on your marcs*

after a fantastic year of running in 2010, it has to be said that 2011 has fallen well short of the mark. a six month injury didnt help the cause, but it's a sad day when i look back and see only two major highlights - the whaley waltz and the lakeland 50. but dont confuse highlights with great performances guys. highlights = enjoyment. and even the lakeland 50 wasn't 100% enjoyable.

amidst all this, something's been eating away at me..and not for the first time i have to say. and that thing is ..speed..or total lack of it. i've gotten into the habit of running in ever decreasing speeds and i've just let it happen. there's no excuses, i am where i am and, without throwing out my philosophy of running for fun, i know im capable of much better.

so, feeling like it was time to drink some truth serum and with the aim of getting my physical side knocked into better shape I thought i'd pay a visit to see marc laithwaite, the endurance coach, lakeland 50/100 organiser and alround top banana

i wasn't at all sure what the results migh be or indeed what marc might prescribe for me going forwards as in life there are: the things you know; the things you dont know; and the things you dont know you dont know. i can safely say that my visit; confirmed a thing or two i suspected; illuminated stuff i didn't know; and importantly revealed stuff i didn't even know existed! so..a visit well worth making

the biggest surprise came in the form of a 16 week plan of aerobic conditioning with lots of easy, steady, tempo and interval sessions..all designed to focus on getting me to move faster and improve my running economy. i am allowed one longish run a month but that's it for this period. and my diet needs to change (ouch).

but...i've loaded up my garmin with all the different heart rate zones for these sessions and im ready to go. i feel a new lease of running life coming on and im really quite excited by it. it feels a bit like a case of back to the future..im no stranger to this sort of training..its just been a long time since i did any!

so for now im trading long winter slogs for shorter sharper stuff and attempting to retrain my body's fuel choice

for me this feels like a personal running revolution..and with revolutions anything can happen!



and for charlie boy, he'd best watch out..i might start giving him a run for his dogbones in times to come..or maybe that's being a tad over-optimistic





*id make a great headline writer as a journo for the sun no??

sweating cobs

by it's warm isn't it! unseasonably so. the other day i was running along, mouth wide open obviously, and in shot a fly! next minute i got one in the eye. not a good look, coughing and spluttering with a twitchy eye. but then neither is running along mouth and eyes shut tight. try it. you'll see what i mean!

anyway the reason im going on about our little heatwave is because it wasnt that long ago our little bloggtasticsphere was full of stories of snow, ice and running in 5 layers. 6 if you include base. it were a winter blogg wonderland (you know who you are). so its only right to bang on a bit about october heat. before you know it'll be humping down once again you watch. 'it needs it it does. ground needs it' everyone'll be saying. you cant win.

make most of it i say. im still in my (short) salomon shorts. the factor 15's seen a fair bit of sunlight too. though i have to say i haven't got round to getting the patio furniture back out.



whatever weather is it catches us all out. we're never ready for it. it snows and all schools close. it rains and that campsite at top of derwentwater floods. its get all hot and there's a shortage of ice cream cones. kid you not. it were on telly other day. about how the weather has thrown everyone. shops full of winter clothes in sales. asda back out with 3 for £5 on bbq range. restaurants cooking up hot pots no-one wants. and yes, the ice cream man panicking about his cone supply (there were no mention of sprinkles or monkeys blood mind..he must have bought a job lot of those at start of season)

not sure how long it'll last all this lovely weather but you can bet your house it won't be long before it'll all be back to normal. old folk forever banging on about how dark and freezing it is all the time. price war on tins of roses n quality street escalate as we head towards xmas. january sales starting in november. and cadburys easter eggs hitting shelves on boxing day. along with blanket coverage on telly of sofa ads.

and we'll all be banging on about snow and 5 layers. 6 if you count...