Build-Up

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic I had only raced twice in 2020, so like most athletes going into the race it was hard to gauge a sense of specific fitness.

I had planned to do the Antrim Coast Half Marathon a few weeks out from London, but I was unable to do so due to the Isle of Man’s regulations which require people to isolate for 14 days upon arrival back to the Island. This would have been a perfect opportunity to run a fast half and get the legs moving a bit quicker, but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be.

There was about 8-10 weeks of solid marathon training, with weekly mileage reaching 120 miles, and sessions accumulating to 24 miles in volume. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a few setbacks in my buildup, but on the whole, training went well and I felt ready and eager to toe the line in London.

The ‘Bubble’

Once I landed at London City Airport I was picked up and taken to the London Marathon hotel, situated in a TOP SECRET location!

What should have been a 30 minute drive turned into 2 hours thanks to the infamous London rush hour. Once we finally arrived at the hotel I was instructed to go for a COVID test, and was then informed on the protocol regarding the following few days ahead.

All athletes, event staff and security had to wear face masks and a ‘Bump’ device at all times, bar a couple of exceptions. The only times we were able to be free of the mask and the ‘Bump’ was when we were in our own room, running, and eating meals in the dinning area – however we still had to maintain a 2 meter distance.

All athletes had access to the grounds around the hotel to use for walking or running, however it seemed like the whole time we were at the hotel it was torrential rain and strong winds – so these runs were not pleasant.

The big day itself 

The race itself was held on a 2.15km loop around St. James’ Park, and finished in the same iconic location as the traditional London Marathon – along The Mall.

As forecasted, the weather was appalling with persistent wind, rain and cold temperates, reaching a maximum of 9 degrees – lovely. I naively thought these conditions would be conducive to running fast times, but as time would tell I was very wrong.

The race had three/four paced groups with the slowest being the Olympic qualifying group (2:11:30) paced by Matt Clowes and Mo Farah. I decided not to go with this group but to run my own paced race with Jack Gray at around 2:13/2:14 tempo. I thought going off at this pace was sensible and if we felt good there was scope to pick the pace up in the latter stages. 

Ollie and Jack Gray stick to their own pace early on, agonisingly close to the assistance of the the pace group. Photo: Jon Super for Virgin Money London Marathon

Overcoming adversity mid race

Once the gun went off, we got into our running and it was very comfortable and we dialled into the pace. However, once we hit the 8-mile mark I felt a sharp pain in my hamstring, as though someone had shot me with a paint ball. Rarely having issues during a race this took me by surprise.

Trying to ignore the pain and push through it I pushed on, but it was to only get worse.

At 20-miles still on for the 2:14 pace, my body was having none of it. I began to slow dramatically, finishing in a time of 2:19:40. As soon I finished, all I wanted to do was to get warm, but once I’d stopped running, I found that I could barely walk without the aid of someone helping me.

I got to the tent and couldn’t even bend down to take my shoes off due to the pain in my hamstring. However, concerns quickly turned to the fear of missing my flight due to the tight turn around (and the fact that I was now operating on one leg). Luckily I hopped to it and did make the flight with a bit of wiggle room to spare.

Reflecting on a big experience

After some ruminating, I feel somewhat disappointed with my result – particularly because the time does not reflect how training went.

Regardless of this, it was tough out there! Stepping back a little, as an outsider looking in, I take pride in knowing that I did everything I could to give myself the best chance of performing on the day. Unfortunately there are some things we simply cannot control – in this instance: the weather and how my body held up in the conditions.

I can however take a lot from this, and learn from my weaknesses. It wasn’t all doom and gloom either – there were many positives to running through the pain, and ultimately finishing the race, including achievement of a Commonwealth Games standard and breaking an Island-Record, which has stood since 1974! 

Yes, the time wasn’t what I wanted, but with lessons learnt, and more experiences to benefit from, I know the time will come. This race has given me a good opportunity to set my sights very clearly for Birmingham 2022, and beyond. 

Want to run faster? For just £30 per month athletes are provided with a Final Surge plan for each day of the week, coaching advice from Robbie Britton and Tom Craggs, as well as access to the unique Fast Running Performance community.

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Whilst Eluid Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele’s assault on the world record was being billed as a battle for the ages, it was potentially leading us away from the greater race.

A World Record holder, Brigid Kosgei, versus a World Champion, Ruth Chepngetich. 2:14:04 against 2:17:08, both times from last year. Both with a point to prove to Kenyan Athletics that they should be on the Tokyo Olympic team and the looped course and fast pacemakers mean it could be electric from the start.

Add in 22 year old Alemu Megertu, who has a 66:43 half marathon and isn’t afraid to go with the front runners.

At the other end of the spectrum you have Edith Chelimo debuting at the marathon at 34, with a 65:58 PB, and Vivian Cheruiyot, 37 years old and with a 2:18:31 PB and not someone you can count out.

