 6. It was a hilly course, but not that bad, in fact I really enjoyed the race. I was slower than recent times, but so were three of the guys in front, who also did Hollins Green, and my older competitors Graham MacNeil and Mike Hatton. It was a 16:48 clocking, nothing to write home about but I was 7th in the race and 1st M45 again. Unfortunately we couldn’t hang around for the presentations so missed seeing the various friends getting their overall prizes, My mate Louise Blizzard had another good run to come in 1st lady, she was also slower than at Hollins Green so I think I justify my time. We had an evening do to go to, an Abba Tribute night at Cottons Hotel.

Well that was fun, Carole is a big Abba fan so I thought I’d treat her, and it was a good laugh, the food was excellent and they served a good pint of draught Thwaites bitter. There was a hen night there so you can imagine what fun it was. A late night and then an early morning the next day as I fitted in a 9 mile run before a day out at a charity event with my parents. Another good meal and the generous portions took me back to a time when I used to compete against James Ryle and Bruce Barton to see who could eat the most servings without gaining any weight. Happy memories.

Also on Sunday, Katy was running the Stone 10k and set a new pb, 44:02.

This week it is week 5 of my 12 week plan, it starts to get tougher as I added another repetition. I was in the gym this morning, it was hot there today and I struggled a bit, but, despite wanting to ease off, I pushed through, using all the psychology in my armoury to keep at it. But boy was I done for at the end, so done for I could only manage one round of kettlebells. So I went for a swim to cool off and then into the spa pool to massage the legs and then a sauna to remind me of the old days in Germany. Then, with my client late, I managed to finish off the other kettlebell sets. I’ve got three more weeks of this before the plan gets tweaked again. It’s getting tough but that’s what I need to be if I’m to beat the best. 

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

Tuesday 19 June 2012

Back In The Medals

It’s been a long medal drought for me. Ok I have a box full of medals so I shouldn’t be greedy but at the same time a medal signifies something to me, it signifies that all the work I’ve put in has resulted in this medal. It’s why I do it, it’s what I earn. Ok, so it doesn’t put food on the table but every medal won ultimately says ‘Roger Alsop gets results’ and I’m proud of them all. The last time I won a medal was on 13 October 2010, I was running for the England M45 team in the British and Irish Cross Country International, we came second and every member of the team got a silver medal, though frankly I didn’t feel like I deserved it after my poor run. In 2011 I didn’t get one championship medal, the first year this has occurred since 1989, which is the year I started to run. So after last year’s poor showing I vowed that I would be aiming for medals again this year.

My quest for medals has already been thwarted this year, I was 2nd M45 in the Cheshire Cross Country Champs, but only the winner received a medal. I was all set to run in the BMAF Cross Country Championships but I injured my back the week before and was unable to run. My club, Herne Hill Harriers, fell one man short of sending a team to Sutton Park, for the BMAF Road Relays, when we were almost certain to medal. So this weekend I was on a mission, I was sure I would be the lone Herne Hill Harrier on show, at the BMAF 5k Champs, and I was proven right. If I was going to get a medal it was up to me alone and I was up for it. A recent run of improving form had given me the confidence that I was getting closer to my 2010 form, when I came 2nd in this championship. Of course I’m still a little way off that form so I wasn’t sure I’d sneak a medal, but it wouldn’t stop me from trying.

For the race, in Horwich, I went up with Ray. Ray had run it last year, but I was away so couldn’t join him, and he was confident he would improve on both his position and time. I was ready for a hard race and had my eyes set on a top 3 position in the M45 group. We arrived early, as is my preference, and went for a run around the course. It was very windy on the uphill section and I knew this would have an effect on times, but I was still hoping my strength would see me to a season’s best. Back at the changing rooms and people had started to arrive, it was nice to catch up with a number of my competitors and friends. It was the first time I had spoken to a number of my Scottish friends and my local rivals the Whittingtons were also here, though only Russell was down to run. There were runners I’d known for years and others I’d only really got to know since I became a geriatric, and then there was Mike Deegan, superstar runner of the past but even at 55 keeping us young geriatrics honest.

