Throughout this year I’ve been busy with many exciting and worthwhile projects, the two most noteworthy being my charity ‘Tri4Japan’ which launches its massive eBay charity auction on 1st August – see http://www.tri4japan.com/auction/ for details of each auction item.

The other project is the Natural Running seminar series. Launched in February in Windsor and at the 2011 TCR exhibition, I’ve been leading a series of seminars and workshops throughout the UK to explain the benefits and merits of Natural Running to hundreds of enthusiastic runners. Hosted by some of the UK’s leading running shoe retailers we’ve had the chance to help runners adopt a healthier and more natural running style.

Following the latest seminar hosted by Royles at Total Fitness in Wilmslow, Jackie Newton (one of the seminar’s attendees) wrote a fantastic review of the evening on Run Britain – if you have a few minutes, I’d thoroughly recommend reading the review if you haven’t had a chance to attend one of my seminars in person, you can read Jackie’s review at: http://www.runbritain.com/articles/land-load-lever-and-lift/

We have all nearly made it through another winter, and hopefully you are all in much better shape than at the start!

For those who train with me on Wednesday evenings in Windsor, here is what we’ll be working on throughout March. For those who aren’t able to attend these sessions you can also build this mile rep programme into your training.

Due to the continued illness of my sister, I have had to miss a few Wednesdays at Windsor. This does not mean I am not wanting to be there and I intend to do this training on my own on a windy cold track up north next week. Unfortunately I have to drive up to Darlington to see her doctors again, which is an un-enjoyable 500 mile plus round trip! Enough of my woes and on to the pain I am going to inflict on you guys

It is time now that we all step up to 1,600m (1 mile) reps next week and build up to 6 x 1,600m

• 3 x 1,600m on 09/3/11
• 4 x 1,600m on 16/3/11
• 5 x 1,600m on 23/3/11
• 6 x 1,600m on 30/3/11

The good news is next week is easy, only 3 x 1 but the aim is to try and maintain the pace you were running at last week.

Our Windsor A group will be doing them on an 7-30 minute circle.

A new B group (this is Anna and hopefully a few of the faster runners) you will do it on 9 min circle.

The main group who were running their 1,200m on 7min 30 circle will do their 1,600m on a 10 min circle.

If anyone in that group cannot run 1,600m in under 8min 30 seconds they will need to have an 11min.

Please note everyone will need a minimum of 90 seconds rest between intervals, if not please move down a group.

If you do not understand please email me.
 
For those that really want to know what is in store from April 6th until the lake starts we will do the following each week:
 
Group A and (new) B

1x 2,000m 1,600m 1×1,200m  1x800m long rest 1x 3,000m  ( total 8,600m)
 
Group C

 1x 2,000m 1,600m 1×1,200m  1x800m long rest 1x 2,000m  ( total 7,600m)
 
I hope I haven’t frightened anyone off.

Hi guys,
 
I shall be updating the blog with some interesting images and words about Natural Running. I am passionate about getting people to run correctly so keep an eye out in the coming weeks. It is important to get the right balance between running form and interval training.
 
In the mean time, I had a race last weekend, and focused totally on correct running form. Having just spent a month, coaching in Asia, on how to run correctly I felt even though I was short on interval training, I would be able to run efficiently.
 
To my disbelief both Rieko (my wife) and I managed to run better than expected, by concentrating on our form. While I totally accept this is not a scientific test, it was the first time I have run under 16mins for 5,000m this year and for Rieko it was a personal best (PB). If my shoes and running style can help me get a few seconds I will take it, at 48 I thought I had had seen my  last  my sub 16 minute 5km!
 
We ran in the Chubu, Trim  Races in Okinawa, Japan in warm sunny conditions, on Sunday 21 st Nov.

Rieko won the women’s 3,000m in 11:17 (PB)
I came second in the 5,000m in  15:54 (my best time this year)
 
I will be back at the Eton and Windsor track from Wed 1st December, and happy to talk to any one about Natural Running.

So come and join us!

Mike

Throughout the winter, a group of us have been working on our triathlon run speed down at The Windsor Slough and Eton Track. We meet every Wednesday at 6:30pm for anyone keen to join in.

We have progressed from 400m intervals through 800m’s to 1,200m’s and onto mile reps. Now we have reached race season the run training has switched slightly to allow us to keep running hard even when our muscles are fatigued, thus simulating  triathlon without all the other stresses that are involved.

