Core Strength

Core strength is an essential component of a well-rounded training program.  The dream of having “Ripping Abs” is promised on the front cover of a myriad of fitness magazines but the core isn’t just about getting a sexy six-pack.  The function of the core is to provide support for correct spinal alignment and position of the pelvis.  There are many muscles that play a role in these, including abdominal, as well as spinal and other muscles.

So why is this important to us as runners?

Our torso forms a significant weight to be transported and is connected to our legs via the spine and pelvis. Where the centre of mass is, how it moves and how the force it generates is transferred to our legs via the pelvis makes a big difference.  If your torso is unstable or the pelvis is out of alignment, the forces being applied to your legs will vary and be applied across joints at suboptimal angles increasing the chances of injury.  Knees are especially vulnerable to these type of issues.

Also, our muscles depend on oxygen to produce energy when used for even a slightly prolonged period  of time.  When insufficient oxygen is present lactic acid is formed (felt as a burning sensation in your legs as you start to pant wildly when running hard), and this effort can only be sustained for a fairly short period.  Therefore the more oxygen you can get into your body, the more your leg muscles can work and so the faster you can run before you start to tire.

Now, try this.  Sit comfortably with a straight back and shoulders back.  Breath in through your nose, deep into your lungs pushing the diaphragm down (so you feel your breath pushing your belly out) and breath in as much as you can, filling your lungs to the top of your chest.

Now, do exactly the same, only this time as you breathe in twist to the side, rotating through your spine so your hips stay where they were and your shoulders turn to the side. Try again and this time curve your spine forwards as you breathe in.  Feel the difference?

As your torso moves you restrict the space available for your lungs to expand.  A strong core will keep you upright with your shoulders forward to allow your lungs to operate at their full capacity.

So protect your back, reduce your chances of injury, increase your speed and look awesome – seems like a good return on your effort!

A healthy future?

Picture by pbkwee

I sometimes feel that we have a strange relationship with sport.  Each week stadiums are packed and during big events sporting fever can grip the nation.  So highly do we as a society value our sports stars that some earn staggering amounts of money and companies clamour to pay them more to endorse their products.

But when it comes to participation the same fever doesn’t grip us.  We have ever growing levels of obesity and the associated health problems those bring, and this is just part of a general trend rather than an isolated group.  In 2013 just 34% of the population in the UK were considered to be a healthy weight.

Most of us know we should do more exercise and be a bit more active.  We all want to live long and healthy lives.  The government certainly would like us to do more.  The glory and good will generated from sporting triumphs are not underestimated by any of the leading politicians.  But it isn’t just about the elite athletes, some studies have estimated that the cost to the NHS of treating conditions associated with obesity and sedentary lifestyles are in the region of £6 billion and this doesn’t account for any of the wider costs to the economy of these illnesses.

So why don’t we get involved in the things so many of us clearly love?

This is a complex issue, but one clear finding that has been shown is that physically active children are more likely to grow up to be physically active adults.  Therefore developing a healthy attitude towards sport and physical activity for young people should be one of the foundation stones of building a healthier society. 

It is sad that with this thought in mind the Department for Education continues its misguided approach to physical education.  In its advice to teachers on disciplining pupils it recommends that physical activity should be used as a punishment.  Sending the clear message to all youngsters that it is something to be avoided if and when possible.

Until sport and physical activity is seen as fun, enjoyable and inclusive, the odds of the wave of poor statistics on the nation’s health reversing are pretty slim.

First steps

Picture by magnetbox

I am going to look stupid! I'm not the sporty type, and I'm not going to be able to do more than a few minutes... if that. I look stupid in these clothes. I am going to become a ridiculous spectacle that everyone will snigger at. Oh, what's the point? I'm going to fail anyway...

Ever had thoughts along these lines? Yep, so have I, along with almost everyone who has ever made the decision to try and get more active.

I thought when I started running that people would stare at me, because the real runners (everyone else) would see how I was doing it wrong! Now being one of the "real" runners, I cannot begin to tell how stupid this seems looking back. I have nothing but admiration for someone trying to make a positive difference in their lives - who wouldn't?

The health benefits of being more active are enormous, not to mention just feeling better and more energised everyday. The key is to start slowly. You could start working through some of the guides that I have put together with Champion if you are looking for home workouts.

But if you want to grab a pair of trainers and go running, then go for it. It doesn't matter if you can only run for 1 minute and have to walk for 5 or 10 minutes after. Stick at it and soon you will be running for 10 minutes and resting for 1, and then running non stop for 15. No matter where you start, or who you are, you will get better.

One of my favourite quotes on running is by John Bingham:

"If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run."