Only a little bit of training

Kosgei has downplayed the prospects of a world record a little though. “Due to this pandemic, I cannot say I’ll run this way or that way, because coronavirus means we did not do enough training, like last year. So I want to try my best only on Sunday.”

But the Kenyan star has previously said she feels her record could be lowered to around 2:10, so maybe “just 180, 190km a week” at 3000m of altitude will be enough?

Despite disqualification in the Hour race with Siffan Hassan, Kosgei still showed some of the raw speed that makes her so exciting as a marathoner.

Will Sinead Diver lead from the front again? Photo: Ian Walton for Virgin Money London Marathon

Will the laps play a part?

Aside from the front runners there is also a wonderful mix of PB hunting women to watch. We’re hoping a good bunch work together with the high quality pacers, like Aly Dixon and Eilish McColgan (called in last minute to replace an injured Arter), to really put themselves in contention in the second half.

The lapped course and potentially tough weather conditions could also make for interesting racing. The psychological aspect of lapped races means that one has to ignore the faster athletes lapping you, even though it will affect your perception of your own effort levels and pace.

It can work both way though, so if there are struggling athletes you can lap, then it will make your own effort seem that much easier. Perception of effort may be a key element if the wind and rain pick up on Sunday.

The sub 2:30 race

With Steph Twell starting 2020 with a half marathon PB in Houston, Texas, there was high hopes the year would bring an improvement to her already excellent mark of 2:26:40 set in Frankfurt last year. With a third place 33:38 in a 10k in Switzerland just last weekend, we might see a tactical race from the Brit with the fastest PB in the event.

“It’s my first female-only race, and a British championships too, which is really important to me. This is an opportunity for me to grow again. The time will count too.” was what Twell said at the press conference, which might be an insight into race tactics.

Lily Partridge, Tracy Barlow, Natasha Cockram, Tish Jones, Helen Davies and Naomi Mitchell will all be looking for new personal bests and pushing for that Olympic qualifying time of 2:29:30.

Which shoes will be best for race day? Ben Connor is clearly winning the cool 80’s jacket war. Photo: Dan Vernon for London Marathon Events

There are other men in the race too

Even though Bekele has withdrawn it doesn’t mean it’s just a jog in the park for Kipchoge to win. 2:02:55 man Mosinet Geremew is still looking for his first major marathon win and the 28 year old won’t be afraid of going with the early pace.

That still leaves another five, yes FIVE, men who has PBed under 2:05. Seven runners in total have the pace to run a marathon in 125 minutes.

Marius Kipserum is the only other Kenyan, with the four other athletes all heralding from Ethiopia. Maybe they feel the need to pick up the baton for their fallen compatriot Bekele and we will see something special? Shura Kitata brings a sub 60 min half PB from January 2020, but who knows how the COVID summer training has gone for any of these stars?

Sisay Lemma is one of the only front runners to have notched a podium marathon finish in 2020, with a third placed 2:04:51 at Tokyo Marathon earlier in the year. Will that experience help or hinder the 29 year old?

Frank Futselaar (NED) (skinny blue jeans), Ross Millington (Snazzy jacket), Charlie Hulson (favourite colour blue?), and Jonny Mellor (far right) prepare for some shared miles on Sunday.  Photo: Dan Vernon for London Marathon Events

All aboard the 2:10 train

For the men’s race it looks like there could be a decent amount gunning for the 2:10 mark, with British stars like Chris Thompson, Jonny Mellor and Ben Connor all featuring.

“I’ve always thought I was capable of running two zero-something,” said the NB Manchester athlete before the event. “If I can come away with another qualifying time, that’s goal number one. But if I can get under 2:10 then I’d be delighted.”

In a group paced by Sir Mo Farah, Matt Clowes and Jake Smith, could we see some more British or Irish runners make a big leap in 2020.

One to watch for us, after an excellent performance just behind Sir Mo at the Larne Coastal Half, is Stephen Scullion. The prodigious talent never ceases to amaze with his performances and we certainly wouldn’t bet against something special from the Northern Irishman this weekend.

Exciting debutants to the distance include Fast10’s Jack Gray, who is known for aggressive front running at the shorter distances. With such an opportunity to be within a big group, paced by experienced marathoners, don’t be surprised to see Gray, and others, rolling the dice for the big times.

Another Fast10 athlete, Ollie Lockley, is a man who has flown under the radar a little in the pre race coverage but his half marathon PB is one many of the other men on the start line would love to have achieved and we know he will get amongst it.

For a detailed preview of the course before the Sunday action, check out Dan Biagi’s analysis.

Want to run faster? For just £30 per month athletes are provided with a Final Surge plan for each day of the week, coaching advice from Robbie Britton and Tom Craggs, as well as access to the unique Fast Running Performance community.

If you would like more information on joining the project, click here. 

