Just a quick post before I head off to Aland for the Island Games week. I'm all packed and ready to go, packing proved a challenge mind as we are only allowed to take 15kg of hold luggage and 5k of hand luggage, so to had to pack quite light in some areas.
My race isn't until a week today (1500m) so i will have the best part of a week to maintain my training in preparation for the National Champs whcih is the week after I get back from Aland. It will also be my first 1500 of the season being that 5k has been the focus this season but it will be nice to have race over what was previously my main event.
Since the Watford race training has gone ok, I had an easier week after the race with the aim of letting the body recover a bit more, so it was predominately steady running but I still clocked up 80miles during the week. My track session Tuesday was ok whilst nothing spectacular but funnily enough since then the body and particularly the legs have started to feel pretty good. I'm still on course to clock around 80miles of training this week but again this has been mostly steady stuff with a couple session, but these have been fairly controlled.
I must admit I've really enjoying my running the last few days particular with the good weather so hopefully Aland can provide much of the same. In terms of the Guernsey team there is a fairly young team heading out this year with many new faces, which is great to see. Over the past few years and particular when I was involved with the athletics development role I saw many good young athletes in the sport and now many of those are heading to Aland which will hopefully act as a spring board for bigger and better things for those individuals. There is certainly still no shortage of experienced athletes going along despite a few absentees and I'm sure we the team will still bring back plenty of medals.
Next stop Aland.
Ciao
Friday, 26 June 2009
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Race Report from Watford BMC
Well i finished in 8th place in a time of 14.11, so not really what I was looking for, unfortunately things don't seem to have moved on as they should have from the Manchester race 2 weeks ago. Legs still feeling a little lack luster and its more frustrating than anything else after the successes of the winter months that both training and racing isn't quite going as expected at the moment. I don't have a race now for a few weeks so the plan is to kick back slightly over the next week and not too push training too much during this period and allow the body to freshen up a little. Despite the time i finished with on Saturday and how the race felt in general I still at least managed to find some strength and speed over the closing stages, and the one thing which I do take a lot of confidence from is that whilst training and racing are clearly not quite on song at the moment I'm still not a million miles away. Only a 1-2% improvement for example would see me nearer to what I expect from myself and the sort of performances I feel I'm capable of on better day.
On a lighter note it's great to see the local paper are quoting me on my races using my twitter, presumably this modern day reporting :-) Perhaps I should try and seem what crazy quotes I can get printed up :-)
Next race is likely to be the Island Games 1500m, which is at the end of the games week. With the National Champs the week after I get back from ALand its unlikely that I will compete in another event as I need to get some key training completed while out there.
Assuming internet access is easily available while at the games i will try to keep people updated with details of what is going on in team and in general within the team accomodation.
All for now, Cheers
Lee
On a lighter note it's great to see the local paper are quoting me on my races using my twitter, presumably this modern day reporting :-) Perhaps I should try and seem what crazy quotes I can get printed up :-)
Next race is likely to be the Island Games 1500m, which is at the end of the games week. With the National Champs the week after I get back from ALand its unlikely that I will compete in another event as I need to get some key training completed while out there.
Assuming internet access is easily available while at the games i will try to keep people updated with details of what is going on in team and in general within the team accomodation.
All for now, Cheers
Lee
Friday, 12 June 2009
Race weekend...
Very quick note as I'm currently sorting out last few bits before I head to the airport. Racing in the BMC GP meet tomorrow evening at Watford, in my second 5k of the season. Have eased back the training this week so hopefully legs will be nice and fresh for the race tomorrow. Watford has been a good track for me in the past with a number of my PBs over the shorter distances having been run on this track, have never a 5k here though so all being well I can add to the list.
Hopefully I won't be stuck in the aiport all day Sunday (unlike last time) and will be able to post a race report on sunday evening.
All for now.
Lee
Hopefully I won't be stuck in the aiport all day Sunday (unlike last time) and will be able to post a race report on sunday evening.
All for now.
Lee
Monday, 1 June 2009
Race Report from Saturday
On Saturday evening I was racing in the BMC Grand Prix in Manchester. I finished 6th in the race in a time of 14.08. Check out the link to the results ....
http://www.britishmilersclub.com/results/results.aspx?meetingid=26409
In terms of my finishing time I'm a little disappointed but that's partly down to my high expectation this season, I believe my 5k personal best is a little weak and after the winter I've had I feel that I'm capable of running faster times, when everything falls into place. All things considered though it's a reasonable start to the season, as my legs are far from feeling recovered from general training at the moment and conditions also weren't ideal for fast times.
I set off fairly conservatively and ended up working my way from the field as the race went on and was able to finish quite strongly over the last lap or so. I think with a slightly stronger field i.e. more people running in the region 13.45-14.00 minutes, and without the wind we encountered on the back straight each time I could probably have run my PB close (currently 13.57). I feel at the moment I'm still waiting for the past few weeks of training to come out the system (hence the heavy legs at the moment) and once that starts to happen I will be ready to run faster times.
