Happy Birthday To You

Today it’s my mum’s birthday, she’s …….. well she’s old. In truth I just don’t know. Unlike my Dad’s actual birth date, which I’ve always known, my mum has always been a bit cagey about hers. So cagey that for years I thought her birthday was on 31 Oct and not 29^th. Luckily she was never bothered about receiving her birthday card a couple of days late, although living 200 miles away at the time I can’t be absolutely sure. So later on today I’ll be seeing my mum and dad for dinner and presents and we can chat about all the things they’ve forgotten we chatted about yesterday.

When it comes to my birthday I’m not actually bothered about much of a fuss being made. Naturally this winds Carole up as she’s big into making birthdays special. However I will go along with whatever she plans, even if I sometimes wish I was at a race or out training. I’m the same with presents, there’s not that much that I want and generally if I want it I’ll get it when I need it. However I’m always happy to receive running gear, as long as it fits, or a bottle of good malt whisky. How difficult is that, and they give me a lot of pleasure so please no more jumpers that don’t fit or business wear socks and definitely no ties.

I have had some good presents and days out over the years but I don’t remember them all. What I do remember are those special runs I try do, usually something especially hard. I’m not quite in the league of the members of Hunters Bog Trotters, who seem to go out for a run in miles, equivalent to their age, on their birthdays. That just wouldn’t suit my flimsy, can barely run for an hour, body, and is the main reason I didn’t join them whilst in Edinburgh, particularly as I imagine they probably tried to do the same with drinking pints after the event and I’m only lightweight drinker. In fact there was an interesting tip that Sean Cordell pointed out, that had been told to him by Mike Deegan, one of Salford’s greats, I think it went something along the lines of ‘you’ll only start to improve if you can run more miles than you can drink pints’. Some of those Bog Trotters must be running some big miles because there is some talent, and I’ve seen that talent drinking as well as running.

Enough about the Boggies, back to me. One birthday I thought was really special was January 16 2010. It wasn’t because I’d turned 45 and entered a new masters age category, I’d organised a run group for that day and we were going to do a parlauff run for 34 minutes. As it turned out only 3 people turned up, me Carole and Ben. Ben was a guy I’d met at Fitness First, he’s a para, big and stong, 17 years my junior and he could run some. He was the first person to join me when I was doing the ‘Run with Rog’ sessions and stuck with me, as much as he could, until he was posted to Afghanistan. On this particular day Carole went one way and me and Ben went the other, we pushed each other to our limits as the first one to reach Carole would set her off on her rep, and we weren’t hanging around on our recoveries either. That was the thing about Ben, he bought out the competitiveness in me to just the right level as we were so evenly matched, it was hard work but it was also a lot of fun. Most importantly it started me believing that I could still run competitively at that age. Soon after I ran 5 mile and 10k times that would have me ranked highly in the M45 age group for the whole of the year, and I came 2^nd in the British Masters Cross Country Champs. Sadly I haven’t trained with Ben for a long time, whilst in Afghanistan he was hit by 3 bullets, on new year’s eve. He’s recovered but currently working in Australia. Mind you I think he’s back soon so time to start planning something special for my 48^th.  

Keeping on the military theme, this Saturday Lee Riley will be attempting his world record for running 5k with 40lb on his back. The current record is held by an American Marine, a time of 20:06. Apparently this guy has run 5k, without a pack, in a time similar to my best, so that should give you some idea of what carrying the pack means in handicap terms. As my final preparation with Lee, last week we did a 3.6k time-trial, which we achieved comfortably 24 seconds inside the schedule for breaking the record. So we’re both very confident Lee will do it, adding another world record to his list.

The weekend just gone we decided to go away to Nottingham. Whilst there we saw that The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner was on at the Playhouse Theatre. Now I know the word runner is in the title but that’s not why I like it, I’d read the book and seen the film many years ago, it’s a classic, and had recently read about this production whereby they use a treadmill set into the stage. So I was interested to see it and Carole was game too. I though the production was really good and the actors, who include the guy who played Finn Sharkey in Waterloo Road, were very good too. Particularly the main character who manages to keep up a dialogue, without becoming breathless, whilst running on the treadmill and doing press ups. If it comes to a theatre near you, I’d recommend it. Sunday was supposed to be a long walk but Carole’s work beckoned and as we couldn’t get a signal in the countryside we ended up coming home early. It was one of those days and she was on the phone until bedtime, but the good news was, I didn’t have to watch Strictly Come Dancing or the X Factor result shows.

