LFR Awards – all the winners from the annual club celebration

6 June 2015  Last night LFR celebrated a year of achievement at our annual awards ceremony. Huge congratulations to all our winners!   Chairmans Award – Katy Garnham-Lee Captains Award – Chris Taylor Clubmans Award – Mark…

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Pre Race Excitement

So this is happening... Its early October, which to most people just means the start of a new month, but right now to me this means only one thing: Glencoe Mountain marathon. How does one enter such a race? That said I am not sure that’s even the correct question, more like why would someone enter such a race? Is 26.2 miles on a relatively flat and even surface not already challenging enough without throwing in big hills, rocky and often marshy terrain? Apparently not. At some point at the start of this year I must have thought that it was a great idea to enter a race like this. I must have been on the race organisers website and drooled over the mountain imagery and the route, without for a moment thinking of the training required or the sheer monumental madness of it. However, all of that was a very long time ago. I’ll wager that a lot of runners go through exactly the same process. Getting to payday, scouring the internet for a cool races, then BOOM! The deed is done, and some random race or other is booked, a small marker put on the kitchen calendar, to be forgotten about for some time to come. I even know of some that have turned up to support fellow runners at a race and forgotten that they themselves had the very same event booked in their own diary, such is the instant euphoria upon booking, preceding the process of forgetting all about it. But not me. I’ve been looking at this race like a deer caught in the headlights, fixed on the scale of it, and the running adjustments required just to get round it and constantly thinking when do I realistically have to start this? Eventually the training started early in the summer by ditching road running almost completely in favour of trails and trying to gradually factor in more and more hill work. This is about as good as you can get when you live in Bedfordshire, devoid as it is, of anything resembling a mountain. The saying goes ‘always take a knife to a knife fight’ and that applies to running a mountain marathon; always train on a mountain, for a mountain marathon! Well, that was certainly the plan. I’d put two mountain runs into the training plan, both in Wales, but both plans fell through, the first when I developed an achilles issue, probably as a result of the increased load of hill training, and the second when others had their own issues and the even was abandoned. The Achilles and calf muscles are paramount for getting up hills and an injury like this made me think twice about the requirements of the challenge. Then came the issues with lower back pains, a sad consequence of heel striking when running downhill with poor technique. Apparently this jars the back each time you land, which eventually takes its toll in the form of inflammation, pain, and temporary cessation from hill training. Some might cheer at this, understandably, but it was another obstacle to overcome. But all of that has now come to pass: The race booking euphoria, the much-interrupted training plan, the injuries. Now its here. Now is excitement-time again. That feeling when you are staring down the barrel of a race start and loving every second. Its the feeling that brings us back again and again to race. I drove through the Glencoe mountains to get here, and the breath-taking brutality of them was awe-inspiring. All I could think about was that come Sunday morning I’d be up there, somewhere, having the time of my life. The same applies to all races. We enter, we try our best to train, we overcome obstacles to get to the start line, and we all feel that buzz. This is what its about, the pre-race blood rush. Bring it on!  

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Pick me, me, me!!!

So back in August I entered a competition to be a 2016 MK Marathon Ambassador! The cut off date being the 4th Sept (placeholder in diary followed by numerous Facebook refreshes!). On the 4th, MK Marathon announces they’ve been inundated with wannabe ambassadors and the result will be out the following week………..cue numerous email and Facebook refreshes (along with chaser posts!)…..I just want to know! Then on the 15th September I got the email I had been waiting for – you are an MK AMBASSADOR! Since that day I’ve set the wheels in motion for my journey to the MK Marathon and I’m happy to say I’ve got some people joining me along the way. My hugely supportive family, my wonderful friends and my fantastic running club – all of which are helping me along the way! To my mummy friends Denise and Michelle, who are circuit training with me three times a week, my good friend Mt who joins me for regular runs (as we train for Dirt Half), my sister in law Clare who runs regularly with me………and truly inspires me (we’ve got Ampthill Trophy coming up), to everyone else that offers me support and encouragement by liking, sharing and commenting on my posts, and lastly my husband and son who, yet again, have to be patient with me whilst I train! The running side comes quite naturally to me, the blogging and vlogging not so, please bear with me whilst I get up to speed with what is good reading and what is just waaaaaay too much info (my lovely running friend Harriet will tell you I’m happy to over share, especially on long runs!). So……I’ve set up a YouTube channel for my vlogs (yup – YouTube!) and the first one is in the following link! http://youtu.be/kkosOnra-3c Thanks for reading folks!

