The Week - 28th Feb

Another month closes. Eight weeks gone in 2010.... time flies! A very busy weekend for me with a marathon on Saturday and a coaching day for 'Virgin London Marathon' on Sunday.

But first, the marathon!

Mark Hughes, Cat Archer and myself headed to South Devon to toe the line in another stage of the tough Endurancelife Coastal Marathon Series. South Devon was stage 4 of 7. Race start was at the coastal resort of 'Beesands' approximately 8 miles from Kingsbridge. A really beautiful part of the world. To be honest, seeing the weather forecast on Thursday and Friday, I had some concerns about Saturday. However, despite torrential rain during Friday night and early Saturday morning, the day turned out to be quite stunning.

Of course we all came prepared and I would imagine that probaly 90% of the field were a little too hot during the event (me included).

Race briefing was 8:30 and then we started on time at 9am. We headed west on the coastal path, clicking to the rock face to our right and vertical drops to the sea on our left. To be honest I am pretty sure all entrants felt like stars.... the race was being covered by Sky Extreme Sports and we were regularly buzzed by a helicopter with cameraman hanging out and filming the action.

The first 12 miles was narrow, muddy, rocky, technical and quite tough, but to be honest many thought that this was 'easy' in comparison to many of the other Coastal Trails. Of course I knew that we had to have a sting in the tail and of course, after a section of road we were soon back on rutted muddy trail.

The sting was hills and lots of them.... nothing too steep but the ups and downs came regularly. It was all a matter of pacing and many of the early ''Hares' were reeled in from around mile 20.

I had decided prior to this race that I would not push too hard BUT I would 'race' today. I ran a consistent pace and it was only in the last mile (the 27th) that I suffered a little cramp. This was primarily due to dehydration. I was way too hot during the event. I crossed the line in 4:22:49 for 7th place. Cat came in on 5:0010 for 44th place and Mark shortly after in 5:02:16.

Both Mark and Cat had great races.mark has consistently improved his form over the marathon distance. Cat had a tough start to the race after a few muscle issues but she pushed on through and ran a very strong second half. A great weekend. All three of us will now line up in Paris on March 20th for the 80km EcoTrail de Paris - can't wait!!

Other News:

Some really key training news from the last week! Firstly, Richard and Julie racked up 50+ mile weeks in preparation for Paris Marathon in early April. Great work guys! You know as I do, getting those miles in now are going to make race day so much easier.

Laura went out today, Sunday. and knocked out her longest run so far.... 3 hours! Not only was this a major mile stone for her but I got a text message to say how well it had gone; perfect!

This coming week on March 4th is the 5th annual training camp at Club La Santa in Lanzarote. This camp always comes at a perfect time. This year the timing seems to be even better! We have had the most disrupted wet, cold and snowy three months for a long time, so, 7 days of Sun is going to be perfect. March is always perfect for an early season run, triathlon or multi-sport campaign and so 7 days of training and rest is ideal. 2010 sees the addition of Martin Yelling and Olympian, Liz Yelling on the coaching staff. This is a major benefit for all involved. Places for 2011 are going to go fast; guaranteed.

The next update will come live from the sun, so watch this space. Have a great week.

Ian

Wokingham Half Marathon

Great News - Liz Yelling had a return to racing at the weekend at Wokingham Half Marathon. In a low key return to racing, Liz ran 1:17:02 for first place in the Ladies race. I know this is some way off Liz's 1;09 pace but still a great return. Well done Liz ;-)

Forget PB's and chill out with this....

http://www.marathondumedoc.com/

Billed as the slowest marathon in the world, its famous for its 22 wine stations, 21 food stalls and the 90% of runners who do it in fancy dress

.

A must for anyone who loves the party more than the marathon. Be warned, it fills...

RACE DATE : September 11th 2010.

Weekly News 21st Feb

Ha, so you thought the snow had gone... nope! I woke up this morning (Sunday) to an absolute covering of snow that was a good 6 inches in depth in places. Of course the snow would arrive for my long run day. As a true trooper I headed out the door and covered a marathon over local trails. It was a tough day out... a combination of the snow, rutted and muddy trails, hills, blizzards and the occasional period of reduced visibility when I reached the top of a couple of local climbs. Loved it though. It brought a few memories back from the two days on the Thames Path. This terrain was considerably more challenging. It's rest time now and a very easy week of recovery and adaptation before next Saturdays Coastal Marathon in South Devon.