Also at the weekend Ray and Sharon ran the Winsford 10k, both setting faster times than last year, onwards and upwards.    

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Can You Feel It?

Different Coaches use different approaches to training their athletes, though each approach will, no doubt, be based upon a mix of study and experience. You can’t necessarily say that one approach is better than another, though it is sometimes easy to see that one approach might suit one individual better than another. During my time as a runner I’ve used the regular services of three coaches, all with different approaches but all who made a difference to my running. On top of that I’ve run sessions with other qualified coaches. Naturally I’ve picked up a lot of things that work for me but, as I’ve been self coached since 2000, I’ve also developed an approach of my own, that works well for me. This approach is nothing new or special but it’s just something that I use as a part of my training regime. It’s simply to run how you feel, e.g. not to a set pace or set heart rate measurement or any other measured method.

You’re probably reading this now and thinking, ‘what the heck is he talking about’ but let me explain further. I’m not suggesting there is anything wrong with running at a given pace or heart rate measurement, in fact these are handy methods of training and I fully support their use. However sometimes the body is tired and not able to keep to the prescribed pace or your body may be feeling great and is therefore capable of a faster pace. So I suggest that sometimes you should go out and do your run, whether this is a steady run or a repetition run, at the pace you feel like running. Currently my body is feeling tired so today I went out for a 9 mile run in Tatton Park, it’s my recovery run so I suggest it doesn’t matter how fast I run, so I pootled around at a comfortable pace, but it was still a challenging run, on another occasion I might well have run the same distance at a much faster pace, because I felt good. When I’m doing reps I run each one as hard as I feel I can, conditions, the state of my body, may dictate the distance I run in the time given but I’m giving the same % effort each time, and I don’t measure the distance I run each rep, therefore there is no chance of negativity creeping in. I do feel that sometimes I’m struggling in the run, but as long as I know I’ve put the same level of work in then that’s all that counts. I use this method with my clients, generally running alongside them to push them a little harder than they would have themselves. It’s so simple but often overlooked by runners who can be so time and distance obsessed. I’ve also used this in races, if I’m feeling confident I just went off with the leaders no matter what the pace, obviously it has led to a few disasters where I ran out of steam but it brought me to a number of personal bests and race victories that I wouldn’t have achieved had I run to a schedule. So simplistic as it sounds, don’t just dismiss it, it works for me and I’m not that shabby.

After last week’s cross country race I found this week’s training very hard. My legs felt like jelly all week. I still managed to do all the sessions, I had planned, but it was a grind trying to get the best out of my legs. Even on Saturday, when I turned up at Heaton Park for another 10k cross country, my legs felt a bit dull, and that’s a whole week on. That’s not an excuse for my performance in the race because once I started running the legs felt ok, but before the race they felt a little dull.

This week it was the Manchester Area Cross Country League, over roughly the same course as last week, oh boy another 3 times round that, well at least now I knew the way. I knew it would be a lot tougher than the previous week, with stronger teams available, so I was anticipating a fight to make the top 50. Being a nice day I managed to persuade Carole to come along, I thought the Bonnyrigg tones might just help get the best out of me. Last week I’d jogged around the course, before the race, with Simon Bruton, I felt afterwards that perhaps that had been a bit quick, normally I jog slowly before races, so this week I warmed up by taking a walk with Carole, down the first hill and back up again. I’d also changed my race day diet a little, as I felt last week I was lacking a little something when it mattered.   

First the Ladies were off. There were some impressive performances from the Salford Ladies, who set the standard by finishing 2^nd team and 5^th veterans team. In particular Hayley Kuter had a storming run to finish in 2^nd place, just a week before her Frankfurt marathon, good luck with that Hayley, I’m sure you’ll do well, but also Bev Jenkins showed that she’s still a force to be reckoned with, finishing 7^th and 1^st vet.