Try different things and see what you enjoy. It is also good to train in different ways so that your body gets an all round workout, and this will also lessen your chance of injury if you are varying how you use your body. I would urge you to give it a try. I don't know anyone who has ever regretted it.

So, what inspired you to get started, and what motivates you to keep going?

London Marathon

Photo by David Boyle

Sunday is one of the highlights of the year, a fantastic festival of running. 

It is a day where parts of London transform into an outright celebration, all centred on the amazing dedication and hard work of the tens of thousands of runners taking part.

I love the London Marathon!

The awful news from Boston earlier this week really shook people though.  I think that the tributes planned for this weekend are a very nice touch to a special day.  It will be great to see running in the news for good reasons again.

It is an interesting course.  I have run most sections of it many times, both in my own training, and while preparing others for the race.  There are the highlights that will feature heavily in the TV coverage such as around Greenwich & the Cutty Sark (which is looking amazing now since its renovation), Tower Bridge and the Mall.  I spend quite a lot of time training around Greenwich and Blackheath and think it is one of the most beautiful parts of London.

Some of the other areas on the course tend make their way onto fewer tourists itineraries though, such as Woolwich (former home of a north London football club and still home to the UKs first McDonalds – a real claim to fame there!), Isle of Dogs (not as fun as it sounds and not even an island) and Rotherhithe (home of an interesting sculpture, sadly not featured on the course). 

Although some of these areas are slightly less picturesque than other parts of the race, I wouldn’t imagine most runners will care that much.  I am sure anywhere with a mile marker or a cheering crowd will be great view for them.

I have loved working with charities and getting members of the Momentum team ready for the marathon this year.  It has been a long tough winter, so the 26.2 miles on Sunday should be the easy bit.

So, I would like to wish all the runners this weekend good luck – whether you are a first time runner or a marathon veteran.  I will be out to support and cheer you all on.

Good luck and remember to enjoy it!

Warming up

Picture by hisashi_0822

“You ever see a lion limber up before it takes down a gazelle?”

“Huh... well, have you...” say the anti-warm up brigade as they jab you in the ribs, smug in the apparent impenetrable logic of their argument.

To start off with, well, no, I haven’t.  A lot of this answer owes to the fact that I have never seen a lion in the wild though, and zoos tend to separate them.

Secondly, I believe this is a quote from Zombieland.  As important as I believe zombie films are to the cultural richness of our society, I don’t tend to use them as a scientific source of reference (except when planning my zombie apocalypse survival strategy obviously).

Also, I find that lions don’t tend to sit in one position for 8+ hours slumped over a computer, or spend evenings slouched in front of a TV.  As a result postural defects, chronically tight muscles and activity related injuries are unsurprisingly more common in the species that do.

Finally, they are cats.  If they are anything like the cats I have come across, stretching is not uncommon.  It is just an everyday thing they do, as they meander around demanding food and taking your seat to have another nap on.

So, why should we warm up?

Firstly, to get your joints moving.  Bones rubbing against each other stimulates the release of synovial fluid, which is like the oil that keeps the joint running smoothly.  This movement also causes friction which generates heat to warm up the synovial fluid.  The fairly viscous fluid then becomes increasingly free flowing.  As a result the joint will suffer less wear, and you can gradually build up the range of movement while warming up.

You also start to raise your pulse rate, and allow your heart time to gradually increase how much blood it pumps out.  Particularly if you are newer to exercise, you will also avoid placing undue strain on your heart by gradually increasing intensity.

Blood vessels start to dilate, allowing an increase in blood carrying nutrients and oxygen to the muscles in preparation for the workout.  The blood will also increase the temperature in the muscles, which will allow nerve impulses to travel faster to and from the muscles.  This is especially important for activities requiring motor skills.

The stretching component allows you to start moving muscles to their full range.  These stretches should only be held for 6-10 seconds, as you don’t want to start cooling down too much while doing them.  The aim isn’t to develop flexibility, this is getting the muscles moving and also allows you to feel where any tightness is in your body before you start anything more strenuous, and so can be mindful of potential injuries.

A standard warm up usually takes less than 5 minutes.  Use this time to guard against injuries, and really get the most out of your workout.  

If you are not sure what to do - try this routine to get you started that I put together with Champion. 

Is there more to life than being really, really ridiculously good looking?

As a bit of a change recently I have been working with Champion to put together online training guides and show off some of their new season’s collection.  My plan was to have a customisable series of guides that can be combined to create a great and varied workout programme.  As with most of the training I do, it is based around using your own body weight, so no expensive and unnecessary equipment or gym memberships are needed.