With 6 weeks to the National Champs I still have plenty of time for performances to start falling into place and essentially start peaking at the right time. Before then I also have Another BMC meeting at Watford and the Island Games in Aland.
Right time to get a run in.
Cheers for now
Lee
http://www.britishmilersclub.com/results/results.aspx?meetingid=26409
In terms of my finishing time I'm a little disappointed but that's partly down to my high expectation this season, I believe my 5k personal best is a little weak and after the winter I've had I feel that I'm capable of running faster times, when everything falls into place. All things considered though it's a reasonable start to the season, as my legs are far from feeling recovered from general training at the moment and conditions also weren't ideal for fast times.
I set off fairly conservatively and ended up working my way from the field as the race went on and was able to finish quite strongly over the last lap or so. I think with a slightly stronger field i.e. more people running in the region 13.45-14.00 minutes, and without the wind we encountered on the back straight each time I could probably have run my PB close (currently 13.57). I feel at the moment I'm still waiting for the past few weeks of training to come out the system (hence the heavy legs at the moment) and once that starts to happen I will be ready to run faster times.
With 6 weeks to the National Champs I still have plenty of time for performances to start falling into place and essentially start peaking at the right time. Before then I also have Another BMC meeting at Watford and the Island Games in Aland.
Right time to get a run in.
Cheers for now
Lee
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Weekend of local athletics & looking ahead...
Saturday afternoon saw most of the Guernsey Island Games squad competing in the Meespierson Golden Series match, which had numerous athletes from the UK including squads from Wales and the RAF competing. Unfortunatley yours truely wasn't running but it was good to see pretty much all our local athletes running on home soil for the first time in while. There were plenty of competitive events and we even had the good weather to go with it!
Teresa was away on saturday afternoon and evening so I was on Thomas duties. I took him along to watch - not his first time to the track... trying to get him familiar with the environment :-) Not sure he knew what was going on but seemed happy enough. The athletics club also kindly presented myself, Martine Scholes and Rob Batiste with a gift each for our work for the athletics club, all three of us have recently stepped down from our posts, myself as development officer, Martine as the clubs hub for all things admin and whatever else people were able to palm her way and Rob was the Clubs president. It was comletely unexpected and nice to get some recognition but couldn't help feeling a bit of a fraud seeing as the club has a wealth of hardworking volunteers. Hopefully the work I did has helped athletics move forward over the past 3 years though. Certainly Rob deserved his after filling the role of club president for many years and is largely responsible in helping bring on local athletics so much in the past 5 years.
Looking ahead I have my first track race this weekend. Another trip to Manchester , this time I will be racing at Sport City - the athletics stadium adjecent to Manchester City football ground. This was also the warm up track for the 2002 Commonwealth Games and has been used a number of times in recent years for the National Champs so I guess its a bit of home from home as far as UK venues go. The meeting is a BMC (BRitish Milers Club) Grand Prix meeting and I'm racing over 5000m. Being the first BMC of the season usually means a good turn out so Im looking forward to getting in a good race and all being well running a PB first time out.
Anyway that's all for now, track session this evening which will be my last intense workout before the weekend, after that it's about recovery and getting ready to race.
Laters
Lee
Teresa was away on saturday afternoon and evening so I was on Thomas duties. I took him along to watch - not his first time to the track... trying to get him familiar with the environment :-) Not sure he knew what was going on but seemed happy enough. The athletics club also kindly presented myself, Martine Scholes and Rob Batiste with a gift each for our work for the athletics club, all three of us have recently stepped down from our posts, myself as development officer, Martine as the clubs hub for all things admin and whatever else people were able to palm her way and Rob was the Clubs president. It was comletely unexpected and nice to get some recognition but couldn't help feeling a bit of a fraud seeing as the club has a wealth of hardworking volunteers. Hopefully the work I did has helped athletics move forward over the past 3 years though. Certainly Rob deserved his after filling the role of club president for many years and is largely responsible in helping bring on local athletics so much in the past 5 years.
Looking ahead I have my first track race this weekend. Another trip to Manchester , this time I will be racing at Sport City - the athletics stadium adjecent to Manchester City football ground. This was also the warm up track for the 2002 Commonwealth Games and has been used a number of times in recent years for the National Champs so I guess its a bit of home from home as far as UK venues go. The meeting is a BMC (BRitish Milers Club) Grand Prix meeting and I'm racing over 5000m. Being the first BMC of the season usually means a good turn out so Im looking forward to getting in a good race and all being well running a PB first time out.
Anyway that's all for now, track session this evening which will be my last intense workout before the weekend, after that it's about recovery and getting ready to race.
Laters
Lee
Monday, 18 May 2009
Manchester Race Report
Well it wasn't quite the race I was hoping for, I finished 14th overall and 6th British finisher but it was more the time and the run in general that I was a little disappointed with. I ran 29.47 which is approx 20secs slower than last year, conditions were far from ideal admitedly with a strong head wind for large sections of the race. Many of the athletes thought the wind could account for 20 to 30secs which mean the run was on par with last year, however I had set my sight on running a lot faster this year. Teresa ran and she ran a pb of 51.10 so at least one of the Merrien family was happy. She has her sights set on further races now - it's catching this running bug!
On the plus side I have a race under my belt now which has blow the dust off things and my race fitness and sharpness will only get better from now and into the track season. My body has struggled a little bit to recovery from heavy training over the past month and sometimes it just takes a little longer to recover than you plan for.
Overall I still enjoyed the event and being in and around the city with such well participated event (33,000 runners) is always fun. I think it's the first time I've raced Gebrselassie too (if you can call it that!). We happend to be in the hotel life together on Saturday evening coming back from dinner but i decided against asking for a photo together! I regret it now!
The organisors also had a rather novel sprint event arranged in main Street (Deans Gate) in the middle of the City - they closed the road and set up a 150m stretch of temporary track which saw the fastest man in the world Usain Bolt run a new world record for the distance. Unfortantely the race was on at 6.30pm and I had to be at the airport for my flight home so we didn't get to see the race.
Right I better go as I need to get started on some D.I.Y. I have some blinds to put up in Thomas' bedroom which I've been putting off for a few weeks. Myself and D.I.Y. don't usually get on well with one another, whilst I'm not too bad at it, it does elevate my stress levels. Teresa is still away until tonight so at least we can't fall out over it! which is pretty much guaranteed if we are in the same room whilst I attempt to construct something. Finger crossed I have a stress free afternoon.
On the plus side I have a race under my belt now which has blow the dust off things and my race fitness and sharpness will only get better from now and into the track season. My body has struggled a little bit to recovery from heavy training over the past month and sometimes it just takes a little longer to recover than you plan for.
Overall I still enjoyed the event and being in and around the city with such well participated event (33,000 runners) is always fun. I think it's the first time I've raced Gebrselassie too (if you can call it that!). We happend to be in the hotel life together on Saturday evening coming back from dinner but i decided against asking for a photo together! I regret it now!
The organisors also had a rather novel sprint event arranged in main Street (Deans Gate) in the middle of the City - they closed the road and set up a 150m stretch of temporary track which saw the fastest man in the world Usain Bolt run a new world record for the distance. Unfortantely the race was on at 6.30pm and I had to be at the airport for my flight home so we didn't get to see the race.
Right I better go as I need to get started on some D.I.Y. I have some blinds to put up in Thomas' bedroom which I've been putting off for a few weeks. Myself and D.I.Y. don't usually get on well with one another, whilst I'm not too bad at it, it does elevate my stress levels. Teresa is still away until tonight so at least we can't fall out over it! which is pretty much guaranteed if we are in the same room whilst I attempt to construct something. Finger crossed I have a stress free afternoon.
Friday, 15 May 2009
Great Manchester 10k
This weekend I'm off to Manchester for the Bupa Great Manchester 10k. This will be the 3rd year running that I have competed in the event, which has usually acted as a good first race of the season for me in the past. It's also usually very popular with elite athletes home and abroad and this years entries suggests no different with a strong start list posted. This year entries include the living legend that is Haile Gebrselassie. Check out the link below on the runnerslife site which has a comprehensive list runners along with notable performances for each...
http://www.runnerslife.co.uk/includes/images/manchester10k.pdf
Since the training camp in Portugal I have been carrying a bit cold, partly down I believe in getting used to juggling training with family and work again off the back of some heavy training. Plus Thomas seems to have had his fair share of illness recently, so ended up picking up his sniffles on returning home. The immune system seems on the mend now and probably stronger than ever after the past 2 months! With an easier week of training the past week or so body and mind are starting to freshen up in time for Sundays race. The immune system has certainly felt healthy enough to cope with the introduction of altitude this week, as I've started using my altitude tent again which I plan to use regularly now over the next month or so. This basically involves sleeping a sealed tent at night which simulates being at higher altitude. I'm used to it now (as I have used it on and off the past couple of seasons) but it's bit noisy at first as you have a generator the size of small fridge inside the tent with you!
Check out a rather sleeping looking me inside the alternative to the mile high club...
http://www.runnerslife.co.uk/includes/images/manchester10k.pdf
Since the training camp in Portugal I have been carrying a bit cold, partly down I believe in getting used to juggling training with family and work again off the back of some heavy training. Plus Thomas seems to have had his fair share of illness recently, so ended up picking up his sniffles on returning home. The immune system seems on the mend now and probably stronger than ever after the past 2 months! With an easier week of training the past week or so body and mind are starting to freshen up in time for Sundays race. The immune system has certainly felt healthy enough to cope with the introduction of altitude this week, as I've started using my altitude tent again which I plan to use regularly now over the next month or so. This basically involves sleeping a sealed tent at night which simulates being at higher altitude. I'm used to it now (as I have used it on and off the past couple of seasons) but it's bit noisy at first as you have a generator the size of small fridge inside the tent with you!
Check out a rather sleeping looking me inside the alternative to the mile high club...
Race is 10am Sunday morning but look out for the results on Sunday evening or check out BBC 1 on Sunday afternoon for courage of the race.
All for now.
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