Trent Park Running Club Quarterly Review
Transcription
Trent Park Running Club Quarterly Review
Trent Park Running Club Quarterly Review Park Life 11th Edition - April 2013 January to March 2013 Email: [email protected] www.trentparkrc.org Guest Editor: Dawn Limbert Publisher – Chas Taylor Sunday League & Relay Wins Cheer Trent Park The culmination of the cross country season brought great success with an unexpected retaining of the Sunday League title and this time it was a clean sweep with not only the men’s title but also the overall team challenge. As well as this the men’s first team went on to win the Chingford League Relays. The win in the Sunday League was achieved not only because of the star runners at the top of the rankings but also by the great turn out all the way down the ability range. We only just got ahead of St Albans Striders in the final Sunday League race at Watford. One major factor was the performance of Nick Sturge who was a new recruit and ended up being our first finisher at Watford, and also played a significant part in the relay win. We also had a couple of age group winners in the Sunday League with Scott Aiken running away with the vet 40 category and Chas Taylor winning the vet 60 age group. Well done everyone who took part in this cross country season. April 2013 - Trent Park Running Club This quarter has been plagued by more bad weather with lots of cancelled races and plenty of layers for training sessions. This has been a particular problem for those training for the Spring marathons. The marathon trainers have soldiered on and are now into the period of actually delivering on all the hard work. There will be plenty of coverage of these marathon exploits in the next issue of Park Life. We have had a good number of races in this period with Half Marathons a feature of those with many great results. I think the best thing to come from these races is the performances of the first timers. So many of our members, many of them fairly new to running, took on the Half Marathon for the first time. It is hard to pick out any of these runners for special mention but you all know who you are and you all did really well. At the faster end there were some great performances with some personal bests and age group wins. The Handicap has had a difficult period. The January Handicap had to be cancelled because of some sheet ice on the course. Apparently this is only the Page 1 continued from front page Cross-country runners your feedback is required... My First Marathon: 0 to 26 in 3 at 60 The recent inclement weather has raised a number of health and safety concerns that affect cross-country running, and as a result the Council for Running and Athletics Participation has drafted a set of proposed rules which will govern all officially administered cross-country races in England and Wales. These proposed guidelines would affect our League races from autumn 2013 so we would welcome your feedback on the proposals: I like numbers and music and poetry which seems to be a random thing at this point, but hold that thought for now. Course terrain The Council is concerned that there’s too much ‘country’ in many of the courses, with not enough hard-metalled surfaces on which runners can recover during their race. second time it has been cancelled. The February Handicap broke the record for the lowest entry and March, although having a slightly higher entry, was still fairly low. We must do what we can to build up the number of runners. April will see the new beginners group join so we will have a welcome boost. In spite of the low entries we did have some outstanding performances particularly from the improvers, as it should be. Finally I would like to honour the juniors who have had an outstanding season on the country. They won numerous trophies, too many to mention individually, but they have all had a great season. They are currently planning changes to the League(s) they enter next season but I am sure they will do equally well. The success of the Juniors is a real credit to Jan Bowman and her coaching team. They do an amazing job in developing these young athletes. New Members January to March Seniors James Durbin, Martin Kilbane, Nick Butcher, Phillip Ansell, Sophie Wilford (rejoined), Colum Sharkey, Nick Sturge, Michael Nicholson. Juniors Marco Kempster, Joey Malyon, Lydia Marsh. Page 2 Proposed solution: The Council proposes that at least 15% of the length of every race course is run on a hard metalled surface with a pavement at least 2 metres wide. This pavement should also be lit (with street lights complying with EU Directive 34/HJ765 standard). Unsurprisingly the recent wet weather has also caused concern about the amount of mud on some courses and measures are proposed to manage this issue: Proposed solution: No race can be run if more than 5% of the course contains a surface with a specific consistency of less than 0.78 Nions. Each Race Manager will need to check the course with a Nionometer (note – this proposal is expensive as a new Nionometer costs over £100,000. Perhaps we can share with Barnet?). Moreover there will be an outright ban on any races where frozen or semi-frozen precipitation has fallen within one week of the race date and within 30 Km of the race start point. courses. At some races marshals were only stationed where the Race Manager thought necessary. Proposed solution: In future marshals will be required every 100 metres along the length of the course and additionally at any place on the course where there is standing water deeper than 10 mm. Clothing The Council’s research showed an appalling lack of appropriate clothing worn by runners, including running shoes with dangerous spikes, shorts and shirts of inappropriate colour and an inconsistency of warm-down clothing. Proposed solutions: Shoes with spikes over 1mm to be banned (every runner will need to be inspected before racing). Club vests to show club name clearly in an agreed typeface. Wind-proof jackets to be worn by all runners when the race ambient temperature is below 5 degrees. By Charles Dadey It has been a couple of years since my previous piece in Park Life despite all the subtle nudges from our editor. Chas