Music While You Workout

Are you an avid fan of distraction while you workout, do you watch the TV, listen to music, etc? Do you need to, in order to keep you motivated, relieve the boredom or do you do it because it’s there. What would happen if you didn’t have the distraction?

I may have mentioned it before but I’m not a fan of using an ipod whilst running, to me it’s a distraction too far and inhibits my ability to concentrate on important things, like the car that’s coming up behind me. I can’t relax with one dangling from my ears, much like I can’t run in a hood, it tends to obscure my peripheral vision. I also don’t like to see girls, on their own, running in secluded areas with loud music coming out of their ears. Race organisers state that you shouldn’t wear them in their races, you can’t always hear instructions shouted at you or hear things coming up behind you, quite rightly they are concerned for your safety, but it doesn’t stop people running with them.

When portable music devices first came out we didn’t expect to see anyone with a running reputation using one, but I remember my old training partner, Charlie Dickinson, telling me he caught international athlete, Kassa Tadessa wearing one in training. Since then a number of good athletes have admitted to using them during training.

Non of this really tempted me to try it, I do some of my best thinking when I’m running. Though I do admit to having my music blaring away when I’m doing a session in my gym, though I don’t always hear it as I concentrate hard on what I’m doing, or dream of my next victory. Having said that, one time this summer, when I knew I was going out for an easy run in Tatton Park, I decided to try running with an ipod, after all many of the modern apparel items seem to cater for the ipod, and I thought I should at least see what it’s like for others. I tried it and I really didn’t like it. I just couldn’t relax and had a pretty dismal running experience. So I’ve not run with it since.

But, I can understand why people use ipods or the tv channels whilst using gym equipment. I do find long sessions on gym equipment a bit tedious, though I use various tactics to make them bearable. When I lived in London I had a TV up in my office/gym and I will admit that watching sport not only distracted me from how tedious using a machine can be but also it made me work harder, the more competitive the sport the better. (I mean competitive in a fast action sort of way, e.g. rowing, cycling, rugby, football, running. I don’t think cricket or snooker would have the same effect, in fact I think it would have made me give up my session early).

I’ve seen people, at the gym, reading the paper, a magazine, or a book, whilst they’re working out. I can only assume that they aren’t working out very hard. However, last week, when I was able to do a slow 20 minute cycle at Cottons, I tried it and managed to read the whole paper without noticing how tedious the session was. Mind you I wouldn’t want to read whilst cycling hard, it would take away my concentration and I’d probably sweat all over the paper.

So, my personal experience is that I don’t generally need or want distractions during my workouts, I don’t need procrastination tactics, such as conversations with fellow gym goers or extra drink stops. I prefer to get on with my session and then relax with something to read afterwards. But I’m willing to accept that I do have a certain type of mindset, that maybe sets me aside from some other people, and what I like doing may not be what others like doing. So I’m not going to preach, but I would suggest you take extra care when exercising outside with music, oh and it’s not a good idea to run outside whilst reading the paper.

I recall, some years ago, a race meeting organised in a Kingston car park. It was a series of qualifiers and a final, all run while music was blaring out. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it, but some pretty good runners did. I believe it was enjoyed by all but maybe it wasn’t that successful financially, as I’ve not heard of anything like it since.

I’m still unable to run, it’s not become the drag one would expect, I guess I’ve trained so hard for so long that my mind, as well as my body, is enjoying it’s little holiday. Though I have to say it’s a little irritating limping everywhere. I am improving, but I know this is going to be a slow recovery and, as I now have nothing to aim for, I’m not going to rush back into training. This Saturday it gave me an opportunity to give something back to the parkrun family, I volunteered at Congleton parkrun, and no it wasn’t so I could maintain my position at the top of the points league, though I have done that. It was nice to watch others taking part and have the time to chat to other volunteers. Unfortunately I was busy in the afternoon so couldn’t repeat my volunteering for Salford at the last SE Lancs league. Going into this event I had a chance of winning the overall M45 title, but the fact that I couldn’t run meant that I wouldn’t have run enough races and therefore I had to forfeit that. Oh well, that’s just the way it is and to be honest, despite this little upset to my training and competing, I’ve had the best start to a year for many years. I know things will be slow for a while, when I start back, but I’m hoping I’ll be back to some good form by the last quarter of the year, though preferably before.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

British Athletics League

Last week I heard that Belgrave Harriers have pulled out of the British Athletics League (BAL). That must’ve been a hard decision for the hierarchy of Belgrave to make, as I know how important the success achieved by Belgrave, in the BAL, has been in the club’s recent history. But it’s a clear indication of one of the problems that Belgrave, and probably other clubs, have to deal with, a lack of volunteers. At one point, when I was Belgrave through and through, I considered that it might be something I’d like to do, managing the BAL team, but my departure from Belgrave knocked that idea on the head.

