Sunday, March 02, 2014

Week Commencing 10/02/14

Not the most interesting of blogs on the training front this week but two interesting bits to talk about.

The first is the session - this wasn't a particularly fast or a particularly interesting session but the most important thing was I actually did something. A tough day meant I wasn't able to get started until about 9:20 and was on a pretty deserted track.

Initially I'd been tempted to go for something a bit longer both in total distance and rep length but as I've been struggling so badly with soreness post-track session recently I decided to keep it short and sweet with relatively limited recovery.

These sort of "roll-on" sessions where you jog the recovery and limit it to 100-200m are really good for developing a strong rhythm and the short distance and volume help encourage you to really focus on your mechanics.

The second was that on Sunday I got a chance to run with the Emperor Haile Gebresellaise courtesy of Adidas who are launching their new "Boost" shoe which looks pretty sweet. I started using the Adidas Energy Boost a while back for my longer runs where I wasn't concerned about pace and my recovery runs and find it a great shoe to help my feet recover. Here's the photo I took of Hayley in the new shoes. Hayley was there as part of her work for the RunningBug:-


I've developed a new found appreciation for Adidas shoes following the event and have actually got myself a pair of Adidas Adios 2 racing flats which got me through my best tempo session in a while recently.

Tom Cragg led us through a set of really useful drills including a few I hadn't seen before in all of my years of running and actually found incredibly helpful in terms of glute activation and correct running form (plus a really good tip about how to get going when you're really not feeling like a run - just lean forward!) and then we went for a run with Haile.

During the run the lovely Sophie Radcliffe took a great shot of us all running in Green Park featuring me with Haile. Really like this picture despite the fact I'm horrendously overstriding. Sophie's website which catalogues all her challenges to date can be found here.

It was interesting to talk to Haile afterwards and hear his views on life and running. Sweat is good was the main theme and given how much better I feel any day I've been for a run I'm inclined to agree. 

On the running front the most interesting thigns he had to say were that he stretches (static) both before and after every run in addition to the dynamic warm-up work he does. He also explained that due to his busy work he often has to do his second run on a treadmill (often using the mirrors to work on his running form) and often uses the exercise bike as an alternative. Given how many reasonable runners I know who would never dream of using an exercise bike to supplement their mileage this was interesting to find out. It backs up some of my own experiences including running a marginal 10km PB off only a couple of months training following some intense exercise bike sessions to recover from an injury. 

Bryn Running

Training diary and musings on running in general.