ethicalrunner

running firenze 2010

Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010

You've got to love christmas holidays.  Its the only time we get to switch off entirely, summer holidays too often are spent with one eye on the phone / email, but christmas holidays, the office is closed and our clients are mainly on holidays.  So the last few days have been spent hanging out with the kids, seeing family and generally pigging out.  The two eldest kids have reached 6 & 8, so we finally gave in and bought a Wii for christmas. Cue much giddy excitement (mainly from me).  I got the Wii and a fit board plus with it.  The fit board didn't pull any punches in telling me i am overweight. I knew i had put on a few pounds when injured and after the marathon but i'm 78Kg now and my target weight is 67Kg, i've given myself 6 months to achieve it and hopefully by cutting out the bad stuff - which for me is mainly dairy, beer and crisps  i can get down to a good running weight before the dungarvan 10 and have it optimal for Connemara Half Marathon in April. The other big development is that my A Goal race will be The Venice Marathon on the 24th of October 2009. What's even better is that the entry for it was bought for me by Siobhan as my christmas present. Having someone buy you a marathon entry is nerve-racking but she picked a good one! Its a point to point race that starts in the village / town of stra and winds its way through countryside to venice, there is then a 4km bridge into Venice from the mainland, before having to cross 14 bridges over the last few KM's. The bridges are ramped to allow for a gradient less than 8% but still i'm sure my quads won't be too happy to see them. There is a 2:50 pacer as well. Its been probably 8 years since we were last in Venice, and i can't wait to go back.  The marathon entry finally puts some structure on the coming year - focus on shorter 10K - 21K distances until June or so and then switch to a marathon training programme for Venice. I know its a long way away, put my ideal situation would be to hit that sub 2:50 in Venice. I'm very content with 2009, this time last year i was only prepping myself for Connemara training, i was still smoking and running ad-hoc, in the 12 months since i've done the two marathons, two half marathons, two 10k's and six other road races and one cross country race. The running highlight of my year was Connemara, a feeling of pure elation running and finishing that - yet Florence was the more satisfying run.  The biggest downer of the year was the 6 weeks of injury, yet it probably made Florence that bit more satisfying. My 2010 resolutions - lose 10kg before venice - stay injury free - become in someway flexible - develop some kind of core / upperbody strength - run some imra races - try a track race or two - keep on running :-)

Turning marathon fitness into 10K PR's

I came across this running times article today on building on marathon training to get good results in shorter races. The five steps are: 1. recover well 2. add intensity before mileage (hit 60-80%) of marathon mileage within 6 weeks 3.  Build race specific training on the track 4. add mileage 5. go race. Post-Marathon Workout Suggestions

Week 1: NO workouts! Just easy walking and light jogging.
 Week 2: No hard workouts! Easy running only.
 Week 3: Surge workout: 4 to 5 x 3 minutes at a medium effort (tempo run effort) with 3-minute recovery jog between each.
 Week 4: Surge workout: 4 to 5 x 3 minutes at a medium-hard effort (10K tempo run effort) with 2-minute recovery jog between each.
Week 5: Track time! 5 to 7 x 800 meters (two laps) at goal 5K race pace with 400 meters (one lap) recovery jog.
 Week 6: Track time! 8 to 10 x 400 meters (one lap) with 200 meters recovery jog.

Easy 5 miles

Up bright and early this morning for an easy 5 miles in freezing conditions. I wore the headtorch, tights, hat, glove and long sleeve top and was still cold. However, pushed it up the big hill and kept up effort on the way back - got home in time for breakfast with the kids before work. Total: 5 miles @ 35:48. Pace 7:11 HR: 159

