Running school started on the 9th July at EIS with Phil Williams and Dave Oldfield at the front of the class and most of the squad sat nervously on chairs around the EIS cafe. We had a quick chat through the thinking behind the 10 week training programme - with Phil explaining how the programme would focus specifically on improving our 5km times so that Sheffield RC could field a strong 6-stage squad at the Northern Athletics Relays in September. I covered the background in my previous post.
We then went outside to go through the drills we would be using throughout the programme. These split into two basic groupings. The first group were core drills - designed to strengthen the core (yep!) These included: walking lunges, high knee walks, cross overs, rom dead lift walks, medicine ball high knees, step ups, and zig zag hops. We rehearsed the drills and I was surprised at how much they pushed my heart rate up. I was also privately pleased that I wasn't the only one that looked like a clumsy fish out of water!
The second group of drills were power drills. These included: short hill sprints, zig zag hops, bounds, mini hurdles. fast feet, parachute sprints (literally pulling a parachute into the wind), and downhill sprints. I gulped a bit at these because I have avoided doing sprint work for years because it shreds my legs for a couple of days afterwards. Obviously the reason it hurts is because I don't do the short stuff often enough for my body to have adapted to the stress. I am going to have get through that. It might also finally give me some kind of sprint finish too. I do have a vague memory of being a pretty decent sprinter (28 years ago).
We chatted through what signing up to squad training means - attending at least 3 group sessions per week, following the plan, avoiding unscheduled races or major deviations from the plan that will limit the benefit that we'll get from the programme, and so on. We also sorted some administrative stuff out - shared google calendar with the training plan on it, whatsapp group to sort out meeting places for group runs, and so on.
The first week started on 13th July - although I started practising some of the drills during the previous week. Week 1 was planned as a 'low' load week but it was severely disrupted for me and most of the squad by the Doncaster Town Centre 5k race on Wednesday 15th July. Despite the unglamorous location, the Vets and Open races are local favourites and each race tempts out some of the best local runners; most of whom seem to afford it some respect and have a proper go at it.
I lined up in the Vets 5K race at 7:30pm and set off pretty hard with a front pack that included the incredible Anthony Whiteman - the UK's top ranked veteran runner (and still a very competitive senior runner). I stayed with the front pack for nearly the first mile at what seemed like a pretty comfortable pace before the front three started to pull away leaving me and Doncaster runner Simon Wright running together. We worked with each other throughout the race - exchanging 4th place a few times. I controlled my effort much better than at Damflask but I did have a coasting few minutes at the start of the third lap as I tired. In the latter stages of a 5K you should never be able to answer "no" to the question of "are you trying hard enough?" But I'll let myself off because I managed to stay ahead of Simon during the final 400m and record a big 5km personal best of 16:22.
The senior race was a great watch - with Anthony Whiteman fresh from winning the vets race in around 15:30, taking the senior race too - dipping under 15 minutes. Not a bad session - warm up - 2 x 5km at sub-5 minute mile pace off 15 minute rest - warm down.
It was also great to see seven Sheffield RC runners dip well under 17 minutes. The target for the project clearly is for these runners (and several hovering just above 17 minutes) to knock some chunks off their times over the summer. If we could get down to a mean average of 16 minutes for our top 6 we could make a decent impression on the northern relays. Also reminded me that I will have to work pretty hard to stay in that top 6.
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| Competitor Name | Chip Time |
| Will Beauchamp | 00:15:33 |
| Joe Sweetnam-Powell | 00:16:01 |
| Alex Plant | 00:16:04 |
| Mike Tanner | 00:16:11 |
| Joe Fowler | 00:16:22 |
| Stuart Little | 00:16:39 |
| Alex Collings | 00:16:47 |
I was looking forward to chatting through the race at the squad's group run on Thursday but I ended up wrestling with a pre-teen temper tantrum at home and missed the start of the group run. So I headed out for the prescribed zone 2 run - a relatively comfortable, if boring 10 miles.
