Porthkerry 5: multi-terrain running race

Mark took part in the Porthkerry 5 this morning, it's a 5 mile off road (multi-terrain) running race held in Porthkerry Park, near Barry.

It's a tough race, all off road and it has some tough, tough hills thrown in at several points in the race, just to spice things up a bit!

Mark used this race as a training race in the run up to his 'A' race of the season (Holland in July as part of the GB off-road triathlon team) and managed a very creditable 7th pace in a very large field of runners - well done Mark!

Mark provides one-to-one running, cycling and triathlon coaching and online training plans, so if you're in Cardiff, Penarth, Barry or Cowbridge and are contemplating getting a coach to guide you through your 2013 season contact Mark (Cardiff, Penarth & Barry) on 07947 010276 or visit the brand new WhittleFit website for more details on the running coaching services that Mark provides.

5 things to do to kick start your personal fitness program

The most common challenge that people I talk to face is how to incorporate fitness into their lives. They know they have to do something to get in shape but they really don’t know how. It can be quite off-putting because of the abundance of information out there. So much so that you may not know where to begin.

Our society has so many food choices that it is easy to pack on the extra pounds. Also our day to day jobs are far less physical as they where 100 years ago so we have more sedentary life styles. We know there are benefits involved when we exercise and clean up our diet, however, most of us don’t know how or where to start.

So where do we begin? Or is the question: How do we begin?

If you feel you are out of shape you should consider going to your doctor and get their approval to start exercising. Your doctor may also provide some helpful tips as well.

After you get the OK from your doctor, try these 5 things to help you get started:

1. Make the choice to start exercising and eating right: Making the decision to do something provides a form of commitment you make to yourself. Deciding that you need to change your behaviour creates new possibilities. When you say to your self “I need to get in shape”, it means something. You should be answering these questions in your mind: When can I work out? What exercises do I need to do? What foods should I be eating? Make yourself think about the commitment you just made. Only then you can let go of the past and take steps to move forward.

2. Write down what you do: You need a reference that is realistic towards your weekly activity. Write down everything you do during the week. This should include work hours, commuting hours, nights spent with your spouse, your child’s activities and anything else you can think of that you do. You should also include what you do on weekends. You should make a list for each day of the week, as some people set lofty goals like working out for 2 hours a day. This can be due to an old saying, “More is better”. However, this is not the case. Knowing your schedule will help you set realistic goals and help you find a few hours a week to start exercising. You’ll have a visual perspective on what you can and can’t do with your routine.

3. Research and get information: Most people do not have enough information before they start a work out program. So how do we get the information we need? The good news is we live in the information age. Take advantage of your favourite search engine and learn a little bit about fitness and nutrition. However, do not go overboard and lose focus. Find a source of information you like and take notes. Find the simplest and easiest workouts and nutrition tips. Don’t overload yourself with information. If you prefer you can hire a personal trainer for a few sessions to help you get started. Hiring a personal trainer is a great way to get started because you have made a commitment to meet someone to workout. Your goal is to have the trainer show you the basics on exercise and eating healthier. It may also be safer to learn how to perform the exercises (especially if you have not exercised for a while).

4. Create a simple plan and set realistic goals: Keep it simple! Following a simple plan while on a hectic schedule is much easier than following an convoluted plan. You should have a plan of which days you want to work out and a goal to change your eating habits for the next few weeks. For example, “I will work out for a half an hour for 3 days this week. I will eat a little less each meal.” Keeping it simple is a major key to success.

5. Execute your plan: Now that you have a plan, all you need to do is follow it. Sounds easy! However, this is another big step. You should look at your plan every day. You need be mentally prepared for the great day ahead of you. Having your daily schedule in hand will help you achieve your goals for the day. When you complete your workout for the day, highlight it or cross it off your list. It will show you that you accomplished something for yourself.

I hope these things help you get started on a new life of physical fitness. Life is filled with making decisions, knowing your commitments, getting information, planning and execution. Try these approaches for yourself and you will see that having your own workout and nutrition program is not as far fetched or complicated as you think. Good luck!

Running technique workshop - Cardiff

How would you like to run faster, with less effort? Well, with our Learn To Run workshop you’ll learn an effective run technique that allows you to run more efficiently, with no injuries and best of all, faster! With these new running skills you’ll enjoy a more active lifestyle and gain great health benefits whilst enjoying the wonderful sport of running.