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Learning Again

The great thing about running is that it you can never stop learning new stuff, like how to run downhill properly which is what I’ve had to learn recently. Sounds like something you don’t need a lesson in right? You just run, but…downhill. No. Apparently there’s a right way, and a way that is slower and could injure you. When it comes to running downhill, too much leaning backwards is the issue, which acts as a sort of brake. This natural tendency to lean backwards, is a normal reaction though, since it slows you and stops you from running out of control. Running downhill forces your foot to strike the ground more towards your heel. This by itself increases braking forces, and a backwards lean magnifies this effect. If, however, you do actually want to slow down, leaning backwards is the right choice. But since a downhill allows you a natural increase in running speed (since gravity is giving back all the energy you spent going up the hill), you generally want to take advantage of this. Ever wondered why you never seem to get the time back that you loose when running uphill? When you lean back, you throw your centre of gravity behind your body, requiring you to wait until your feet have passed it to start generating force again. Many runners apparently adopt this style of downhill running sub-consciously, it being a sort of mental brake first and physical brake second. Depending on how often you run on hills, this effect of hitting the ground with the heel, can cause injury through adopting poor running technique and also can lead to lower back pains through impact forces traveling up to the spine. So in summary, unless you actually need to slow the pace, there seems to be little to gain from having a brake on going downhill, but what is the ‘right’ way in that case? The perceived wisdom with running downhill is to lean forwards very much according to the gradient, and balance with your arms and avoid heel striking. This allows gravity to work for you and aids more natural running mechanics so its generally going to be faster. Naturally its important not to lean too far forward on downhills and as your speed increases, you’ll need to quicken your cadence to keep your feet underneath you. You’ll need to strike a balance between efficiently using the speed from the downhill and not running so fast that that you crash and burn. However like most things, this ‘balance’ of leaning forward and foot-stiking is something that you can learn and perfect, and is one of the things that keeps running interesting.

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Trail running for fitness

Trail Running and XC for Fitness. So with the start of the Cross Country (XC) season a matter of weeks away, thoughts turn to preparations for this. For many, the mere mention of XC brings back memories from school of running across a field on a damp November morning wishing to be anywhere else. All that is distant past now though and we’re better than that. Many will be familiar with the term “trail running” but perhaps less so with XC, so it can be explained like this: Trail running and XC are very closely linked, with XC being a shorter, race oriented variant of trail running. Both have a raft of benefits in terms of fitness compared to road, or treadmill based running. Additionally, you don’t need to run hundreds of miles of trails to reap the benefits of running off-road. Hitting the trail works your muscles, tendons and ligaments differently than running on the road or treadmill. And running trails that head up hill or down…you’re not only building your cardiovascular engine, but strengthening quads, glutes, calves, and core, too. You’re also improving your balance and proprioception (your body’s ability to know where it is in space) when trail running—a benefit that carries over into other sports including regular road running also. As with any training program, easing into trail running is important. If you’re just starting out, seek a smooth trail and work your way up to more “technical” (aka: tricky) terrain. Your muscles, joints and ligaments will gradually and safely become stronger than ever. This can translate into fewer running related injuries over time as you become stronger. Some of the advantages of trail/XC are: Core: Trails are not flat and even and contain rocks and roots, rabbit holes etc and as you pass over all these your core works overtime to keep you balanced and upright. That’s a workout you may not have even known you were getting. Quads: the sometimes-steep downhill sections of a trail run will strengthen your quads. Glutes: Both running up-hill and the lateral movement from negotiating the plethora of roots and stones will activate and strengthen the glutes. Calves: up-hill sections, even mild undulations will force your calves to work harder. Connective Tissue: Due to the nature of trail running, navigating obstacles and uneaven surfaces constantly, this has a strengthening affect on connective tissue around ankles and knees. This is good news for injury prevention. So in the next few weeks LFR will be taking part, as we always do, in the Three Counties XC league. A series of XC races than take place from October to January around the area neighbouring Leighton Buzzard. Not only is this usually a lot of fun, but as you can appreciate its also good for you! Training for XC is usually done on trails, and we (LFR) will be hosting some preparatory XC/Trail sessions ahead of the events to get you into it. Apart from working your entire body and getting you supremely fit over the course of October to January, you also add in a level of injury-resilience too! Just in time for the start of marathon training. So, ask yourself this….what’s not to like?

