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

As part of these daily musings I will attempt to demystify and explain in simple terms some of the things that confuse us or is just plain bad advice (IMHO). And today we start with the premise that to run fast you need to run FAST.

Well, there is some sense in that statement. If you want to run a 10k in 50 minutes you need to be able to run each kilometre at an average time of 5 minutes. Even I can do that math.

But the thing is you don’t have to train at that pace routinely. In fact training and running at that pace will actually be counter productive in a number of ways.

Before I explain, my premise is that most of my coaching clients are targeting longer endurance based races, not 100m track meets.

When you start your running journey most runners experience steep, exponential improvement curves and then things plateau. This is normal and shows the body is going through adaptation.

And this is where the problem starts. Once those physiological adaptations have taken place just doing the same thing again and again prevents any further improvement. This is often referred to as running in the Grey Zone i.e where no further adaptations occur.

So to run faster you need to run fast AND slow.

It’s the slow bit that sounds counterintuitive. And in fact easy paced runs should account for around 75-80% of your training runs. But why?

Running at around 65-75% of your maximum heart rate is where the body learns to be efficient in using your glycogen stores, in other words all those carbs we are encouraged to consume on our long slow runs. Run too fast for too long and the body ‘burns’ through the glycogen faster than you can top it up and store it. Fatigue sets it, form declines, etc, etc.

Now if you can reach that balance of carbs in = glycogen used then pace stays higher, form stays better and that pace will be maintained for longer and this is where you ‘get faster’ over any given distance. I

t’s the slow runs where the body is learning to work at this optimal level. It’s called working in the Aerobic Zone.

There is room for running fast too and this where speed work and intervals play their part. If you’ve never run at your required quicker pace then your body and brain can’t just pick it up and go with it without thinking your trying to kill them.

So speed based intervals over short, sharp distances teach the brain and train the physiology to run fast. It will help you improve cadence (the speed at which your legs turn over ) and generate more power too.

Just don’t do this in every session because you will burn out and increase your risk of injury.

So create a balance, look for training plans that hit those ratios of easy versus hard runs, and don’t worry that your running too slow. Because you won’t be. Good Luck.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

It’s an unusual day because it’s Monday morning AND it’s race day. So as an ‘elite’ non elite runner my routine begins with a meditative body scan. Checking all my essential bits feel ready for a race.

And this is where trouble can begin, right at the base, starting with your big toes. What on earth is he going on about I can hear you all asking?

Toe nails….

And to be precise toe nails that are inching towards being in need of a trim.

Now in years gone past this was never really an issue. The younger, more supple Coach Al would bite my toe nails routinely after a bath. Disgusting I know. (Does anyone actually know from an evolutionary point of view what is the purpose of toe nails?)

Now that Father Time has taken away that pleasure (biting my toe nails, not having a bath) I have to schedule in a regular clipping.

The reason for for this essential piece of body hygiene is two-fold.

1. Remember that earlier post about investing in good running socks – who wants to pay a lot of money just to see your big pinky poking through a hole in your favourite (read lucky) compression sock.

2. And this is the serious reason. Let you toenails get too long and you increase the risk of blackening the toe nails through repetitive bruising as that big toe bashes up against the end of your shoe toe box 20,000 times on a long run. I

know losing a toe nail is a rite of passage but let Mother Nature make that decision, don’t make it too easy for her.

So I now schedule a clipping 2 or 3 days before a race because I have made the painful mistake of leaving it to race day morning. Then through sheer excitement getting carried away and clipping off a millimetre or two of too much nail. Leaving the race day experience to all fall apart with sore toes even BEFORE the race has started.

In an age of marginal gains, having either too much or too little big toe nail could be the reason you don’t PB today 🤣

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

I don’t know about where you are but here in the UK the temperatures are finally rising a few degrees. And for me that means I can ditch the layers and the gloves.

However, whilst I look forward to topping up my tan on my daily runs I’m also a ‘Sweaty Beaty’ and this creates a number of different challenges including excessive laundry 🤦🏻.

I’ve always known any run over about 5 minutes will leave me in a pool of sweat but this week I’ve tried to pay a little more attention to what this means.

So over the course of 3 different runs I weighed myself before and after each run. And the results were a surprise but not. On average I lost over 2 lbs in weight through sweat which is equivalent to around 2 litres in volume and this is the bit that surprised me. 2 litres is a lot!

I know this isn’t a great weight loss strategy becuase rehydration puts all that weight back on. But know understanding the scale of the challenge has me looking at taking more care to hydrate consistently throughout the day and especially BEFORE any long run, be aware of the need to take on electrolytes after every run – not just the long runs, and accept that this is my bodies way of coping with the physical stress of running in the heat.

I’ve also looked into the science of why you sweat and there are a lot of factors at play but it’s all to do with the nervous system trying to regulate itself and bring everything back into balance, also known as homeostasis. I need to embrace my sweat dilemma and make simple little adjustments to my training. So here’s a few ideas to help you if your in the same sweat swamp I exist in.

Try running earlier or later in the day when temperatures are lower – not always easy if you have family and work commitments.

Make sure you carry some liquids on ever runs, even the shorter ones because hydration or more importantly dehydration will make those efforts feel harder. And it’s easier to stay hydrated than rehydrate when feeling I’ll.

Think about hydration throughout the day, and not just as a post run problem.

Slow things down. Your body and your sweat response is a reaction to the intensity of the work you are doing so if you lower the intensity your bodies systems don’t need to work as hard.