I’m usually pretty calm before races but I’ll admit, on this occasion, I was a little nervous. My week hadn’t gone exactly to plan. I had shaken off the cold but hay fever was making life a little uncomfortable. I had done my usual front loaded week with a short hard session on Monday and then my treadmill session on Tuesday, and all was going well, but I’d forgotten I was training with Katy on Wednesday. That shouldn’t be a problem though and I’d be able to do my last speed session on Thursday. However Katy was in very good form, not only did she run great but she ran me into the ground. At the end of the session my right calf was tight, I had to abandon any ideas of a fast run on Thursday, it was easy running only then and on Friday. On Saturday I was taking the day off but my calf was still a little tender so I put my compression socks on. They gave me instant relief but the calf didn’t feel 100% right. Sunday morning it felt better but still not 100%. I wasn’t nervous about being in the race I was nervous I might pull, or worse, tear, my calf muscle.

As we started to congregate at the start line we were told there would be a delay, the cycle races were falling behind and we should expect a 10 minute wait. It was then that I was told that the walkers, it was a walk championship as well as a running one, would go off first and we would then be set off. Originally the walkers were due off 10 minutes before the runners, which should have given them plenty of time to separate, but the organisers were trying to claw back some time so decided to set us off only minutes after the walkers. I was thinking that this was a potential disaster and as the walkers set off I watched with a slight dismay as they stretched across the road.

Do you think those walkers could get a move on!

Then it was us, we were off and I shot off with the front runners. I’d known Big Stuart Doyle, of Vale Royal AC, was going to be there so my plan had been to try to hang onto him for as long as I could. Stuart is a consistent runner and I was sure it was my only chance to get clear of any M45 opposition, without putting in all the leg work myself. As we pushed up the first hill Chris Fell had already got a lead but there was a big pack of us behind which included myself and three other M45s; Charles Thomson, Simon Wright and Aaron Keene. There was a certain amount of jostling for position as we tried to pass the slower moving walkers and there were at least 3 occasions where I was forced towards a walker only to chop my stride in order to avoid them, it was an uncomfortable half lap and only adds weight to my feelings that it would have been better to set the walkers off a lot earlier or after the runners.

Around the corner at the Crown Hotel and some relief that we were onto the downhill section with the wind behind us. I tried to maintain a good pace and was still in with the other two M45s, I think it was here that we dropped Aaron. Up the hill for the second time and I was having to dig deep, Charles and Simon were starting to pull away from me, which was a little frustrating. The 3rd time up the hill I was really feeling it, I had started faster than recent races and this combined with the hill and wind was starting to take it’s toll on my body. My legs felt like lead and I appeared to be jogging up the hill. Charles and Simon were now well clear but I was aware I was still 3rd M45, not sure how close the 4th place was though, I was certain I would soon lose that 3rd place and probably 4th, 5th and 6th. But I made it round the corner, still in 3rd and I put everything I could into the downhill, thinking that if I was going to be taken it was going to have to take a real fighter to take me. We turned the last corner, with about 250m uphill to the finish. The guy in front of me was an M40, I didn’t care about beating him but I tried to aim for him to stop any M45s sneaking up behind me. Boy did it hurt and that last 250m seems to go on forever, but I did it, I came home in 10th place overall, taking 3rd M45 and I had set a new season’s best and fastest time since I ran 15:59 on this course, two years ago, my time 16:22. I was happy with that.

