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