Out of time

For the first time in over a year I'm actually not training for any specific event. Hill training, Tempo runs, Long runs...not required...I can just run.

In the last few weeks I have been running when I want, where I want and more importantly without any pressure of times and distance, because I took the big step of RUNNING NAKED!

Running naked is a term in running meaning - No gadgets, so no watches, GPS etc. The first run was tough,very tough, for 8 years I have been running with pretty much every run recorded. By the third run though I was beginning to except and even quite enjoy my new found freedom and it was quite refreshing.

After the first week, I then had a week off from running. I was away to Cornwall with friends and family. The first things I packed were my trainers. All I could think about was the chance to be running the coastal paths everyday. After two nights of lousy sleep in a tent the thoughts of running went out the window, and I resigned myself to actually taking a break from running, let my hair down and enjoy some good old Cornish pasties and give the legs a good old rest. What did it matter, I wasn't recording any runs, so enjoy some time out.

At the weekend I hit the North Downs Way. The plan was to run roughly an hour, I drove to one of my favourite spots in Puttenham to pick up the path. After a couple of miles of climbing, the path tracks through an open area with some beautiful views. When I got there, there was not a soul to be seen, I stopped to have a quick slurp of my drink before continuing..."Hang on a minute" I thought, "I'm not timing this, what does it matter if I sit down and enjoy the views for 10 minutes" and that's exactly what I did with the world to myself. Had I been running a set distance and timing this run, the obsession with figures would have had me glimpsing at the views but this day I had spent a wonderful 10 minutes taking in the beautiful surroundings.

Time Out

In the back of my head I still know roughly what distances I'm running. I know if I'm out for an hour I'm going to be running about 7 miles, and if I'm running to work I know I've done near on a Half Mary. But it's nice not having the pressure of times and always looking at the watch. I've planned to do this for a month, but I'm feeling so relaxed and care free about my running at the moment.

I'm not sure what I'm planning next, I'd like to train for another marathon, and when I do this I will probably follow a structured plan but until then I may continue with running naked for a while.

Ben Allen Interview

Ben Allen is a World Class Professional Triathlete. He specialises in the non-drafting format from 70.3 Ironman, Long Distance and the Xterra World Off-Road Triathlon Tour. Ben is based in Wollongong, Australia and from April through to October he joins the World’s Elite Endurance Athletes in Europe, basing himself in France.

·         Your European base is France; does that feel as much home as Australia?

BEN: I really enjoy living in France the culture; people & style of living is very unique. I try and make it feel as much, my home in Australia as possible, but nothing can compare to my hometown of Wollongong, Australia where I have access to beautiful beaches and mountains.



·         Why and how did you get into Triathlon?

BEN: I started in the sport of Surf life saving winning numerous State, Australian and World Championship medals. I was targeted by Triathlon Australia’s in the High Performance program when I was training for my third Coolangatta Gold Ironman Race as having the potential to be a World Class Triathlete.
Now in my third year of triathlon, I have successfully raced in Europe, America & Asia on the ITU Triathlon World Cup series, Oceania Cup races, Continental Cup circuit and race in the Division 1 Triathlon Grand Prix French League. As well as racing the Ironman 70.3 and the World Xterra Championships Tour, which covers 16 races around Europe, 7 USA Championships Races and the World Xterra Championships in Maui, Hawaii.


·         Do you spend more time training on one discipline more over the others?

BEN: I come from an Ocean Swimming/Surfing background, so I focus more on my riding and running. Riding my Giant 29er on fast downhill single tracks and running on endless trails with my On Cloud Surfers.

·         If you could only compete in one discipline which one would it be?

BEN: Having competed in the Xterra Off-Road World Tour series, has really made me think I would love to try and be a Pro XC mountain biker. If that didn’t work out, definitely a trail runner… Especially running with my On Shoes, they have created a new feel that I search for, ever time I run
.
·         Do you train on each discipline every day?

BEN: No, I don’t do as much swimming as when I was a Surf Ironman athlete, but I try and keep a balance of all three disciplines so I can maintain my fitness and feel for each discipline.

 ·         You are nicely positioned 3rd in the Xterra tour; are you happy with the way things are going?

