Online Fitness Training Tips And Techniques For Runners

26th April 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 10:32:00 +0000

Still haven't rid the Plantar Fascitis from my left foot. I want to keep my marathon fitness level going but am unable to start running again until it's gone. I'm taking anti-imflamatories and massaging my foot by rolling it over the top of a golf ball whenever I'm sitting down.
Have applied for 2012 London Marathon today and so has Lisa. Lisa has really caught the running bug and wants to beat marathon time for this year, hopefully 3:49 and I'm pretty sure that she can do it too !

Wednesday 20th April 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 11:53:00 +0000

Well the big day has passed and the marathon is now over. After all the training and obtaining a fitness level good enough to treat the London Marathon as just another run, I was over come by Plantar Fascitis . I was suffering with it for a few weeks in my left foot, I stopped training the week of the marathon to rest my foot. However right from the start of the race it was hurting, unfortunately the pain became excruciating and I had to slow my pace right down and finished with a 4:11 time.I shall be applying for 2012 marathon as I'm not happy with that time lol. I might even run the Southend Half Marathon in June....

My partner Lisa did really well for not just her first marathon but her first organised race ever !!

Lisa was a little unhappy with her time of 4:27 but as this was her very first race ever and not used to fighting her way through the masses or running in the hot sun, I think all in all she did very well ! Lisa has now got the running bug and has already said about running another London Marathon for a quicker time lol.....

Sunday 10th April 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:24:00 +0000

Last long run today, 10 miles. GPS on my miCoach packed in again for a while and messed up stats.
This will be my last run until the big day as I've a nerve playing up on the bottom of my left foot and it's killing my heel so going to rest over the next week.

Thursday 7th April 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 09:57:00 +0000

Ran just over 7 miles today, another hot day at around 20c. Took it at an easy pace, can't wait to get the marathon over as the training does take over and run your life. Although someone once gave me an analogy to marathon running " marathon running can be likend to having a baby, by the time the baby comes you swear that you're not going through the length of pregnancy or the pain of giving birth ever again but giving a little time all of that is forgotten and you want another !"

Here's today's results

Wednesday 6th April 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 09:35:00 +0000

Just under 6 miles this evening, first hot run this year at 20c and a strong outwardbound headwind. The run was pretty undulating mid-way round, here's how the run went .

Sunday 3rd April 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 09:30:00 +0000

Todays run was 14 miles and the run felt good but unfortunately my miCoach lost it's GPS signal for a while which ended up giving a false reading take a look .

Sunday 27th March 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 09:18:00 +0000

My run today was just over 16 miles, tappering off the long runs now leading up to the marathon. My miCoach wanted me to do a 10 minute yellow zone near the end of the run (yellow zone 07:05 - 05:34 min/mi) but this was too much up those hills lol, see run results .

Sunday 20th March 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 08:52:00 +0000

Todays run was just over 23 miles and quite an undulating route. I tried a new type of carb gel on this run as the liquid type I used on my last marathon made me feel sick, this carb gel is like blocks of jelly called Shot Bloks by Clif , they come in mountin berry or strawberry. Those are the basic ones, they have more flavours but have added caffine. You're supposed to take 3 blocks every hour, I took my first blok at 6 miles and one every 20 mins. It was a total supprise to me, there almost seemed to be an instant reaction, I could feel the extra energy, no doubt about it ! I glided round the route and even managed a sprint finish down my road !

Take a look at my 23 mile run stats

Fartlek Run

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 08:30:00 +0000

Yesterday was a hard fartlek session. The weather wasn't very nice, head wind and very cold.

I ran a 7.5 mile course, 15 minute warm up, 30 minutes of alternating 1 minute marathon pace and 1 minute faster pace finishing off with a 15 minute warm down.

This is supposed to help me with my speed and endurance.

22 Mile Long Run

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 21:11:00 +0000

A long run of 22 miles today, running time 3hrs. I started feeling it becoming hard work about the 14 mile stage today and then from 20 miles it became a big challenge. Partly my fault as I took up a fast pace from the start and should have built up gradually....

Not a bad finish time of 3hrs though.

If you want to see my stats click here.....

20 Mile Run

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 10:53:00 +0000

Sunday 20th February 2011

The weather was ideal again, cool and a little damp in the air.

I started with 30 mins warm up as part of the 20 miles then cruised at my marathon pace until the last 10 mins when I slowed down for my warm down. 2:47:13 wasn't too bad as I know that I could knock a good 15 mins off of that time allowing for warm up / warm down and the course I ran was very undulating.

Click here if you'd like to see my recorded stats for that run

More City Sports Facilities

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:41:00 +0000

18 Mile Run

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:33:00 +0000

Sunday 13th February 2011

Ran 18 miles today and it took 2:31:19. I felt good until the last mile, I had to focus myself then. Weather was ideal and no wind.

Check out the stats for my run

Next Sunday it's 20 miles!

10k Relaxed Run

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 15:33:00 +0000

7th February 2011.

I went out for my run in the dark and in quite a few places it was hard to see the lay of the pavement which in turn makes it difficult to have a relaxing run. Anyway I ran 10k and for the first time managed to score 100% in the miCoach results, yippeeeee!