So has the week gone? Pretty good actually. I came out of last Saturdays 50k at London Ultra feeling very fresh with no leg soreness or obvious fatigue. I did however have that niggling chest and cough that carried through till Wednesday. Training for me this week was very simple. No speed, just easy running.

• Monday - 8 miles
• Tuesday - 13.5 miles
• Wednesday - 13.5 miles
• Thursday - rest
• Friday - am: 12 miles / pm: 5 miles
• Saturday - am: 8 miles tempo on the road / pm: 7.5 miles trail
• Sunday - Trail marathon

Weekly total mileage was 82.5 miles. That has kept my average since Christmas very high. It's all good and apart from a few hiccups, exactly where I wanted to be coming to the end of Feb.

Clients News:

Firstly, BIG BIG 'PB' for Eric Butcher who knocked 6 minutes off his half marathon time by crossing the line in 1:35. Massive improvement for Eric and a really great result. When I started working with Eric it was in principal to get him in better shape for Ironman. However, we realized that we needed to work on his weakness; running. We therefore targeted Florence Marathon for late 2009. He took part in the Thames Path 2 day and now we have 6 mins of his Half Time - Brill!

Rosemarie Maguire was also racing today over the half distance. No PB but that wasn't the target. Rosemarie needed a real confidence boost in the build up to Paris Marathon. Job done!! I think it is fair to say that Rosemarie had lost sight of why she ran... when we discussed that actually it was meant to be fun, her whole mindset changed. Her result today was a great achievement and I know she enjoyed it.

The 'EcoTrail' crew (Cat, Mark, Nick, Ron, Chris) all had big weekends of running as we are now 4 weeks away from the Ecotrail de Paris 80km Trail race. Some sterling efforts with Nick and Ron knocking out 30 miles on Saturday. Cat after her fantastic run at London Ultra did a 4 hour session and she too races South Devon this coming weekend along with Chris and myself. On the subject of Cat. Photo below showing a rather 'diddy' cup for her first place at LU50k.

Everyone else has been clocking up the miles and starting to make those sessions count in prep for Spring races. This coming week sees more of the same and then the following week, myself and 30 others head out to Lanzarote for the 'runwild runfree' training camp. I always love this camp. It is a great mix of quality training, R&R and hopefully an escape to some sun from this continually chilly UK weather. If you are interested, we are taking 'reserve' places for 2011. We normally have 12 apartments so places go quick.

Other News:

I was reading the other day about some guy who is doing the Triathlon of all Triathlons. His name is Dan Martin http://www.danmartinextreme.com/home.php

Dan is planning a Global Triathlon.... just when you think you do extreme sport by running long distances, some guy turns up and plans to:

• Swim 5700km accross the Atlantic
• Cycle accross Europe & Asia
• Run across America

Good luck is all I can say... wow! The cycle & run giving the time and finance I would love a go at BUT swim the Atlantic; no no no!!

Another guy to check out is French Ultra Legend; Serge Girard (Niandis fave) http://www.sergegirard.com/

Serge has done many great things with his feet, Check out his website BUT he is currently attempting to break the world record of 22,581km run in 365 days averaging 61.9km's a day - now that is ULTRA running!!

Catch up next week! Don't forget, let us have your posts ;-)

Ian

Race Report - Seville Marathon

Seville, Feb 14^th 2010

And the D day came, what a better way to celebrate S.Valentine, first marathon experience with family there to support.

Fair to say was a little bit scared before starting, but, hey, big animal in front of me, and a lot of respect to be paid.

Weather conditions were ideal, fresh and crispy, as you would not expect in Andalucia, overcast and bit windy, some sweating, but not too much expected.

Start at 9 am and sensations at beginning were great, easy run with a lot of people, everybody enjoying the first ks, a lot of chatting and laughing around.

When we got to the first 10ks, the situation changed a bit, still enjoying, but less chatting around, everybody just worried about breathing and going on.

The strategy agreed with Ian was to spit the marathon into 5ks slots, varied with 2 minutes walking when drinking and eating at the refreshment points; have to say worked fantasticly.

So with this plan in place, I thoroughly enjoyed the run upto the 38^th k, listening to music, my body, my brain; after that it was a real pain till the end, but, you know, only 4 ks to go… and we got to the end.