Taylor, wondering how Jane Studd got an article out of me, even tried winking and fluttering his eyelashes at me and there I was thinking something had got in his eye! The problem is that I write in the same way I run; it takes quite a while to get motivated and into my stride but the time has come now, to talk of many things; of running shoes and compression socks, of gps watches and isotonic drinks, of negative splits and even pacing, and preparing for my first marathon. It seems to be the longest, coldest, darkest winter in recent years. It certainly was the worst of times to be training for your first marathon. My initial enthusiasm was gradually eroded down to a tepid acceptance of my rash decision. If Elizabeth had changed her mind, I suspect I would gladly have packed it all in, but she was resolute! You know, as someone said, training is PAINFUL, it’s all PAIN! I clearly remember slogging my way round Oakwood Park in relentless snow because it was unsafe on the roads; 8 times round! Then there were The Council is keen for your input on these proposals including alternative solutions to the problems identifies. Please send your feedback to: [email protected] Infrastructure The Council has uncovered a worrying lack of infrastructure at the majority of races. Key problems included a lack of catering facilities, finish funnel ropes at the wrong height, dangerous Club banners, ‘Start’ and ‘Finish’ banners not translated into other languages, an absence of hot showers and start guns that contravene Noise Abatement Regulations. Proposal solutions: A range of hot and cold food to be available at all races over 2 km in length. Vegan and vegetarian options to be provided. Covered and heated spectator seating to be provided for minimum of 30 people. Finish funnel ropes to be one metre high and mauve in colour. ‘Start’ and ‘Finish’ banners to be translated into the languages most widely spoken within a 10 km radius of the race start. the numerous road runs on Sundays with Christerbel and Ekua to keep me going, for which I am very grateful. There was the time I lost an argument with a concrete bollard and ended up with a microscopic view of the pavement! I suppose everything has, or should have a beginning, middle and end but I am not sure when it began for me, as in a moment of momentary madness indicating the early onset of senility, I found that I had registered for the Brighton marathon. It may have been a “me too” reaction when Elizabeth decided to run a marathon. Or maybe I should chalk it up to Penny Cording and Trevor Jex for taking us through the first Beginner’s course. Later on however, I thought it would be a good thing to raise money for Cancer Research, as a tumour led to the removal of my right kidney in 2006. Now you know why I walk in that funny way. Oh, it’s kind of you to say you have not noticed anything strange about me. So, on to the middle bit: training, training and training and then more training, plus a bit more training! Quickly realising that our usual runs were inadequate, we followed Pat Moran, Martin Cullen, Foulla Green and others up to the top hill one Saturday morning to find Vin Patel holding court. Rubbing his hands with glee, he made us run in a figure of eight loop for 30 minutes followed 10 minutes of pendulum hills, then topped it with 3 sprints, and a squat! With some variations, this was more or less the Saturday routine, interspersed with press-ups, lunges and burpees (I like the name, not the exercise). Let’s say it again: burpee! On Mondays it was more of the same, with high-intensity core training on Tuesdays. Thursday evenings were easier in my opinion as we went running for about 1 hour at an even pace. Long Steady Runs, also known as Long Sunday Runs were introduced as well, with gradual increments. Once a week, each person would get a personalised text message from Vin with the schedule for that week. In my case, I started my buildup from 10 miles, increasing by 2 miles each week until 18 miles. Each additional mile was a personal triumph for me so at 16 miles I celebrated in music with my own version of Sixteen Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford: Some people say a man is made outta mud A runner’s made outta muscle and blood Muscle and blood and skin and bones A mind that’s a-strong and legs that are weak You run sixteen miles, what do you get? Another day older and aching bones Saint Peter don’t you call me ‘cause I can’t go I owe my soul to the marathon bug! Marshalling The Council found a severe and potentially dangerous lack of marshals at nearly all April 2013 - Trent Park Running Club April 2013 - Trent Park Running Club The best experience for me was when, as part of the training and not knowing what to expect, I entered the Roding Valley half-marathon on the day (3 March) and managed to get round in 2 hours 13 minutes. Now, that felt good! The nightmare bit was when I developed an excruciating pain in my right foot which brought me to a standstill. After a week I went to see the GP who diagnosed gout. To make it worse, he dispelled my misconception that it was an affliction of the rich; just about anyone can get gout. What an inglorious name! Some people have Morton’s Neuroma or Plantar Fasciitis. I mean, just look at that double ‘i’ in fasciitis! That rolls off the tongue with some verbal panache! And now, not quite the end until the fat lady sings. I must say that there has been boundless encouragement from TPRC members; comparing notes, swapping advice and meeting on the River Lea on Sundays. It is a great friendly club so let’s keep it that way. The poetic end? I must go down to Brighton anon, for the call of the marathon is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a sunny day with the white clouds flying, and the cheering crowds and the sea-gulls crying. (John Masefield) At 60, it has taken me almost 3 years to get to the 26-mile run along the Brighton seafront, starting from 0 in Trent Park. I wonder what Carol Vorderman would make of those numbers! Good heavens! I have just received a challenging sponsorship offer from a work colleague: 10p a minute for every minute under 7 hours, 20p a minute for every minute under 6 hours and 40p a minute for every minute under 5 hours. !!!!! Page 3 Monsieur Sanger’s Holiday Get Out On The Trails By Dawn Limbert, Registered Osteopath By Steve Harrison The month of January proved difficult for me as the snow landed making running on the roads difficult so I had to do more trail running. For me this is what running is all about. It’s a chance to escape from running on the roads, and it provides the opportunity to run in an environment closer to that in which humans evolved to run. Whilst running in the natural environment can be great for the mind and soul, it is also good for the body! Seven Trent Park members recently went on a fantastic cycling holiday to Jordan, visiting Petra and Wadi Rum. John Sanger was one of the people, and here are several “John Sanger” stories that amused the holiday group, and I’m sure people who know him at TP will also find very amusing. The “Police” Incident Because of the current troubles in the Middle East, all tourist parties in Jordan over 10 people have a police escort when on the road. When we were cycling down to the Dead Sea, John, in his haste to be at the front of the pack, had his head down pedaling as fast as he could, and completely missed the large signpost and the guide shouting and pointing to him to turn left. So the guide sent the police escort after him, with sirens and blue lights flashing, and they eventually stopped him a few miles down the road and brought a very sheepish John back to the rest of the group, who were in fits of laughter. The “Beatles” Incident The group had stopped in the desert for some lunch. One of the guides put the bike truck stereo on. Hotel California by the Eagles was playing…..a great song known by everyone (except John), and several of the girls next to John were singing along. John turned to one and said “So you like the Beatles then……….?” The girls just fell about laughing. The “Angela” Incident John called one of the ladies “Angela” for the first three days of the holiday. Her name was actually Claire! The “Room Safe” Incident John’s roommate set the code into the safe. John goes to use the safe, and punched in the code, and stood there waiting for the safe door to open like magic. He waited a long time before he realized he had to open the door himself. The “Bedouin Camp” incident John took a shine to one of the girls on the trip. When we stayed overnight in the Bedouin Camp in Wadi Rum, where there was no light, John turned to the girl and said “you look very nice in the dark.....” Needless to say, this didn’t get him very far. The “Makeover” incident One of the other girls had been talking with Page 4 John about spa weekends in luxurious hotels. As John said goodbye to her at the airport, he said “Don’t forget to get yourself a makeover…….” Needless to say, this didn’t go down well with the lady. The “Blackberry” incident As we are about to board the plane, John turns in a panic and says he’s lost his blackberry phone. He rushes back with one of the others to Security where he thinks he last saw it, but no sign of it. He returns dejected and miserable, and boarded the plane. Later he opens his duty free bag of sweets and chocolate, to find the missing Blackberry. The “Snorkeling” incident When the group went in the Red Sea snorkeling, John stood dejected on the back of the boat, as he cannot swim. John decides he’s not going to miss out, and dons a wet suit and a life jacket, and gets the assistance of one of the ladies to help him into the water. He managed to not swallow too much sea water in his bid to snorkel. The “Presentation” incident At the end of the holiday, John was asked to present the tips to the cycling guides. John says to the main man, who is a champion tri-athlete, ‘I’m upset because you beat me to Aquaba, but I bet I can beat you at running’. John then runs for 100m as fast as he can, thinking the guide was behind him. The guide didn’t move, he just stood there laughing at John. The “Bedouin Shampoo” incident In Wadi Rum, the locals showed us how they make soap by crushing one of the desert plants. John asked if it made hair grow back, so the Bedouins held him down and rubbed the crushed plants in to his bald head. April 2013 - Trent Park Running Club deal with the impact of road running come the day of your marathon. Also running on hard surfaces tends to be faster than running on softer surfaces. As with many aspects of training, it’s ultimately about getting the balance right. Taking precautions Whilst off road training can be interesting and may decrease the risk of developing overuse injuries, there is a greater risk of traumatic type injuries from falls or from twisting an ankle. If a runner has a history of spraining their ankle in the past, there is an even higher risk of injuring it again. This is because spraining your ankle affects the proprioception in your ankle joint. Proprioception is the brain’s ability to tell where the body’s joints are located in space. There are special nerve-endings in muscles, joints and ligaments which detect movement. These often become damaged in the ankle when it is sprained. This affects the ability to maintain stability of the ankle when running or walking, particularly on uneven surfaces. The good news is that it is often possible to improve proprioception by performing balancing exercises. If you are not experienced at running off-road, or you have a history of ankle sprains, it is strongly advisable that you do some proprioception training before running on more challenging surfaces. Look out for my next article in which I will provide advice on how to train the proprioception of your ankles and lower limbs. Leaping into Trail If you haven’t done any trail running before and you would like to give it a go, I suggest that you start with less technically challenging terrains in good light conditions. As you build your experience and grow more comfortable with uneven surfaces, you can progressively try more challenging routes and even night time trail running. Happy running! Trail running provides the body with a very different experience from road running and should therefore form part of every runner’s training programme. Every time your foot strikes the ground during running, the impact causes forces to be absorbed by the body’s joints. The harder the running surface, the greater the forces absorbed by your body. Over time, these forces can cause wear and tear to the body’s tissues resulting in injury. Trail surfaces tend to be softer than most man-made surfaces and running on them tends to have less impact on a runner’s body, which can lessen the risk of overuse injuries. Running is a very repetitive action so we inevitably place the same forces on the same areas of the body over and over again. This tends to happen more so with road running which usually involves running predominantly in a straight line. Trail running tends to be much more varied, given that trails often have a mixture of gentle and sharp bends. There are often roots or other obstacles which require the runner to side-step or change the stride length in order to avoid them. The changes in direction and stride length vary the forces placed on the joints and muscles and prevent the runner from continuously over-loading any one specific area of the musculoskeletal system. Challenging terrain can also be good for the mind. As you are running a trail, you have to constantly assess the terrain ahead of you, keeping the mind occupied and engaged. If you are a runner putting in a high number of miles for a longer event such as a marathon, you should perform at least some of your training miles offroad. This will lessen the cumulative impact forces experienced by your body. However, there are some advantages to doing some road running if training for a marathon, given that most marathons take place on roads. If you perform all your training miles off-road, you may find that your body is not strong enough to April 2013 - Trent Park Running Club Page 5 Here Comes the Marathon By Christine Hawker one of them. A lot people have decided to run for the challenge. days and one person who sometimes runs twice a day. “An off the cuff comment! I had just done one of those off road knee deep in mud 10 mile “Fun” races. Flicking through my goody bag there was a leaflet for the Dublin Marathon which happened to be on my birthday. I said that would be an interesting way to spend a birthday, and the next think I knew we were booking flights and accommodation.” “I typically run 5 or 6 days a week, and maybe run twice on 2 of those days. Although I count football / squash as running (I’ll do around a mile warm up and cool down for these as well as the amount done during the game).” “I was initially inspired by the late Jane Tomlinson. She ran a full marathon whilst battling cancer, that morning I was sitting eating my breakfast having done nothing and it made me realise if she’s doing that, what the hell was I doing sitting on my bum doing nothing!?” Which marathon did you choose? There are mostly London and Edinburgh entered but Brighton, Manchester, Berlin, Paris, Belfast and Milton Keynes as well. I have entered Halstead this time round. “Edinburgh as I didn’t get into London then I won entry into London so I’m doing both! “ “I started with London in 1998. A painful experience and it was a month before I could run again. This year I ran the Braintree Boggle in February, a brutal experience sliding around the muddy edges of fields, in bitterly cold winds. In March the Steyning Stinger, big hills over the South Downs. Then a week later a PB running 105.5 laps of Telford athletics track. I don’t have anything else lined up yet, but I fully expect to run another marathon in April.” How did you choose on what training plan to use and where did you get it from? Vin Patel has quite a following of marathon runners in training and Runner’s World is a popular place to get a schedule from. I first decided to run a marathon in late 2011, a friend persuaded me to join him on a marathon (his second, my first). We chose the Brathay Windermere marathon in May 2012 as I thought the scenery would take my mind off the pain. I used a three day a week plan I got from a Runner’s World forum but developed trouble with my knee nine weeks before the event, after a longest run of eighteen miles. I went into the race not knowing if I would be able to complete it or not. I did and really enjoyed it. This was all before I joined any running club and my runs were all done on my own. I wondered what other peoples marathon experiences were like. Because of this I put a series of questions together and shown below are some of the responses. What made you decide to run a marathon? I was surprised by the number of people who have a list of things they want to do in their life and running a marathon is Page 6 “I’m using Vin’s programme. He texts me every week to tell me what to do and we report all our times back to him and let him know if we are feeling unwell / injured etc. It was an easy decision as he has helped loads of runners at the club and they have achieved great results. I’ve also improved a lot since following his programme.” “Looked at a few and chose one designed by James Joy, which I’m following avidly and quite “enjoying” so far!” “I used a beginner program from the internet for someone wanting to run sub 4 hours. At the time I wasn’t a regular runner and the 4 hour goal was the obvious benchmark. Now I have to work out my own plan as my training needs are more unique.” How many runs do you do in a week on average? This varies from about three to seven April 2013 - Trent Park Running Club “Approx. four, maybe five. Depends what other training I have to fit in.” What is the longest training run you are scheduled to do and how long before the main event is it? The ultra-runners have varying lengths of runs depending on what race is coming next but of the marathon runners most seem to favour 20 or 22 miles between 5 and 3 weeks before the race. “If I am training for myself I would do a couple of 26 milers but the Runner’s World one is 22 miles, 4 weeks before” “One hour. I rarely run for more than an hour, except in races. Before I marathon I find a short, fast run (30-45 minutes) three days before, feels right. Other than that I’ll try and avoid too much running in the week leading up to a marathon.” Do you train mainly with other people, on your own