After that it was up to us guys to show we could match the girls. Getting ready for the off though, I was surprised not to see more of our top guys out, but it appears some of them were running half marathons the following day. And we were off, hurtling down the first hill, though I wasn’t hurtling quite as fast as a load of other people, at the first turn I found myself a long way back from the lead and getting squeezed off the best line. At this point I think I was outside of the top 50 and struggling round, not surprising as I had to take a route through some of the worst mud in order to pass people. It wasn’t until I finished the first lap that I settled down and started looking ahead at the procession of people to catch. Over the next two laps I seemed to find my cross country feet and progressed through the field gradually picking off a number of runners, including three Salford Harriers. It was a strong finish up the hill for me, holding off a crucial attack from a young Trafford runner. My progress had been steady, if a little unspectacular, at the end I was 39^th, some way and a considerable number of minutes behind the winner, Steve Vernon, who featured in my first blog when winning the National Cross Country title in 2010. There was solid scoring in the Salford team as we finished in 3^rd place, Paul Savage once again showing his mastery of tough conditions, must be the ironman in him, to come home as first Salford Harrier for the 2^nd week running. Somehow I’d managed to make the Salford scoring 6, but only 2^nd Salford M45, for the second week running being shown a clean pair of heels by Dave Lockett. I was actually 5^th M45 and 10^th M40, positions I’m not too familiar with as I’ve become accustomed to featuring in the top 3 of M45s in races. However I think this is more an indication of how strongly supported, by old men, this race was, rather than how poor I ran. Incidentally we were 2^nd veterans team.

Am I disappointed with my run? I’d be lying if I didn’t say I am a little. I’m positive I could do a lot better but I’m not despondent. I know there are a number of factors that play their part in these results and, with years of experience of how my body copes with those factors, I know I’ll come good again. As an example, in 1992 I placed 43^rd in the Surrey Cross Country Champs and six months later I ran 30 minutes for 10k, and whilst I don’t predict a 30 minute 10k next April, I’m confident I will be in good form next spring. Mind you I’m glad that’s my last cross country race for a few weeks, my body feels absolutely shattered.

There’s a club cross country championship going on throughout the season, the best 5 scores from 10 races. After two events I’m currently lying in 4^th place, but that is by virtue of having completed both races held so far. So I expect that to change as more people run more races. In the over 40’s category I’m currently lying 2^nd, after two 2^nd places, but if I’m to advance here I need to start beating Dave Lockett, no easy task.

These last couple of weeks I’ve been training with Lee Riley again, helping him in his bid to add two more world records to his growing list of achievements. We’re making good progress with consistent pacing in our training sessions, so I’m fairly confident the first will be achieved very soon.

I’ve been fascinated the series ‘Being Liverpool’ on Channel 5. I should point out that I am not a Liverpool fan, in fact I’m not even that interested in the game of football, but for a fly on the wall documentary I find it an interesting insight to how the club functions. Obviously there’s a lot more that goes on than what we’re being shown but the programme is worth a watch, particularly if you’re interested in football. There’s something about the pride of being involved with Liverpool and the passion shown by the supporters that bears a resemblance to being involved with Salford Harriers, we all want to play our part, no matter how small, in the success of this club.

On another point I was caught out this weekend by one of my Edinburgh friends. I’ve known Cath Ferry for some time and she’s a very talented runner, as well as a fine sports masseur. There was a time when I tried to persuade Cath that cross country would benefit her overall running, but Cath was having non of it. So I was rather surprised to see a facebook comment, from Cath, that she was thinking of running the East District League on Saturday. After having a chuckle at Cath’s wind up of her fellow Edinburgh AC athletes I posted my comment that the day she ran cross country would be the day I propose to Carole. The following day I heard that Cath had been Edinburgh AC’s 3^rd scorer. I suddenly felt quite ill, but not ill enough to deter me from going for a run. Luckily Carole doesn’t use facebook so I think I got away with that, she doesn’t read my blogs either. But, those of you with a romantic outlook on life, don’t despair, it will come, one day, I’m just building up to it. 

And finally I post a photo of last Saturday’s race, courtesy of Sidney Sacks, to once again prove that I only smile when I’m running, even when approaching an uphill finish.



Gotta do something about that hairstyle!



Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Who’s Cheating Who?

The big news this week has been focused on drug abuse within the cycling world, in particular around Lance Armstrong. With this news another star of sport, looked up to by countless people across the world, appears to have been a tyrant all along. Unfortunately, in sport, as in life, there are a number of cheats, there always has been and, no doubt, there always will be. But that doesn’t mean that good honest people need to throw in the towel and start cheating too. You can beat the cheats, whilst maintaining your own integrity.

When I was a kid I was always told that if you cheated you were only cheating yourself, but that’s not true, you’re cheating many people; out of a chance of a place at University, a job, a place in the National squad, a title of note or countless other things. In sport many people have given up, believing they cannot match other athletes who have been cheating all along.