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For many white people, the cruel and unnecessary murder of George Floyd by an American police officer in Minneapolis, has been an uncomfortable reminder that the pandemic of racism continues to infect and pollute our society.

But what is racism? Racism is like a virus, and some of us may not realise we are infected. Racism is one of the most complicated theoretical concepts to define, understand and explain due to its constantly changing nature.

In general, understandings of racism have historically centred around notions that races can be separated by biological differences. However, it would be wrong to misunderstand racism as one absolute concept. Instead, racism is discursive, with diverse origins and multiple manifestations interwoven with other aspects of our identity and tailored to suit the motives of persecutors.

Regardless of how you understand racism, the ultimate goal of its poisonous ideology is to facilitate the dominance of those who are racially or ethnically different; the ‘others’.

Within sport

Some of the racism that we see in sport today can be traced back to the repulsive past of the eugenic sciences, which have been used to justify the subjugation and murder of so called ‘inferior peoples’.
One of the most prevalent theories to emerge from eugenics, was that physical strength (‘brawn’) was inversely related to intelligence (‘brain’).

Put simply, the bigger and stronger you are, the less intelligent you are likely to be. In the early 20th century, black men in particular, were often constructed as purely ‘physical specimens’ who were devoid of ‘character’ and needed ‘management’ by their ‘white superiors’.

Covert racism?

The murder of George Floyd was a horrific example of overt racism. As the description suggests, overt racism is public and visible and ranges from callous racial slurs, to the enactment of physical violence based on nothing more than the colour of a person’s skin.

Racism is still prominent in the world of sport, and I implore you to watch this powerful interview from the BBC with Welsh sprinter Sam Gordon on his experiences; however, in this article, I focus on the notion of covert racism.

Covert racism is a form of racial discrimination that is apparently disguised and subtle and can even be expressed in a so-called ‘positive’ way. So, let’s stop, and think; what traits and descriptions come to mind when we think about, for example, black long-distance runners?

Naturally talented? Effortless? Unnatural? Endurance “beasts” or “monsters”? “the Africans”?

I’m sure you will have heard and even said some of the words listed above, I know I have. That’s the thing about covert racism, it takes racial biases and hides and even rationalises them within an explanation that society is willing to accept.

Born to run

Indeed, the hugely damaging notion that black people are “born to run” and excel in sports that require power or endurance, is routed in eugenics and closely shadowed by a notion that black people were not born to think. This is evidenced by the ‘stacking’ of athletes in certain sports or positions based on racial stereotypes.

From the marketing materials of sportswear giants to the conversations in clubhouses up and down the UK, East African endurance athletes in particular, are depicted as possessing a naturalised aura of invincibility; a dominance cast as a cultural symbol of their region, rather than hard work, skill, intelligence, collectivism or their approach to training.

How often do we see black athletes described as being ‘enabled’ by racialised descriptions of natural and thus effortless athleticism? Adverts are regularly constructed to show elite East African athletes entwined in vegetation and alongside murals of animals in their “natural environment”. These representations evoke notions of the fictional ‘jungle’ that has been constructed by colonial powers to “represent the savage, untamed and wild”.

The animalization of black people has a long history, which is ultimately rooted in slavery. Here, to justify slavery, black bodies needed to be dehumanised, for if a man or woman is inferior or ‘sub-human’, it becomes morally justifiable to treat them as objects.

Endurance dominance

Now, it would be wrong to ignore the dominance of endurance running by athletes from East African nations, but the domination of individual sports by countries or regions is not unique and nor is it new. The presumed causes of such domination are often recycled, out of date, and based on misinformation and myths.

Genetic inheritance is commonly stated as an “obvious” cause of East African dominance in distance running, just as it was used to explain how Scandinavian distance runners dominated the sport in the first half of the 20th century. Here, the Scandinavian (and particularly Finish) environment of lakes, forests and mountains was wrongly seen to give their athletes a ‘natural’ advantage.

Not the only people born at altitude

Today, being born and living at altitude is often reductively touted as the recipe for East African success. This is despite the differences in athletic performance observed between areas of similar altitude. For example, why don’t we see more Nepalese, Mexican and Tibetan endurance superstars?

Although living and training at altitude results in a variety of physiological adaptations, the exact nature and relative importance of these adaptations to the success of athletes from altitude are yet to be concretely evidenced. They should not be treated in isolation from social and cultural factors.

Out of our control?

Accusations of doping aside, sports scientists, coaches and runners who dedicate their time to improving athletic performance, seem to be all too ready to accept that the modern-day dominance of East African distance runners, is due to factors that are out of their control.

In doing so, East African runners are too often cast as unnatural ‘others’. This expresses a connection between race and ability, and suggests that talent is innate rather than earned. Is it so hard to believe that many East African nations have not only made distance running one of their national sporting priorities, but that their athletes simply train smarter and work harder than everyone else? Defending East African distance runners is not a popular position in the British running community, but I ask, should we not switch our default position from suspicion and stereotype to admiration and appreciation?