This run circuit will  spice up your training offering variety that you may not have tried before. It is a very tough session and easy to over-cook because you set out too hard or to underperform because you are not rested enough before starting. Always try and do it in a group or with someone else so that you can motivate each other.

If done correctly you will notice it takes big chunks of time off your run splits….so give it a go.

Read Mike’s article ‘Running Circuits for Triathlete’s‘

One day, around the end 1992, after I had spent a few years as a professional triathlete, based in Japan, while I was ill, and looking through my old training diaries, I realized the route of my problems.

I was concerned that I was getting sick too often, and was determined to find out the reason, because it was playing havoc with my training and was affecting my race results. Having studied sports science, I know the theories, that it is only by training regularly and constantly over long periods of time will you improve.

However, I was always getting sick and I was not improving from year to year.

My aim was to do 30 hours training a week in the winter, mostly longer slower sessions, cutting it down to around 20 hours a week pre-season and then down to 15 during race weeks, when the intensity was very high. This was sound in theory and would give me an average of 20 hours a week for the year. It was what all the top pro’s were boasting they did at the time.

When I look back at the 1992 season, I discovered to my shock, although there were some big weeks in at 30 hours, there were many blanks when I was sick. At the end of 1992, I decided on a big change. I added up the hours of training for the whole year and was shocked to find I had only averaged 11 hours a week!

My solution was to set out a programme for 1993 where I would aim to average 12.5 hours a week for the whole year. If I was successful this would be a 13.6% increase in my annual training volume which would be a huge jump up. The 30 hour weeks went, and were replaced by 20 hour weeks, the 20 hour weeks were replaced by 15 hour weeks, and race weeks were slashed to 4-5 hours. I built in easy recovery weeks along the way of only 8-10 hours…the results were more that much better that I really expected.

As a professional, I had all the time in the world to train. In fact it was easier to go out training than to stay at home. However, as a professional my ultimate aim was to win races, not to see how many hours a week I could train for.

Too many people forget what they are training for, and the training takes over, like an illness, they become addicted to training…”If only I can get an extra bike ride in”…”If I do an extra 1,000m swim per session I will get faster”. You must have heard people boasting such things as…” I did an awesome 200 mile bike ride yesterday” or …”We managed to get 6 sessions done over the weekend!”…or…” I did a 4 hours bike ride, and felt great so ran for an extra 2 hours afterwards” etc. etc. etc.

WHY?…What is the purpose of it all? To make the training diary look good?

I can write this because, I was that person, I was addicted to training and just kept adding in more and more, until I broke down and got sick…then I would recover and start building up more and more again. The hardest thing for me was to accept this and finally say… “NO MORE!”.

I stuck to my new regime like glue and it felt easy. I thought that I was being lazy, I was never tired, and had lots of free time. Initially, I felt guilty, as if I was cheating my sponsors, because I was training so much less, but as the weeks went past I built up a solid base.

Early season racing in 1993 was not great, but by September, when I cut back the volume back to only 5-6 hours a week, my performances went through the roof. That was the start of my most consistent and highest level of racing which was to last for the next 11 years.

I won the Japanese Olympic Distance National Championships in September 1993 and over the winter I stepped up my training a bit more and averaged about 14 hours a week in 1994. To my amazement at this low level of training, and in my one and only Ironman triathlon I set the British record at the time of 8 hours 52, at Ironman Japan.

Since I was doing so well on lower volume, higher quality training, I did not take my annual weekly average over 16 hours a week, and after 2000 when I retired I dropped it to about 10 hours a week.

This actually gave me an extra boost, so when I started to race for Great Britain again, I surprised myself at the age of  41, reaching No. 2 in the ITU World Duathlon Rankings behind the legendary Benny Vansteelant.  It was also at 41, I managed my last sub 30 min 10km run and won the Master’s 10,000m World Championships.

I am sorry it if this looks like too much self indulgence, but I want to add impact to my advice.

If as a full time athlete I could only cope with 11 to 16 hours training a week, how many hours can you cope with?

I am sure that with full time jobs and family commitments, most of you are over training and under achieving if you are attempting those heady heights of 20-30 hours training weeks.

My advice is to keep the quantity low and the quality high, and…if in doubt, cut it out!