BEN: I started the Xterra World Tour, winning 4 World Tour Races and the 1st round of the Xterra European Tour in Italy with a second place finish. I was unlucky to be struck down by a virus in the lead up to this year Xterra France World Tour Championship race and fought on to finish inside the top 10. There are three races left on the European Tour (Czech, Germany & Switzerland) and I will be doing everything possible to finish on the top of the podium.

·         With back-to-back weekends coming up on the tour how will you spend the week training in between?

BEN: After the race I will have a couple of days of rest & recovery and then 1 or 2 days training over the next race course to familiarise myself with the terrain & demands to be able to maximise my perform during the race. 
I will do a little bit of training on all three disciplines the day before the race to check all my equipment and get myself in the right fame of mind…

·         How many miles running do you cover in a week’s training?

BEN: I look at running 62 to 74 miles a week in training. For a big block of training with no races I would run around 74miles and in the lead up to races anywhere from 50-64miles.

·         Do you follow any special diet?

BEN: I try and eat a healthy balanced diet of Carbs, Fats and Proteins. But I treat myself every now and again. ;-)

·         I’m reviewing the ‘On’ Cloudrunners, how do you find them? They are certainly an interesting design, do you wear yours to compete in?

BEN: I love my On’s!
On has created a unique feel like no other running shoe. The evolutionary new cushioning and outsole technology called CloudTec is mind blowing. The faster you run the more you feel like the shoes are propelling you forward.

·         I do a lot of trail running, how do the Cloudrunners cope with the terrain?

BEN: Perfectly! I have run in rivers, up grassy mountain, steep technical descents, down waterfalls & icy trails and never encountered any problems. I love my On’s perfectly suited to any Off-Road Terrain!

·         How do the trails compare in Europe compared to back home?

BEN: The trails in Europe are some of the most challenging in the World. Back home in Australia, I would call my mountains, hills compared to the some of the Mountains I have encounter in Europe.

 ·         What’s your mantra when the going gets tough?

BEN: I like it tough. I have had to deal with a lot more up’s and down’s compared to most travelling athletes coming all the way from Australia. But I always try and stay positive and focused on my goals and dreams. My family and friends back home are the backbone to my success.

·         Who are your sporting hero’s

BEN: I really admire, Stuart O’Grady. He has a heart of a lion and a never say die attitude. He is a family man and an inspiration to many Aussie kids.

·         What advice would you give your younger self, with the benefit of experience?

BEN: Give yourself time to develop as an athlete and don’t try and rush your development within the sport. You wont become World Champion over night. Always try to turn a negative situation into a positive one. Love the life you live and enjoy the journey.

On Cloudrunner

I've been lucky enough to have the chance to review these new trainers from the Swiss company 'On' 

The On collection features 4 types of trainer; The Cloudracer, the Cloudsurther, the Cloudrunner (which I was reviewing) and the Cloudster. You may be seeing the theme here...Clouds! The CloudTec system, the circular rubber cushions on the underside of the shoe, reduce the impact of foot hitting the ground giving the sensation of running on...em...Clouds!

These trainers fit in the innovative category along with brands such as Newton's, a brave attempt to be different in the colossal world of running trainers.

Running Clouds

I so wanted these trainers to work for me, they were different, quirky and good looking. They were certainly one of the most comfortable trainers I have worn with the fit around the foot.

The Cloudrunner claims to 'make concrete easy' which it does effectively. The trainer is designed for high impact and endurance runs. With it's CloudTec technology the trainer even claims to help with posture and toning while on the run.

Once off the concrete I hit the trails to put the trainers through there paces. Through the muddy trails I was expecting the mud to cling and get between the rubber cushions under foot but this was not to be and they freed themselves of any muck consistently. I felt more comfortable running on concrete than on the trails with these trainers. The Cloud system seem to benefit the harder surface and felt a little awkward and unresponsive on the trails.

After about 5 miles of running in the trainers my legs became very fatigued and my murmuring Achilles strain I have at the moment became more prominent.

I'm certainly not accusing the Cloudrunner of causing injury, but it's a shoe you need to get used to and build up the miles steadily. It's almost like learning to run again. It made me run different, a planned 15 mile run turned into 5 miles due to tired legs.

To sum up the On Cloudrunner, it's a very comfortable fitting shoe, a very well made shoe and a shoe that stands out from the cloud...I mean crowd. Probably best suited for the neutral footed runner. But for this overpronating, Achilles pain suffering runner I need to stick to what I know and am comfortable in at the moment.