The forms of covert racism discussed in this article are endemic and normalised within our language, but they ultimately infer a belief that you can understand someone based on what you ‘know’ about their race.

So, it pays to remember that even if you think the way you understand a black athlete is ‘positive’, if you express a connection between race and ability, you are mirroring the ideologies that justify oppression and dominance.

Said, Edward W. (2000). “Jungle Calling”.

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The post The “Africans”: covert racism in long distance running appeared first on Fast Running.

The humble tempo run (or lactate threshold run) has featured prominently in the training plans of some of Britain’s greatest distance runners. However, despite ringing endorsements from some esteemed athletes, the tempo run is often neglected, misunderstood or mislabelled.

In light of this, a good place to start is defining what we mean by a tempo run. Taking the definition of renowned exercise physiologist Jack Daniels, I consider a tempo run to be:

• A training run of at least 20 minutes volume ran at a consistent pace;
• Approximately 25 to 30 seconds per mile slower than your current 5K race pace; and,
• Bloody hard – approximately 6-7 out of 10 for your rate of perceived exertion (RPE).

So, if your 5k PB is 16:00 minutes (5:09ish pace), your tempo pace is roughly between 5:35 and 5:40 pace per mile.
Why should you run a tempo?

Physiologically speaking, the point of the humble tempo run is to lift the ceiling of your lactate threshold. Put simply, your lactate threshold is the point during exercise when lactate builds up in your muscles and blood faster than it can be removed. When you venture above your lactate threshold, you can expect your discomfort to rise rapidly! Sound familiar?

Finding your tempo

So how do you find your tempo, and what should you avoid doing?

• Don’t just rock up: you should prepare for a tempo run as you would do for any other hard interval session; meaning: a warmup, strides, drills and activation exercises. Don’t take the approach of ‘easing into it’, start on pace, finish on pace and achieve your goals. Furthermore, if you’re putting your body through a significant slog of ‘comfortably hard running’, you want to ensure your core and glutes are firing nicely.

• Don’t run in no man’s (or woman’s) land: the zone between your steady running pace and your tempo pace is, in my opinion, a dead zone. Here, you’re not running hard enough to develop the physiological adaptions you seek, but are breaking your body down more than you would during a steady run. Think of it this way, it’s dangerous driving at 45mph in a 30mph or 60mph zone, so keep it legal.

• Don’t label a bad race as a tempo run: the aim of the tempo run is to be consistent. Therefore, calling a race where you set off too quickly and hit the wall ‘a tempo’, isn’t doing you any favours. If you’re not up for the race, don’t toe the line.

 

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Today I got my first taste of marathon training sessions … As many of you will know my aim is to compete in the marathon at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022. So, with 2 years to go, I thought it was about time I started doing some proper marathon sessions. Today I started with 8 miles, 4 miles, 4 miles at 5:05 pace off 2.5 minutes recovery. It was a long old slog, but I’m chuffed that I managed to pull it off My training has progressed nicely since coming back from injury, and even though there is no tangible race to aim for, my hunger and desire are strong. But for now, I’m just looking forward to more in the garden cheers! #metricmarathon #marathon #26.2 #marathonsesh marathoncontinues #marathonprep #Runnershigh #berlinbound #hokaoneone #hoka #timetofly #trainhard #resteasy #ukrunchat #runasone

A post shared by Jack Gray (@raverunner93) on Apr 25, 2020 at 2:18pm PDT

When and where to do your tempos?

In my opinion, you need a traffic-free route devoid of any potential ‘interruptions’ to successfully complete a tempo run. I choose to complete my tempo runs on grass circuits of between 1km and 1mile. Grass circuits work best for me. They reduce the impact on my legs and provide feedback through features on the loop. For examaple I know my watch should read approximately 2 minutes when I pass the ‘mouldy bench’, or 2 minutes 30 when I pass the ‘flower bed’.

Please note, if your tempo loop includes hills or rough ground, or the weather is awful, this will inevitably slow you down; this is where the importance of judging your effort e.g. 6-7 out of 10 is important.

Due to time-constraints during the week, I choose to do my tempo runs on Saturdays; this gives me the time to prepare properly. I particularly value my leisurely Saturday morning coffees. I like having the time to indulge myself doing drills and activation exercises before I get going.

Personally I love the grind of tempo runs, and the ability to lose myself in the zone. Even the attrition is alluring, as I deliriously think to myself “was that 11 or 12 laps?”. This weekend, I did a 10 mile tempo (30 mins, 3 mins jog, 20 mins), keeping my splits on my 3 minute loops within 2-3 seconds of each other.

Getting it done

If you’re just getting started, here are a few tempo session ideas:

• 3 x 10 minutes (off 2 minutes recovery). Run this session at the faster end of your tempo range;
• 15 minutes (3 minutes recovery) 10 minutes. Run 15mins at the slower end and 10mins at the quicker end of your tempo range;
• 20 minutes straight through. Run this session at the slower end of your tempo range.