Friday's session was another zone 2 recovery run, which I decided to split am / pm to keep the mileage up whilst still leaving me fresh enough for Saturday's hard hill session.
Saturday's session was supposed to be core drills, 4 x 60m sprints, 8 x 2 min hill efforts, 10 minutes tempo. But I couldn't fit the session in amongst Lola's events at the Northern Premier Athletics league in Birkenhead. Nor could I find a long enough hill near the athletics stadium. So, I split the session into two chunks. The first was core drills, 4 x 60m sprints, jog to hill, 5 x 90s hill efforts, 3.5 mins tempo back to stadium to watch Lola win the long jump. I then jogged back to the hill, did another 5 x 90s hill efforts, jogged for a bit and then finished off with 8.5 minutes tempo. Returning in time to make sure Lola was ready for her 4 x 100m relays. I am no coach but the session seemed close enough to the prescribed one.
During the second set of hill reps I concentrated hard on holding the form I have been practising in the drills: pushing back the elbows, driving my feet through the ground from the glutes, and keeping my knees high. I also tried towards the end of the rep to breath fast and hard. This is quite a departure from my usual 'cover the ground as fast as possible whilst panting like an idiot' approach. I was surprised to find that focusing on form actually helped me get up the hill a second or two quicker. The tempo runs after the hill reps took my heart rate right up into race effort, but they ticked by at around or under 5:30 pace. Overall the session felt like a 'proper workout' - and it felt different enough to my usual training to make the new project feel 'real'.
Most of the squad met up on Sunday morning for an easy zone 1 / 2 run. I topped and tailed the session to keep the mileage up and enjoyed running super-easy in good company. The 15 miles ticked by comfortably at 7:30 pace - with heart rate averaging about 114bpm. Quite a departure from the Sunday runs before my marathon (typically 6:40ish at 134bpm). The idea behind the easy run today is to get the most out of the tempo session tomorrow. Let's see!
The start of a new running project with some fresh targets and ideas has finally got me back to updating my blog. I'll do a quick recap, introduce the new project, and then do another post to report on week 1 (with the usual techy training stuff). Subsequent blogs will cover the weeks of training - and the progress of the project overall. As ever, this should be interesting for those who like reading about running, and, errrm, not so interesting for everyone else!
The last month or so...
My last blog was on the weird weeks after London Marathon and my return to racing. Since then I guess I went into auto-pilot; reverting to something like my pre-marathon training schedule. This meant high mileage, am / pm 'double' recovery runs, quite a few harder tempo and progression runs, and so on. So, June was a pretty high mileage month - around 80 miles per week.
Towards the end of June, I was feeling good on my high mileage training - recovering super quick and feeling if anything fitter than before the marathon. I started thinking about another race to keep me ticking over whilst I worked out what to focus on next.
Only problem was I was a bit too, shall we say, 'heavy' for testing my racing legs out on a flat out road race. I find it too easy to over-compensate with the calories - even when I am running 80 miles per week. And, to be fair, post-London, I couldn't be arsed with watching the diet and making too much of a science out of what to eat. I had also enjoyed a fair few beers with friends. Priorities straight and all that.
In the end I decided to drop in on a small, local, hilly trail race - the midsummer mad dash. Deb and I both turned up on a lovely sunny June evening to the friendly start area with Isla along to offer support. We chatted to a few other runners and did a mile or so of warm-up (with Isla keeping pace easily!)
The race was just under 5 miles of hilly, rough trails. I set off pretty steady - wary of having 24 miles in my legs from the previous two days. At the top of the first (pig of a) climb, I had broken clear of the field, and that was basically the last I saw of them. The 'race' I had been after never really materialised and I ended up running a hard time trial. I won by around a minute.
Deb didn't enjoy the race very much (understatement) as she was suffering from stomach cramps. But, she still finished 2nd lady and we left for home with a bottle of wine each. Isla helped set the buffet out after the race - a couple of cakes must have slipped off the trays into her pocket.
The following week was busy with work - trips to London, late meetings etc. But I still managed to get another 80 miles in - with a nice hard 10 mile threshold run along the Thames river path (squeezed between meetings) a particular highlight.
