The A14 is the destination for this week’s parkrun as we head to Brandon Country Park to tick off another Suffolk parkrun.

Although we are heading out at 7.15am for a road trip we know there will be people up earlier preparing for parkrun. So let’s applaud the parkrun volunteer – the hi-viz heroes.

The role of the volunteer marshal is probably the most important role on race day or parkrun day. Yes, the timekeeper is fairly important 🤣 but it’s the unpaid, unsung heroes working across the course and behind the scenes that make the run really happen.

At parkrun the volunteers are an integral part of the community because they are probably you and me. They are our running neighbours and our running friends.

Volunteering has been in the news recently as the number of people who regularly commit to giving something back to their local communities has fallen dramatically since the covid years.

Parkrun HQ has made volunteering cool. Turn up and time-keep, turn up and marshal, turn up and pack down the course and you walk away with a volly credit. Collect enough credits and a volly milestone tee-shirt is yours. Look out for them next time you attend parkrun, these are the cool t-shirts because they are a little rarer than the mainstream milestone tees.

Every Saturday there is a role for everyone and a chance to be part of this awesome community.

Faster runners can double up and scan finisher barcodes, if you are out injured why not volunteer as a tail walker, and for teenagers parkrun volunteering can be a nice way to tick off one of your Duke of Edinburgh tasks.

And here’s the bit that makes me really happy. You can be a parkrun tourist AND still be a hi-viz hero. Decide where you are travelling true, make contact with the local Run Director and put your name forward for one of the vacant volunteer roles. It doesn’t matter you’re not from ‘around here’ because you are a fellow traveller, a member of the tribe, and embedded in the ways of the parkrun.

I’ve only just started out on this dual challenge having run at Great Yarmouth and written the race report. Next up, the chance to volunteer on an international parkrun day – Italy is next up?

And if you still need convincing, volunteering is actually really good for your own mental health. Giving something back triggers happy hormones. So if you can’t run you can still book yourself in for a dose of feeling awesome.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

I hope the headline grabbed your attention. Pure click bait 🤣

Unfortunately the rest of this article is not what you think. Although maybe the effects of ‘sexy time’ on your cardio training should be a subject of a future blog post.

Instead I’m gonna focus on the benefits of sleep and why it’s often referred to as the most underrated legal performance enhancing ‘hack’ you can do as a runner or endurance athlete.

The interesting thing for me as a coach is that we think about and prioritise stuff that happens and takes place during our training. Unless your a professional full time elite athlete this means training is probably limited to around 10-12 hours a week max.

Whereas we sleep for around 50 hours a week and don’t think much about how those hours can support our training objectives.

Put simply, it’s when we are asleep that our body goes into recovery mode. Protein synthesis happens when we sleep and this is the process that repairs all those tiny muscle micro tears that happen when we run.

When we train hard our immune system is weakened and it’s sleep that help reboost all those antibodies.

And sleep deprivation will affect your metabolism and limit your bodies ability to process glycogen – the fuel you need to power those runs.

So what are you doing to actively prioritise sleep to help your training?

Start by establishing a bedtime routine, beginning with going to bed and getting up at the same time each day (including weekends). The brain loves routine and will function better when it knows sleep is regular and of a good quality.

Stop scrolling on your phone or tablet before you go to bed. The blue light from screen time blocks the release of melatonin (the sleep hormone) and can delay the onset of sleep by up to 2 hours.

I know this seems a bizarre request given the cold spring we have had here in the UK but keep your bedroom colder than the rest of your house. Sleep is easier when we can reduce our core body temperature by a couple of degrees compared to the rooms ambient temperature.

Introduce these 3 simple measures to sleep better. And better sleep will help maximise your training, possibly more so than the 4% promised by a well known brand of carbon plated running shoes.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

Over the last couple of days I’ve been watching some social media posts about which is the hardest distance to run.

For the purposes of my thread I’m talking about races that are classed as endurance, not track based sprints. Although Iwan Thomas, the long time UK 400m record holder, always stated his distance was the hardest because it was an endurance sprint.

So is a marathon the hardest because it’s a long way or is it a 5K because you feel you should blast it from gun to tape or is it something else?

Let’s start with an easy decision. I’ve not run an ultra (not an official one anyway – Brighton Marathon 2022 🤦🏻) so I’m not best placed to comment. Any ultra is a long way and the idea of completing a marathon as an easy day of training (distance wise) just seems beyond comprehension.

But my running buddies who do compete in ultra races also tell me that they are just glorified walking picnics. So perhaps they shouldn’t be ruled out completely.

Next up is the 5k. Unlike in the States we don’t have many 5k races. We do have parkrun every Saturday but we all know this is not a race 🤣.

Also parkrun means so much more to me than just 3.1 miles of running. It’s a community, it’s an opportunity to travel, it’s an opportunity to sample coffee and cake up and down the country. It has its own little challenges and everyone looks forward to their parkrun ping from 10am onwards. What’s not to like, so how hard can it be to get motivated every Saturday.

For 99% of the population that hasn’t run a marathon choosing this distance as the hardest probably makes sense. Who would want to run that far just because you can.

Well, around 500,000 people every year sign up for the London Marathon ballot so may people see this as a great personal challenge – something to be embraced, not avoided.

And once you commit to 26.2 miles, put in the hundreds of miles of training and then cross that finish line on race day, there is only joy. DOMs will come and go but the smug feeling that you’ve done something awesome, something your work colleagues haven’t done stays forever.

It means that the marathon is hard when your training, and can be scary those few moments just before you start, but gives so much back for so long means it can’t be the hardest when considered in the long term.

What about the half marathon. It’s only half the distance of a marathon so should be easier. Yes and no. It’s still 13.1 miles which is a long way to walk to work. And it’s a run where I know I’m gonna end up as a ‘sweat ball’ irrespective of the temperature.

But in its favour it is only half the distance of a marathon. It is also long enough that eating and drinking mid race is totally acceptable. And, at a pinch, even without too much training, you can wing it on the day and still go home with a medal and a new finishers tee shirt. So all good by me.

So that leaves me with a 10k. Plenty of races for this one. Also a staple of many long distance training plans. And on that basis should it be so hard. Here’s my reasons why.

1. Like the 5k it’s both a longer run and a faster run. Miles 4 & 5 can be lung busting and the place where your pace drops and ruins that potential PB. Hope turns into hell.

2. It’s long enough to hurt but not really long enough to warrant sustenance on route.

3. The trend in the UK is to make this distance the least cost effective when measured as ££ per mile.

4. Some 10ks should be run as tempo runs, some as easy runs, some with goal pace in the middle – so they are neither fish nor fowl.

5. When you start out running the mythical sub 60 minute 10k can be all consuming and when you first break that barrier the joy is short lived as you realise Eilud Kipchoge has lapped you and some more on his way to a 2 hours 1 minute marathon.

So I’m suggesting that 10k, or 10,000 metres or 6.21 miles (for me at least) is my least favourite distance.

Are we in agreement? Tell me your thoughts.

Cool Runings

Coach Al

First up, these are not my feet. They ARE white shoes and funky socks but I’m not a Nike boy.

After a wonderful few days of being in a dreamy state of parkrun world I’m turning my thoughts back to technical.

In various running forums there is lots of chat about “what shoes would you recommend” and inevitably the conversation turns to pronation and whether you should get your gait analysed.

Why is that so. Two main reasons. The big brands are really good at suckering us into buying the latest model / upgrade / innovation. I should know as I’m normally at the front of the Q. But the latest shoe may not be right for you.

The other reason – running in the ‘wrong’ shoes can lead to long term injury and prevent you from improving your running form and efficiency.

Put simply, pronation is the natural movement of the feet as you land whilst running or walking. So we all pronate!

Some of us overpronate where you ankle rolls inwards – see the picture above. Some of us underpronate – that’s me, as my ankle rolls my feet land on the outside of my sole. And then their are neutral runners – where weight is evenly distribution as your foot lands.

And here is the irony. The majority of runners overpronate (to a greater or lesser extent) and yet the majority of shoes on sale are sold as neutral shoes. And neutral shoes come in more brands, colorways and width options – which really upsets the stability runners amongst us.