I enjoyed putting the guides together, which was similar to how I usually work, although with no specific client in mind, the focus was on good generalised training.  The photo shoot bit was a bit of a different ball game though, and very different to what I usually get up to in a day.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the modelling side.  Should I start practicing pointing and gazing into the distance?  Do I need to work on ‘the look’?

So, the day of the shoot we gathered in Greenwich, ready to go... apart from the camera still being in north London.  So my introduction to this new life was sitting drinking tea – I felt I had sufficient previous experience in this area, and so felt I could start to settle into this new life.

We sat and looked outside, shocked that no only was it not snowing, there was also what could only be described as blue sky – something that had started to fade into myth.  Something that people had started to talk about in darkened corners, of the days before the endless winter had started.

We walked towards the park in good spirits, as I chatted about the local area with the photographer who had never had the fine fortune of spending time in Greenwich before.  I was still sporting a slight limp following my 100 mile run a few days earlier, so progress was a bit slow.  This also led to the thought that some of the exercises might present a bit more of a challenge than I had anticipated in the original planning phase a few weeks previously.

However the faint blue sky hadn’t stop the arctic chill, and so once the standing around in Greenwich Park started, there was a constant dive back into a jacket between shots.  Standing around in on a blustery morning suddenly didn’t feel very glamorous.  Thankfully the second part was off shooting in a studio, which made standing around in a t-shirt a bit more comfortable.

All in all, it was a fun day, and I was pleased that my legs didn’t seize up mid-lunge.  I am not sure the life of a model is for me, but I am really pleased with how the guides are coming together.  They will be coming to snapguides soon – check them out, and let me know how you get on.

Thames Path 100

As it turned out it wasn’t a 100 mile run from Richmond to Oxford due to the Thames bursting its banks in some areas.  So in the end it was a run from Richmond to Cookham, back a bit, back again and then turn around for the finish in what was around 102 miles (bonus miles, that we wouldn’t even have to pay for, as they referred to them in the briefing).

The main aim was to complete the run, but truly I wanted to do it in under 24 hours.  There were many concerns going into the race.  The weather looked awful, and waking up seeing heavy snow and sleet – my heart sank.  However, as the start approached though the snow began to ease off.

The first 22 miles felt good.  It was a bit wet underfoot in places, but I was 45 minutes up on the plan and feeling fairly comfortable.  The next section was just 6 miles, and then a quarter of it was done – how hard could it be?

It was horrible.  Wet and skiddy, with the added benefit of a narrow section of not only jarring your legs as you skidded on the track, but also had a handy barbed wire fence next to it to catch your fall when you did go.  My exuberance started to wane a little.

The course was re-routed as the track got worse the further up you went, and we still had another 10 mile section out after we got through this horror show.  Also, as it was an out and back course, we would have to run this section again twice – and almost certainly in darkness.

Arriving at Windsor the water underfoot took a turn to the ridiculous.  However, the next section was practically some of the easiest track of the course, and the world seemed to get a little better again.

My trusty support was on hand on the return to Windsor as darkness descended (she had planned on surprising me in Oxford at the finish, only to find that the course had changed).  I think willingness to stand in a muddy field at night to see you for a few minutes is surely one of the highest forms of love.  This was the only check point I took my time at.  The lift in morale was incredible and I felt ready to attack the horror section again.

I changed into my trail shoes to get a better grip, and headed off.  It soon became apparent that the batteries in my head torch were dying.  With a quick check I also found my back up torch had completely given up.  My quick check of both before hand now seemed incredibly stupid.  I stuck as close to other runners for as much as I could to try and get some light, but it really felt that a couple of AAA batteries could be the reason I would be unable to finish.

Neither of the next 2 check points had any available.  Just when I was giving up hope and thinking if I could go on, a fellow runner got me some spares from his support crew.  With that little hiccup sorted, I felt on top of the world again.

At 80 miles I was feeling pretty incredible.  Knowing that I could crawl the rest and still finish, and that barring any disasters I should make it in under 24 hours.  I couldn’t believe how fresh I was feeling and thought I could skip the rest of it.

As is usual in any ultra event though, this didn't last.  Like being slapped in the face with a wet fish, the reality check was sudden and unpleasant.  My energy levels were dropping, my legs were starting to seize up, and the last 15 miles were arduous.  But now it was just a case of gritting my teeth and trudging forward until the finish.  These miles felt long and slow, but at least the sun was coming back up now.

My final finishing time was 22:39:30, in 29^th place.  I was delighted.

It was an incredible race, and although it would stretch the truth to say I loved every minute, it was a great to be back out there again.