When I joined Belgrave, 1989 we were just starting to build a reputation in the top division of BAL, having joined it in 1987, following four successive promotions from Division 4 to the Premier Division (three as champions). Of course in those days they were known as BAL 1-5, or was it 1-4?. At the time I was in awe of the British League guys, I was only just breaking into the Southern League B team and had no idea that one day I would make it to the big league.

I got my big break in 1992, I had run 15:16 for 5k the previous year, though I wasn’t in that shape this year and was concentrating on the 1500m. But with Paul Evans running his Barcelona Olympic qualification race, over 10000m, the weds before a match in Edinburgh, he wasn’t going to be available. So I was the next man available. I was excited to be asked, Arthur, my coach, didn’t want me to run, feeling I wasn’t ready, but I thought I might not get another chance. So whilst I upset my girlfriend of the time, who had just finished studying and was looking forward to spending some quality time with me, I was getting ready to travel the length of the country for the BAL Div 1 5000m. We travelled up by coach and stayed overnight in Newcastle, I was sharing a room with Jim Estell on this occasion, which made sense as he was the other 5000m runner. The next morning we travelled up to Edinburgh on the bus. I didn’t really have any time to see Edinburgh, but at the time I was too focussed on my race to be interested in sight seeing, wish I’d known what I know now, probably would have made a weekend of it and appeased the girlfriend, but then that might have changed everything.

It wasn’t a dream start, Jim Estell was 8^th and last in the A string in 15:22.58 but my slower time of 15:32.06 was good enough for 5^th in the B string. The match was won by Harringey, we were 2^nd, Birchfield 3^rd, Thames Valley 4^th, Shaftesbury Barnet 5^th, Caledon Park (any of my Edinburgh friends know anything about them?) 6^th, Wolverhampton & Bilston 7^th and Old Gaytonians 8^th. Despite this little setback we won the league that year.

Belgrave won the league a further 10 times before times changed and they dropped down a division. My appearances were sporadic, either I wasn’t available or, when I was, somebody better was selected. But I had some good times and shared rooms with some great athletes.   

In 1993 I made two appearances, both in the 5000m, the first at Birmingham, where we had a better time than my previous event. Kassa Tadessa won the A string and I was 3^rd in the B string, setting a new 5000m pb, 14:53.5. Again we were 2^nd on the day, to Haringey, with Birchfield 3^rd, Shaftesbury 4^th, Thames Valley 5^th, Newham & Essex Beagels 6^th, Woodford Green 7^th and Edinburgh Southern 8^th. The second one was again at Edinburgh, by now I’d suffered a minor injury and wasn’t in the same shape so only ran 15:12.85 for 6^th place in the B string, Kassa again won the A string with 14:24.02. This time we were 3^rd, behind winners Haringey and 2^nd placed Thames Valley Newham & Essex were 4^th, Birchfield 5^th, Shaftesbury Barnet 6^th, Woodford green 7^th and Edinburgh Southern, surprisingly, in last place.

1994 I again made two appearances. I was really trying to focus on my 1500m this year, trying to get below 4 minutes. On 29 June I achieved my goal, competing for Surrey against the Army and Hampshire, 3:58.4. A few days later in the British League match at the Linford Christie Stadium, I improved that to 3:56.83 as I came 6^th in the A string 1500m (who would’ve thought I would make the A string 1500m in the premier league). Again we were 2^nd, behind Thames Valley, Shaftesbury were 3^rd, Birchfield 4^th, Haringey 5^th, Newham & Essex 6^th, Sale 7^th and Crawley 8^th. Later at Crawley I was 2^nd in the 5000m B string, 15:01.91, (my current club mate Paul Simons finished a few seconds ahead of me to win the B string), Kassa was 2^nd in the A string. I don’t recall the team positions on this occasion.

In 1995 I only ran in one match, at Birmingham. Again it was the 5000m and I was 4^th in the B string, 15:08.32. Daren Mead was 2^nd in the A string. Again, perhaps I was some kind of omen, we were 2^nd, to Thames Valley, Shaftesbury Barnet were 3^rd, Haringey were 4^th, Woodford Green 5^th, Birchfield 6^th, Blackheath 7^th and Newham & Essex 8^th.