Check out my run results

16 Mile Run

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 15:22:00 +0000

Sunday 6th February 2011.

A hard 17 mile run today, a very strong headwind on the return half of the run, also the return run is very undulating.
During the run a car ploughed into the front door of the Horse & Groom pub in Rochford, not sure what caused it though.

Check out the stats for my run

Why Running is Good for Your Body From Runner's World

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:32:00 +0000

Why Running is Good for Your Body From Runner's World

An Easy Run at Marathon Pace

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:57:00 +0000

Saturday 22nd January was an easy 40 mins at marathon pace with a 10 min warm up and 10 min warm down, quite an enjoyable relaxing run.

Click here to check my results

8 Mile Fartlek

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 10:47:00 +0000

Last nights workout was a hard seesion. I did 15 min warm up followed by 30 min FARTLEK finishing with a 15 min warm down, the run covered 8 miles and was very undulating which made it very difficult to stay in the correct zones. Check out my results below:
Click here to see results

I need to buy new running shoes as the cusioning in my current shoes has worn out and is quite hard on my heels now.

40 Minutes at Marathon Pace

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:44:00 +0000

Yesterday evening I ran 40 minutes at marathon pace, quite an easy run as you can see from the results, I scored 98%.
Check out my results here

16 Mile Run

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:39:00 +0000

On Monday 17th January I ran an easy pace for 16 miles, the reason for this is that I accompanied Lisa (my partner click here to see her blog Lisa's blog) as she is also training for The 2011 London Marathon and needed some encouragement. You can check out the results for that run here:
Results for an easy paced 16 miles
I can run a faster pace lol, wait for my next solo long run.

Speed Training - Fartlek.

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:19:00 +0000

On the evening of Thursday 13th January I ran a 50 minute Fartlek. It was very intentse as this was the first fartlek workout during this marathon training period, you can look at my results by clicking the link below:
Check the results of my fartlek run

Fartlek, which means "speed play" in Swedish,^[1] is a form of conditioning which puts stress on the whole aerobic energy system due to the continuous nature of the exercise. The difference between this type of training and continuous training is that the intensity or speed of the exercise varies, meaning that aerobic and anaerobic systems can be put under stress. Most fartlek sessions last a minimum of 45 minutes and can vary from aerobic walking to anaerobic sprinting. Fartlek training is generally associated with running, but can include almost any kind of exercise. (description from Wikipedia).

Speed Training - Pyramid Workout

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:02:00 +0000

An important part of marathon training is speed training.

To properly prepare for a marathon, the idea is to raise lactate - threshold speed (LTS) as high as possible and build enough speed-endurance to run the whole race just 2- to 3-per cent slower than LTS.

Lactate is a metabolic intermediary produced (mainly) during intense exercise when the demand for energy in the muscles outstrips that which can be produced by aerobic metabolism. The point at which lactate begins to accumulate is often referred to as the "lactate threshold"

Yesterday evening at my athletic club we did a pyramid workout on the track, it went like this:

200m - 200m recovery, 400m - 200m recovery, 600m - 200m recovery, 800m - 200m recovery, 1000m - 200m recovery, 1200m - 400m recovery, 1000m - 200m recovery, 800m - 200m recovery, 600m - 200m recovery, 400m - 200m recovery, 200m - warm down.

Click on this link to see my workout stats for this session

I'm running for charity in the 2011 London Marathon. The charity is Asthma UK. Part of what Asthma UK do is to bring awareness to young children on how to control their asthma to enable them to take part in sport up to professional level, like varioous celebs such as David Beckham, Paula Radcliffe and Paul Scholes to name but a few. If you think this is a worth while thing then please show your support and make an online donation (no matter how small) any amount will be greatly appreciated. Please click on the link below.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/StephenMiddleton

Speed Training - bridge turn arounds

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 19:19:00 +0000

Speed training with Southend Athletic Club last night, we did bridge turn arounds.
Basically you sprint 300 metres come back on a hairpin turn and sprint back 300 metres, we repeated each circuit 12 times. We ran a relay in teams of two, it was a cold evening but we soon warmed up!

My First Sponsor!

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 12:29:00 +0000

A big thanks to Reece Cockerell for starting my fundraising off to a great start, THANKS Reece!

Running For Asthma UK - Children For Sport

noreply@blogger.com (Stephen Middleton) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 12:18:00 +0000

I'm running for Asthma UK to help them build awareness regarding asthma among children.

There are a number of successful sport celebrities (David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Paula Radcliffe, Scott MacLeod, Frank Lampard, Mark Spitz, Rebecca Adlington, Karen Pickering, Ian Botham and Darren Gough to name but a few) who have learned to manage their asthma through proper training and medication. A total of 20% of the British Olympic Squad in 2004 had asthma.

Young people can often be singled out in the classroom by other children and are often told that they shouldn't do sports, this is why it's important to bring the same awareness to children as is to the sports professionals. It's about inspiring individuals to overcome asthma barriers and encouraging thousands more to get involved in sport and take their medicines seriously, as we approach Olympic year 2012.

Thank you for your support in helping to make a difference, should you wish to make donation and sposor me it will be greatly appreciated. To make an online donation go to:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/StephenMiddleton