or with music? There is a mixture of with others and alone but most people prefer no music. “I predominantly train on my own as my run to and from work makes up the bulk of my training. Despite being a big music fan I prefer to run without it.” “Mixture. Listen to radio 4 instead of music as I am a boring old F???. I have adapted my head phones so they only have 1 ear piece so I can still hear what is going on around me.” What do you find the hardest about the training? There is a common theme of cold dark mornings with many people for this one. few races to ensure that I carry on!!! And maybe to complete a marathon every decade…so the next one will be when I’m 40!?! Who knows?” “The long runs towards the end of training when your body can get tired (particularly if it is raining).” “This will be my last marathon? (oh no it won’t!!)” “A Forty Hall 12-miler in deep fresh snow.” “The beginning or the first few miles before I get into my stride” “May be tears of joy!” “I like running along footpaths and in the woods away from traffic and people. There is a great route from Trent Park to Northaw along footpaths.” What do your friends and family think about you running a marathon? Most family and friends are proud of the runners but think they are mad. “I target the hills so anywhere hilly I would say is my favourite not necessarily the easiest” “Bit of annoyance from family that I am doing this AGAIN, but also some pride in my achievements. Some friends just don’t understand how I can run this sort of distance and think that I am “superfit”! (I wish!).” What has been your favourite training route so far? There are quite a variety of routes though the river Lea sounds quite popular partly because it is flat. What do you like best about the training? “Running with friend. Have some interesting discussions beats sitting in the pub getting unfit having the same sort of chats.” “So many great people at the club to train with or get good advice from, and a great source of inspiration.” “They’ve always been supportive, my mum is super cool, she knew I had a favourite meal the night before my long run and without fail she’d always make it for me! Much to my father’s annoyance!” “The long runs. I enjoy the solitude and time to think and the satisfaction at having covered so many miles. I did a 20 miler before I became ill.” Have you promised yourself anything when you cross the finish line and if so what? There are an interesting list of things here and a few people who just can’t quite kick the marathon habit. “Eating afterwards!!!” “To continue running! I have booked a April 2013 - Trent Park Running Club “Yes but not telling!” I hope Julie and Shannanigans get back up to full speed soon and good luck to everyone else taking part in their marathons (at the time I am writing this none of them have been run yet) I look forward to hearing all about them. Many thanks to Fez Huseyin, Martin Morgan, John Rose, Rosemary Bains, Charles Dadey, Christine Prescott, Luke Bowie, James Joy, Foulla Green, Elizabeth Dadey, Ian Ellis, Christerbel Mate, George Georgiou, Shannanigans Pearce, Nick Butcher, Chas Taylor, Adrian Pugh, Leeanne Waller, Kerry Anyim, Lucy Owen and Julie Norton for taking part. A full set of the survey results and names attributable can be found on the Club website (www.trentparkrc.org). There will be a follow up article in the next Park Life covering the actual experiences. Page 7 Sunday League Champions In Pictures In the final Sunday League race of the season, held at Watford on 17th February Trent Park had a great turn out of runners and had a surprise win and with that cleaned up for the season. I say surprise, which I think it was, but it was the result of detailed planning and effort in getting the biggest number of runners taking part. It is important to have runners at every level doing their stuff and contributing right down the list of finishers. See on this couple of pages some images from across the whole Sunday League season. Page 8 April 2013 - Trent Park Running Club April 2013 - Trent Park Running Club Page 9 Foulla’s Young Athlete Competition 9 13 15 14 You see here pictures of many of our finest athletes in earlier times. Don’t they look like a wonderful bunch, but how did they all turn out. The competition is to match the names of the members shown below to the pictures of our members as babies/ young children. We did consider publishing pictures of them as they are now, but apart from that being even more work to put together, it might be good for you to put names to faces as they are now before trying to match the 1 baby picture. Please don’t go round asking people which baby picture is them. A competition entry form is available to be downloaded from the Club website at www.trentparkrc.org. You never know there might be a prize for the best entry, but then again there may not, and the qualification for ‘best’ might be open to interpretation. 17 16 2 10 19 20 22 23 18 3 11 21 25 24 4 7 5 Page 10 12 26 27 8 Pictures are of: Alice Campbell, Alison Ball, Catherine Turbett, Chas Taylor, Christine Hawker, Christine Prescott, David Arnold, Fez Huseyin, Foulla Green, Ian Ellis, Ian Johnson, Jill Atkins, Jill Jex, John Rose, Laurey Rankin, Len Edmonds, Malcolm Allen, Martin Cullen, Mick Green, Nick Butcher, Penny Cording, Rod Lanigan, Shannon Pearce, Stuart Manktelow, Sylvia Goodman, Tim Ryan. Trevor Jex. 6 April 2013 - Trent Park Running Club April 2013 - Trent Park Running Club Page 11 e p i c e R s Captain Cycling and back pain!!! by Dawn Alison Limbert Do you ever suffer from back pain during or after a bike ride? What do you do to prevent or cure it? Almond and Raspberry Madeira Cake Ingredients: Directions: 175g/6oz softened butter, 1. Preheat oven to 160c/gas mark 3/ fan 175g/6oz caster sugar together the butter and sugar in a bowl, 140c Line a deep 20cm cake tin. Cream then gradually beat in the eggs. 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2. Stir in the orange zest and the 3 eggs, lightly beaten, crumbled almonds. Sift the flours and Grated zest of 1 orange fold them in with the milk, then fold all 50g/2oz flaked almonds, crumbled, but 8 of the raspberries in. 3. Transfer to the cake tin and level. except a few for decoration Arrange the remaining raspberries and 100g/4oz plain flour, almonds on top. Bake for 1hr ¼ hours. 