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Mind over matter

Yesterday was the Dunstable Downs Trail Challenge Marathon. Running 27.5 miles over local hilly trails gives you plenty of time to think. To be precise, four and a half hours of time to think. It was a tough course but like all events, as you move towards the latter stages, increasingly it becomes harder to drown out the voices in your mind telling you its difficult, that you need to walk a bit, that its too hot, that you should slow down. Why is that? Is this thinking normal and does it have any impact on actual performance? In the past, we assumed that muscle fatigue caused our bodies to grind to a halt after intense exertion. But a growing number now believe that our brains hold the key, and that endurance really could be mind over matter. Some scientists, however, believe that it’s a conscious mechanism, relying on an individual's rate of perceived exertion that controls when you have to stop, which explains why athletes can push themselves to exhaustion, rest and then do it again. Studies have shown that athletes using both cognitive and physical training have a huge rate of improvement – as much as 120%, compared to 40% from those who only worked on their physical training. That’s a huge difference and what its really telling us, when translated to the average mortal runner, is that you can do much better if you find a way to control the thoughts that tell you to stop and walk for a bit. The person behind some of Britain's best sporting achievements, Dr Steve Peters, believes our brain can be seen as three independent areas capable of working together. Our 'human' side is logical, our 'chimp' is emotional – vital to survival but responsible for anxiety, nervousness and impulsive decisions. Lastly there's our 'computer', responsible for programmed thoughts and learned behaviour. For athletes at the top of their game, learning to control their inner chimp is vital. Like the rest of the body, the brain can be trained especially in the run up to a big event or challenge. So what does that mean? We all know the voice that tells us to stop, the one that we try to make trade-offs with, such as “if I walk now, I’ll train harder tomorrow”, only now its got a name. The Chimp. The emotional, anxious response to a difficult situation is to panic and stop. The reasoned, considered retort is to remind yourself of all your training and experience and your fitness, and carry on. Hearing the voice of reason over the voice of anxiety is what helps us push through barriers and achieve what we set out to in any aspect of our lives so why should sport be any different? The next time you get to that part of a difficult training session, or race, try to stay focused on reminding yourself of your fitness levels, of all the training you’ve done, how well prepared you are and most of all that you don’t need to listen to the chimp. This is partially why many people advocate some sort of personal mantra, that can be rolled out, repeated ad-infinitum during tough parts of a race. People say ‘its all in the mind’ a lot, it’s a cliché in many ways, but if you’re at a stage where your PB’s have dried up, you’re at a physical plateau, you need to perhaps think about conditioning your brain as well as your body to make the break through.

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End of summer (part 2)

  Most people are probably thinking the same thing this week, so how did it get to September so quickly? Back to the school runs, back to work back to dark evening runs. Also after a summer of little activity a lot of runners will be hoping to ‘up’ their miles, get back on ‘it’ or ‘smash’ their training or whatever the current popular term is to describe a return to pre-vacation levels of fitness. However there’s the issue…launching back into something after a period of relative inactivity needs to be handled carefully. I’ll bet there’s a fresh spate of injuries that appear in any running club around mid-October timeframe as a result. Some injuries can heal quickly, others less so. You will often hear runners talking about tired muscles and so on…ever hear anyone talk about connective tissues, unless of course they are sulking on the injury bench. Most runners don't think about connective tissue until it hurts. We have a general awareness that our bodies contain structures like bones and ligaments to prevent us from collapsing into blobs, but that's it. Then we get our first dose of Achilles Tendinitis or Plantar Fasciitis or IT band syndrome….or until we sprain an ankle, tear cartilage in our knee or suffer a stress fracture. Then we become experts. We visit Sports injury clinics, Physiotherapists, Podiatrists, learn about the particular connective tissue we've injured, begin a lengthy course of therapy. It’s not cheap either. There is also a nasty truth: Once connective tissue damage is done, it's difficult to undo. Anyone with an IT band problem, will tell you how long it takes, even in mild cases, to recover. Connective tissue is a catchall phrase for tissues that take many forms, from the areolar tissue, which binds skin to muscle, to the bones that comprise your skeleton. Connective tissues most associated with running include tendons, ligaments, cartilage and fascia. Most connective tissues adapt to training, but there's a catch: They adapt at a much slower rate than muscle. When you allow your muscle development to outpace connective tissue adaptation, the result can be injury. Runners begin training (again) and their lung function and muscles improve rapidly. They become encouraged, they increase the intensity and length of their sessions through equal parts ignorance and impatience. The euphoria of improvement and the desire to be back ‘in the game’ leads them to ignore sensible training patterns. The next thing they know, they've got Achilles tendinosis, tibial tendinitis or stress fractures in their feet. Their connective tissue couldn't cope with the increased workload, even though their muscles seemed fine. Some connective tissues won't ever improve much with training. For these tissues, such as cartilage and ligaments, your emphasis needs to be on injury prevention. You must strengthen muscles that directly affect the tissues and use stretching and massage to reduce tissue tension. Most of all, training connective tissue requires patience. Get-fit-quick schemes rarely produce fast fitness; they produce injury. So before launching back into training this September, try to think about allowing your body time to get back into ‘it’. Think about goals but also about how to reach them sensibly, injury free, and come December when everyone is thinking about their 2016 training goals…you’ll have one up if you’ve trained injury free through Autumn.