I grabbed a drink and watched other runners coming in before jogging round the course to cheer on Ray. Ray did finish higher than last year, and quicker, just missing out on a pb, 21:02. Then it was off for a little lunch and to the presentation. It was a good feeling being presented with that medal, it had been a long wait. Now, I know that there were a lot of good runners missing from the race, I don’t know why it’s a great race, and people may look at my time and say that I wouldn’t have got the medal if others had showed up. But do I care, no, it’s not my fault they chose not to turn up and I did and frankly I ran my socks off to get that medal. As my old coach, Arthur Bruce, would say the trophy only states who the winner is, it doesn’t say he won but such and such didn’t show up. Now onto the next one.     

Incidentally I spoke with Mike Deegan afterwards, he looked terrible coming into the finish and I couldn’t stop myself being honest with him, then I saw this photo of me coming into the finish, courtesy of Harvey Whittington.

Was I running fast or was that the wind flattening my hair?

It’s been a bit of a family weekend, for the second weekend running, last weekend my brother and his wife were up visiting my parents and we all, along with my sister, went out for a meal. This weekend it was Carole’s turn, her mum and friend were down from Scotland, along with some much needed Scottish treats, Lorne sausage and bread rolls (apparently we can’t make bread rolls in England, though I can’t say I’ve noticed), though this time the tablet stayed in Scotland. On Friday night England were playing Sweden in the European Championships, football. I was looking forward to watching the game but with three Scottish ladies waiting to go to the pub my choices were limited. We went to the Cock O’Budworth where the menu was quite good and service was excellent. Price was pretty decent too, plus they had Spitfire on tap, though for obvious reasons I was restricted to one pint.

Then on Sunday, after the race, I had my parents join us for a roast dinner which was a lot of fun. Unfortunately I was in celebratory mood and, making up for two nearly dry days, I had a little bit more to drink than I should have. Oh well it’s not like I drink all the time.

With the race being on Sunday I decided to go for a relaxing run on Monday so hit the woodlands. It was a beautiful morning so I extended the run a little to go a nice 9 mile route.

This morning it was treadmill day, week 4 of my training plan. I’d intended to start the first rep at 19.4km/h and work my way up but once I got to Cottons I decided I should up the ante. I was pleased with my run on Sunday but decided I needed to push more if I was going to get anywhere close to achieving my goals this year. So I started the first rep on 20km/h (3 min per K pace). It surprised me how comfortable it was and by the end of the session I’d got up to 20.6km/h (2.54 min per K pace). It’s still a little short of the 2:40 odd pace I used to run, but that was back in the 1990s, so I think I can be forgiven for my slower pace, after all I’m not running 1k reps, I’m running further. So I’m very pleased with that and with seven weeks still to go on this programme I’m getting more confident by the week. However I’m mindful that I’m running faster than I have for a long time and conscious that this is the time I’m likely to pick up niggles, which, if I’m not careful, could turn into injuries, so I’ll be trying to be sensible too. Mind you I’m training with Katy again tomorrow so I’ll have to watch out for her demon pace.

Finally a thank you to Ronhill for the package they sent last week. The kit looks good on me, even if I don’t look good in it.



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

Tuesday 12 June 2012

Aiming For Gold, Am I On Target?

I’ve just started week three of my 12 week plan, which I’m hoping will lead me to success, and I thought it was time to assess how things were going. The sessions I’m doing are not that different from the ones I’ve been doing for the last seven years, with the exception that I’ve included some specific paced work. I’d come to realise that, although I was training hard, I wasn’t pushing myself as hard as I’m pushing my running clients, so what I needed was a faster version of me to push me more. Problem is I don’t know one, sure I know plenty of runners that are faster than me but I was looking for something more than a fast runner, I needed someone to plan the sessions with my goals in mind and be there every step of the way to ensure I kept to the program, even if I didn’t feel like it, and talk to me when things were starting to hurt, to psyche me up and help me to believe I can do it. And then I found him, he was there all along, yes it is me! All I needed was a pacer, for that I’m using a treadmill, the rest of it I can do myself.