Just finished within my target (below 4 hours)

So great day, and looking forward to repeating this experience soon.

Ciao, Max

Weekly News 14th Feb

What a week !!! Really difficult to know where to start, but a start needs to be made so I will start with the London Ultra 50k. This was the first edition of this race, organised by Rory Coleman and his new venture Ultra Race. What I thought was going to be a road heavy route actually turned out to be a real nice mixed terrain course. We followed the route of the Capital Ring and started in South London and then made our way north to finish at the Wembley Plaza Hotel. Obviously the course was 50k (32 miles).

We had a relatively early start taking a bus from Wembley to South London in time for the 9am start. A modest field of 250 had pre entered and I think appx 200 started. Temperatures were chilly but we soon warmed. I personally was planning to run the race with Niandi my partner. A training run. Also with us was two coaching clients, Ron Shannon and Cat Archer. All of us are toeing the line at the EcoTrail de Paris in March. Ron is very familiar with ultra racing, however Cat was a novice.

Underway the early pace as per usual was two quick. Many were running sub 3:15 marathon pace over the early stages, of course this soon changed as we settled into the run. Navigation was pretty simple throughout the route and we had all been provided with very good route maps. The only problem was road crossings. We had many to cross and of course you were very dependent on the luck of the drawer on what traffic flow was like.

At about 14 miles Niandi and myself got separated from Ron & Cat at one of these intersections. When back on route I tried to push the pace a little to get back accross but Niandi was having one of 'those days'. We all know what this like but Saturday was just not a good day.... before the start I was a little worried as I had suffered all week with a chesty cough and cold. In likely hood, I had probably passed my germs on and Niandi was getting the early symptoms. In true grit style, Niandi pushed on to the end but needless to say it was the last we saw of Ron & Cat.

From this point on we need Ron & Cat to fill the story in, this I know they will do. BUT they arrived at the finish in a great 4:28 and Cat got first lady... YEAH!!!! Top top result. I know that Ron helped paced Cat and they crossed the line pretty much together.

Niandi and myself arrived some 30 min later. Ironically with about a mile to go I sprinted off to cross the line in 4:59 (just didn't want a plus 5 finish) I got my medal, turned around and then ran back to Niandi. Niandi crossed a couple of minutes later... I checked the results today only to find my time is down as 5:01. Obviously some discepancy with my watch and the 'official' watch - c'est la vie!! It was a great race though. Ron & Cat did great. I was happy to get 5 hours on my legs and Niandi? Well, she has been there and done it for 14 years... she has a list of Ultra races that is a who is who of Ultra's... it's one day, she will be back!

As I posted last week, coaching client Julie Deadman was flying over to Cannes to take part the 'half marathon'. We had decided the Julie was going to give it a go!!! Not that Julie doesn't... in the year I have coached her, Julie always gives it a go. But we have always worked to a strategy. This type we had a strategy but the ending was 'open'. We decided to set an early fast pace, hold to 10k and then push.... our intention was simple; PB or blow up. Julie had a previous PB of 1:55:17, this morning at around 10:30am I got a text to say;

"Best race ever - 1:47:10!! Tough from 19k onwards but the wheels just stayed on !! ;-)"

Stunning PB. Julie has PB'd and PB'd over the last 12 months. It hasn't always been plain sailing but to PB over 8 mins over half distance is quite superb..... roll on Paris in April.

Max Bonzo from Italy contacted me in December asking me to coach him to his first marathon. No problem I said.... he then told me it was in about 7 weeks!!! Normally I would have said no to such a short deadline, but I knew that if I didn't help he would still run the marathon and potentially be in a mess. We discussed options and I told him that we would need to be 'creative' with the planning. Max's only priority was a finish, however I did have a personal bet with a friend to beat sub 4:15.

Max dedicated himself to the training and after a long run of 3:15 some three weeks ago he realized the task that lay ahead. I wanted him to use a run/walk strategy. Mach pride initially came in and the 'need to run'. But after explaining things and explaining the thought process, Max decided that this strategy may work. Race day paln was to run to the feeds (5k) walk for 2 min and then run to the next feed... At 13:00 this afternoon I get a text. I see Max's name and I hold my breath... it was always going to be a tough day out. Max wrote:

"Hi Ian, marathon completed, just on target 3:59:34. The walking strategy worked well..."

Needless to say I am over the moon. Absolutely brilliant work by Max. Just think what he will do next time...

