Mo Farah set a brilliant new British and european 10k record running at the Prefontaine Classic this Saturday beating his previous best time by over 40 seconds. Where did this breakthrough performance come from? I'm guessing that the major reason is confidence. After winning both the 5k and 10k titles at the European Championships last year, mo was definitely on a high. Secondly, he has switched coaches and location. He is now training with Alberto Salazar. I'm guessing he is training in a stringer group than previously and that his training emphasis has changed also. Whatever it is, it was an outstanding performance and one that shows he is right up there with the Africans!! … [Read more...]
Sammy Wanjiru RIP
May 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I first became aware of Sammy Wanjiru when he broke the world record for the half marathon in 2005 when he was only 18 years old. The first time I saw him run was in the London Marathon of 2008 where he finished second behind fellow Kenyan Martin Lel. What impressed me was his relaxation when running very quickly and his obvious enjoyment in his running. In the 2008 Olympics, Sammy produced one of the finest marathon performances ever defying the oppressive heat to win in a new Olympic record. I remember watching the race thinking that he had gone off too fast and would pay in the latter stages of the race. While everyone else wilted in the heat, Sammy just kept going. With his victories in London, Chicago and Bejing, Sammy won $500,000 … [Read more...]
Law 15: Understand the Holism of Training
February 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I have to confess that I have a bit of an obsession for buying books about running, predominantly about running training. If I were to pick one area that was consistently undervalued, it would be the holism of training. Many runners obsess about how many miles they’ve done without ever consider what happens during the rest of the week when they are not training. Noakes identifies the four main factors that impact performance when training hard: Eating an appropriate diet Getting the right amount of sleep Avoiding physical effort that it not training related Reducing work stress A professional runner has systems in place to manage these things. Masseurs and physios help with recovery between sessions, diet is closely analysed and … [Read more...]
Always Expect the Unexpected!!
July 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I noticed this story the other day about a man attacked whilst out running - by a buzzard!! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/8156734.stm And I thought we had enough difficulties just trying to draw up a training programme!! … [Read more...]
“Do what you can with what you have where you are.” Theodore Roosevelt
July 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Runners come into the sport through many different routes. Some were runners at school, trained with a running club and kept up running through their adult lives. Others played other sports and took up running in later life. Others started to run to lose weight, get fit or support a charity. All runners have a different physiological makeup. They have different balances of slow twitch and fast twitch fibres. Many running books and training plans have a generic, one size fits all package that takes no account of the individual differences of each runner. So, how can we address the differences? I’ll give you an example. I have two athletes who are both training to run a 40 min 10k. In order to prepare for the race, I will include … [Read more...]