Eventually many of these cheats get caught but it then throws the sport into disarray. Look at the Tour de France as an example. Recent years have seen the Tour being won by riders later proven to have cheated, the title is then passed down to the next guy. In the case of Lance, they have stripped him of his titles but because drug taking seems to have been pretty prevalent during that period it looks like no other rider will be named as the winner, making it a bit of a non event. It’s possible it might switch some people off watching the Tour de France, which is a real shame because it’s a great spectacle, even if it has a tainted history.

As an athlete, having competed at a reasonably high level, I’ve mixed with a lot of International athletes and some of the tales I’ve heard, over the years, have been quite sickening. Athletes that take drugs appear to be known as such, within the elite community, so why aren’t more of them caught. Perhaps the inducements and threats surrounding this practice stop people from speaking out, officially. But we should speak out, if we know people are cheating, remember they cheat us all, including the spectators.

I was a big fan of Ben Johnson and was really pleased when he won the Seoul Olympic 100m, only to have my happiness destroyed by the revelation that he had cheated his way to gold. It’s the same with Lance Armstong, I recently finished reading a book about him, being really impressed with how he achieved his goals, but now I find that it’s all a pack of lies. That’s one book destined for the bin.

But it’s not just drug cheats there are people who openly cut corners in races or deliberately cut across other runners to disturb their stride. Many footballers pretend to be fouled in order to win a penalty or free kick, they’re clearly cheating and often caught on video but not enough is done to make them stop and make football a more honest game. We should all be on the look out for cheats in our own sport and be prepared to speak out against them for the greater good. The good news is, that with more advanced testing and better video analysis, it’s becoming easier to catch the cheats.

On a more positive note this weekend saw Clumber Park hosting the English National Road Relays. Salford had two ladies teams and one mens team competing. All ran well, the ladies ‘A’ placing 9^th and ‘B’ placing 34^th and the men finishing in 14^th position. We did well to get a solid men’s team out and that gives us something to build on, one more man short and I think I was next man in the team, which would have given us an altogether less favourable result.

Having missed the cut for the National Road Relays, I lined up, with a surprisingly large contingent of other Salford Harriers, at Heaton Park. This was the first of the S.E. Lancs cross country league fixtures. A reasonably tough 10k course was ahead of us. Having competed in very few cross country races, over the last three years, I was not at all confident of a good result and because I didn’t know the standard of the league I took a guess that I would find myself in the 20s or 30s, position wise. So I was a bit shocked to find myself with the leading group from the off and even more surprised to find myself, through no fault of my own, leading the race after only half a mile. It didn’t last long, someone made a push and I drifted off the back. I had a good little battle with some runners who were almost young enough to be my grandkids and finished in 9^th position, helping the men to 1^st in the overall league and 1^st in the OAP league. Having analysed my race I’m a bit disappointed with my own run, I feel it was a bit lacklustre. Having said that I must have been trying as my legs still ache and I found today’s quality session particularly hard work. I’m expecting my next race to be a tougher field. I’ll admit I do find cross country races hard, but I love doing them for that sheer challenge and also the camaraderie is fantastic, not just amongst your club mates but also the friendly rivalry with other clubs. Once again, despite many supporters following the team at the Nationals, the Salford support was great and it really does help, even if it didn’t look like it was helping me on Saturday.     

Other news from this weekend; I’ve recently taken on another client who is taking training schedules for the London Marathon. She has found the training hard but enjoyable, well that’s what she tells me. Yesterday she ran her first sub 2 hour half marathon, so that’s a good start, and I’m expecting more improvements between now and the marathon.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Running in Tatton Park

I really do like training in the Northwich area, there is so much variety and it has everything I need, except a tartan track. So I do the majority of my training around here. However, because I’ve built up my portfolio of clients in the Knutsford area, I’ve started to do more of my training in Tatton Park. In short: Tatton Park is a big area of parkland, owned by the National Trust but leased to Cheshire East Council, and they charge you for taking some vehicles into it. It also houses National Trust buildings and a garden, some nice lakes. Plus it hosts a number of events during the year. If you want to find out more about Tatton Park go to www.tattonpark.org.uk/ But I like going there for a ramble at the weekend, and, as I’ve already written, it’s a great place to do my training, particularly since I started to increase the length of my long runs.

