Up North
Not long till I 'head up north' which is always a bit scary, its like travelling back in time with no internet access, lose mobile phone signal....im not even sure they have electricity yet?!
I am racing the famous Jonny Mellor at the AAA 5k in Blackburn which I hear is a great course and hearing of some of the names racing, there is no danger of me having to go to the front like in Bridgend a few weeks ago. For me the pressure is off as I am in no shape to contest for the front positions I have my target (around 14.45) and think it is capable with the field assembled, the only real danger is maybe going off too fast thinking I can do the pace and then the wheels coming off.
Training has gone quite well the last couple of weeks, I had a bad throat on Sunday so I had to miss the long run and although I have trained since then with a good couple of sessions on Tuesday and Thursday I am still not a 100% but you just have to roll with it. After the race on the weekend the training will be quite hard for around 10days so the weekend could actually be the easy part of things!
George and I are starting to work well together and building a good relationship and I am enjoying the 'new' sessions and different ideas and the fact he can always back his ideas up with the fact he has coached guys to sub 62 half etc.. It gives me confidence in what he says.
So travel arrangements will be catching a train from Bridgend at 17:30 and getting to Manchester at 21:40, this is where I was going to stay with my brother but the very kind man that is Ian Ladbrooke has found a spare bed in the hotel where all the national teams are staying.... so now I will be catching a train from Manchester to Preston and then a taxi over to the hotel to bed down for the night! Who knows who I will be sharing with but the fact that it is so close to the race makes life easier for me in the morning and at only £30 return train fare it will probably be cheaper than driving. I just hope the train is quiet to watch a couple of films on the itouch on the way up!
See you up North for a cup of Tetley's tea and good luck to all the RunnersLife guys (and Lily) racing this weekend, it seems like there is a lot going on this weekend.
Simx
Comments On "Up North"
Nah, I wouldnt say everyone...like me I have had help from a far sometimes so email and phone and monthly get togethers as I know athletes have and still do. So for me having someone there is a very different experience.
simx Posted on July 13th, 2010No, George Edwards...the mastermind behind the Swansea winning relay team of the 90's including the likes of Ian Hammer etc,. very underated coach and very nice guy. currently coaches me, Craig Hopkins, Hobbsy and few others.
New , fresh training ideas
cheers Simx for the general idea!
Graham Posted on July 13th, 2010Doesn't every coach stand trackside for hours in the rain- giving orders, motivating their athletes and shouting times?
By the way is George the GANDY?????
Hope these new plans refresh your running and motivate/inspire you to fix your mind and produce some good performances- time will tell!!
Hi Graham, The biggest change is no counting mileage...he sends me the training in paragraph form i.e "Tuesday I want you do 'x' and then warm down a few miles at a brisk pace...." rather then do 8 miles + 6 miles etc. It is built around running for a specific reason rather then to do certain amount of mileage. Also things like a good balanced week rather than sticking to a rountine which I always did.
simx Posted on July 13th, 2010The weeks are actually easier than I used to train but the specific sessions are now more focused and harder. My steady runs depend on feeling rather than pace as well along with easy runs being varied..."If 6min mile is easy on tuesday then do 6min miling but if 8min mile is easy wed then you do 8min miling, but it must be easy!". One session is usually around a longer run and recovery is 6min miling so if you do 4x2mins with 3 mins recovery the recovery is not stopping or jogging but ticking over 'quick'ish'.
I wont bore you to much but tonight but sat was 4x1k and then 4x400m which I have never done or 3x2x1k fast but with long jog inbetween or even 3k-2k-1k then 40mins sub 6min mile.
It is also nice having someone stand in the rain while you do a session incase I look tired to tell me to stop or to just call out the times and feel like someone is in your corner. Maybe il write a bigger blog on the changes...lets just say my theory of harder was better has now changed to smarter means faster!
Hi Graham,
simx Posted on July 13th, 2010The biggest change is no counting mileage...he sends me the training in paragraph form i.e "Tuesday I want you do 'x' and then warm down a few miles at a brisk pace...." rather then do 8 miles + 6 miles etc. It is built around running for a specific reason rather then to do certain amount of mileage. Also things like a good balanced week rather than sticking to a rountine which I always did.
The weeks are actually easier than I used to train but the specific sessions are now more focused and harder. My steady runs depend on feeling rather than pace as well along with easy runs being varied..."If 6min mile is easy on tuesday then do 6min miling but if 8min mile is easy wed then you do 8min miling, but it must be easy!".
One session is usually around a longer run and recovery is 6min miling so if you do 4x2mins with 3 mins recovery the recovery is not stopping or jogging but ticking over 'quick'ish'.
I want bore you to much but tonight but sat was 4x1k and then 4x1k which I have never done or 3x2x1k fast but with long jog inbetween or even 3k-2k-1k then 40mins sub 6min mile.
It is also nice having someone stand in the rain while you do a session incase I look tired to tell me to stop or to just call out the times and feel like someone is in your corner.
Maybe il write a bigger blog on the changes...lets just say my theory of harder was better has now changed to smarter means faster!
George!
Simx
Graham Posted on July 13th, 2010So what are the new sessions and different ideas that George is putting you through then?
Swansea Bay 5k
Simx, Hope you're running the Swansea Bay 5k tomorrow night, training has gone well the past few weeks and i'll be looking to take a few scalps :) lol
Ant69 Posted on July 12th, 2010Good luck oop north too mate !