1996 was a strange year, early in the year I was training really well and I’d run well in my first two road races of the year, the Belgrave relay and the South of England 12 stage. So I was looking forward to my first run out in the BAL. This was the first time I’d done the first event of the year, this year it was based in Liverpool. Once again I was partnering Kassa, though this time I’d been given the A string numbers (this caused confusion with the announcer and also during a conversation with the man that always seems to pop up in my races, Paul Simons. There was an added incentive to this race as Jon Jeffrey told me that whoever finished first, out of me or Kassa, would represent Belgrave in the European Champion Clubs Cup in Istanbul. I’m not sure if it was this, the strong wind or the large chicken dinner I ate the night before, but something went very wrong that day. I was hoping to get dragged along for a pb (would have to be under 14:35), instead I struggled and only managed 15:09.3 for 6^th in the A string, but Kassa struggled too, only managing 15:25.2 for 6^th in the B string. Not sure where Paul finished but I’m sure he beat me that day. Once again we finished 2^nd, behind Sale, Birchfield were 3^rd, Thames Valley 4^th, Cardiff 5^th, Shaftesbury 6^th, Liverpool 7^th and Haringey 8^th. So I was off to Istanbul, though now I was downgraded to travelling reserve.

As the years went on my best ones were behind me, younger better runners were coming into the team and I was no longer a part of the BAL squad. But surprisingly I got one final call up, in 2004. I went to Copthall for one last hurrah. I can’t find any results for this match so don’t know if Paul was there, who finished where, except that I know I was 7^th (presumably B string) with a time of 15:30.63. And that was it for me, the next year I had departed Belgrave. So my own experiences of BAL were nothing to shout about, though I did set two pbs, more noticeable was the fact Belgrave didn’t seem to win a match when I was in the team, though we did often win the league.

During my time at Belgrave, Herne Hill Harriers were in lower divisions of the BAL, but since I switched allegiance Herne Hill have risen though the leagues and are now in the Premiership, so good luck to them this season. I never got to run for Herne Hill in the BAL, I think I was getting close when I was running well, at 45, but there were always younger better athletes around.

Edinburgh AC were also in the BAL at the time I was there, but they appear to have drifted out now. I was once asked to run for them, but had to point out I was 1^st claim Herne Hill and therefore ineligible.

Salford Harriers don’t do track and field leagues, which suits me fine, I’m far too old to be worrying about teenagers lapping me in a 1500m.

This weekend I doubled up races again, well it seemed to work a few weeks ago. Sadly, this week it was a disaster. On Sunday it was the last of the Manchester Area Cross Country League races. I was in with a chance of 2^nd place overall in the M45s, but I’d hurt my Achilles at the Alsager 5, the previous week. I’d hardly trained all week and with having lost fitness over the previous two weeks, because of my back, I wasn’t in the shape to do something spectacular. I was of the belief that Dave Lockett, Malcolm Fowler and Ian Wetherall would all turn up and were all capable of beating me, particularly in my less than fit state. But I wanted to do the race anyway, for the Masters team, I figured there would be at least 6 Salford seniors better than me and thereby negating my need to score for that team, after all we were in with a good chance of winning the league, surely we’d turn out in force. As the weekend approached my Achilles was recovering, but I thought I needed to test it out before Sunday, so I ran the Congleton parkrun on Saturday. There was a bunch of youngsters who shot off at the start, 3 of them running under 17 minutes, with my lack of training I just couldn’t live with that pace, on the day, so I ran a solitary 5^th in 17:37. Not too bad I thought, I had imagined I would be slower than 18 minutes.

After the event my Achilles stiffened up, still it wasn’t as bad as after Alsager. I debated all night and the next morning as to whether I should risk it in Stockport but I figured the soft surface might be ok and, although I don’t like doing it, I could always drop out if necessary. When I arrived I bumped in Graham MacNeil, the overall M50 winner, I told him that I thought I was likely to finish 5^th overall in the M45 section and he told me that you had to take part in 4 races so Malcolm, Ian and Dave couldn’t beat me. I knew the next person was a good few points away from me so all I had to do was run round, though if I ran too slowly I would surely lose out. I made the decision to give it a go.

It was a real struggle to get going, I limped over the start and before the 1^st corner I was swamped and must’ve been back in the 100s somewhere. I was passing people from then on, even if I was holding back and taking the more uneven parts carefully. Half a lap in and I passed Mark Seed, my rival for 1^st Salford M45. It took me the rest of the lap to catch Stan Owen, who’s considerably older than me. After that I was starting to pick people off 1 by 1. I wasn’t able to really push, I knew the limits on my Achilles but I was feeling ok and knew I’d finish, my concern was how many M45s were ahead of me. Coming down the steep hill, with hidden blocks of concrete, for the last time I snapped my heel back too far, ouch that didn’t just hurt, that really hurt, I needed to slow down. There was a bunch of runners I was catching, including an M45 runner, but now I had to let them go. I thought about dropping out but I’d come so far, it was only half lap to go but I was running in pain, could I make it to the end? I did, just, but I had to let a load of youngsters sprint me in. In the end I finished in 53^rd position, about 20-25 places and 2 minutes down on where I would normally finish, but I’d done enough, I was 5^th M45 and therefore finished the series 2^nd to Wilmslow’s Rob Downs. I actually went over to congratulate Rob, but he was too quickly away and I wasn’t going to run after him. Sadly I was also 4^th scorer for Salford, which means we forfeited our chance of winning the league title.

a cautious start, at the back of the field

Since Sunday I’ve barely been able to walk, but it’s now Tuesday and I can see improvement. It’ll be a while before I run again, think of it as a holiday, without the sun.

It’s a shame as Saturday sees the end of the SE Lancs League, where I’m in joint 1^st place for M45s, I had a chance to win that outright. I’m also currently lying in 2^nd place in the Salford Masters championship, but only 1 point behind Dave Lockett, so if I could beat Dave (probably only if he didn’t turn up) that would create an interesting scenario. However I accept my fate and will move on to the next challenge.       

   

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Alsop’s Alsager 5s

I didn’t run many road races in my early days. It was track, cross country and road relays that my coach prescribed. So, during my best years, I never made it up to the Alsager 5, despite it being close to where my parents lived. Even when I took up road racing, in the late 90’s, there were so many events going on around London that I didn’t feel the need to travel up to Alsager, even if it did mean I could visit my parents at the same time, or maybe that was the reason all the time. When I turned 40, however, my attitude changed. I was aware of the fast times set at Alsager and I wanted to set one to lay down a foundation for England selection at the International Cross Country.

I made my Alsager 5 debut in 2005. But I was disappointed, my time was only 26:49 and I was hoping for something nearer 25 minutes. That time was only good enough for 28^th but, surprisingly, I was 1^st Master. For the next 4 years I was based in Edinburgh and for one reason or another, mostly because I was working, I couldn’t make the race. But at the end of 2009 I found myself living about 3 miles away from Alsager so the 2010 race was a definite for me.

Alsager 2010 – By now I’d turned 45, I was training hard but hadn’t raced since November. With this long gap I had no particular ambitions in the race, other than to have a good run, I was using it as a marker for the Trafford 10k. But as it turned out I ran faster than 5 years earlier, 26:33, a time that stood up as the 3^rd fastest for an M45 that year. Mind you it was only good enough for 38^th place, I was 2^nd M40, to Gordon Lee, but 1^st M45. 4 weeks later I actually went through the 5 mile mark, at Trafford, in a faster time.

By Alsager 2011 I’d been suffering with a recurrent knee injury since September. I managed to train through it to make my England debut in the November but soon after that I decided now was the time to take a break. The break did some good but it was a lengthy break that kept me out of this race. I did turn up and jogged around the course a little as Carole and Lee Riley were both racing it.

Alsager 2012 – No injury this time but still only a few races over the winter months, I felt fit though and was keen to keep my record going (1^st M40 in 2005, 1^st M45 in 2010). Unfortunately the weather was against me. I slithered and slid my way around the 5 miles, there were big stretches where there was very little road showing and it was tiring running on the snow. I felt like I was way back in the field and running really slow (mind you everybody was running slower than normal). I didn’t enjoy it at all. Coming to the finish I had enough left to sprint for the line, unfortunately there was only one clear line to run on so every time I tried to go round my nearest rival I had to go onto the ice, which meant I lost momentum. Unable to get past him I had to settle in my position, 49^th in 28:01. I thought there must be at least 5 or 6 M45s ahead of me but as it turned out the guy I was just behind was 1^st M45, if only there’s been a wider clear line to the finish.

The build up to Alsager 2013 is a completely different story, I’ve had a solid winter of cross country and have been racing and training well. I have a running client, Katy, from Alsager, and we’ve been around the Alsager 5 course many times during our various sessions, so I felt I knew the course (always an advantage, I feel). So far I’ve managed to avoid any illness, despite being surrounded by people with full blown colds, and my body was holding up well, until two weeks ago. That was when I had my back spasm. It felt so small and insignificant that I didn’t think it would keep me out of the race, the same thing had happened to me just before the BMAF cross country relays in November, where a few days rest had me back and running well. I thought the same would be true here, and it was improving every day, but I was in agony getting out of bed every morning. By the Monday before the race it was feeling a lot better, though still a problem first thing. I was going to leave it another day but I had to go to a meeting about a mile away so thought I’d trot there and back. It was ok, the next day it felt much better so I ran for 6 miles, still ok. Wednesday morning I had a run out with Katy and I felt even better afterwards. Another run out with Ray in the evening and things were looking good. Then, as I got out of bed on Thursday, I suffered an incredibly painful spasm. Enough’s enough I thought and tried to get in to see a physio, but no joy, fully booked. Well that was that then, season over, surely this is going to take a few weeks to sort out and I’ve already missed practically two weeks so all my racing fitness will be down the pan.

But I managed to get a quick session on Friday evening, with Ed at www.stretchmassage.com/

Ed had a look and did some tinkering, once again it was caused by a weakness in my glute/piriformis area. The next morning I woke up almost a new man, still a little tender getting out of bed but so much better than the previous two days. The temptation to run was strong but I had my sensible head on. I was going to go to the Alsager 5 on Sunday, anyway, Carole was running, so I’d warm up and if I felt ok I’d race, albeit a bit tentatively.

Race day, a slight niggle getting out of bed, perhaps I won’t be doing the race! But get up anyway and prepare like you’re doing it. We arrived in Alsager nice and early, got our chips sorted out and I went for a warm up. I ran for a mile, around part of the course, and all felt good, much better than earlier in the week. So I made the decision to race, though I was a little anxious and prepared to drop out if necessary. Lining up at the start it was nice to have brief chats with the large number of athletes I’ve got to know over the years, it kept me from worrying if I’d make it to the first corner ok. I was a couple of lines further back from where I would normally start, I wanted a low key start so no point in getting in the way of faster runners. And then we were off, it was closely packed for the first 800m, which meant I was having to pay particular attention to the area just in front of me, lots of pot holes. I was a long way back but turning the first corner, about half a mile in, I decided to start working and seemed to overtake a large number of runners by the 1 mile point. Still conscious of my condition I was holding back just a little but going at a pace which I hoped to maintain to the finish. First mile covered in 5:25, not really fast enough but under the circumstances I wasn’t concerned. Mile two was reached in 11:05, I was still passing a few people but now I was beginning to feel my reduced fitness level. I was now mixing it with a small group of runners, we were all going about the same pace, but I was tired. The benefit was there to be had though as I dug deep to hang onto the group, who weren’t going significantly faster than I felt I wanted. I missed the 3 mile marker but by the time I realised we only had about 1.5 miles to go. I knew I could dig deep for that length, I did, but I noticed my form was all over the place so for the sake of avoiding further injury I decided to hold off, just a little. I made it across the line, no sprint finish for me this year. My finishing time 27:45, not the time I was looking for a few weeks back but quicker than I’d have considered when I set foot on the start line. In fact I was surprised how close I was to some of my peers, maybe they’d had some issues too. The time was good enough for 52^nd place, but having observed many guys, who looked like they were around my age, finish ahead of me, I imagined I was outside the first 5 M45s. So it was a surprise to learn I was in fact 3^rd M45.

Just past the finish line I bumped into my old Edinburgh AC pal, Matt Bell. Last I knew he was working in Melbourne, Australia, but I think he missed the weather as he’s now back, a little boost to the Edinburgh AC team.

After the race my left Achilles was really sore and my legs have been a bit sore for a couple of days, it was the first time I’ve worn racing flats for some months, but, other than a little twinge as I climb out of bed, my back is feeling a lot better. Still not wanting to risk training at 100%, I’ll have to decide on the day if I’m to take part in any of the next few week’s races. In the meantime lots of rehabilitation work.



Just past the 1 mile mark, with thanks to Bryan Dale



Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk