… and more on getting old, but not getting frail

I had a busy racing weekend recently.  I marshalled at our club’s excellent cross country event on the Saturday then ran a half marathon the next day.

The cross country was a great event with races for juniors from under 13 right up to the vets where I don’t think there’s an age limit.  I was stationed up in the woods at the highest part of the course.  When they got to me the runners had been climbing for almost half a mile so I got to see many knackered people striving hard to stay strong hoping their legs would carry them round the rest of the course…. until they had to go round again and up the hill for the second, third or fourth time.

I was struck how amazing the older people were.  All these ladies in their 50s, 60s and possibly more were a) still running b) still racing and c) still racing cross country which is So Tough.  And in the men’s race there were even more older chaps.

What was even more gob-smacking was the number of people, including some of the older people, who then raced the half marathon the next day. Who says running’s bad for you?! I really hope I’m still racing when I’m in my seventies.

Oh, and the chap (one of the older ones) who brought up the rear in the mens race in the cross country was out spectating and cheering at the half marathon. He was the most energetic and noisy spectator out there!  His wife was out cheering, too.  Wonder if she was racing in the ladies’ team?  They were awesome and clearly not tired after the exploits of the day before.

Strictly pilates

I’m thrilled that Strictly Come Dancing has started again.  Over the years the sequins have gradually sucked me in to the point where I can’t miss an episode and will even try to watch It Takes Two on weekday evenings at 6.30.

One of the aspects of the programme that fascinates me is the athleticism involved.  In the first few weeks the celebs always say how exhausted they are from the training (although some of them are continuing full time jobs as well which must be an enormous challenge) and it’s obviously very demanding.  Then, as the weeks progress, they get fitter and stronger and increasingly able to deal with the training load.  They all lose loads of weight too (Rory Bremner lost two inches off his waist by week 2 this series).

The judges give feedback about the celebs’ posture and if you listen carefully they often make comments about how their core strength needs boosting.  I have to say, I could really go for some dancing lessons to boost core strength instead of pilates. I love my pilates sessions and am certain that it helps me stay much more niggle-free than I used to be, and am constantly recommending it to clients with a variety of postural or sporting problems.  But the idea of combining it with another form of movement really appeals. Ballet, for example.

I ought to try Zumba, too,  to see what all the fuss is about.  I understand that gives a good core work out - I’m sure all dance-based exercise classes do.  But there’s something about the control required for ballet and ballroom which appeals to me as a core-building thing.

If you’ve never tried pilates or any sort of core strength training I urge you to find a class double quick.  I think it should be compulsory!  Buy a DVD if you can’t easy get to a class.  Or splash out on a few one to one sessions to get to grips with what you need to do so that you could work safely and effectively on your own - or that DVD.  It’ll help improve (or remove) all sorts of musculo-skeletal problems, keep you upright and tall (which helps to make you look younger, slimmer and more confident) and keeps you supple and strong well into the later decades.

I saw a TV programme recently featuring a marvelous 100-and-something year old lady from New York City. She was terrific - sprightly, energetic and youthful. And they showed her morning routine - about 20 mins of exercises which looked very like many of the exercises and stretches we do in Pilates and yoga.  I must say, if it can help that lady move around as brilliantly as she did at her age… it has to be good.

Tags: ballet, core strength, dancing, endurance, pilates, strength, stretching

Back to a bit of speed training

Well, shock horror - I’ve been doing some quality running sessions!  I’ve never been a fast runner - especially when I compare myself to my esteemed club mates at Winchester & District AC - but whatever speed I ever had from training for marathons has gone, since I’ve been training for ironman races.  And yes, you do do speed training for marathons!

Anyway, after about six weeks off to recover from Ironman Regensberg in August, I’ve been putting in some effort to run harder over shorter distances rather than constantly churning out long slow runs.

And it’s started to work I think. I did the Solent Half Marathon yesterday and did my fastest time for a couple of years… although it’s still a time I’d have been horrified at three years ago.  It wasn’t a completely flat course and I felt fairly comfy all the way round so the ‘good’ result has encouraged me to keep up the shorter, sharper stuff to see if I can do a half decent effort at the Lordshill 10 mile race next month.  I might even dip my toe into the muddy waters of cross country racing…  now that’s really great training all round.

So far I’ve done a couple of hill sessions at Farleigh Mount, a couple of  tempo pyramids  (a continuous pyramid of jog, steady, threshold, steady, then jog) and a couple of threshold sessions.    It’s quite nice going out and knowing that the payback for working hard is getting back home earlier.

My next challenge is to try to make my training a bit more efficient and see if, over the winter, I might be able to participate in the sessions I coach on a Tuesday night.  They’re tough, but all on grass which means my knee will have half a chance of behaving itself.  But it means I can’t offer the same level of coaching to club members if I’m running rather than timing and encouraging.  We’ll see.

Tags: cross country, ironman, race, running, training, Winchester & District AC