Tempo sessions often feel good at the start, but the fatigue really creeps up on you. For that reason, they are perfect preparation for those races that gradually grind you down, like the 10k, half-marathon and marathon.

I firmly believe that introducing a hard tempo run into my weekly training programme has given me the requisite physiological adaptions and mental fortitude to take my running to the next level.

What’s the take home message? I implore you to respect and understand the tempo, not to fear or neglect it. So, this week, as part of your lockdown learning, calculate your tempo pace. Prepare properly before you set out for your tempo. Race up and get ready to make your distance running foundations rock solid.

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The post Pushing the tempo appeared first on Fast Running.

In addition to promoting the collaborative administration of training programmes, coaches should also encourage athletes to engage with their programmes at the micro-scale i.e. through understanding the purpose of their daily sessions. 

Personal experience has shown me that training plans devoid of variation, and input from the athletes that perform them, can struggle to achieve buy-in in the long-term.

To explain, if an athlete’s training is controlled by a coach in an overly regimented pattern, and the reasoning behind training sessions isn’t explained, the act of training can become a process of “getting it done”. To avoid this philosophy taking hold, coaches could provide a basic description of the physiological purpose of each session, and how this relates to the broader programme.

These descriptions can be short and simple, and should be adapted to an athlete’s level of understanding, such as: 

“Thursday’s tempo session is designed to increase your lactate threshold. The purpose of this session is to delay the build-up of lactic acid in your legs, and give you the strength to keep pushing towards the end of a race; this will complement the largely anaerobic 3k pace speed work we’re doing on Tuesday.”

Not just about “smashing out the session”

Unfortunately, the “getting it done” mentality has become associated with being a ‘hard man or woman’ and is often lorded (on certain social media sites) as being the bedrock of the golden years of British endurance running.

Although it was acceptable in the 80s, from a coaching perspective, I believe this philosophy can neglect the need to engage the mind as well as the body of the athlete.  For example, in a 10 x 400m session, what should the athlete primarily be thinking about?

1. Getting to the last rep, and completing the 4km of volume; or,
2. Running the session to work on their speed endurance and thinking of that key 3000m race?

Whilst we inevitably look forward to finishing a gruelling session, having the latter mindset (or being reminded of it), I believe, is more conducive to an athlete being able to challenge their perceived limits and capabilities. 

To achieve this level of engagement, the onus is also on athletes to actively engage with their training programmes and make the effort to understand the importance of each training element.

Indeed, we live in a time where we demand results immediately, but the foundations of success are built on more than miles in the legs. You, as an athlete, may be willing to spend 10 hours a week pounding the streets, but how many of you spend half an hour thinking about why you are doing it?

Simply put, the more aware the athlete is of their body and their true limits, the more likely they are to fulfil their potential.

Reshaping the Recipe 

As the cliché goes, variety is the spice of life. However, simply rotating sessions predictably is perhaps not ambitious enough; instead, I advocate for smarter training plans that actively aim to destabilise the disciplinary impacts of training, and the quagmires of motivations they can induce.

The first step should be to reduce the monotony of training, both in terms of locality and the form of the session; this is something I need to work on myself [Although that might be a struggle at the moment – Ed.]

Below I have included a few practical examples, some observed at running clubs in the UK, that could be used to keep runners on their toes:

1. Sessions ‘a la carte’: provide athletes with a menu of sessions when they arrive at training. This will keep athletes on their toes, and reduce the time they spend agonising over splits. Athletes will also be keen to prove their choice was right, after all, nobody likes to be proven wrong.
2. Reinvigorate time itself: no, this is not a flyer from the latest yoga craze, but a move toward changing how time is used in sessions. For example, rather than prescribing 4 x 1km, a coach could ask their athletes to run as many metres as they can over 2:50, 56, 41 and 57 (or an average of whatever their usual KM splits would be). This approach could help to break the often limiting combination of time and distance and encourage athletes to develop a better understanding of their own fatigue.

We just thought a picture of Jack winning a race would be nice at this point in the article. Look how happy he is! Photo: Stephen Lee

Inevitably the introduction of new practices, such as running odd distances, has the potential to cause controversy, and, of course, they can become normalised too.

Therefore, in order to curb the rigidity and stagnancy of repetitive regulation, coaches could look to continually make small modifications to keep athletes alert and challenged. The movement towards unconventional uses of time and distances will also require monitoring from coaches, both to ensure athletes are not overdoing it, or finding the changes too stressful.

In addition to the benefits outlined above, learning to train dynamically has the potential to change the athlete’s perception of fatigue. Here, a movement away from training sessions that are dictated by markers of time and distance could enable the athlete’s experience of fatigue to become more sensual i.e. the athlete should begin to ‘feel’ when they are approaching exhaustion, rather than being intimidated by hitting a mile marker at a certain pace.