A well made quirky shoe

Overall Performance 29 out of 40

Cushioning - 8 out of 10, A different type of cushioning to traditional trainers, but just as effective.

Comfort - 8 out of 10, More comfortable on tarmac.

Flexibility - 6 out of 10, Not overly Flexible.
Responsiveness - 7 out of 10, Not the responsive that I'm used to.

Womens London Olympic Marathon 2012

I thought I'd share a few pictures and short video from the Woman's Olympic marathon last Sunday morning.

I went along with my two boys (the youngest whom I must give credit to for the photos!) After an early start we made our way from Waterloo, across the river, past Big Ben and along to the end of Birdcage Walk. It brought back some great memories from my marathon back in April.

We had a great position to see the runners come down the long road before they followed the bend around to Buckingham Palace. The only thing that ruined the morning was the great British weather and the biggest downpour ever!

The great thing about this Olympic course unlike the traditional London course was the runners would complete laps which meant we got to see the athletes more than once, after the first couple of laps we made our way back towards Big Ben and watched the remainder of the race from there.

The men's marathon is next Sunday, if you can make it, I would recommend it. It's free and an amazing chance to get right up close to the elites. I was very nerdy looking at trainers, running style and even the way their feet were landing!!!



 

1st Tiki Gelana Ethiopia 2:23:07

2nd Priscah Jeptoo 2:23:12

3rd Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova 2:23:29

10th Shalane Flanagan USA 2:25:51

11th Kara Goucher USA 2:26:07

44th Freya Murray GB 2:32:14

12th Helalia Johannes Nambia 2:26:09

13th Marisa Barros Portugal 2:26:13

Love Life Love Running festival 2012

The weather leading leading up to this weekend had been horrendous so the idea of camping in a single skin 2 man tent (which turned out to be a one man dwarf size tent) and possibly running for 6 hours in torrential down pours was not appealing.

Friend Brian and myself had signed up a while back for the Love Life, Love Running festival taking place in the beautiful forests of Cannock Chase in Staffordshire. I can't remember where we saw the event advertised  but it sounded something a bit different and a bit of an adventure, out camping for one night and running for the weekend.

Ah Ha..I think we're here!

We arrived at the site around 11am on the Saturday after a 3 hour drive. The God's were obviously with us this weekend because Summer had finally arrived (for a day or 2 at least!) The vast grassed clearing set within the surrounding forest was scattered with the tents of the other participants, music was playing from the speakers as we drove around mulling over where to set up camp for team 'Running OK in the UK'.



A mile race and a 10K were being run on the Saturday, we didn't have much time before these started so we stuck to what we had originally signed up for which was the 6 hour endurance race on the Sunday. We had signed up as a pair, but the options were to run solo, or in a team of 4 or 6. Brian and myself would be running alternate 7K laps for the 6 hours and we were hoping to achieve a total of 11 laps.




Once we had set up camp and stocked up on some food supplies we decided to run a slow lap of the 7K course to get a practice lap in ahead of the next days race. However the markers were still out from the 10K race so we ended up running a hilly 6 miles instead of just over 4 miles, not the preparation I had in mind!


The elevation was tougher than we had imagined, but fortunately we had been doing plenty of hill training recently which would not go to waste this weekend.

The organizers put on a pasta party on the Saturday night. We had a good nerdy run chat with other runners including Nicky, Lisa and Claire who had done the 10K in the day before retiring back to our miniature tents.

We also met up with a Twitter friend Mike (@mikew30) who was with his family, and a great bunch they turned out to be. The event catered really well for families, which there were a lot of. There was plenty to keep the kids occupied with face painting etc. There is also a 'Go Ape' near by in the forest, plus bike hire, cafes and plenty of MTB trails. I will definitely bring my family along next year.

Me, Mike and Brian

The night's preparation for the next day could not have gone any worse with a massive sleep of....2 hours on a dodgy flat air bed. What with running the 10K course the evening before and 2 hours sleep, I wasn't sure how I was going to fare with the race.

