HELP ME REACH MY GOAL RUNNING TO LEARN WITH BEN FISH FROM
a Meditation on the Move
Ben Fish hopes to run the marathon for GB in the next Olympics. In this series he offers our readers advice and tips to help them achieve their goal
This month Ben helps Joe Llewellwyn, 32, from Prestwich, Greater Manchester to reach his goal
■ MY GOAL: “I want to get faster! I’d like to run 18:30 for a 5k and sub 40 for 10k. I’d like to do this over the spring/summer before trying for an ultra marathon later in the year.”
■ MY RUNNING BACKGROUND: “I’ve run 1:34 for a half and 3:47 for the marathon and compete in many off-road marathons.”
■ MY WEEKLY TRAINING: “I have a very busy lifestyle with work and a young family. I tend to do lots of miles at the same pace, and stick to off-road running. Overall, it’s pretty unstructured.”
■ BEN SAYS: “Training and racing off-road has given you plenty of endurance. To improve your 5k and 10k times you’ll need to add in some threshold runs and focus on speed, with a session every week. Track sessions are perfect, or fartlek runs (Swedish word for “speed-play”) are a great alternative. Here are some examples of both. On the track you could try: 10 x 400m with 1 min recovery (jogging) at 80 secs/5k race pace; 6 x 800m with 90 sec recovery (jogging) at 2:55/
can remember ‘sponsored walks’ and ‘sponsored swims’ back in my childhood. These occasions were a lot of fun and meant that ‘making a difference’ to others was also something that made a difference to us. Today, fundraising has moved on. People are swimming the channel in a swimming pool and running the whole way across America! And the scrappy bits of paper, the sponsor forms on which we scribbled down the names of those who were donating, have been replaced by a sophisticated online network, with the arrival of sites such as
justgiving.com.
I
sub 10k pace. A good fartlek session would be to run two minutes fast, one minute easy. Repeat this cycle 10 times. Fast sections should be run at 10k race pace or 85 to 89 percent of max heart rate. “For your threshold runs,
replace some of your longer midweek runs with sessions where you run the middle section at 6:30 to 7-minute mile pace or quicker (faster for shorter runs). Or try a low key mid-week race over a short distance. There are plenty of races on Wednesday nights through the summer. To strengthen the glutes and calf muscles, necessary for faster running, throw in some hill sessions, e.g. 10 x 60 sec efforts, with a jog back to start. Easy runs are also important, but avoid doing too many and running ‘junk mileage’, save them for after racing or hard sessions. An eight-week block of 30 to 40 miles per week will be adequate whilst you focus on getting faster, before returning to high mileage, and long runs, in preparation for the ultra marathon.”
For help in reaching your running goal email
fiona@runningfreemag.co.uk with your picture, your background as a runner, your PBs, and your lifestyle. Your goal doesn’t have to be a specific race time, it may be weightloss, to run faster intervals, to run more, or to improve your diet… Contact us now.
The magic of 26.2 miles The London Marathon, too, has become an event that changes so many lives. Running a marathon is such an achievement, with a magical quality to it. We can feel proud of our ability to run through the wall at 20 miles and cross the finish line triumphant, often having changed our own internal make-up in the process. For many who run the London Marathon and other events around the country, they will also have raised money that will make a huge difference to the beneficiaries.
Be the change you want to see in the world Running and raising money allows for the chi to flow. There isn’t a lack of money out there, just a lack of consciousness and an imbalance in how it flows around the planet. Ghandi said, ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’. The massive commitment it takes to train for a marathon, and at the same time to rally people to help you raise money, means the changes that occur within have the potential to resonate further and shape a society in which people care about one another.
People are
discovering that we’re really born
to run, that it unites us all
Julia Armstrong is a lifelong runner and all-round running philosopher. She’s run a 2:36 marathon and ranks in the top 10 for her age. Every month she shares her thoughts. Catch up at
www.runningtolearn.com
A new age of running The simple act of running is creating an esprit de corps that could never have been imagined when I started 40 years ago. People are discovering that we really are ‘born to run’ and that it unites us all. It’s not just in the simplicity of the movement, but in the spirit of adventure, and the connecting of the mind, body and spirit of human beings, joining together to make a difference and supporting one another in superhuman efforts of bravery and altruism.
Meet Julia at the Running Free Workshop, held in South Kensington on April 12th, June 25th and September 17th with The Running Inn, visit
www.therunninginn.com for more information
46 ■ RUNNING FREE
RUNNERS
MAKING A
DIFFERENCE SPECIAL
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