Personal trainer John Bruno and running coach Mark Whittle have teamed up to present this amazing workshop. The workshop is primarily aimed at beginners and novices, so fitness levels aren’t important; the goal is to teach you the steps, principles and drills for you to become more successful at running.

The next Learn To Run workshop is:


Date: Sunday 19th May 9.30am - 12.30pm

Location: John Bruno Total Training studio, Glebe Street, Penarth
Cost: £40


So if you live in Cardiff, Penarth, Barry, Bridgend, Cowbridge or Llantwit Major and would like to learn how to run more efficiently, faster and with less injuries, register with John Bruno on 07976 769390 or Mark Whittle on 07947010276.

7 tops tips for healthier and fitter living

More and more people these days are getting sedentary instead of physical jobs. Sitting in the office chairs all day long has become the norm for many of us. The stress, busyness and rush make us forget about regular food and stuff our stomachs with convenient pre-packaged fast food and sugary drinks, which don't do anything good for our bodies.

As a result of such crazy life rhythm, we rarely find time for exercises, gyms or balanced nutrition. As a matter of fact, it's one of the reasons why there are now more that 60% of U.S citizens that are overweight. However, it is possible to change your lifestyle and lose your weight if you are willing to.

These 7 day-to-day life tips provided below will help you to drop your extra pounds, become more energetic and healthier.

1. Drink More Water
Our bodies need a lot of water. Water removes waste from our organisms and carries various nutrients into all our organs and cells. Your body also loses water by using it for various processes within the body. For this reason you have to replace it and drink water more often than you are used to. Start your day with a glass of water in the morning. Drink a glass of water before any meal. Take a bottle of water with you when you go to work. Your body needs approximately 3-5 liters of water during one day. So don't hesitate to drink plenty of water wherever and whenever you can.

2. Eat Fruits and Drink Fruit Juices
Eating fruits and juices helps you eliminate toxins from your body. Eating a variety of fruits also helps you get enough fibre, vitamins and antioxidants, which is one of the main reasons why you should eat fresh fruits and drink natural fruit juices as often as possible. Fruit juices from supermarkets are often sweetened (with a LOT of sugar!). If you want to drink juices, try to make fresh juices yourself. If you think it takes too much of the time, then look for juices with labels that say 100% fruit juice, these are much healthier for your body as they contain many more vitamins.

3. Eat Lots of Vegetables and Vegetable Salads
When it comes to losing extra pounds, vegetables are a great choice. They are natural and contain different vitamins, minerals and tons of other useful chemicals known to provide benefits for your body. Vegetables are low in fat and calories, they help control blood glucose levels, reduce blood cholesterol and reduce the risk of colon and other cancers. All these features also help control your weight effectively. If you feel that eating vegetables alone isn't great choice for you, then make some salads. Mixing vegetables together gives you even more different vitamins and health benefits. There are tons of tasty, healthy salad recipes on the internet. You can also use you imagination to make some great salads.

4. Eat Only When You Are Hungry
How many times you've been to a party where you saw lots of different and tasty looking meals, which you were offered to try. Don't just eat it because you are offered to. Eat only when you want to. Many people also like snacking. In between meals or when have nothing to do. Quit snacking. Most snacks contain a lot of fat and calories. Replace your usual snacks with vegetables or fruits. These are healthy to your body and you'll never get fatter, only thinner.

5. Carry Healthy Food with You
Many of us work busy office jobs and don't have time to eat regularly. In this case, bring your own made food with you. Instead of bringing sandwiches with meat, take vegetable salads, carrots or chicken or turkey salads. Any low fat food will do. This way, you won't have to wait for a break to fill your stomach. It's also quite important to try to eat about 5 times a day, rather than 3 or 2. Eat in smaller quantities, but more often. This helps you to increase your metabolism.

6. Work Out When You Can
Working out in a gym is not only a great way to grow some muscles, but also to drop a few pounds. Exercising helps you burn your calories instead of storing them in your body as fat. Our bodies were made to be active, so exercising slowly and easily can actually help you get more energy and make you feel much better. At the end of the week, try to lose all the stress and burn your calories in a gym or having some kind of physical activity at home. If you have time, then try to do easy exercises everyday.