What I’ve done is look at a twelve week period, leading up to the Surrey 10000m Championship in 1993, taken the track session I was doing once a week and replicated it on the treadmill. Obviously I’m a different person to the 28 year old me so I’ve made some sensible adjustments, but it’s still aimed at stretching me. Back then I was comfortably running 2:40 1k pace and won that race in 30:33.7. My aim this time was to get comfortable at 3:00 1k pace in order to get back to the 32 minute 10k time I ran two years ago.  

The first week seemed to go well, I was nervous because running at 20k/h pace is fast on the treadmill. I tentatively started at 19.1k/h but by the end of the session I was running reps at 19.6k/h. At the end of the week I ran my fastest 5k for almost two years. Last week, because of all the stuff going on, I couldn’t get to the treadmill but still had the memory of the race pace so felt like I managed to run hard enough on the road. I’ve just finished this week’s treadmill session, I started higher than two weeks ago and by the end of the session I was running at 20k/h. Target achieved but now I need to run all the reps at that pace, and do more of them. This is particularly good news as I’ve struggled to shake off the cold I had, just over a week ago, and this week I’ve started struggling with hay fever. As you can imagine my confidence is currently running high and I can’t wait for my next race, though I know I still have a way to go, luckily I still have nine weeks left. 

The really good news for me is that, despite the odd tired muscle, I’m not getting the aches, pains and twinges that I’ve been having for years. And that means training is once again becoming a pleasure, I can almost picture myself running like I used to back in the 90’s, or was that a dream I was having last night! Actually the good thing about running in the gym is that I have a mirror in front of me, no it’s not for checking my hairstyle, it helps me to check I’m running relaxed and with good form, it also means I can talk to myself without making a noise. I’m really happy with the way my running is going, at the moment, and it’s bringing a new sparkle to my relationship with running, I’m back in love with it, long may it continue. 

I’ve been reliving the past quite a bit recently. Firstly I’ve been reading the book about the Manchester Marathons by Ron Hill and Neil Shuttleworth. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it but have been fascinated by it. It starts off in 1908, when it really was an amateur sport. 30 people set off on that day, only 15 finished. In those days it seemed to be a case of everybody setting off together and then trying to run each other into the ground, very much like my early days in club athletics, nobody seemed to really appreciate what marathon running was about, often stopping to take tea breaks along the way. It progresses through the years and we get into the 60’s and 70’s when British distance runners were amongst the best in the world. It’s interesting to read Ron’s thoughts and feelings, particularly when he was expected to run a trial for major championships, despite his achievements. Good also to read about people I have come across, such as Bill Adcocks. There was one year in the 70s I recognised Lionel Mann in a picture and then he got a write up in the text, running sub 2:30, Lionel was at Belgrave when I was, but much older than me, he was also chef to the Queen. Into the 80’s and I’m starting to recognise more names from the era I grew up in, particularly Steve Kenyon who’s name always stood out when there was a distance event on the tv. I’m up to 1984 and know that I’ll come across many more people I know in the following chapters, I already had a sneak preview and saw friends Bashir Hussain and Jackie Newton. The other thing that’s prompted my looking back with pleasure has been the constant stream of pictures coming from the Ray O’Donaghue production line. Ray has published many pictures on facebook from many generations. It’s been great to see people in action who I only knew from 20 years after these pictures were taken, plus there’s the odd one of me when I was younger and faster. I can’t wait for Ray’s video of the 1993 Surrey 10000m to appear, I know Mike Boyle’s looking forward to that too. On a more recent note Lee Riley sent me a couple of picture, more up to date, of me during his 400m world record attempt.

So to finish off some more pictures of me, I'm really not that vain, honestly.
The Start of the 2005 Surrey 5k Champsionship, at this point I was in a good position.

I had to wait until I was a Master before I could get in front of a superstar such as John Downes. Think I must've spotted the camera and put in a spurt.

Lee running under 60 seconds for 400m, with 40lb pack. That's me doing the timing.