With lots of long runs looming asi start up marathon training again about breaking the long runs into 2 shorter efforts, again maybe earlier and later in the day. With my sweat rate being what it is I now know I probably can’t ever expect to replace my liquid lose at the rate of 2 litres per hour over a 3 hour long run so time to think how I tackle those longer, hotter runs.

Knowledge is power and with this better understanding of the impact of running in warmer temperatures hopefully I can mitigate the worst of my sweaty responses.

Cool Runnings (literally)

Coach Al

It’s 6.30 am on a Saturday and the alarm has been sent to snooze. It’s a cliche that you’re a runner if your wake up earlier at the weekends than you do on a workday. This is doubly true if you are a parkrun tourist.

Here in the UK there are nearly 1200 weekly timed community runs for all abilities – all happening at 9am on Saturday in parks and open spaces across the nation.

It is a moment where you feel part of something special. You may be at Bushy Park, London with nearly a 1000 runners or you may be in your local park with just 50 runners. You may be on an ‘out and back’ by the riverside. You may be doing 3 and a bit laps of the school playing fields.

But the thing is you are a parkrunner.

Back at the start of 2022 my partner and I decided to try something new called parkrun tourism. Which basically meant searching out new locations each week for parkrun. Little did we know we would become a little obsessed, be drawn into a whole new sub-culture around something called the Purple App, and never have a Saturday ‘lie in’.

Nearly 18 months in and I have now visited 63 different parkruns in 7 different countries ( if you include Wales – they do have their own football team).

And next weekend we aim for our most ambitious parkrun adventure yet – 3 different parkruns in 3 different countries ( Germany, Denmark and Sweden) in 4 days. Thankfully I’m not on admin duties for this 🤣

So what have been some of my highlights and takeaways.

We all love parkrun – that’s a given and that’s why we are there.

Community matters – I’ve run with thousands of strangers but at each event we look out for each other, cheer our milestones (you get a ‘shout out for reaching a certain number of parkruns), thank our volunteers for marshalling the event, fret about our barcode, and walk away having completed a 5k run and been awesome before many of the neighbours have even gotten out of bed.

Movement is so rewarding physically and emotionally. Parkrun is timed and you get your weekly result but it’s not a race and because the organisers have a philosophy of ‘no one comes last‘ it attracts a diverse group of people. There will always be fast ones, there will always be competitive ones. But there are all types in between too. Families, friends who meet up for a chatty run, people tackling Couch to 5K ( a well being programme in the UK), tourists (like me) and first timers nervously waiting at the start. Each and everyone of us has made a personal commitment to be responsible for our own well being that day.

I’ve travelled and done a Zumba warm up in Poland, had breakfast waffles with strangers in Florida, travelled on a bus for 3 hours plus to run on a beach into 40mins headwinds, jumped on a plane and run to parkrun from the airport and run around a racecourse with a hangover .

We’ve visited towns and villages we would not normally give a second glance at ( I’ll save the alphabeteer challenge for another post) and discovered hidden gems. We have sampled coffee and cake far and wide ( and supported the local economy) and we have made new friends along the way.

I’ve become more creative and created a video blog capturing all the new locations we run at. Search me up as The Essex Plodder on YouTube and see how my editing skills are improving.

And to try and sum it up is difficult because the travels and tribulations have been many and varied. But if I had to capture it in a single phrase, parkrun tourism has meant personal growth. And for that I will always be truly grateful.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al

Strength Train. It’s a conversation I hear regularly. And let’s be honest, if you give a runner the choice of going for a another run or heading to the gym to be tortured, we know which choice they will make.

I understand the fear because I had that fear for many years too. I ended up qualifying as a personal trainer in order to beat my fears, and you can too (beat your fears I mean).

Gyms can be intimidating, judgemental places. They are often not very female friendly either. And for the beginner, not only do you feel out of place, you will probably look a little out of place because there is definitely a ‘gym uniform’.

And let’s be honest. A 45 minute gym workout actually takes up about 2 hours of your life once you’ve faffed pre and post workout. And when time is precious, etc, etc.

And for those reasons and many more, most runners neglect strength and conditioning.

But here’s the thing. There is an alternative way to get your strength training in. Let’s refer to it as the Home Home Workout. What I really mean is let’s strip it all back and build your strength training INTO your daily routine. And here is how.

Next time you boil the kettle for a brew instead of scrolling Instagram do ten squats. Drink 3 cuppas before lunch and there are your three sets of ten. Boom! Done!

Clean your teeth twice a day and add in some calf raises to your oral hygiene.

Even make use of the supermarket queue by working on your mobility – stand an one leg for 20 secs and then swap legs ( but try not to fall into other shoppers trolleys 🤣).

My point is strength exercises can be simple – you don’t need expensive equipment, body weight exercises can achieve a lot. Strength exercises can be compound and full of ‘drop sets’ but if you can’t in the gym, you can in your home.

Strip it down and build these habits into your daily routines. It’s a great way to work on any new habit and makes strength training accessible to all.

Now if you have specific goals such as post injury rehab then definitely search out a PT and develop a more sophisticated programme.

For most of us a simple strength routine will do a couple of things.

It will improve the overall all round strength of our core and upper body which benefits better running form and efficiency. It will also help injury prevention and improve range of movement. So don’t ignore anymore.

To get started have a look at the video below.

Cool Runnings

Coach Al