100g/4oz self-raising flour, Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then cool on a wire tray. Serve dusted with icing sugar. It will cut into 8 slices. 2 tbsp milk 200g/8oz raspberries Thanks to: Icing sugar for dusting. Good Food Modern British Cookery Bread Pudding Club We have made a donation of £50.00, to both to the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice of Barnet and the Nightingale Community Hospice of Enfield. Both these worthy causes not only help those who unfortunately suffer but also give a lot of support to their families. Thanks to all involved in these donations Jan & Pete Keep Running Page 12 Keep Eating Keep Giving As temperatures are hopefully going to rise in the next couple of months, please please please!!! And the daylight hours start to increase the amount of time in the saddle will start to mount up for the triathlon members of Trent Park. And while this is great for our cycling fitness we are going to be putting our bodies through a lot more strain. The chances of picking up an injury will therefore increase. One of the most common injuries in cycling is back pain. It is also one of the most prevalent injuries to all members of the UK population. Many cyclists believe that an aching back is part and parcel of cycling ‘no pain, no gain!!’ But there are a number of steps you can take to prevent it. It shouldn’t be part of the cycling experience. 1. Make sure you have the correct size bike. This sounds straight forward but a number of TP members have in the past been sold bikes that are too big, me included. When I did get the correct sized bike the difference in my cycling was amazing. 2. Get a bike fit done. With a saddle too high or low or handlebars too far to reach these will all put strain on your body especially your low back. While bike fits aren’t cheap they can be a very worthwhile investment. 3. Regular stretching will help but if you have a back injury it is important to do the right kind of stretching techniques as stretching badly can cause as many problems as not doing anything at all. Lack of flexibility in other areas, such as hamstring tightness also contributes to low back pain. Therefore invest in a roller or massage stick to help improve muscle tightness and make sure you use it on a regular basis. It shouldn’t live under the bed!! . 4. Core exercises. A strong set of core muscles will ensure that you stay steady in the saddle even when you are starting to tire at the end of a long ride and will limit the amount of rocking. This provides a stable platform for your glutes and hips to work from. 5. Get expert advice. While your GP is a good first port of call you may find that going to see someone who specialises in low back pain such as an Osteopath, Physiotherapist or Chiropractor makes good sense as they will help you get back to health much quicker. 6. Get one of the TP coaches to watch you while you ride and they can give you instruction on your cycling form and how it can be improved if needed. Finally, back pain isn’t part of cycling even for those training for longer cycling events such as Ironman. Prevention truly is the best form of treatment and by following the points above hopefully you will avoid it. April 2013 - Trent Park Running Club Paris Marathon Report By Anthony Plewes With the Paris Marathon fresh in my mind and the elusive sub-3:30 target smashed I thought I’d share my thoughts of the marathon, training and pacing. Hopefully it isn’t too self-indulgent. Paris 2013 was my fourth marathon and during the training through the long winter I kept asking myself why I was doing this to myself again. It was the second time I lined up on the Champs Elysees after my first marathon back in 2010. This time I was determined to break 3:30 after just missing out in monsoon-like conditions last year in Milton Keynes. Thankfully the weather looked perfect this year so it was all down to me. Pacing: Pacing is probably the most important factor in marathon success. Going out too fast in the heat of the moment has been the downfall of many a marathon runner, and I’m no exception. Marathon pace should feel relatively comfortable at the beginning of the race, but you have to keep it up for 26 miles. Of course, the converse also is true, if you go out too slowly then you might not be able to make up enough time in the latter period when you are inevitably tired. With a 1:32 half marathon PB set in Nov 2012, I should in theory be able to crack 3:30 with ease. Race pace calculators have typically fast conversions for the marathon, but they are based on doing more mileage than I do in training. Each marathon season I try to do a little more and this year I was peaking at 55 miles per week and averaging 42 in the 12 weeks before the marathon, including the taper and race. I managed to squeeze in four 20-mile runs, one of which included 10 miles at marathon pace. I was much more conservative than the pace calculator in my target, and with past experience, based on my training and 10K PB, I set my marathon pace at 7:35-7:45 min/mile. This would put me comfortably inside 3:30 even allowing for my Garmin measuring long and slowing at the end. To track the pace during the marathon, I split the race into four 10K races, with a target of 48 minutes each, which put me bang in that pace range. I pressed the lap button at the end of each 10K and had the pace set to “average for the lap”. This allowed me to run to my target without having to obsess about the pace for any particular mile, which is handy for drink April 2013 - Trent Park Running Club and toilet stops. I had a similar approach in Milton Keynes the previous year (using 5 mile splits) and it worked well then. The start: There is a baggage drop on Avenue Foch, in the finish area, but I didn’t use it. I just had some clothes that I discarded at the start. The race actually starts on the Champs Elysees on the other side of the Arc de Triomphe and has nine starting pens, including the elites. I was in the 3:30 pen, which turned out to be a poor choice, as I spent the