Bolton Hilly Marathon Double 2014

A really well organised trail marathon with about 800m ascent, it's fairly local to me and the nearest thing you  could get away with calling a 'hill' to where I live. I could remember the course from last year (it was only a single marathon last year, had a good race then too, set the course record with 3 hours 22 min) so this year they made it TWICE AS MUCH FUN with 2 days! There was a stronger, larger field and it was a bit more muddy, same great organisation, Phil and the team were perfect as far as I could see! Lots of support at the finish as runners jogged/ skipped/ sprinted/ collapsed over the finish line! Thanks to everyone involved with making it a great event!

Since the Spine (268 miles along the Pennine Way)  in January, training has been going great, most weekends have involved a Saturday trail race of about 10km and a park run in the morning on heavily fatigued legs, totalling around 30km and a Sunday run around 25-40km around the Bolton Hilly route and surrounding area. Adding to a midweek 30-40 km run and some shorter faster runs seems to have worked well.



As for the race, on day 1 I started out in about 5th as the first 5km climbs up Coal Pit road towards the mast on Winter Hill before a good quick descent down the mast road to the first CP about 10km in. I didn't check the watch at all during the race on either day, I figured if I felt good and was running well and I know the course and how far to go, I don't need to see any data from the watch. After the CP the course follows Georges lane which is cobbled and quite exciting to run on, I moved up a place here before crossing Sheep house lane and the muddiest part of the course across the moor for a short distance to hit a farm track where I had now jumped up a few more places and was feeling good.

There's a small hill before hitting the 12 mile CP (and 16 mile checkpoint - runners do a loop to arrive back here after White Coppice) still moving well I had an incredible urge to check the watch for time but resisted, quite a quick section here before arriving back at the CP where I was apparently 4 min 30 away from the lead I grabbed a bottle of water, how exciting.... next up the course weaves along a couple of reservoirs in the trees and is pretty scenic once again, it's a relatively fast section.

By the time I hit the 21 mile point passing the cafe and nearing the school below the Pike I had closed down the gap to 60 seconds and a friendly cheer from Jo and Mia who were doing a great job cheering some of us runners on course! There is a bit of a climb back up towards Georges lane and I could see the leader and seemed to be closing him down. After the climb I put a good pace in towards the aid station at 22ish miles before a short muddy climb to cross the mast road and the final descent/ last couple of miles to the finish. I put a good pace in on the down hill and was moving really well after taking the lead at the aid station, the downhill training seems to have paid off recently too! It's a fun descent where you can let the legs roll before hitting a set of steps and the final 800m along a road and into the park where the finish line awaits.

After day 1 I headed to the gym for a shower and did a mobility session which left the legs feeling great and ready for....

Day 2.

Day 2 was the same course exactly and started in a similar fashion I was a few places back from the front initially with the addition of some runners doing the single day to keep us double runners on our toes.

It felt like my heart rate was up slightly compared to Saturday although my legs felt better on day 2.
Looking back on day 2 I should have consumed some more energy during the race perhaps as I actually noticed there was a bit of a climb at the 21 mile point this time! ;)
I think time wise I was 3 mins down over the first half and 2 mins down over the 2nd half  compared to day 1.  Happy with that.

As I mentioned the marshals were great and the route was well marked there was a lot of people dotted  around the course supporting friends and family which was great to see! Looks like a great time was had by all (perhaps aside from one or two people with achy legs) Well done to all involved! Great to catch up with a lot of friends and share the weekend!

Post day 2 finish. Overall winners trophy on the left! A WHOPPER!

Double results here
http://www.reason8.com/shared/images/content/bus_36434/pdf/BHM_Double_Marathon_Results.pdf

Legs have coped well, a steady running week before getting the intensity up for some 'proper' races (haha... I mean ultras) soon!

Trying to find your abs and get a flatter stomach? Start here.

 

A little bit about 'abs', body fat and flat stomachs! I hear from many people  who are frustrated with particular areas of their body, one that crops up  A LOT is stomachs. If you're frustrated about trying to get a flatter stomach  or really want to see some definition in your abs, you're not alone, read on.

What's this all about?  This picture represents a side on view of large stomach muscles  (tubs) and the small stomach muscles (white balls). Well today's post is about the stomach!   The muscles The Thick blanket The Thin blanket

So what are all these funny looking pictures? 

I'm going to give you an insight into abs and flat stomachs that many of my clients are on their way to (or have acquired) I might also tell you why doing heaps of crunches and sit ups and similar ineffective exercises are a waste of your time.... This is the best analogy I've come across...

TUBS AND BALLS... The balls on the left represent small abdominal muscles, the tubs on the right represent large abdominal muscles... These are my two six-packs for demonstration purposes... See what happens when we put a layer of body-fat on...