7. Don't Lie Down or Sit When You Can Move
Many of us like to watch TV lying on a couch or sitting in a comfortable chair. Of course, when you come home after hard working day, you're tired, and all you can think of, is a couch and a remote in your hand. But such laziness won't help you lose weight. Contrarily, it will make you grow some more pounds. So don't lie or sit, when you can walk and move. Instead of staring at TV, go ahead and work out in your garden for example, clean your garage, fix your car, go to walk in the local park or beach. Breathe fresh air and move more often. Not only does it help to reduce stress after work, but also ups your mood and makes you more energetic.


Remember that all these tips will help you to lose weight, but only if you are determined and are ready to devote some of your time. Don't expect to slim down 4 sizes after eating 5 carrots and drinking orange juice. 

Your body, just like many things in this world, needs time. So be patient. And if you will honestly use at least some of these tips, you are going to change your lifestyle, which in the end will lead you to a thinner and healthier body.

Open water swim training for triathlon

With the triathlon season almost upon us, and many more people deciding to undertake bigger and longer triathlons, I thought it would be timely to highlight a few tips and tricks regarding the open water aspect of triathlon.

Because open-water swimming includes many variables that differ from normal pool swimming, the only way to get better is to practise; therefore you must get out and swim more in the open water. This is one of the biggest fundamentals of open water swimming, nonetheless, here are my top tips to help you excel at your next open water triathlon race:

1. Train in the open water
If you have a race in the open water, then you must train in the open water! Do not use the triathlon race itself as your first open water swim session, if you do you’re setting yourself up for disaster.

2. Practice sighting
When swimming in open water you have to lift your head out of the water to see where you are going (called sighting). One of the best ways I’ve found to sight is to lift your head straight up, look forward quickly, then turn your head to the side to breathe. Try to keep your head fairly low, just so your goggles are just out of the water, as you want to limit how high you lift your head because your hips will drop, causing more drag, thus slowing you down.

3. Sighting on buoys
Swimming in a straight line and sighting on the course buoys can be very difficult at times, due to the size of the buoys or the chop and swell of the water, therefore sighting on landmarks that don’t move (like a pier, house or trees) is the better option. So choose a stationary prominent landmark and swim to that, so much easier than sighting on a tiny buoy that you can only see every few minutes.

4. Practice swimming with others
Swimming on your own is very relaxing. Throw in a few hundred other people and all sorts of strange things happen! Try swimming with a masters swim group or during a "family" swim time and get used to not having the water to yourself. This will help you experience more choppiness than usual in the water, help you deal with unexpected changes of pace of other swimmers and allow you to become familiar with swimming in and around other people.

5. Drafting
Drafting is an integral part of open water swimming. It can help you sometimes and hurt you others. Swimming behind someone (called drafting) allows you to swim faster so you may be able to hang on to a faster group of swimmers, likewise you can also get stuck behind some slower swimmers who will slow you down. Additionally, you can be tempted to simply follow the feet in front of you and not sight the course, this is great if the swimmer in front is swimming the correct line, but please check, as you could both be swimming way off course if left unchecked!

So if you're in Cardiff, Penarth, Barry or Cowbridge and are contemplating an open water triathlon race and would like some help with your swim technique or your triathlon training plan, check out our Vale Sports Therapy website or contact Mark (Cardiff, Penarth & Barry) on 07947 010276.

Enjoy your open water swimming and have a great triathlon race!!!

Running strides, what's that all about?

The term “strides” often comes up in running training plans and I use strides within my own training plans too, however, occasionally runners aren’t exactly sure what they are, when to use them and why.

Well, the term “strides” refers to a faster piece of running, often before a race or a planned faster paced training session. The strides are relaxed, easy sprints, at approximately 70 to 80% of your all out max effort for anywhere between 40 and 100m. In fact, the actual speed or distance is not that important, the goal is to run in a smooth controlled manner, with good form.

The purpose of strides before a race or a faster paced training session is to get the body used to what is about to happen to it (i.e. run fast!) and to encourage the athlete to run with a smooth economical style; this is significantly more beneficial than warming up in a slow, steady manner, which only encourages a runner to run slow and steady.

Strides should be smooth and quick, your head should be held high and not looking directly at the ground, you should feel no excessive tension in your neck and shoulders, your feet should feel light and fast as they quickly contact the ground. This fluency of motion should transfer seamlessly across to your “normal” running style, which will enhance your running economy and speed.

Elite runners often use strides in their daily workouts. Some athletes will incorporate them into an easy session, perhaps running a mile or two easy, then include 5 or 6 strides, then return home for another easy mile or two; or add in a few strides at the beginning or end of a normal planned session just to reemphasise a little bit of speed and good running form.