Conclusion

This article does not provide a recipe for a successful coach-athlete dynamic, for which there is none; instead, it advocates for the development of thinking athletes.

Central to developing thinking athletes is moving beyond an understanding of the athlete as a machine that can be controlled by a mathematical formula. To achieve this, I have suggested that coaches avoid using training plans as procedures to simply control and regulate the development of their athletes, and implored athletes to actively engage with their training plans to understand the importance of each training element.

So, I’m asking you to be an active athlete, who is continually learning how to break your constantly expanding barriers, rather than one who is working within their perceived limits. 

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In this article I build on the concept of athletic docility that I explored in my previous Fast 10 article, and advocate that coaches encourage athletes to take ownership of their running.

Specifically, I consider how the way we train, the way we understand training, and the way training programmes are administered, can either limit or enhance the fulfilment of our potential. 

At the outset of this article, I should state that the concepts of athlete engagement and ‘coaching mentality’ are highly complex and layered phenomenon, which cannot be fully explored in a magazine article.

Moreover, I also understand that the classic volunteer-led coach-athlete relationship, which keeps grass-roots British athletics alive, is usually a highly time-constrained environment; however, I would say that there should always be time for flexibility and compromise. 

Finally, to keep this article concise, my commentary centres on athletes who already have an understanding of the need for different components of a training programme, roughly when to apply them and, in turn, how they respond to said practices i.e. they are an experienced athlete who races regularly. 

Completing the programme: control or collaboration?

In a previous FR article, Coaching the individual, Tom Craggs explored how training should be individualised to an athlete’s body, motivation, lifestyle, and, crucially, how they physiologically respond to training practices.

Indeed, we know training programmes should consider the FITT (Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type) and SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant/Realistic and Time-bound) principles, but how often do we think about how programmes should be administered, and the coach-athlete power relations behind them?

The temptation for many coaches, and especially those who coach at a distance, is to enforce strict control measures to prevent disruption to the programme.

However, such control measures have the potential to bind an athlete’s perceived degree of success too closely to their compliance with a training programme, often to the detriment of the athlete’s enjoyment and development. 

Bound to the king

The classic example of ‘the programme is king’ type attitude, can be found in abundance at Britain’s Universities.

Here club coaches, maybe wary that their talented athletes might be led astray by their newfound freedom or the ‘atmosphere’ that surrounds university coaches, often impress the importance of following their programme to an even greater degree; after all, “it’s how we got to where we are”. 

The ensuing rigidity and repetitiveness associated with a highly centralised form of coach-led control that is intended to ensure compliance (and thereby results), ironically has the potential to produce demotivated, disaffected and at worst disordered athletes.

Here, the athlete’s lack of ownership of their running can, too often, tragically reduce their love of the sport.

Just following the plan

On a practical day to day basis, following a programme without considering the environment it is completed within, can, for some athletes, mean an existence on the margins of a training group, neither fully engaged in the team dynamic nor reaping the benefits of training together.

For example, I have personally witnessed athletes of similar abilities, training at the same time on a track, doing nearly identical sessions (e.g. 8 x 800m and 6 x 1km at 5km pace), but not running together. Is there really any sense in that? Now, more than ever, we all know how difficult isolation can be, and value the camaraderie and training benefit a group can bring.

Whilst training plans should be tailored, and group running is inherently generalised, reasonable compromises should be made to cater for athletes mental as well as physical fulfilment. To put it simply, I take the view that training should be a flexible part of our lives and the situations we find ourselves in, rather than a timetable imposed upon it.

This flexible approach to training, has allowed me to develop as an athlete. Indeed, although I belong to a really strong training group at Cambridge and Coleridge AC, I also train with the Cambridge University group and the various alumni that are dotted about the city to suit my training needs.

Taking this one step further

The next step beyond simply adapting a plan to an environment is getting the athlete themselves to take ownership of these changes and start to understand the reasoning behind the sessions.

It has been said that a good coach aims to make themselves redundant through creating an athlete-centred environment and educating their runners. Thats the second half of Jack’s article coming later this week.

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It’s fair to say that the best way to use any new tool is with an accompanying application of rationality and common sense. I mean, take vehicle parking sensors, the little bleeper is a brilliant assistant, but (I hope) you wouldn’t park without checking your wing mirrors.

Parking sensors aside, how often have you heard another runner (who had a respectable education, and holds down a good job) question the length of a road race, and occasionally the length of an athletics track, because their “watch says it’s short”?

The point being, technology can be a brilliant aid to our running, but it should be used to help guide us on our journey, rather than set our course.

A question of accuracy

So how accurate are GPS watches? Garmin claim that with a “strong signal” the GPS position reported by an outdoor watch can be accurate to three meters. Therefore, if your watch is recording a GPS location every second, and you do not pause an activity while standing still, your watch can record movement of up to 180 meters in one minute. Moreover, for those of us who run among tall buildings, under dense tree cover and bridges, or make sharp turns, GPS is often significantly inaccurate.