I’m not an expert and here is the rub – most sales people in running shops are not experts either. So it’s very easy to look at a shaky 20 second video and find yourself committing to either the neutral or stability section of the racks on shiny, new shoes for the rest of your running life.

But I will give you some advice as a coach.

I’m not going to delve too deep into the merits and challenges of different types of pronation – again I said I’m not an expert. But…

Your gait can and will change as you progress and improve as a runner. I was labelled a stability runner when I first started running in 2017. I didn’t question this as I had no reason to challenge this assessment.

Over time, as I continued to lose weight, run more, and run with better form I’ve ‘transformed’ into a supinator (also, known as underpronation) and makes a lot more sense to how I felt, and where my aches and pains came from in those early days. I still get ‘aches and pains’ (I’m old and creeky) but I better understand the reasons why and how my gait influences all this.

So first lesson here is get your gait checked regularly but do so with a qualified person, not someone looking to sell you shoes.

Second lesson, you can start to self analyze your gait just by simply looking at the wear patterns of your current shoes. The internet has a lot of good advice on how to interpret that information – better still, if you do book some gait analysis, take your shoes with you to your appointment. The slight caveat to that is, that if you are in the ‘wrong’ shoes, the wear patterns are not a true reflection on how you may naturally run.

The main issue for me is that gait, as a topic, seems to start and finish with shoe purchases whereas in fact running gait is a key issue relating to the biomechanics of running, and can provide a real insight into how to make those performance improvements linked to how YOU run – not joe average.

I’m gonna stop now – as we can get sidetracked into bare foot running and the relationship with strength training. All good topics for future blogs. In the meantime…

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

London to Hamburg. Hamburg to Copenhagen. Copenhagen to Vaxjo. Vaxjo to Copenhagen. Copenhagen to London. 15k of running. Millions of giggles. And in a flash the much planned parkrun special events weekend is over.

Let’s start with the Vaxjo parkrun report. Normal attendance 20 runners. Today 724 runners. Many had fears the local team wouldn’t cope but how misplaced those fears were. They embraced it, welcomed us and had us warming up with Mamma Mia. Which meant we started our run with a smile and kept that smile on our faces all around the one lap course of the beautiful lakeside setting.

The finish line resembled a busy ‘big event’ race day with clubs represented from all across the UK and beyond.

And here lies the magic. No moans about ‘measuring long’, no moans about busy aid stations, no moans about ill-fitting tee shirts.

Maybe it was because we knew we were taking part in something special – this is the first time Sweden parkrun HQ has allowed local parkruns to establish an additional ‘special event’ for Constitution Day. But if I counted the smiles I reckon there were over 750 smiling faces (including volunteers and slightly bemused local park users.)

Over four days and three different countries the best of humankind has been on show.

Never afraid to ask for help and never afraid to offer advice. Being part of a tribe that means that the knowing nod is appreciated because they have the same ambitions and same goals.

Different accents and different home towns become a source of interest instead of fear. Finding out about your neighbours milestones and future destinations is a source of celebration, not jealousy.

Now parkrun can be looked at as ‘not proper running’ in certain circles. You’re ‘allowed’ to walk, nay even encouraged if the alternative is not attending.

It’s not a race and your competition is only your age graded performance – not your final finishing position. Even kids and pets are welcome!

So if you’re reading this and have not attended a parkrun please have a look and see where your nearest event is. Every Saturday at 9am (some countries do have a later start so please check).

It may just change your life.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

Ps. No more parkrun blogs until Saturday 🤣

This may upset some people but…..

It was super nice waking up on a Monday morning and getting ready for Parkrun. Okay, I was sharing in a dorm with non-runners so had to creep around bit 🤣

Today was all about Copenhagen, the second leg of our three parkruns in three countries in 4 days. When I say all about Copenhagen – from landing to departing we have spent less than 24 hours in the city but we have still packed a lot in.

This trip is all about new experiences and the night before parkrun involved having dinner with over 140 parkrunners from the UK, and the restaurant managed to serve us all the right pizza!

Conversation quickly turned to discussions about home parkruns, milestones and other crazy overseas challenges. Just my kind of people.

Anyway, back to 8.30am and our arrival at Ørestrund and the metro was reminiscent of being on the London Underground on marathon day. A buzz of excitement, and the low hum of chatter prevailed as we did want runners do best – follow the guy or woman, in front to the start via the toilet queue.

Normally, run briefing can be a bit repetitive as we listen and agree to adhere to the same parkrun laws week in, week out. But today was something surreal and different including steel drums, an explanation of Constitution Day and the singing of the unofficial national anthem in both Danish and English – hopefully I captured it all on my vlog. Which all meant we headed to the start line 26 minutes later than normal. But it was worth it.

Amager Strandparken parkrun normally has around 50 attendees and the influx of tourists pushed that number to well over 600. Concerns were raised pre-run about whether there would be enough tokens for all but no one was left behind. The RD was prepared for our tourist invasion.

The run itself was a mix of parkland and beachside views, a fun joyous run around a idyllic waterside location. It’s quickly become my favourite parkrun and I’ve now adopted this as my home parkrun.

The influx of tourists could’ve been a disaster but in true parkrun spirit the finish line was populated by a reserve army of brits manning the barcode scanners. Well done to all you faster runners for paying it back.

We’ve packed up and now headed to the train station for a 2 hour train ride to Vaxjo, Sweden. We expect to see several hundred of our new found parkrun friends there.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

I’m now sitting on a bus heading North from Hamburg towards Copenhagen via a short ferry trip across the Baltic Sea. It’s about a 6 hour journey so I have time to make this a long post – only kidding!

If you’re like me the chances are you’d most likely choose a run over anything else if someone gave you a choice. I try to run at least 5 days a week so that leaves me at least 2 days to either rest completely or undertake some form of cross- training.

At the moment I’m focusing on strength and conditioning as I know building lean mass will help improve running efficiency. A simple programme of lower weights and more reps is helping to build muscle first, often referred to as hypertrophy. Progression will see me moving to heavier weights and fewer reps as I build strength in those muscles.

My programme consists of squats, deadlifts and lunges – as the basic patterns of movement. Unilateral movements such as single leg deadlifts are also really useful as running is actually a series of single leg movements repeated over and over again.

The programme also focuses on mobility, agility and targeting exercises that promote core stability – again all linked to good form and injury prevention.

I think everyone, irrespective of age or sport should do some kind of resistance workouts as it’s now becoming more clinically proven that this form of exercise benefits you in later life.

But if your a bit gym-phobic there are lots of different ways you can cross-train as long as you focus on low intensity.

Swimming works well for me. It’s totally different to running, it is low impact and can help build cardio improvements. I’ve found that a 45 minute swim (and in a slow front crawler) makes me concentrate on breath work, and relaxing into the required effort – all good traits to have as a runner.

I’ve never really gotten into yoga or Pilates but as I get older and the bones creak a little more, maybe this is something I should explore in a more detail.

Cross training has other benefits too. Changing up what you do two or three times a a week will help prevent you from over-training for your marathon, half marathon or any over endurance running event you have in the diary. And over training is often a pre-cursor to either injury or burn-out, neither of which is pleasant if it sidelines you for a long period of time.

Keeping it fresh by keeping it varied will work for most people. So give it a go, try something new and enjoy the challenge of being a better version of you.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

PS. See you in Copenhagen

Ok, I don’t think such a day exists in the real world but parkrun is our alternative world for the next few days.

Today we completed our first German parkrun, here in Hamburg. That makes it seven countries so far in our international parkrun travels.

Ahead of us lies Copenhagen in Denmark and Vaxjo, in Sweden on Monday and Tuesday respectively.

One of the best things about being a tourist is getting out an exploring and we made a conscious decision to walk to parkrun c3km away to see a little bit of the Hamburg suburbs. And as we approached our destination we weren’t disappointed.

Alstervorland is a beautiful lakeside park with an array of watersports happening up and down the lake.

And with the sun shining it was clear the lake is an awesome place to run and train with a 5 mile loop of the still calm waters.