Our plan as I said earlier was to run 11 laps, the idea was Brian would start and do the extra lap at the end. The race kicked off, Brian was gone and I had at least half hour to wait till I set off. It was not long before Brian was back from his first 7K lap laying down a low 7 minute/mile pace. Automatically I set off too fast as well and completed my lap with a 7:30 minute/mile pace. We had both pushed the start of the race too hard and would have to be more conservative on the remaining laps.

Pre race gathering

The lap starts with a half loop around the camping field before heading off into the forest and undulating trails. The terrain is a mixture of stones, sand and woodland trails with some man made paths through the more popular areas of the forest. After some early undulations in the first mile the next mile is the toughest with a hilly section to the course that by lap 4 and 5 I was cursing! After this section is out the way there is plenty of short up and downs before hitting the biggest downhill section which comes as a welcome relief. A trip past the fishing lake, a windy woodland path, one last evil short hill and then you are back in the site with a testing loop under your belt.

The live results were on a screen so you can see how you're doing throughout the race. At one stage we were 3rd in the women's pairs!!! After a quick word we were back in the male pair group which 3/4 of the way through the race we were leading! I think other teams had the same problem with their categories because by the end the male pairs list had grown and we finished up 3rd, still a great achievement.

Baton change over

In the end we achieved the 11 laps, I completed 5 and Brian 6. So I ran over 21 miles on the day. In some ways running a straight 21 miles straight through seems easier in the fact that you are not stop starting and can find a rhythm but on the other hand the break between laps was a great chance to fuel and hydrate properly.We fuelled ourselves on coconut water with pineapple, water and flapjacks.

Each lap takes in 850ft of ascent so by the end of the race I had climbed 4250ft, with the 10K the evening before and 2 hours sleep, the weekend has given me confidence to what I can achieve.

Finally time to praise the organisers, super friendly and helpful. The facilities on the site brought in for the event were great which consisted of a portable shower block with hot power showers (most welcome after the race) and a toilet block. There was also a food van selling a variety of food. The camping field is huge and plenty of space to pitch where you want.

The Monodome 2 tent from Halfords - Don't buy unless you are 4ft tall.

I will definitely be back next year and I thoroughly recommend this to everyone, the challenge can be made as easy or as hard as you want it. You can follow Love Life, Love Running on Twitter @TrainRunAchieve

Great weekend with great people.

Club NDW

At one stage there were about 10 of us, but come today and the inaugural run of Club NDW (North Downs Way) there were...3! OK not the greatest of starts but a brilliant run never the less.

The club has been informally formed by a bunch of us local Twitter friends who can all access some of the most stunning scenery and trails in the South. The North Downs Way runs through Surrey all the way to the Kent coast a whopping 156 miles long. Today we were on a stretch between Newlands Corner near Guildford and Ranmore Common near Dorking, covering 15.6 miles and a challenging ascent of 2474 ft in total.

So the 3 amigos, @bsmithy100 (Brian) @jedirider (Tim) and myself @runningokinuk set off in the brilliant summers sun  rain. The recent down pours made for a lot of slipping and sliding along the muddy trails and at times when running on an incline streams of water cascaded down the sides of the trails. It was all worth it though because eventually you come to some quite spectacular and beautiful views over looking the Surrey hills that even the rain and grey skies could not spoil.

Drink and gel break and a chance to enjoy the stunning views

The mud made for some energy and leg sapping miles but the deep puddles and sliding around added to what was a brilliant run with plenty of chatting and laughter along the way.

Mud and Water the theme of the day!

It may all sound a little daunting with the terrain and ascent covered but this was a very relaxed and easy paced run. Hopefully the next time Club NDW meets up we will have a few more on board and the original gang of Tweeters who were going to be here today will be there next time, plus anyone else reading this who fancies it.

This is going to be a very informal get together when it fits in with everyone, and it matters none about ability, whether you're an ultra runner or a 5K runner who fancies running some trails. The distance and route today was what it was because its what the 3 of us were planning today, but the miles can be reduced to whatever, people can run on if they want, stop and wait and enjoy the views, it really doesn't matter. The whole reason for this is a relaxed run with like minded runners to enjoy some great trail running once in a while.

So if you want to come along next time find any of us on Twitter or the hash-tag #clubndw and enjoy some of the best trail runs the South has to offer.

At one stage the sun actually did shine!!!

Muddy!!

A couple of short movies from today's run

The world as I see it...