The docile athlete

Whilst an extreme over-reliance on GPS watches is harmless, and certainly gives me a good laugh, does it pose a broader question about whether technology and GPS watches in particular are beginning to regulate the behaviour of runners?

Indeed, the increasingly advanced function of GPS watches now advise us on rest, recovery, recommended sessions and even when to “MOVE!”. Although these functions can be useful, especially for those making their first steps as a runner, our watches are arguably moving from passive to active technologies.

These active or interventionist technologies prescribe self-control, obedience and conformance to rules, which some will adhere to over the advice of a coach or experienced club mate. Here, the advent of GPS watches, for all their brilliance, has arguably turned watches from machines designed for calculating time into disciplinarians that regulate time and the way we experience it.

No GPS can help you here…

Induced behaviours

Taken to an extreme, the constant feedback from our watches when we run, could be constructed as a form of social technology that is starting to effect how we run. Here, the greater emphasis on regulating and controlling our running time, through the often addictive qualities of data feedback, influences the way in which people act. There are many examples of these watch induced behaviours (WIBs), and I’ve listed a few common ones below:

The clock watcher: pushing too hard on a steady run, because 6:37 per mile doesn’t look quite as nice as a round 6:30.

The cruiser: not pushing hard enough on a session, because their watch says they’re ‘on pace’, when they might not be!

The obsessive: “I’ve done 13.7 miles, but it won’t hurt if I make it up to 14”

The plonka: misjudging a race by relying too heavily on the pace function of your watch. This one is for all those runners heading over to the Armagh 5km.

As Albert Einstein said “information isn’t knowledge”, and nor does it procure wisdom. Therefore, if you take anything from this article, please use your GPS watch, and its outputs, as a guideline not a barometer. Don’t believe the data, believe in yourself.

Some concluding thoughts

Satellite watches are amazing, don’t get me wrong. I personally use a GPS watch to log my miles and GPS technology is a wonderful tool that has helped countless runners simplify their training plans and run with a greater degree of flexibility.

The statistics and feedback that such technology provides also gives us a wealth of information that can enable runners to make more informed decisions, share their efforts with friends and in many cases push their bodies further with a greater degree of confidence.

However, I believe a drive toward ever more information, data and technology is not always the right choice, even when it appears to provide a solution to an existing problem.

Finally, on a personal note, I think technology can lessen the beautiful simplicity of running. Running takes us into a space of disconnection, where we cannot receive emails, instant messages or notifications, a place where we are alone with our own thoughts or the company of others. Therefore, does the increasing colonisation of this space with gadgets, perhaps detract from our wellbeing?

Jack Gray is a sub 29 minute 10km runner and a member of our Fast10 team for 2020. He is supported by Hoka One One. 

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The post That track is bloody short appeared first on Fast Running.

Always someone to take on a race from the gun, we love his down-to-earth attitude and that the Cambridge & Coleridge man isn’t afraid to put his goals out there for all the world to challenge. We also think his first Fast10 blog should be solely about the story listed under “Fun Facts” below.

Profile

Name: Jack Gray

Age (Jan 2020): 26

Hometown: Birmingham

Club: Cambridge and Coleridge

Main discipline: 10km

Other disciplines: 5k, 10k, Half Marathon, Cross Country… I love it all to be honest.

Full-time athlete/work/studying: Full-time transport planner.

Goals or targets for 2020

1)    Qualify for the World Half Marathon Championships and break 63 minutes;

2)    Debut in the marathon;

3)    Run 28:30 for 10km; and,

4)    Become a national champion.

Past Running highlights: competing for GB at the Night of the 10,000m PBs, and becoming the England Champion of the Roads in 2019.

Jack celebrating being fast at parkrun.

Interesting or fun fact: I once had to run a sub 15min 5km to evade a pack of dogs in rural Ukraine, fuelled by fear, vodka and cured horsemeat.

I run because: I love the thrill of competitive sport, and the sense of camaraderie and sportsmanship that the running community is blessed with.

Favourite training session: 5 x 5 min hill reps (2 mins recovery).

Least favourite training session: anything that involves really short reps and long recoveries, and me desperately trying to hold off 15 year old speed merchants.

Favourite pre-race food: Porridge.

Favourite post-race food: Haddock and chips.

Favourite runner or runners: Marc Scott. He’s bloomin’ fast, but he’s down to earth and a lovely lad.

Brands or organisations that support me: HOKA ONE ONE shoes 2020.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Fast10: Jack Gray appeared first on Fast Running.

Every year we follow the journeys and adventure of a handful of excellent British and Irish athletes, from mountain runners to track specialists, to give an insight into some of the exiting talents in endurance running.

After 2019 saw European champions crowned, national vests earned and a whole host of valuable lessons and guidance from the 10, we knew the next bunch had to keep a high standard.