I have had a tough week. Training has not gone well due to illness, work has been hectic and I was working all hours to get my new 'Newsletter' out. All of it completely and utterly worth it when I have a weekend like this. BIG BIG congratulations to all. We are 6 weeks into the year and already the results are superb!

More news to follow on Jen Unwin having a 'dirty' weekend in Parbold (that's got you all thinking eh). I will also be posting some photos and other news.

Would love your feedback, so please comment. I also really need your thoughts on the Newsletter? If you didn't get a Newsletter, let me know and I will forward one to you. Have a great week. Ian

Venice Marathon 2010

Venice Marathon Package, October 2010.

Race date: October 24^th

Package for £415 per person to include:

• 3 nights’ accommodation at the Hotel Al Sole in Venice (one of the official hotels for the Venice Marathon)
• Continental breakfast daily
• Two course pasta meal in a local restaurant the night before the race
• Private transfers in a Mercedes Minivan (8 seaters) from Piazzale Roma to race start in Stra on race day.
• Services of runwildrunfree representative Ian Corless who will be on hand throughout the weekend and will be competing himself
• Zest/runwildrunfree merchandise
• Guaranteed race entry (payable in addition at Euros 70)

A child under 15 sharing with parents would be £50

Flight options can be arranged by Zest Sports Tours on request; however, Ryanair and Easyjet offer very cheap flights to Treviso with a very handy shuttle bus that travels to Piazzale Roma every hour.

HOTEL Al SOLE

A noble beginning of the Fifteenth century building, located in a very pleasant area of Venice, a short distance from Piazzale Roma, the University, Chiesa dei Frari church, campo Santa Margherita and from the Gallerie dell'Accademia, Hotel Al Sole welcomes you amongst typical Venetian atmospheres and modern comforts.

Delightful indoor garden, a real privilege for a hotel in Venice, classic, superior and junior suite rooms, make Hotel Al Sole one of the most pleasant 3 star hotels in Venice.

Description

The rooms of Hotel Al Sole are located inside Palazzo Marcello, in the age-old XV century Venetian residence of the Marcello family, today still owners of the building and of the hotel. Furniture and atmospheres are the typical ones of a Venice that once was, whilst the comforts and services of Hotel Al Sole are the best ones of all the 3 star hotels in Venice.

The common rooms are distributed amongst reception, hall, dining room and the delightful indoor garden (a real privilege for a hotel in Venice) where breakfast is served during the mild season and where guests may spend their free time. Breakfast is a buffet and proposes a wide selection of sweet and savory foods, homemade cakes, fresh fruit ect.

Hotel Al Sole's bar offers drinks, coffee and small snacks to be enjoyed in the garden, weather permitting obviously.

Wi-fi internet and internet point located at the reception, concierge, safety deposit, night doorman ect. are some of Hotel Al Sole's' services, one of Venice's most appreciated 3 star hotels.

Benefits of our package:

• Guaranteed race entry if required.
• On hand services from Ian Corless of ‘runwild runfree’ who will offer a pre-race chat, race tips and tactics. Ian will also be participating in the race.
• Venice Marathon training weekends based in the UK (tbc) ideally placed at 12 & 8 weeks before the race start. These weekends will incur an extra charge. All ‘package’ clients will receive a 20% discount.
• Our hotel, Al Sole, is a four minute walk from Piazzale Roma. From Treviso airport you are able to catch transfers to Pizzale Roma on the hour, typical cost is 13 euro. Alternatively, if you fly into Marco Polo, you may take a water bus which transfers to Pizzale Roma also. Both transfers take approximately 1 hour. From Pizzale Roma your hotel is only a short walk away.
• The race expo and registration is at San Giuliano Park. This is approximately 10 minutes away from your hotel. We can catch the ACTV bus n° 5, 12, 19 or 24 from Piazzale Roma to San Giuliano Park.
• Saturday night before the race we are offering a private meal in a local restaurant. This is a great opportunity for everyone to get together, chat and have a pre-race pasta dinner.
• Race day we will have a fleet of Mercedes minivans (8 people per van) to take all the runners to the start in Stra. (You can get a water taxi from the hotel to the minivans if you want to add a bit of glamour too!).
• The race finishes on the ‘Lido’ a short walk from St Marks Square. Family and friends may either travel through Venice on foot or via water taxi to meet up at the race finish. Post race, travel via water taxi back to your hotel is appx 20 mins or of course you may wish to walk to loosen up those sore muscles.
• Post race you will have the opportunity to sight see and soak up the atmosphere of one of the most beautiful and romantic places in the world.