GREEN SHEET.... The thick green towel represents someone with moderate to high body-fat covering the abdominals, there is very little definition or shape... even on the very large abdominal muscles (the tubs) 

BLUE SHEET... The thin blue sheet represents someone with low body-fat covering their abdominals.... as you can see there is good definition on both the small and large muscles. The larger muscles protrude (stick out) more than the smaller muscles which would essentially make the stomach look bigger.

Top Picture.... represents a side on view of the large abdominal muscles vs the small ones, if you just want a flat and smooth stomach that doesn't look really really muscular or 'ripped' then getting bigger abdominal muscles isn't going to help you. Reducing the blanket of fat down to a thinner sheet however, will ensure some definition and shape but still a flat stomach.

So what does all this mean? 

Consider the Picture Below... Someone who has done no specific 'abdominal exercises' ... Why? Your abdominals should be working during all movements that involve your whole body eg when the arms and legs are working together the muscles in the middle are the link. This would show a 'thin sheet' of body-fat, Give the person in the picture a 'thick sheet' of body-fat like the green towel then there would still appear to be no definition, even though the musculature would be the same. Although the person pictured does a considerable amount of exercise (I heard he runs marathons for warm ups), living on a diet of convenience foods, sugary, carbohydrate rich foods, regular alcohol and poor quality foods would soon cover up the muscles!

Correct training helps to shape our muscles and 'burn off' excess fuel such as body fat, It's near impossible to out exercise a bad diet. Sure there may be one or two people who do, but the nutrition has an incredible effect on our bodies 'composition' (how the body is made up eg what % is fat, what % is muscle) If you want to have a thinner 'blanket' and more definition it's likely the nutrition that needs work. Endless amounts of crunches and sit ups for example, will not shape the stomach up alone, if at all. What are your eating habits like? Do they match up to your activity levels and your goals?

Run to the Castle 40 mile Aug 2013

As part of a 'more relaxed' August (not running ultra distances most weekends like the past 3 or 4 months) I was lucky enough to be able to take part in the first Run To The Castle 40 mile Ultra race. It also coincided with the 9bar team weekend so most of the team were there to do some running and get together to meet new team members and catch up with the others! Also great to see my client Julie completing her first 40 miler! Now a serial ultra runner ;)  

The route was following the Welsh Coastal Path from Aberdovey (Aberdyffi?) up past Barmouth to Harlech where a castle would await us. Varied terrain, some beach, some tracks and quite a bit of country lane. Generally the route is pretty flat with some small hills somewhere after the first CP. Also perhaps the only race in the UK to cross a nudist beach? 

A very casual start all around really, nobody raced off or made any attempt to disappear so I enjoyed some chatting with Caz and Kelvin and a few other guys out on course. There was a small pack of 6 runners followed by myself and Kelvin for the first few miles upto the first CP at about an hour or so into the race I guess (didn't have the watch going - first time it let me down with the route map although it seemed to be a problem with the tcx file I used and watch is all good now it appears...)

At the CP in a lay by the group of 6 all pulled in to eat and drink which I didn't really feel like so carried on moving into the lead. A quick hello to Richard Kell and then I didn't see anyone else after that all the way to the finish in 5.21 first place. The route is pretty well marked once you get used to the signs and there was additional paint on the course too in places. All the cp volunteers were really supportive and big thanks to them for looking after us all! 

Some small hills in the middle of the course although not very big or long. There was heaps of food on the CPs ( I had a good handful of JBs but didn't stop long enough for a picnic)

After a few hours I was over the 30 mile point but not sure on the exact distance I'd run and running along the coast again trying to see where the castle might be ahead... (it's up on a hill so thought I'd see it a long way off) anyway no sign of it but along the coast what looked like miles and miles away there was a hill close to the sea. (I think it was near Porthmadog a half hour drive up the coast from the end in hindsight) I couldn't believe how far away it looked as I dropped down some big steps to a nice wide beach. I was looking ahead and going through my head trying to figure out how many hours away the hill was...
Next I saw a familiar sight... some red and white posts near a track through the sand dunes. I had seen this on the newsletter that Denzil had sent us before the race and followed the track, suddenly out of nowhere the castle was infront of me about 800m away! I couldn't believe it. Over joyed I put a bit of speed in whilst texting ahead to the finish to say I would be 5 mins... Then about 60 seconds later the finish was actually just in a car park before the castle which I almost ran past.

If you want to check the race out for next year it's on again I believe the 24th August.
www.codrc.co.uk for more information...

BIG thanks to Denzil and the crew for putting on a great race and 9bar for feeding us and looking after us all weekend =)

WHAT A MEDAL! Well worth the run when you get a medal like that hey!?

The following day a quick hour out running near Porthmadog meeting Robbie Britton before team 9 bar breakfast in the hotel then on to Snowdonia for an afternoon of running up some real hills! 

Bank holiday Monday was a trip to Llangolen and the famous viaduct and a trip to the Cilican Fell race near Mold and Moel Famau.