The next week had two short races that I had been looking forward to a lot. The first was the Damflask relays - 4 x 3.5 mile legs in Low Bradfield. This is probably the highlight of the Sheffield running calendar for me - a great race organised by the amazing 'elders' at Sheffield Running Club and supported by club members that turn out whatever the weather to marshal and make races happen.
The second race was a 'secret' track mile race in Barnsley - secret in that I hadn't told anyone I was doing it because I was nervous about being a bit shit over the short distance and I didn't want to put any pressure on myself.
The Damflask relays started well. I was well rested having calmed the mileage down a bit in the preceding days and I was on the first leg meaning I had some decent company to run with. All was going great until the end of mile 2 when I literally blew up in the searing heat - I just couldn't get my breathing under control and I lost 20 seconds on the pack I had been with. I pulled myself together for the last half mile or so but it was too late. With hindsight I went out too quick - thinking I could stay with people who I knew would probably put 20 - 30 seconds or so on me over that distance. I'll try again next year!
The mile track race at Cudworth was neatly sandwiched between the kids athletics events at the 'Barnsley Open'. I had already watched Lola get to the final of the 100m (she finished 4th) and I was feeling up for another attempt at the 5-minute mile barrier that had eluded me for a few years. There was a bit of a cock-up with the pooling and I ended up in the 2nd race. But luckily a young 4:24 1500m runner from Leeds had suffered the same demotion and he set off hard enough to keep me going. I stayed on his shoulder and the first lap went by in about 1:10. The 2nd and the 3rd laps were with hindsight a bit lazy at 1:16, and I was having to adjust my footing to avoid running into the back of my young running mate. I should have probably gone past him on the back straight of lap 3 but I ended up waiting to make my move until near the start of lap 4 - at which point he kicked like a mule and beat me by a good 5 seconds despite me running a 1:10 final lap. Luckily my watch said 4:58 so I didn't give a toss about the result. Another target hit.
The afternoon was topped off nicely by Isla winning the ball throw and Lola beating Yorkshire's number one high jumper with a winning jump of 1.40m (big PB).
Watching Isla's video of my mile race reminded me (again) that I simply don't run like the decent runners. The vast majority of people that win stuff look like they have been trained to run. Obviously most have! Indeed, I have watched Lola get coached from her initial 'lent over falling over her shoes style' to her current classic runners form. Decent runners drive back powerfully with their feet, they kick their heels up, punch the air with their knees, jab backwards with their elbows, bring all of their major muscles into play; they 'look' like they are floating along.
I just look like a stiff. My legs stretched out in front of me, my left leg going wonky as soon as it is out of sight behind me, next to no knee lift, my glutes are passengers when they should be propelling me along. I could go on. It's testament to the body's ability to adapt that I can run quickly for any length of time at all. Well that, and, to borrow a phrase from Steve Way, because I have a heart like a big diesel engine.
The New Project
So, this brings me nicely to my new summer running project. I am going to train to be a runner. Not by running endless hundreds of miles, but by going back to running school. This is going to mean lots of drills, a major focus on form, hill reps, short sprint work, strength stuff, and so on. I am going to try and stop counting the miles and move my training schedule to a genuine 'light and shade' approach - a decent base of easy zone 1 and 2 runs, coupled with harder shorter sessions and drills on fresh(er) legs to build my strength, increase my resilience to injury, and improve my form.
I am not going to pretend that I can change my form completely though; I just want to see if I can squeeze a bit of extra benefit out of being stronger, and bring a few muscles into play that are not pulling their weight. This should help me improve my relatively poor times over short distances, and will hopefully, in time, translate into quicker times over the long distances too.
The good news, and what should make the summer more interesting for me and this blog, is that I am not going back to running school on my own. A squad of Sheffield RC's runners are all going to give it a go - with the prize for the six fastest over 5km being a place in the Sheffield RC squad for the Northern 6-Stage Relays in September. This adds a bit of spice to the training - particularly for me as I will have to work very hard to get in that top six.