This package is expected to sell fast. We have limited places available and you are therefore advised to book early.

Booking will be taken by ZEST SPORTS TOURS

http://www.zesttours.co.uk/

If you would like any information or if you would like to discuss the race weekend, please contact Ian at : ian@runwildrunfree.co.uk or Rachel at : rachel@zesttours.co.uk

We really do look forward to looking after you and making your race experience a special one!!!!

Yours in sport,

Ian, Rachel, Vicky & Niandi

www.runwildrunfree.co.uk

www.zesttours.co.uk

The Week - 7th Feb

This week has been a little quieter. I traveled over to Paris on Monday to sort out paperwork and logistics for the up and coming 80km EcoTrail de Paris. I love being in Paris. I love the lifestyle, I love the City, I love the run routes and of course Niandi and myself have a home there! It is very difficult on us both when we have to spend chunks of time apart and January has been one of those months. Niandi has been busy with work in Germany and of course I have been busy with training and coaching for the up and coming London Marathon.

So, how has this weeks training gone? For me I cut back on distance a little covering 82.5 miles, however, I did up the speed. My week was as follows:

• Monday - rest and travel to Paris
• Tuesday - 15.5 miles in 1:57 over a mixture of trail and road
• Wednesday was recovery with 8 miles easy in the morning and 3.2 miles jog in the evening
• Thursday - Same route as Tuesday but in reverse and appx 30 secs slower per mile
• Friday - 8 miles tempo
• Saturday - 8.2 miles tempo on the road and then 7 miles trail at threshold in the eve
• Sunday - 17.5 miles at 7:30 pace

It has been a good week for me and I can see my speed improving with my added endurance. It's nice when a plan starts to click together. This week is going to be pretty easy ahead of the London Ultra 50k (32 miles) on Saturday 13th Feb.

What is nice about the London Ultra is that we have quite a few 'runwild runfree' clients running. Cat Archer returns from skiing on Friday and heads straight over to the race. Niandi is flying in from Paris and locally Ron Shannon & Mark Hughes are heading over from the Midlands. It is a training run for all of us in preparation for the 80km later in March. Great isn't it! We run 32 miles 'as training' ;-) Quite right when people say we are mad. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Julie Deadman once again heads over to France this coming week to race in a Half Marathon. Julie as previously mentioned in another blog story has gone from PB to PB in the last 12 months so we really hope that she can push the Half to a new level. It is going to be a tough race as I have decided on an aggressive strategy. Julie is going to know she has run this race and her legs will definitely know in the 2/48hrs afterwards. But, a time arrives in training when you have to push and push hard to find out what you can really achieve... Julie is fully aware that the wheels may come off at the late stages of the race but this is something we are prepared to risk. All the very best Julie!!

Max Bonzo is racing in Seville Marathon. It is his first attempt at the distance. Max is fully aware of the challenge ahead and we have come up with a strategy of run/ wlaking to get him to the finish. I am sure once he crosses the line, he can look at some new targets for later in the year. All the very best Max.

runwild runfree news

The runwild runfree Lanzarote training camp is now full for 2010. It is going to be a really superb camp with Martin & Liz Yelling joining me in all aspects of coaching and preparation. I really think that the opportunity to spend one week with the potential to pick several minds (one being an Olympian) is invaluable. Not only do you benefit from great training, hopefully we will have great weather, great food and great company. 2011 places will go on sale in April, so, if you would like to beat the rush and secure a place in advance, please email me. Dates will be March 3rd to March 10th (tbc)

EcoTrail de Paris 80km trail race is now only just over a month away. This for me is a stunning race and runwild runfree are really pleased to be the UK agent. We are taking a small group over in March but we hope that in future years this will become a key race on the Ultra Calendar. In France it is extremely popular. Let's face it, when you run up the Eiffel Tower to the finish line how can you beat that finish line!!

Venice Marathon in conjunction with Zest Sports Tours will soon be available to book. We are currently putting the finishing touches to the package. Race date is October 24th and we are going to be able to offer race enty too, so, don't worry if you don't have a place!

Catch up next week ! Ian