I only smile when I'm running



Written by Roger Alsop
www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Thursday 7 June 2012

Jubilee 5k

The UK has experienced one of those weekends you only expect to experience once in your lifetime, a royal jubilee. But I’m old enough to remember the first one in the current series, back in 1977, at least I remember losing the game where you had to run across a patch of grass and put a football into a bucket, with your feet. Sadly my football skills did not match my talents as a runner and I approached the bucket first but ended up last. Oh well it’s all just a bad recurring nightmare now so time to move on. This jubilee I took the safe route by just running, keeping well away from footballs and buckets.

We’d originally considered visiting Scotland for the weekend, but that would have meant missing out on the Hollins Green 5k, one of my favourite races, which is organised by those awfully nice people at Spectrum Striders. In the end I persuaded Carole that, rather than endure hours stuck in traffic we should stick around Cheshire and do day trip stuff instead. The down side of this is that it’s been too long since we were last in Scotland and Carole’s becoming more English with every day, I’ve already spotted her trying on an England bikini and even she’s beginning to forget who Ken is. Of course the up side is that we got to do The Hollins Green 5k. The race is otherwise known as the Peter Lowe Memorial 5k, named after a Spectrum Striders club member who was killed whilst out training on the roads nearby.

I first ran Hollins Green two years ago, ideally placed in the calendar, two weeks before the BMAF 5k championship, I chose to run it to find out how I was going. This was the year I was running pretty well and I managed to come 5th in the race in 16:03, taking the 1st M45 prize. It worked a treat as two weeks later I took Silver in the BMAF champs, missing gold by 1 second, and ducking under 16 minutes, with 15:59, for the first time since I was 41. Last year I was still regaining my fitness after my long lay-off and I’d moved house the day before, but I couldn’t resist running again. A lot slower this time, 16:39, for 12th place, but I still picked up the 1st M45 prize, much to my surprise as this race attracts some good old age pensioners.

This year I feel like I’m on an upturn in my running form plus I’ve been working on my speed endurance a bit more, so I was keen to see how my time would compared with the previous years. I was also keen to try out my new racing flats I got in January.

Paulo Nutini would be proud

The last two years the race has been held on very hot days, but this time it was a British long holiday weekend, so the weather was cool and damp, thankfully not as bad as it was on the Sunday when it absolutely tipped down and ruined a number of street parties. I arrived with Carole and we met Ray there, both were also running, plus Ray had brought the family along for the fun run.

One of the nice things about this race is that it attracts a lot of the local runners I’ve become friends with, from clubs such as South Cheshire Harriers, Vale Royal and Wilmslow, as well as a few of the people who turn up at the Pennington Flash parkrun. It’s a friendly atmosphere and I enjoy having the chance to chat to my fellow competitors. It’s also quite competitive at the sharp end, which suits me too, just in case I re-discover my form of years gone by. The course is good too, pretty flat and not much traffic. Just before the start I bumped into Martin Swensson, whom I had beaten at Princes parkrun, we had a brief chat then it was off to the start point.

Ray asked me how I thought I’d do and I told him, I didn’t think I was yet in 2010 shape but I felt better than last year, so I was expecting somewhere between the two. However that morning I’d woken up with an irritated throat so was a bit worried that might affect me, I’d already been for a jog and come back coughing up.