At this time of the year it is probably at it’s best for an endurance athlete as the softer conditions underfoot, if you run on the grass, like I do, make the running that little bit harder and the sapping effect on your legs feels like you’ve done a hard run, even if you’ve only been a for a plod. I personally think that running on soft ground is a great way to build up leg strength, but of course it’s not the only way.

I’m not sure how to describe what I mean by soft ground. Too soft, i.e. waterlogged, and it becomes more of a pain than a pleasure. If your feet are constantly wet then it’s not doing you any good and if it’s too soft you’ll just be slipping around all the time. The grass needs to be firm enough to run on without fear of slipping but have just enough give to make each step a bit of hard work. The woodlands in Northwich are great for running around, it covers a vast area and changes from trail to forest to canal path and to road, but, although it’s softer than the road it drains well and doesn’t have the same give as parkland, so not the same sapping feeling. Having said that I know places where you can train that’ll sap the energy from your legs.

Tatton Park also has road, path and absolutely soggy patches but the bulk of it is good undulating parkland, with just the right level of firmness that I like. The uneven surfaces and undulations make you work your core and ankles as well as all the leg muscles. For any of my London friends, or people who run in South West London, who might read this, it’s very similar to Richmond Park, which is still one of my favourite training venues. So runners of Knutsford, get off those treadmills and go try some fantastic undulating parkland, and while you’re at it, look out for me and say hello.

The other thing about this time of year that reminds me of my training runs in Richmond Park, are the rutting deer. They’re very noisy and, a little, scary with their enormous horns. I’m always keeping my eyes open for them as I run around, taking the occasional avoidance route around a group of potentially testosterone fuelled males. A couple of times, in Richmond Park, I had stags charging at me, but I had the good fortune to be with a slower running partner, plus I was a lot younger and did have a decent kick. These days I’m generally on my own, am a lot slower and have the kick of a 3 legged race participant, hence I give the deer a wide berth.

I’m not sure if it’s the running around Tatton Park, the readiness to outkick a deer or the fact that I feel so much a part of the Salford Harriers setup that is making me feel like I’m running well. I’m certainly a lot happier knowing that I have more purpose to my training and it’s great to feel part of a team again. That’s not to say I wasn’t part of a team at Herne Hill, they’re a great bunch of guys, but being some 200 miles away meant I rarely saw them and that was what I was missing. I absolutely love running in relays and that’s just not been that possible for the last few years, while I’ve been the only Herne Hiller in the village.

This weekend I got another opportunity to feed my love for relays with my 3^rd relay race in 4 weeks for Salford. This one was a little more low key, the Manchester University Relays, and a number of our top guys gave it a miss, which meant I was elevated to the A team. There’s something special, for an ambitious runner like myself, about making the A team and it does add a little bit of pressure to not let the team down, but I love that pressure, just like I love the pressure of being handed over to in first place in a National relay event. I feel that it gives me that extra bit of drive to run that little bit harder.

Coming up to the weekend I was still recovering from my cold, by Wednesday I felt ok to push myself a bit in training and did so, but I didn’t feel 100%. There were no more hard training sessions planned after that, before the race, so come race day I was a tad nervous about how my cold would affect my performance. Having gained promotion to the A team I didn’t want to appear an A team flop.

Travelling to the venue was an experience in itself, I didn’t know the way so used sat nav. Now I’m not saying I’ve got the thickest sat nav in the country but it took me to the Trafford watersports centre. Then it tried to tell me I was at my destination in the middle lane of the M60, finally I arrived at Wythenshawe hospital. By now I was a little frustrated and rang up Sean the Man. If I hadn’t got hold of Sean I think I would have gone home, but, as luck would have it, Sean actually answered his phone. He gave me some hints and I set off again. After another circuitous journey and some help from Sale Harriers, I didn’t tell them I was with Salford, I arrived at the venue and promptly found myself on first leg, handing over to Tom Cornthwaite. For those who don’t know, he’s pretty good, was 21^st in the World Mountain running championships in 2011. So understandably I didn’t want to hand Tom over in a rubbish position, though I did think it was appropriate to give him something to chase.