8.30ish and we begin to see the parkrun throngs appear, and all the rituals of parkrun are beautifully observed in a different language.

Given why we are here it was no surprise the attendance was probably close to 80% tourists including New Zealand and Oz. However, the loudest cheer was for the lad from Hamburg ironically.

The run itself is a 2 lap loop along the west side of the lake, flat and fast . It’s also a real treat to run alongside water too when the sun’s reflections add to the vista.

On crossing the finish it was slightly weird to hear the background chatter of UK tourists checking in with strangers about their onward plans. We were no exception as we discovered the barcode scanner is following us to Copenhagen and Vaxjo.

We look forward to seeing all our fellow tourists when we reconvene in Copenhagen in just over 24 hours. Happy travels.

And in a flash coffee is served, we await the ‘parkrun ping’ to see our reward – the German flag 🇩🇪 ticked off , and plan our early start to cross borders.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

As

“ Doors to Arrivals.” In a couple of hours we will hear those welcome words as we touch down for our latest running adventures.

Travelling is always exciting and travelling abroad to run is just double the fun.

However, there are a few pitfalls that runners should be aware of in order to make sure those travels end with smiles, not tears.

First up, by definition your normal running routines will be different. That’s why you’re there. So be aware and plan ahead. For example, will you need to change your breakfast routine because your favourite porridge is not available? Will the times you can eat breakfast be restricted because the hotel restaurant doesn’t open early enough?

Next, the temptation to be a tourist can lead to tired legs, just at the same time as your taper should be leaving you feeling refreshed and raring for the start line. I’ve made this mistake several times and now plan to be the ‘culture vulture’ the days immediately after a race – even if that means a really slow post recovery shuffle around town.

Hydration can become a thing. You know you should but when in foreign climes you may just plain forget in your excitement or carry unconscious concerns about the need to visit the bathroom in a strange town.

Your levels of excitement can also mean higher levels of stress associated with being in a strange place, with strange accents and signs that you can’t decipher. Stress can be exhausting and without knowing it your optimal training has just gone off the boil 24 hours into your trip to tick off your bucket list race or run.

And to top it all, if your travelling long haul there is the no small matter of time zones and jet lag to contend with. Do you switch to local time or try and power through without resetting your watch and destroying your body clock? This is the holy grail of running abroad successfully.

I hope this isn’t coming across as ‘ten reasons why not to travel’ because that’s not my motive for this post. Instead, with a little awareness, the chance to plan ahead and make minor adjustments to your routines, running in new and unfamiliar cities and countries will only add to your running experiences.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

When you think about it, running a marathon is hard. Really hard. And for us ‘Average Joe’ athletes that marathon probably equates to nearly 45,000 steps (best don’t think about that if you’re just starting out on training for your first marathon).

45,000 steps is a lot of steps if you’re uncomfortable. 45,000 steps is a lot of steps if you don’t dress for success.

So having the right running gear that works for you is so, so important. It’s also why there is the maxim ‘don’t try anything new on race day’.

The consequences of getting it wrong can be painful. And here I’m specifically referencing chafing. We’ve all been there. That protruding seam rubbing that armpit 22,500 times. That slightly tight under garment rubbing your groin 45,000 times. That sock, with a minute hole, searching for that big toe 22,500 times.

Training runs are important for all sorts of technical reasons but please don’t ignore trying out all your race day apparel in advance . You may want it box fresh for race day but making sure you know the chafing risks is more important.

But there are answers to this First World Problem. And it exists in the form of a traditional tub of Vaseline. Other anti-chafing creams exist but Vaseline has the edge in my opinion. It’s why the St John’s Ambulance (part of the London Marathon first aid response team) stand on the roadside with handfuls of the sticky, jelly like stuff.

For me, race day means plastering the usual sensitive parts with it. But with experience I’ve also learnt to apply to less obvious body parts including toes and heels (to stop blisters) and the eyebrows (yes, you read that right) to stop sweat from dripping into my eyes and obscuring my Garmin 🤣

To date I’ve run 10 marathons and lost only one toe nail and suffered from ‘bloody nipples’ only once. So it works for me. I hope it works for you too.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al