entire race passing people. On reflection the 3:30 pen was for times 3:30-3:45, which was always going to be too slow for my target. The registration is not entirely clear on that point, so bear that in mind if you do the race. The route: The route is scenic and takes you around Place Concord and on to Rue Rivoli first, before taking in the Bastille and the Bois de Vincennes. It then loops back around, running alongside the Seine, past the Eiffel Tower and into the Bois de Boulogne before finishing on Avenue Foch. They have feed stations every 5km, with water (in screw-cap bottles) and food available including raisins, bananas, sugar cubes and orange segments (bizarrely). Some of the feed stations were a scrum and with spectators encroaching on the course at times, they were a little perilous. I think it’s best to go in, grab a bottle from a later table and move over to the other side of the road. For some reason there was hardly any sports drink available, just once at 22km I believe – and in cups. My race: My main problem in the race was congestion, which was unfortunately exacerbated by the staggered start. I seemed to spend the whole race weaving through the field and apologizing in broken French for what seemed like the whole race. I couldn’t find a group at a similar pace to run with, which would have made my task easier. Further, a lot of people were walking towards the end, which surprised me given the time I was targeting. The first 20K were comfortable and bang on target 47:58 & 47:59. The third 10K was starting to get harder as it got warmer, I got tired and the race went through all the tunnels by the Seine. However I knew that my wife and son were waiting at 29km to give me a boost, which helped me tick off the third 10km interval in 48:43. The final 10K split was predictably hard, but this is why we race marathons. If you are aiming to do the best of your ability in the marathon, the last six miles are going to be tough. What you have to ask yourself is how you deal with that toughness. Do you let it defeat you or can you transcend it? Thankfully I managed to hang on, focusing on my form and ensuring that my average pace didn’t go over about 7:55. It’s a little like a trance at this stage; you just keep putting one foot in front of the other and wait for the mile markers to come past. Despite having to stop to stretch out my calf once, this final 10K was ticked off in 49:36 and I knew the job was done. It was just a case of waiting for the 42km marker and hitting the gas to go for the line. Stopped the Garmin at 3:25:16 and walked extremely slowly through the funnel and up the road to a beer at a Parisian café in the sun with the family. Inevitably I am now planning my next assault on my long-term target on a GFA 3:15. San Sebastien in November 2014, perhaps? That way I can avoid the winter training hell. Tempting – very tempting. Best of luck to all of you still doing a marathon this year – I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Page 13 Chingford League Relays By Nathaniel Sampson Going into the last race of the season the Highams Park relays Trent Park Juniors were in a great position: William McArdle was second in the under thirteen boys, Jade Dos Santos was in first with a four point lead on second place in the under fifteen girls, Thomas McArdle was joint first in the under fifteen boys swiftly followed by Daniel Carpenter. Katie Prior was in third in the under seventeen women. In the under 17 men it was a Trent Park one two, with Mac five points clear of David in second place. All was needed was one more successful race to push the Trent Park juniors to a huge medal haul, (no pressure then!) But this high placing didn’t come easily to these young athletes. These results came after a hard winters training. There were the dreaded track sessions on a Tuesday, with those new painful mobility exercises before the session even started. The long “recovery run” on Thursday if you could call it recovery as the group ate up the tarmac under the glow of street lights. Next, if the runners could still put one foot in front of the other by Saturday morning, there were horrendous hill reps around the park which could have been mistaken for the Somme on most days. But nothing could deter everyone as snow, rain, cold and mud were all part of the normal training regime for these determined individuals. Trent Park juniors were going to need all the determination they could muster for one last push into this last race. The Highams Park relays were one lap of the park and once around the lake. The course was very muddy especially around the lake; even twelve millimetre spikes had a problem negotiating some parts of the course. Trent Park’s first race with competitors was the u15, u17 and senior men and women all in one race. The atmosphere on the start line was tense with people trying to get the best spot on the line, pushing and shoving while trying to keep themselves warm in the five degree cold. The juniors had to get away quickly if they weren’t to be boxed in by the larger frames of the seniors on the narrow path around the lake. Joseph Young certainly got away quickly putting in a big effort in the first half of the race and maintaining his early pace to give himself a very strong position going around the lake, kicking hard at the line to give the under 15 boys an excellent start with a solid time of twelve minutes. In the girls under 15 team Greta Norton put in a great first leg race to allow the girls to shoot up the placings. Nathaniel Sampson started strongly for the under 17 men, but flagged badly and slowed quickly to a maintainable pace. The under 15 boys quartet were very strong the whole way round with the first three runners, running superb times averaging 12:22 minutes, then Thomas McArdle bringing it home for the boys with a storming last leg of 11:24 minutes. But this race wasn’t without its drama in the under 17 mens race. Dean Gepp was caught by a spike in the change over box but he soldiered on bleeding profusely until the finish. On the next leg in the same race Arjun’s spike was pulled off by some deep mud, but when he had already wasted two minutes trying to put it back on he