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End of summer (part 1)

Apart from the theory about when summer is supposed to end, anyone thinking that it may actually still be here would be, sadly, very wrong. A brief single-day last hurrah last weekend and it was gone. Anyone out running yesterday will testify to the dismal autumnal conditions. But that’s not so bad, what it does though is serve as a reminder that the autumn racing season is nearly upon us and that as most of us have probably been gorging on too many holiday beers and BBQ chicken wings, perhaps now is the time to think about those races we booked all those months ago….Whilst training plans give us the physical conditioning to be able to take part on the day, there are plenty of other ways in which we can help ourselves, whatever the race distance. Some that I’ve found useful I include here. Time: Allow enough time to train. Rushing the training just leads to disappointment, through injury or failure to meet your expected time on the day – if the training has really gone out of the window and you still want a great time, perhaps consider a different race and defer? Consistency: Life always gets in the way of running, but choosing specific days to run on will get you in to a regime and force you to be consistent. Get back into the swing of it, and schedule runs again. If you know every Tuesday you have a club run, you will do it. Same goes for the other runs, schedule them all, and work life around them where possible not the other way around. Comfort zone: The truth is that you can’t improve without going outside of your comfort zone, but that shouldn’t actually mean pain. Hill work, speed work, tempos are all designed to do just that – take you outside your comfort zone temporarily. Know the difference between pain and discomfort. Variety: Be prepared to change things about from time to time. Boredom is what kills a lot of training plans (as well as summer holidays) You simply loose the plot half way and this happens to lots of runners. Try to throw in cross training, a swimming session for example or a biking session, or try moving all your runs about in the diary for a week, to mix things up, or if you normally run on the road, try a trail. This will trick the brain into thinking its not so repetitive. Group runs can be good here also, but not too many as you then become too reliant on them. Nutrition: There are basically two types of people here. Those that run so they can eat what they want, and those that eat healthily to aid their running. Depends on how serious you are about your goals, but its never too late to cut down on a few bad things in the build up to a race, but don’t go mad. You don’t want to change your entire diet and bring on GI distress. No, you don’t want that. Pacing: Practice running at your actual race-pace. So many runners have a “I’ll just see how I get on” view of the world, which is ok in fact. Fine for them, but if you are serious about smashing it, then this is a very useful tool – you already know the time you want, so use this pace and try running it. How far did you get? Not as far as you wanted eh? Try again next week. Further? Ok so you see how this can be a good tool to getting you the pb you want. Rest: I will bet that most runners have been in a position where they thought, shall I run today or rest, I missed that important session, so I need to catch up. Remember, rest is really, really important too. Always ask yourself this: if I run, what do I gain? If I rest what do I gain? if you know your workout will be compromised because you are ill, tired, fatigued from a big session, then rest. Its that simple. Race day: Never ever break the rules here. Only eat what you’ve eaten before, only wear what you’ve worn before, don’t do anything new. Ever. Eat a good breakfast and try not to think too much about the race. Enjoy.

