Wednesday 22 October 2014

Steady - I don't think so!

It was a cool night, but the two groups warmed up quickly and they were all gunning for PB's last night I think!  You couldn't hold them back as we did a nice steady route heading up Craigleith Road, before looping back onto Queensferry road, running past the stunning Stewarts Melville College.



Heading back over Dean Bridge and back through the stomping ground of Stockbridge and Inverleith Park to get us home.
I'm on 'holiday' now for the next 2 weeks, so the 6pm group will be looked after by Andy and the 7pm group by Ali, so definitely no rest for the wicked.
Most of you know I am off to run the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon in South Africa, a 250km race through high desert temperatures of anywhere from 30-45 degrees, carrying all my own food and kit for the week over a 6 stage race.  We kick off the race on the 1st November and if you are interested in keeping up to date with my progress, follow me on twitter @runningdutchie or find me on Facebook as Lucja Leonard (my PR agent ;-0 my friend, Nina, will be updating my pages with details as we are able to send out one email a day from camp).  Daily updates will be posted on their website as well as photos and video http://www.kaem.co.za/ and if you fancy sending me any messages you can email runners@kaem.co.za .  I will post a full blog on the event afterwards, but in the meantime if you enjoy reading my blog www.runningdutchie.wordpress.com please vote for me at http://therunningawards.com/ I am under Publications & online/Blog/Running Dutchie .

See you when I get back!


Wednesday 15 October 2014

Run in the dark

Tuesday night groups were treated to hill reps last night, and boy did they give it some.  The darker nights haven't put these guys off that's for sure! 



Comely Bank Avenue in Stockbridge set the scene for 8x1min ascends as fast as they could go with a 2 minute recovery back down between sets, keeping track of their markers, many of them went on to get stronger and smash their targets.  The 3 lads in our 7pm group were seriously competitive and were nearly up and around the corner!

Speaking of running in the dark.....There is an event you may be interested in.  Check out www.runingthedark.org/edinburgh there is a choice of a 5k/10k run which will be on Wednesday 12th November at 8pm leaving from Crowne Plaza Edinburgh - Royal Terrace, 18 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh, EH75AQ and doing a loop from there through Holyrood Park and Hunters Bog under Arthur's Seat.  It is £15 to enter and all proceeds go to the Mark Pollock Trust raising money for spinal paralysis research, a very worthy cause.  And you get a goody bag with a flashing arm band , perfect for these darker nights! Any questions please email Lucja at runningdutchie@Hotmail.com or on twitter @runningdutchie


Monday 13 October 2014

edinburgh marathon workshops

Edinburgh Marathon 2015 Workshops

workshop_social_image.jpgGreat News! We have teamed up with Nuffield Health & Wellbeing to provide runners with two opportunities to receive professional advice on every aspect of Edinburgh Marathon Festival preparation (for any event)!
The FREE workshops, held in Edinburgh on 28th October and in Glasgow on 30th October, will focus on training plans, nutrition, injury treatment and prevention and tips on how to stay motivated. As well as great offers from Run and Become and Nuffield Health & Wellbeing!
What's more, the sessions will finish with an optional guided run where you can stretch your legs and chat to other runners - it will be dark so remember to bring along your head torch! 
So if you've entered the Edinburgh Marathon Festival, or are thinking about entering, book your free space at either the Edinburgh or Glasgow workshops today!
                        - book_edinburgh.jpg          - book_glasgow.jpg
The format of the workshops will be as follows:
TimeEdinburghGlasgow
6pmDoors open for a 6:30 start
6:30pm - 6:40pmIntroductions
6:40pm - 7pmAlex McEwan, Sports Development Officer and Edurance Coach at Edinburgh ACColin Thomas, Nuffield Regional Clinical Lead Physiologist & Elite Runner
7pm - 7:10pmJoel Enoch, Sport Scientist who specialises in deconstructing sports nutrition, goal setting and endurance training.Nutrionist 
7:10pm - 7:20pmPhysiotherapistClaire Colgan, Physiotherapist at Nuffield Health
7:20pm - 7:30pm
David Hilton, Macmillan Junior Ambassador, will be giving an inspirational talk about his personal experiences in running at the Edinburgh Marathon Festival. 
7:30pm - 8:30pmGuided run along the Canal led by Jonathan Carpenter, Senior Health & Wellbeing Physiologist at Nuffield HealthGuided run along the Clyde led by Colin Thomas, Nuffield Regional Clinical Lead Physiologist & Elite Runner

Speed sessions with a twist

The nights are drawing in, and it's getting colder, but that's not excuse to leave training behind, this is the best season to really make some progress.

Our Tuesday night session for the 7th October was a planned speed session, and speed we did.

Mixing it up a bit, we made good use of a lovely set of steps to focus on some movement and form, our first lap up the steps was one foot on each step and stopping completely before moving to the next, to make sure we weren't using any momentum to move upwards, the second set was about the 'boing' (as the 7pm group nicknamed it the 'Tigger' effect) as we bounced up the steps, not speeding just yet.....Then our 3rd set was as fast as you could go but using one step at a time, so focus on pumping the arms and moving as quickly as you could.




We finished off each of the sessions with an Indian file speed run back through Stockbridge to Westwood's with everyone suitably sweaty and glowing from a good workout.