continued the race shoe in hand, still with a good split time of 13:35. It was finally all down to Mac to bring it home and he did so in an excellent time of 11:15. A highlight from the under 15 girls race was a gutsy performance from third leg running and novice racer Lauren McBride who played a critical part of the team. The races were soon all over and we all had to bear the nervous and anxious wait as the results were “checked and independently verified”. The senior awards soon passed, with much cheering as the senior men retained their relay title. Then it was the juniors turn and how the junior silver ware started to pile up. With every trophy collected there was the non - negotiable photo from a coach bursting with pride. To put it simply the Trent Park Juniors had done exceptionally well this season and it was all down to the excellent coach Jan Bowman who had been there every step of the way, supporting and encouraging these young athletes. I hope that this cross country success catalyzes a summer of outdoor athletic success for everyone in the coming months. ger, Dear Mr Swin is rtunately th bble but unfo who bu al ur du yo vi t di rs in bu A certain t! I am sorry to ye red .. ju t… in is is tall, esn’t ex ‘section’ do reasons ( he put l m) ga T* le r of fo me med s to the na er the cannot be na sw an of d p an la at one er hair and has ging It appears th nce why the keys g. ba g on wr e he my keys in th dizzy and disorientated m track made hi your bag. in finished up ection ed of this ‘s to be notifi first e on th rs pe be nd to co se , PG wants es is You will be Man al ri ng te hi if it ma than watc of the club’ re exciting mo s it ly nt re to know, appa City play! Dear Mr L, on a Tuesday, which is training day. The tough ones came despite the icy conditions, and once the serious training was over the fun commenced. Snow ball fight! Snowballs were flying everywhere! Survival of the fittest. (Pardon the pun) None of our training would be anywhere near as good without Jan… or fun! She never fails to turn up to every single training session, and puts so much effort and time into all the juniors no matter what. Overall, Trent Park Juniors is the most fun loving; hardworking, supportive running club there is for miles! April 2013 - Trent Park Running Club I recently compe ted in the Trim bell 20 mile race in Lancaster and was wondering if 6 ‘dumps’ before a race w as a club record ? It was certainly a PB for me and a highlight of the day and by the way the way I quite enjoyed the race too. The race profile did say a PB w as easily achievable! Yours on the th rone, Mr SA Dear Mr A, Er… the PB refers to ‘time’ and not how ofte n you visit the toilet prior to the race. Mr M.P and myself were sick 20 minutes prior to the race so for us that was a first! As for a club record I am not sure, I haven’t seen an y trophies with this record on it. Perhaps we could ask the committee to check this re cord and in the meantime you may want to consider being th e ‘Face for Andrex’!! Del Del I recently appeared in a full page ar Telegraph ( 22nd March 2013 ‘Nticle in the Daily much trouble’) and was wondering othing was too me in contact with Max Clifford asif you could put need a PR agent as people now rec I think I might street and feel that I may be asked ognise me in the to be the Page 7 ‘Fella’ for Saga Magazine. Yours Star Struck Mr P.L By Jane Howard, Jade Dos Santos Page 14 Trent Park Dear Del, eral sections to v se e ar e er th lon I understand k and the Triath ac Tr g n di u cl in tion’ Running Club, e is another ‘sec er th if g n ri de on me section. I was w as when I got ho of e ar aw n u I am bag! I of the club that t of keys in my se a d n u fo I k ction after the trac belong to this se rs be em m t ha w was wondering re? ey meet and whe th do s ht ig n t and wha g along, Yours swingin Mr P.H. Dear Del, Being a junior at Trent Park Running Club Being a junior in Trent Park Running Club is great fun (especially because of our amazing coach Jan). We train three times a week, which is hard but worth the effort, especially when it comes to races and our improvement, commitment and dedication shows. Tuesday is track night (usually but sometimes the track is closed) where we usually do short sprints but on occasion long reps, Thursday is for the longer runs and Saturday is usually a variety. Within the juniors, we’re like one big athletic family! There’s a great atmosphere and we never fail to cheer each other on even though times may be rough. Although we all take our running very seriously, we all know how to have fun… for example on the snow day, which happened to fall Dear Del, Congratulations on your debut in the National newspape r and I’m sure yo u will receive a whole host of offers, Exchange & Mart, Horse & Hounds, Just for Men to name just a few .However fame an d fortune can be a ‘poisone d chalice’ and ha s ruined many a ma n and woman’s ca reer and privacy. My advi ce is the only pi cture you want to flau nt is the one on your ‘Freedom Pass’! Del April 2013 - Trent Park Running Club Dear Del, et t it was to g n ta r o p im ering how I seem I was wond hoe when running as pes , for ty fs right type o about all the different , Fell, Trail, s d e e very confus d, Flats, Racing, Spik clude those oa example, R rail and that doesn’t in .. T tc Minimalist, , those that ‘pronate’ e t’ r that ‘suppo bewildered, Yours very Ms M R whether efield n i m a be ed oes can ery experienc g of sh v n ne very i a o y u r e b o v i the ginner e to g e k b i l a e: d r e l u I wou e fut you ar owever u in th h o y , r p e l n e run y h that ma ame hot tip e the s pair ar ail and One e h t e Tr sur I don’t s make ng! One * Alway u start runni ery worrying! em!! o v y probl e is before ing sho ills has this n n u r l norma ther M ink Hea even th R, Dear Ms Del Page 15 Trent Park Photoboard Thank you everyone for your contributions. We had so much that we have left out the results this time to allow us to include everyone’s articles. We hope you enjoyed reading this edition of Park Life. Any comments, good or bad, to Chas Taylor. Please let Chas have any input for the next issue by end of June 2013. Next edition Guest Editor Mick Green.