Back on the road

Having been laid up with a chest infection since the 4th of December, I haven't run since the marathon until today. On Sunday, the european cross country championships were held in santry in Dublin. I headed up to have a look and got there in time to see the junior mens, both u23 and senior races. It was pretty much a perfect day for xcountry, bright and dry with heavyish ground. The races were really good and i thought the Turkish Girl hayder and the French winner of the boys u23 looked hugely impressive. In the senior races the Irish women's team were in bronze medal position until it all fell apart on the last lap with deirdre byrne going from near top 10 to 48th or something in one lap. I saw her with about 500m to go and she was barely moving, a total blow up, I wonder how she let that happen? In the senior mens fagan and cragg were meant to shine and hope that ledwith and one other would support. The start was frantic and someone fell early and impeded fagan. As they went by us after 500m, cragg and fagan were already off the pace and Mark Keneally was close to the lead. As the race developed, cragg and fagan drifted further back whilst kennelly held his position. He finished 8th in the end and could barely stand at the end, great performance. Afterwards I called into my brother and his family in Griffith avenue for a feed before heading homewards. I've taken the last two weeks to set new goals for 2010. I've shelved the idea of doing the Connemara Ultra in favour of shorter distances for the first six months. My thinking is that by focusing on races from 10k to half marathon for the first 6 months I'll gain speed and strength to which I can then add endurance for a go at a marathon in the autumn or early winter. So my goals for 2010 are: Sub 80 half marathon Sub 60 10 mile Sub 36 10k Sub 28:30 5 mile I've signed up for the Connemara half and a half marathon in Kildare in June. I got out for a run this evening 45min easy, felt great.

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the days after..

Sunday has taken a little bit more out of me than i expected.  I didn't pick up too much collateral damage, other than two toenails on the left foot are on the way out (blisters under toenails is never a good thing) and i think my right ITB needs a little work. The only other side effect is fatigue - every night so far after the kids go down, i've fallen asleep on the couch withing 20 minutes.I've also picked up the inevitable cold. Still can't impinge on the feeling of satisfaction with the weekend. I'm going to prepare some kind of plan for the next few months this evening, i've identified a few targets to reach and i've connemara booked in already. I'm thinking this might be the year of all kinds of everything, just trying out new distances and types of running while building better all round fitness.

Ex-Asics shoemaker to the stars seeks to follow in own footsteps

Ex-Asics shoemaker to the stars seeks to follow in own footsteps
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Hitoshi Mimura, 61, a master shoemaker who retired from sporting goods company Asics

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Corp. in March, has started his own brand called M Lab and opened a workshop in Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture, in July.

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Mimura, whose clientele include top athletes such as Seattle Mariners star Ichiro Suzuki and gold medal marathoners Naoko Takahashi and Mizuki Noguchi, set up his own venture with the view of making "much better shoes."

The workshop on the banks of the Kakogawa River was once used as a printing plant.

Mimura has eight employees who turn out three to five pairs of shoes a day.

"We had to start from scratch and it was heartbreaking to have to tell our clients to wait," he said.

The workshop will start by specializing in shoes for marathon runners and joggers and later make footwear for baseball players and golfers.

Mimura had considered staying at Asics, where he worked on a temporary basis, but decided to become independent.

"My values were different from the company's, so I decided to go my own way," he said.

One of his major tasks is to find top-quality materials for his products.

"Previous business partners have been blocked (from doing business with me) by my former company, but there are many manufacturers that are willing to cooperate with us, so I'm confident we can make unbeatable items," Mimura said.

He is offeri ng the first pair of shoes for free with additional pairs to sell for about ¥20,000.

But some analysts say the workshop's limited production capacity raises doubts about its long-term profitability.

"We will collaborate with others when the opportunity arises," he said, noting that seven or eight companies have already approached the workshop about becoming sponsors. It plans to conclude deals with three or four of them soon.

Mimura's skills are highly regarded in the industry, but some are taking a wait-and-see stance toward M Lab.

"No compromise can be made with shoes. I'll reserve judgment until I see the products themselves," said one observer.

The workshop had hoped to put its shoes through their paces with runners at the world marathon championships in Berlin

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on Sept. 20, but there wasn't enough time for testing.

Mimura's main problem now is finding top runners who will give his shoes a try.

An official at Asics said the company has been receiving a positive response from athletes, despite the fact that the maker of the shoes is different. "After all, it's up to the athletes themselves whether they want to buy the carefully produced shoes of Mi-san (Mimura)," said Noguchi's manager, Nobuyuki Fujita.

Mimura's shoes feature lines combining his initials, H and M.