Over the next few weeks we will feature an introductory profile for the athletes below, but to start the ball rolling we’ll just list the 10 to get everyone as excited as we are.

We’ve kept mountain and ultra runners in the mix, added a National cross country Champion, some track specialists, marathoners and plenty of serial racers.

So with no further ado:

Fast10 Class of 2020

Jack Gray (5k, 10k, Half Marathon, XC)
Nicola Duncan (Ultra/trail)
Paul Navesey (XC, 5k to marathon, recovering ultra runner)
Jenny Nesbitt (XC, Road and Track (5/10k)
Alex Bampton (10K – HM and Cross Country)
Emily Hosker-Thornhill (XC &  3000/5000m)
Zak Hanna (Mountain Running & XC)
Ellie Hartnett (800/1500m)
Erika Kelly (Race Walking)
Ollie Lockley (5k-HM & XC)

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The post Fast10: The class of the 2020 appeared first on Fast Running.

For the second week in a row a triathlete tops the women’s rankings with Lucie Custance running 17:20 at Dulwich parkrun in South East London. That’s quicker than Custances 5k, 5000m and parkrun best before today so the V40 runner is clearly in strong form.

After recently writing for Fast Running about his ambitions towards the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Jack Gray showed us what he can do at parkrun with a last minute decision to run at the York event today.

In God’s own country to watch the some people on push bikes, a quick blast around parkrun was good enough for 14:50 and top in the UK rankings.

Celebrating the “first finish” in style.

It must have been a good weekend for the triathletes at parkrun as second and fourth male finishers were also triathletes. James Teagle of Leicester Triathlon club ran 14:57 at Long Eaton parkrun and Barclay Izzard of Loughborough Triathlon also broke 15 minutes at Alvaston parkrun.

pakrun regular William Richardson separated the two with a 14:58 at Cannon Hill parkrun in Birmingham. That’s four male runners under 15 minutes for a fast week in the Saturday morning parks of the UK.

South West speedster Hannah Taunton finished second in the women’s rankings with an excellent 17:30 at Taunton parkrun. Taunton has been running superbly on the track this Summer and posted PBs at 800 (2:22.11), 1500 (4:39.96) & 3000 (10:01.50).

Long Eaton and Newborough Forest both saw two runners feature in the top ten with the pair at the latter only four seconds apart with Osian Perrin running 15:44 and Matthew Edwin Roberts 15:48.

Menai T & F’s Perrin ran one of the quickest 3000m for a U17 in Welsh and British history this year when he clocked 8:23.64 at the SIAB Schools International. The youngster also won the 3000m at the English U17 and Welsh School Championships so is an endurance star to watch for the future.

Men’s top 10

1) parkrun: York
Jack Gray, 14:50, Birmingham Running Athletics and Tri Club
2) parkrun: Long Eaton
James Teagle, 14:57, Leicester Triathlon Club
3) parkrun: Cannon Hill, Birmingham
William Richardson, 14:58, Birchfield Harriers
4) parkrun: Alvaston
Barclay Izzard, 14:59, Loughborough Triathlon
5) parkrun: Alness
Sean Chalmers, 15:19, Inverness Harriers AAC
6) parkrun: Pegwell Bay
Christopher Thomas, 15:33, Thames Valley Harriers
7) parkrun: Ashford
Gary Foster, 15:43, Hastings AC
8) parkrun: Newborough Forest
Osian Perrin, 15:44, Menai Track & Field
9) parkrun: Oldham’s Common
Norman Shreeve, 15:44
10=) parkrun: Newborough Forest
Matthew Edwin Roberts, 15:48,
10=) parkrun: Leicester Victoria
Simon Birch, 15:48, Hinckley RC

Women’s top 10

1) parkrun: Dulwich
Lucy Custance, 17:20, Clapham Chasers RC
2) parkrun: Longrun Meadow
Hannah Taunton, 17:30, Taunton AC
3) parkrun: Oxford
Charlie Arnell, 17:36
4) parkrun: Sheffield Hallam
Rebecca Robinson, 17:38, Kendal AAC
5) parkrun: Cardiff
Alaw Benyon-Thomas, 17:47, Swansea Harriers AC
6) parkrun: Stratford-upon-Avon
Georgie Campbell, 17:48, Stratford-upon-Avon AC
7) parkrun: Frimley Lodge
Alexa King, 17:53, Hart Road Runner
8) parkrun: Long Eaton
Georgina Weston, 17:57, Notts AC
9=) parkrun: Albert Park, Middlesborough
Caroline Lambert, 18:00
9=) parkrun: Stretford
Leah Peploe, 18:00, Leigh Harriers & AC

If you would like to run faster at parkrun, top tips to help runners of all abilities can be found here.

RELATED: 7 ways to run faster at parkrun

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post 10 fastest UK parkrun times on Saturday 28th September (2019) appeared first on Fast Running.