As the race started I was swamped by a mass of teenagers, someone must’ve shouted ‘free beer’. But after a short while I started to move through the field as youthful exuberance and the realisation that the free beer was about 2 miles away started to take it’s toll. Clearly some of these youngsters were actually good runners and not just here for the beer, so I wasn’t going to get to the front, but I pushed through the pain barrier to ensure I was within sight of the front runners at the finish. As I finished I glanced down at my watch, which said 9:55 (actual time 9:54). Beforehand I’d read up about the race and it was apparently 2.1 miles with a course record, held by our own Andi Jones, of 10:18. Had I finished in first place I’d have thought I was running pretty well, but the fact that there were 13 runners ahead of me made me think that the course had changed (indeed it had, for some reason they’d cut out a couple of fields). So I’m not exactly sure how far the run was but I ran hard and was quite happy with the time, when I finally got a chance to compare it against the other runners. Tom did manage to tear through the field and the rest of the team ran really well to get us an end position of 11^th. I’m happy with that.

The next race I’m planning to do is a full length cross country race, i.e somewhere between 5 miles and 10k. That’ll be a real challenge for me, after all the short races I’ve run recently.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

A Nasty Cold Spell

If you want to be successful at anything then you should know how to plan for success. But sometimes plans get affected by unexpected events, or events you had anticipated but didn’t really want to occur. That’s why you also have to be adaptable, to ensure that these events cause the minimum disruption and that you can get back on track as quickly as possible. This week I’ve had to deal with such a disruption.

Two weeks ago Carole came down with a cold. It was so bad she was pretty much grounded for a couple of days. Naturally I was waiting for said cold to find it’s way over to me and was feeling pretty glum as I thought about the impending Northern Road Relays, that I would have to withdraw from. However, come race day the cold hadn’t come near me, Carole was recovering and we were both able to make the trip to Leigh. The race went well for me and all thoughts of illness went out of the window.

Sunday morning I felt a little groggy, and it wasn’t due to the previous night’s celebrations. I still managed a good long run but was definitely feeling a bit coldy by evening. Over the next couple of days the cold hovered around but I did all the right things, eating healthily and drinking lots of fluid. It was a mild cold and after checking my resting heart rate I knew I was ok to run. In fact I ran some pretty good sessions on Monday and Wednesday.

I had been debating whether to run the Swinton 10 mile race on the Sunday, Carole was going to be away again so the early start wouldn’t have bothered anybody and I haven’t done a 10 mile race for years. I’ve recently started to run the distance in training but there’s a big difference between training and racing, well there is for me. So it was a long shot but I was tempted.

But then the decision was taken out of my hands. I was at a charity quiz on Thursday night and started feeling a little run down. By the time we got home my nose was itching and running and I was sneezing a fair bit, causing me to struggle to get to sleep. Friday morning I felt awful. I still got out for a run but, instead of the planned quality session, it was an easy one. As the day progressed I was sinking fast. Another night’s disrupted sleep and I woke up feeling worse on Saturday. No way would I be racing on Sunday, I made that mistake in 1996. I didn’t feel like running but I forced myself out for another easy run. At first I felt awful but I settled into it and met someone on the way, making a nice change to have someone to talk to on a run.

I should point out here that if you have a bad cold, with raised resting pulse, you should do little or no exercise. However I always recommend you go out for a walk to get some fresh air, though not if the weather is as bad as we had early last week. In my case I considered an easy run to be the equivalent of a walk for someone less fit. I think I was right because as quickly as the cold had reached it’s peak it subsided again. By Saturday evening I was feeling much better and Sunday better still.

So how has this affected my plans. One reason I was considering Swinton was that I thought I was due an easy week of training and knowing a 10 mile race would leave me drained I had planned that for this week. My easy week actually consists of 5 days, that’s enough to reinvigorate me. With the cold affecting my training from Friday all that means is I’ve started my week early. Hopefully I’ll be in good enough condition to restart hard training on Wednesday. Swinton was only a thought and not that important to me so it’s not affected my racing plan. All in all it’s not affected me too much but I did do the sensible thing, had I attempted to race on Sunday it would have put my recovery back by much more, or there might have been a much worse outcome.

Even though I couldn’t race it was good to get the results through. Many of my Scottish friends were doing the Loch Ness Marathon and 10k or the Linlithgow 10k, and there were some great results. Kerry-Liam Wilson winning another Scottish Masters title, can anybody stop him, and it was good to see Bryan Mackie picking up his pace on return from injury. Many other notable performances too but those two stand out for me. There were some other good performances by my Salford colleagues in the Swinton 10, notably by Bev Jenkins and Hayley Kuter. It looks like a race I might enjoy, maybe next year, particularly if the cakes are out again.

This weekend sees Ray tackle the Chester marathon. Here’s looking for a great performance Ray, I only hope I haven’t passed the lurgy onto you.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk