The Scottish Period

It was an all too brief period of my life, but still remembered fondly, the years I resided and raced in, and for Scotland. It wasn’t all positive, but no point in dwelling on the bad aspects, much better to enjoy all the positivity I took from my running north of the border.

I’d been on holiday to Scotland on a few occasions, I loved the scenery and I was partial to the odd dram, but I never thought I would one day live there. I lived in a nice part of London, my job was there, most of my mates still resided in London and most importantly, my running club was just up the road, so why would I want to leave? I had actually visited Edinburgh with the Belgrave British League team, back in the 90’s, running my debut British League race, a 5000m in 1992 – I was 5^th in the B race with 15:32, a year later I was back – improving my time at Meadowbank to 15:12 but only finishing 6^th in the B string (still at least I wasn’t lapped this time).

After that season Edinburgh dropped out of the 1^st Division so the next time I raced in Scotland was 12 years later, in 2005. At this point I was working for RBS and spending a few days at a time in Edinburgh. I would stay at the Holyrood hotel, nicely located close to Holyrood park and I’d do a couple of laps around the park before going to dinner. Sometimes my Scottish pal, Jim Buick, would meet up with me and we’d run around the park together or Jim would take me on one of his scary runs around Edinburgh, not scary because of all the ghost tours but because Jim had a habit of running across roads in front of traffic. Sometimes he’d take me along to one of Martin Hyman’s sessions at the Meadows, they were great sessions and even at 40 I was holding my own against the youngsters from Edinburgh University.

A torn hamstring in the first half of 2005 held me back a little, it was a summer of little racing, but I managed to get to the last of the Self Transcendence 2 mile races at the Meadows. Still not back to fitness I could only manage a 10:24 for 8^th place. And then my life changed, RBS offered me a role based in Edinburgh and I agreed to take it. I moved up in November but the first 4 weeks were spent staying in various hotels, not the best when you’re working nightshifts, so as soon as a friend offered me a flat in Gorgie I took it, and that’s where I stayed, just around the corner from Hearts FC, until my own place was ready in March.

It was a great location for training, I had the canal close by in one direction and in the other I could get on a disused railway, converted into a path, which went all the way into Leith. I was training well, on my own, but because I hadn’t joined a Scottish club I hadn’t raced for a while. My next race in Scotland was on Boxing Day, a 14k handicap race at Beescraig. I was working Xmas day and when I returned home at 19:30 I wasn’t much in the mood for drinking on what had been my loneliest Xmas day ever, so a 14k blast seemed like a good idea. Jim picked me up and took me along to the race, I didn’t know anybody else there so it was a bit of an odd experience, over the years I’d got to know most of my opponents in London races. The race was (if I remember correctly) 3 laps of a country park route featuring a climb up and back down Cockleroy hill. So it was a bit of a trail come hill race, not something I was very experienced in, but it beat spending the day on my own. Jim had told the handicappers that I was a 30 minute 10k runner, based on the fact that I’d run under 31 minutes, once, 12 years earlier. This meant I was last off, a minute after the guy in front of me. So the lonely Xmas continued as I saw pretty much nobody for the entire race. As I descended Cockleroy the final time it was bonus time as I slipped over and managed to punch myself in the mouth (one of those punches that I could never have achieved with such accuracy or power if I’d planned it). Upon finishing, checking my hip and my teeth were still all there I found out I was 2^nd fastest, Mark Johnston – soon to be a team mate at EAC was fastest. With that I was glad to see the back of 2005.

2006 was to start much better. I wasn’t working over the New Year but still new to Scotland I wasn’t exactly on everybody’s party list, so it was an early night, though I was rudely awoken at midnight by somebody setting off fireworks in the Castle. The next morning I headed over to Portobello for the promenade run, a 4 mile race that went out for two miles and back for two miles. I had a good race, the winner, Mark Draper, was always in sight and I was less than a minute behind Darren Gauson. I finished 4^th after a great battle with Ross Arbuckle for 1^st Master prize.

I then went to Japan for a couple of weeks to celebrate my birthday, so my next race was late February. By now I’d been approached by EAC to join them but I was still mulling it over. This race was the KB5 (5 miles around a hilly course at the Braids), where I apparently still hold the M40 course record! It’s a lovely course and since I moved around the corner a month later a route I used fairly often in training, in fact it was the first place I took Carole for a run (which probably wasn’t the best idea). Because my job required that I work every other weekend, races were not so frequent at this stage in my life and my next two were down in England, on duty for my 1^st claim UK club, Herne Hill. My next race in Scotland was the Scottish Road Relays on 1^st April, which I’ve already written a whole blog about http://rogalsop.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/six-men-make-edinburghs-day.html

I followed this up with a run in the Jim Dingwall 10k, I could only managed 21^st in the race and was disappointed with my time of 33:15 (though it took me three years to better that time). The rot was setting in, stressed out by my work and probably over-training, due to loneliness, I got injured.

My comeback was a low key affair, the EAC 5k handicap, where I managed the fastest time, 16:20. Then onto the cross country season. I actually had a good cross country season, the courses suited me, I finished the season as first Master in the East District league and was selected to represent Scottish Masters in the International Cross Country event, where we took the silver medals.

2007 started almost identical to 2006, I ran at Portobello again, coming 4^th again and first master, running just one second slower than the previous year, how’s that for pacing. My next races were indoor, I’d decided I would use up some holiday competing at the European indoor old people’s championships. Because I’d never run indoor before I figured I’d better get some practice in so entered the Scottish Indoor champs and the Scottish Masters indoor champs, which took place at Kelvin Hall. I didn’t do so bad, I was 7^th in the Senior 1500m, 4:18.25, but found that a bit fast considering I hadn’t been near a track for about two years, the next day I was 4^th in the 3000m in 9:05.12 and a month later I took the Scottish Masters crown in the 3000m, 9:05.97.

It was Scotland where I did my first proper hill race, thought I ought to try it so I picked a short one, the Hunters Bog Trot. It was a strange affair, one of the hills was so steep I had to walk, I was feeling annoyed with myself until I looked up and saw the leaders, internationals, walking too. Well that was it, I’m a runner not a walker and I could have taken up race walking if I’d wanted to get a high ranking, I decided not to bother with hill running again. On the more normal hills I was doing great, passing people on every climb, only problem was on the steep descents I was being re-passed by those I’d taken and more. I remember one guy flying past me at the top of the hill but he was going so fast he couldn’t stop at the bottom and ended up diving headfirst into a gorse bush. As I passed him lying there I considered offering to help, but I was in a race. Thankfully he was ok and we enjoyed a few post race drinks together, during which he continued to remove gorse spikes from his forehead.

Over the next few years, despite getting older and slower I did quite well with EAC and represented Scotland every year in the international cross country. But I never quite ran my best, nightshifts put paid to that as I was living with a constant feeling of jet lag. During my last year there, at 44, I did start to regain some of my form as I prepared to leave RBS and nightshift behind, though I was quite shocked to win the Haddington 5 mile road race outright. My last race, living in Scotland was at Cumbernauld, one of my favourite cross country courses, in the Scottish cross country relays. A few weeks later I represented Scotland for the last time, having been told I would no longer be eligible when I moved back to England.

Four years on, May 2013, I ran my first race in Scotland, the Edinburgh parkrun, this being my first race since knackering my achilles was a slow affair and also my first parkrun in a fairy outfit. But despite being my slowest ever 5k it signalled the start of another Rog comeback that has so far resulted in a North of England bronze medal and a National Masters gold medal.

I don’t know when I’ll next be in Scotland, I have a different set of races to do with my Salford team mates, but next time I’m back I hope to coincide with a race.

One of my last races for EAC, East District relays at Prestonpans

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Bioresonance Therapy

What do you know about bioresonance therapy? A few weeks ago I’d never heard of it, but it’s been around for some time. The reason I came to find out about it is due to my ongoing injury issues, that seem to have dragged on throughout this year. Recently I was having a chat with one of my friends at Ronhill, during which I mentioned my frustration at not being able to get clear of injuries, and he suggested I tried this treatment, putting me in touch with therapist Mike Beaver, from Wilmslow.

I’ll tell you more about my treatment later but first a little about the therapy.

What is bioresonance therapy?

It falls into the category of empiric medicine, such as homeopathy, acupuncture and other natural healing methods, and has been used in human medicine for more than 25 years. One of the benefits of this therapy is that it is non invasive, i.e. no needles or drugs are used as part of the therapy, instead it uses frequency patterns, which are passed through the body. It can be used for skin diseases, allergies, intestinal problems, sports injuries, and many others (see the website for further information).

That’s my simple explanation of the therapy, to read about it in more depth visit www.reson8.uk.com which covers it in much greater detail.

Bioresonance in sports medicine

Whilst it’s an interesting subject for all ailments the bit that was most relevant to me was it’s use in sports medicine and Mike gave me the following information: It is being used by 13,000 therapists worldwide, including some top sporting institutions, such as The Moscow Centre of Sport Rehabilitation. Both new and old sports injuries can be treated very effectively with bioresonance therapy and injuries can be reduced in the first place by improving blood circulation, receptor and brain communication, strengthening heart, muscles, joints and ligaments.

A research group was set up in Slovenia, featuring two groups of 12 sportsmen with overstrain syndrome, one group using conventional treatment and one group using bioresonance therapy. The results of this research showed that bioresonance therapy can be used successfully on overstrain syndrome without difficulty or negative side effects and that better results were achieved in less time with fewer sessions than by using conventional therapy.

So you will understand why I decided to use the therapy; firstly it was recommended by somebody I trust, secondly looking at the information on the website it made sense, thirdly I was already receiving other treatment but the long term problems I was having were not clearing up.

My bioresonance experience

The piriformis problems were dragging on and I still wasn’t able to get full range of movement during my running, which meant I still couldn’t run fast, then I had one of those nasty back spasms. This was on Wednesday morning, two weeks ago. After the spasm I was practically incapable of doing anything, in a lot of pain and completely unable to run. I was due at the chiropractor that afternoon so, whilst a little concerned that the spasm’s were, perhaps, coming back to haunt me, I felt sure I would be sorted out. However a couple of days later I was still getting the spasms. It was at this point I was chatting to my friend at Ronhill. I read up a bit about bioresonance and thought it was worth a try so I gave Mike a call, had a discussion about it and booked in an initial session for the following Monday. We discussed costs, as there seemed a lot involved in the treatment, and I was wondering how much each treatment would be. I was pleasantly surprised that the cost to see Mike was no more than most physio sessions, and considerably less than some.

 

By Saturday morning I felt I could try running again, we were heading off to Blackpool later in the morning so it was only a short run, but it was a struggle, 30 minutes of shuffling along like a man in his 80’s. It wasn’t very pleasant, though I suspect when I’m in my 80’s I’ll feel a whole lot better about being able to run that fast. We stayed over in Blackpool, it was very illuminating, and the next morning was so nice, with the sun shining and, with us staying near the sea front, I just had to go for a run. Ok I started off with the intention of going for a run but it soon became evident I was going for a shuffle. At this point I was keen to see Mike but, I wasn’t exactly sure if it was going to help.

Monday dawned and I actually had a running client early on, thankfully she wasn’t one of my quicker clients but I did feel a bit more relaxed in my running. We ran for about 30 minutes and I loosened up so I left her and ran for a further 30 minutes on my own, then I went to see Mike.

Mike started the session by carrying out various tests to check out my internal organs, and to see if I had any viruses or was carrying any parasites, thankfully I was given a clean bill of health. Then it was onto my back and Mike used his machine to treat me. I had been told not to drink any tea, coffee or alcohol before the treatment and now Mike told me to steer clear of these until the next day, and off I trotted back home.

Despite drinking water on the way home I still felt a bit dehydrated when I arrived so continued to drink throughout the day, I also had a slight headache, which was probably due to the caffeine withdrawal, I also felt a little lacklustre and wasn’t really looking forward to the two running clients I had lined up for that evening.

Come the evening I felt more alive, the headache had disappeared and I had replenished my body with water. I did feel a little stiff setting off with my first client but I soon settled down, come my second client I was ready to fly, which was just as well as she was in the mood for a really hard session. Everything about that run felt good, I had no pain in my back and, despite this being the fastest I’d run I wasn’t getting any pulls in my hamstring, just a dull ache in the piriformis area. Surely this was too good to be true, I had thought it would take me some time still to recover but here I was running at a good pace with no pain. Early days yet and although I was running at a reasonable pace it wasn’t my race pace, my first session at my pace would be a better indicator of success.

The next day I was due to meet Ray for a tough hour long session in Tatton Park, but soon after I got out of bed I felt a twinge in my back, ‘oh dear’ I thought, ‘here we go again’. Thankfully it wasn’t a bad twinge and I was able to work with a client in the morning, which helped to loosen things up. Come Ray’s session I was once again running fast, virtually pain free, over the undulating grasslands of Tatton Park, not the best surface for someone with a back problem but I didn’t experience any pain in the back just the same dull ache in the piriformis.

With a further, but less intense, back twinge, the next day I rang Mike and asked for a further treatment on the Thursday, where I wanted him to also take a look at the piriformis. Then I went out for a run on my own and did one of my quality sessions, at my pace, for the first time in ages. I was quick, not as quick as I normally go as I was a little nervous about the hamstring pulling or the back going, but this was faster than the runs of the previous two days. It was a good training session but one I wouldn’t have felt comfortable doing before Mike’s treatment. Come Thursday I decided I’d do another tough session before my session with Mike. At times I struggled, not surprising as it was the 4^th day on the trot I’d done some form of quality, plus there was a stiff, cold, wind in my face for the first 20 minutes. Clearly I was tired but the back and leg had come through well, then off to Mike’s for treatment.

Mike treated my back and piriformis and I decided to take Friday as a rest day to give myself a rest.

On Saturday I did another quality run, still not 100% but faster than the one on Wednesday, with no repercussions. Sunday morning was my long run, although I still like to do a long run on a Sunday it has been a while since I’d run for longer than an hour (hardly fits the description of long run really) but this time I felt good, after an initial slow 10 minutes to warm up. Once I hit the Northwich woodlands I was in full flow and running at a good pace. I was enjoying myself again and didn’t really want to stop, but you can’t go on forever. In the end I ran for an hour and 25 minutes, way longer than anything I’ve managed this year. I felt good and I felt positive. The only thing that bothered me was that I was reluctant to really push up hills, not the best attitude with a cross country season just starting.

The following day I decided to do a hill session (see how the paragraphs just glide into each other), just a short one as I had a running client in the evening and that was likely to be a tough session. This gave me some confidence to push up the hill but, because I was extending my leg further, I was getting a slight tug in the hamstring. Nowhere near as much as I had before starting treatments with Mike but it was still a concern. It’s been good progress but even I’m not optimistic enough to believe things will be sorted out in two sessions, so I booked a further session with Mike for this week. However, I do seem to be able to train hard in-between treatments.

It’s now Wednesday, exactly two weeks since the big back spasm and goodness knows how many weeks since I started experiencing the problem with my piriformis. Today is the first morning where I haven’t had any twinges in my back, since that first spasm. I also did another of my hard runs and couldn’t feel any pain in my piriformis or hamstring. I went to see Mike for the 3^rd time and he treated me again, also working on my achilles, which is still a little tender from the injury I received in February. I left Mike feeling good and full of confidence that I will be back racing soon and I can’t wait for my next run.

If you’re interested in finding out more about bioresonance therapy then take a look at the website www.reson8.uk.com or if you’re local to Wilmslow and want to get in touch with Mike, you can call him on 01625 531222.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Tough Times Ahead

After the holiday came the relays. With my hamstring pulling it was always going to be touch and go that I’d be able to run but, as regular readers will know, I love taking part in relays so it looked like being good news as I managed to run well enough to make the start line for them both. I knew I wasn’t 100% but I was getting better each day and I thought the short sharp blast might even help me.

If you’ve read my previous blog you’ll know I struggled at Lancaster. Well the following week I travelled to Blackpool for the North of England Relays, slightly longer at 6.6k, but the pain had continued to recede as the week went on so I was confident I could run better than at Lancaster. It was a good start too, the weather couldn’t have been any more of a contrast to the previous week as the sun beamed down on us and the temperatures soared. Understandably I was a little nervous about my leg but went for a warm up to get everything working and check out the course. The warm up did neither, my leg niggled and my confidence ebbed a little, the course was, at best, confusing and I had a less clear picture of where I was running than if I’d not bothered with a  warm up. The race started and Salford A were always up there, Salford B were fighting their corner aiming for National qualification and Salford C, my team, were right in the mix.

I was 3^rd leg, taking over from the only man I know who can make fast running look slow, Mike Grace. There were girls aplenty for me to chase, it was like being back at school, but 40 metres into the race I felt a twinge in the leg and hobbled a few steps, I was ok but I had to slow it down, so much that it took me an eternity to pass any of the girls that I’d normally have swept past. In the meantime three other teams had passed me. I never really ran slow but I never really found my stride either, pain was with me all the way, which made it a much harder run for me than it should have been, considering it was only 6.6k and relatively flat.

My leg over it was down to the next three runners to make up the places I’d lost. It was another disappointing run for me. I don’t usually get dejected after races, if I get beaten then it’s usually because those that beat me were better, even so I would have given 100% to try to beat them, but these last two races had seen me unable to give 100% and I felt I was getting slower rather than faster. Irrespective of dejection I’m never down for long but it made me think about what I could do about it.

Decision made I’ve decided to put racing on the back burner until I get full resolution for my problem. I’m comfortable running at around 7 minute mile pace, but faster than that causes a problem, which means I can still run, just not fast. In the meantime I’m trying to build a stronger base by doing some intensive sessions that I’ve created for my more advanced clients. And it’s working, I’m still relatively fit but I also feel much stronger, just need to get rid of the pain and I’ll be back where I want to be.

Despite not being able to achieve much myself, lately, I’ve seen the athletes I advise produce some good times in races, so at least I have the satisfaction of knowing I’ve made a difference somewhere.

With the cross country season looming I’m wondering if I’m going to play any part in it. Luckily, for Salford, we have so many great athletes and particularly in my own age group, that I won’t be missed. It’s more a case of me missing them and cross country. Knowing my luck I’ll probably be declared fit to run the day before Boggart Hole Clough!

Just to cheer myself up here’s a picture from the days I used to be able to run fast and pain free, my leading a 1500m, you may notice some good athletes behind me, though I’m not sure it was for long. With thanks to Ray O’Donaghue.

It was a long time ago when I could run fast but I'd forgotten colour photography was yet to be invented.