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Group runs

Group Running and training   Who doesn’t like a good group social run? That’s right. No-one. Group runs are a fantastic way to turn your weekend run into something a bit more pleasurable, especially if the runs are longer and you need to get some miles in. The runs are typically slower than normal runs of the same distance as you stop more frequently, make loop backs and generally regroup for chit-chat and banter. In some cases, like this weekend, you schedule bacon sarnie pit-stops along the way to add another dimension to the experience. You can also be more creative, planning different routes that others may appreciate, that ordinarily you wouldn’t bring yourself to do. The flip-side also works when joining a group run organized by someone else in that you could end up following a route you don’t know, or visiting places that you don’t really know. Because the average social run tends to be slower, you can also factor in a few extra miles which is good if you are wanting to extend your long run, and the extra time all counts as time on your feet.   So all in all there’s not much to dislike about group social runs. They can help you get through long winter marathon training miles and you get to meet some great people.   But is there possibly a catch? Is it really all good news? Well consider that most training plans don’t normally contain a section called “social run” and there’s a good reason. Because the runs tend to have a slower overall moving pace and combine that with the regular banter breaks and the overall training benefit is reduced, even if you enjoy it.   So the thing to bear in mind with social runs is that on one hand they can help extend your long runs and add time on your feet, they don’t really do much more than this for race preparation. This is all academic of course if you are not training for a race, but what is a great way to plan for your races is to schedule in to your plan some strategically placed group runs at key points in the training plan. For example at the end of some hard training weeks, rather than trying to run long miles at your normal pace, a social run can be a great way to ensure that you keep the pace down whilst still getting in the miles. This will take some stress off your body and help with overall conditioning. In general there are guidelines for extending weekly mileage, extending the length of the long run and doing intensive workouts during the same week – in other words – don’t do it. However the group run adds another lower-risk way of still hitting the miles and taking a bit of pressure off.   A training plan that comprises of nothing but social runs will ultimately not help you achieve your goals. Some of the long runs need to be at a certain pace and you need the conditioning from the tempo runs and finally also you will ultimately need to get used to the breathing and overcome the discomfort associated with your race-pace, else on the day you will not be prepared.   Group runs are great, but if you are serious about training for a race, you should perhaps consider using them sparingly, at strategic points in your training plan and get maximum enjoyment from them as a key part of your plan. That said, what a great way to spend a weekend morning or evening! So why not plan one yourself or join one of the many LFR group runs that take place throughout the year. You wont be disappointed.

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Podiatry

Some of you may know that at LFR we now run periodic podiatry sessions from the clubhouse on a club night. The aim of such sessions is primarily about raising awareness of running gait and the biomechanics of running and how this can impact you. With the plethora of running shoes available today, and the constant sales that seem to exist on the internet, its sometimes tempting to pick up any pair of shoes on the internet, because they are cheap, or because the colour or style suits us and try them out. What can go wrong? They were cheap, so I couldn’t resist! The truth is that all of us have very individual biomechanics and running styles and this places particular needs on the type of running shoes appropriate for us. The right running shoes for us, may not be those appropriate for someone else and this is what the podiatry sessions tries to uncover. There’s no single 'best shoe' – everyone has different needs. All sorts of things - your back, hips, knees, ankles and feet all play a part as does your weight, the surfaces you run on, and the shape of your feet. Obviously then, one person's ideal shoe can be terrible for another person. Running shoes are typically categorized in the following ways: Stability: Recommended for runners who are mild to moderate over-pronators and who generally have low arches. In laymen’s terms this means people with ‘flat feet’ . The stability is there essentially to control the foot as it hits the ground and stop it from rolling over as you then progress through the running movement. Do you need stability shoes? Well typically if you do mildly over-pronate and you only run very low mileage, then this could be a personal choice, but as mileage starts to increase you might typically expect blistering, sores and aches and niggles as you run more. Stability (sometimes known as motion control) shoes can help with that. Performance/minimalist: Recommended either for racing or, if you’re biomechanically efficient, for training. They have varying degrees of support and cushioning, but often feel close to the ground and they’re generally lighter and narrower than other running shoes. What does biomechanically efficient even mean then? Well this is how runners who have a running gait where the back, legs and feet are all as close to perfectly aligned as possible for the job of running and the running gait requires no alteration or support. This is really only a minority, the vast majority of runners are not biomechanically efficient. Neutral: Typically for runners who want maximum midsole cushioning and minimum support. So essentially you need to cushion the blow as the foot hits the ground, but don’t need to control the rolling of the foot with support in the shoe. Again its about how biomechanically efficient you are. Some shoes are now even taking the amount of cushioning to another level, such as the Hoka one, with some describing them as like running on air. The amount of cushioning will always be personal preference but the key is to pick a pair that doesn’t negatively impact your running gait. In other words your shoes could in theory change the way you run, and this may not be a good thing, depending on your needs.   The best bet is to have your running gait analysed in a running store where the best shoes can be advised for you. However bear in mind that what is often overlooked is how far and how often you run and if you race, regularly. For example if you normally require support shoes it may be ok to occasionally run in performance shoes or minimalist shoes for short races, but again, the right analysis can tell you if that’s something that’s applicable or not. The bottom line is that people run for a variety of reasons, but no-one likes getting injured. Without the right shoes, at some point you risk injury and side-lining yourself. Maybe not immediately but at some point, so the right choice of shoes becomes a question of ‘do I want to keep running’ ? if so, get the right shoes.   So this is what the podiatry sessions are about, if you’re interested why not come along to the next one!

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