As usual there was a mass charge for the first corner and once again I found myself back a bit on where I expected to finish, but it wasn’t long before I got into my stride and was overtaking runners. Recent training has given me confidence to run at a quicker pace and I felt comfortable going through the first 1k marker in 3:11 (ok it may not be the quick I used to do, or aspire to do again, but it’s still quicker than I’ve been doing for too long). By 2k I’d pretty much found my position in the race as there was only one person who came past me from here to the finish and I didn’t overtake anyone. It was here that Martin came up to me. I thought this was great because we could work together to maintain a strong pace, which we did for a bit, but then Martin seemed to find another gear that I couldn’t quite match. I’m not sure if it was the reluctance to push myself because of the cold or a slight lack of confidence but I let him go just enough to create a gap. Before long we’d reached the 3k marker, this race was going quickly but I had slowed a bit so needed to work a bit harder to get back up to pace. I worked hard and suddenly we were at the 4k marker. This was the point I’d jogged out to before the race and I seemed to remember that the 400m marker comes up pretty quick, in fact 600m later. I pushed hard, aiming at the guys just ahead of me, but we were all going at roughly the same pace so I didn’t catch any of them, still it stopped people from catching me, Graham McNeil was running well so I was sure he would be ready to capitalise on any weakness from me, then there was Mike Hatton in first M50 position, I wasn’t going to let an oldie but goldie beat me. I pushed all the way and finished 11th in 16:28, an improvement on last year and for the third time in a row I was 1st M45. I was happy with that, but I’ll be a lot happier when I can get back below 16 minutes.

Carole was having her first run for weeks so it was good that she was able to take part. It was great that she managed to run the whole course without stopping and, although slower than last year, she at least now has something to aim at. Ray has come back into form, we’ve been concentrating more on 5k sharpness and it showed as he went under 21 minutes for the first time, with 20:53  It was also good to catch up with an old friend and occasional training partner, from my Belgrave days, Louise Blizzard, who had a fantastic run, coming in first lady in a personal best of 18:06.

Following a cool down and a drink Carole and I went off to watch Ray and the rest of his family taking part in the fun run and then to the presentation. With a 16:30 start to the race it makes a long day of it, but I really enjoy it so I hope to be back for more.

So how did the shoes perform? There was a little slipping on the wet roads, not enough to worry me and I’m sure that’ll stop once they’ve run a couple more races. I was wearing my ultra lite, thin Hilly socks, which left the shoes feeling a little roomy. This didn’t affect me but I’ll perhaps try slightly thicker socks next time.

We now had three more days to enjoy ourselves over the weekend. Unfortunately, as I already stated, Sunday was a washout, so Carole and I went to the pictures. I’d read about Snow White and the Huntsman and thought it might be worth seeing, but I was wrong, I didn’t actually think it was that well made, script was a bit obvious and the acting wasn’t at it’s best. On Monday, my cold started to come out a bit more, I was still able to train hard, though I wasn’t able to get to a treadmill to do my planned session. After breakfast we headed over to Wildboarclough to do a 7 mile walk, incorporating the highest peak in Cheshire, and have a picnic. Tuesday my cold was worse so it was easy running. It got a bit better as the day wore on so we went on a two hour bike ride, so nice to, finally, have our bikes in working order.

Also this weekend it was interesting to read about Anthony Whiteman becoming the first man, aged over 40, to run a sub 4 minute mile, achieving 3:58.79 in Nashville, Tennessee. I remember years ago when there was a lot of talk about who would be first to break this barrier. A number of International runners, big names of the past such as; Dave Moorcroft, John Walker and Steve Scott, were, apparently, chasing the mark, but it was Eamonn Coghlan who got there first in an indoor mile event in 1993. Nobody else has gone under 4 minutes, until this weekend.    

Finally an old friend of mine, former runner and a prodigious photographer and video recorder of many running feats has been putting a number of his photos onto facebook. So I thought I’d share a couple that feature me from days gone by. With thanks to Ray O’Donoghue.

The start of my stag weekend and the start of the Surrey Road Relays 2000, Robbie James (9) came 1st, Ed Prickett (7) came 2nd and I (1) came 3rd. I handed over to Kevin Quinn, Yacin Yusuf, Graham Adams, Jim Estall and Al Stewart but we still only took silver behind a very strong South London Harriers team, with Herne Hill Harriers in bronze.

The start of the Veterans AC Championships on Wimbledon Common. My first race as a Master and a victory, only my 2nd cross country victory. That's me on the left with 2nd place Richard Holland to my right and 3rd place Bill Gristwood to his right. 


Written by Roger Alsop
www.rogeralsop.co.uk