Adding some strides into your running training sessions can have some real benefits and for little extra effort, give them a try, I don't think you'll be disappointed! 

Swansea Bay 10K

On Sunday Mark took part in the Swansea Bay 10K. It's a fairly local race and is well renowned for its deep field and fast times. Well, the field was certainly deep and some fast runners turned up but perhaps didn't quite go as fast as they would have liked due to the atrocious weather conditions. Here's Mark's short race report:

I was coming into this race off limited training due to various running injuries, but the latest one was a badly sprained ankle, so I knew my time at this race wasn't going to set the world on fire. With that and the driving wind and rain, I knew I was in for a tough day.

The way the wind was blowing was effecting slightly behind you on the way out (for about 5K) and then in your face for the return leg. I felt pretty good for the first 5K, but once we turned for the return home, it was simply no fun at all! I was working really hard into the wind and could tell I was slowing down from the pace being shown on my GPS watch, but everyone was in the same boat and I was now passing loads of people. It seemed that so many people had misjudged the first half of the race and were now paying the price.

I came home in a time of 38:15 which I am fairly content with considering the conditions and my reduced training. If the wind hadn't been so strong I am pretty sure I would have been knocking on the door of a new PB.

The winner was a Kenyan who came him win a time of 28:30, although I'm pretty sure he would have gone sub 28 minutes on a perfect day!

Anyway, back to training now, I've got a 10 mile road race in a few weeks time where I'd like to go quite well, lets hope the hernia holds off and the ankle stays strong! Train smart all!

Vale Sports Therapy have been busy!

The boys at Vale Sports Therapy have had a very busy weekend this weekend! 

Delme was racing the Neath Valley triathlon on Sunday morning, whilst Mark took part in the Swansea Bay 10K road running race in the afternoon. Full race reports are to follow, but need-less-to-say the weather was atrocious for the both of them! 

If you need any advice about fitness training, sports massage, triathlon & running coaching, check out our website. 

Want to run faster? Running coaching is the key!

Our running coaching service is aimed at people of all abilities. Your goal might be to get fit, stay fit, attempt a challenging endurance event or set a new personal best time; we’re here to help you achieve your goals! Our running coach, Mark Whittle, has trained countless people, from housewives simply wanting to get fit to nationally ranked athletes.

Whether you choose to work with Mark in person or simply online, he can definitely help you to achieve your running goals. His structured, progressive approach will provide you with the motivation and accountability required to achieve the results you desire.

Mark believes the key to quality coaching is the appreciation that everyone is an individual and “one size does not fit all”. You must balance your training and goals with your lifestyle and commitments. And let's face it; you won’t get that from a generic training plan.

Mark’s philosophy is that coaching is an educational process. High quality coaching/education allows the runner to understand the process and why they are training in a certain way, rather than simply “training”. This holistic approach is proven to provide the runner with a greater likelihood of improvement and achieving their goals.

 


Mark is a qualified British Triathlon Federation coach, a Newton Natural Running Form coach (one of only 12 in the UK) and has over 22 years experience in competitive sport within the military, which includes multiple Ironman triathlon races and representing Great Britain at the European Age Group Triathlon Championships.

Services available: 

Online bespoke training plan:

The online training plan is structured to include and integrate all the stresses and commitments of our hectic daily lives (including life, family, work & financial), with the goal of achieving a balanced life, thus leading to consistency in training, which in turn leads to significant improvements in performance.

Mark writes a fortnightly plan that is totally bespoke to the individual (most coaches provide 4 week plans as it’s VERY time consuming to update a plan every week). There is nothing copied and pasted from the internet, it is totally individual to that person, their goals, fitness level, work/family/social life, etc. Our view is that there is no point in piling on loads of training sessions on top on of our hectic daily lives, it has to be integrated into our life, this is the key to our highly successful training plans.

The service includes an initial consultation, goal setting and season planning, an individual training plan structured to fit around your life, unlimited adjustments and updates to the training plan and unlimited email and text contact and advice.

Price: £50 a month (based a 3 month minimum commitment)

One-to-one running coaching:

Mark offers one-to-one running coaching in the Cardiff area. This predominantly covers running technique but also includes pace control, breathing, understanding of training methodologies and correct warm up and cool down protocols.

The one-to-one running coaching session teaches the runner an efficient and effective run technique. This technique allows you to run more economically, with fewer injuries and best of all, faster! With these new running skills you’ll enjoy a more active lifestyle and gain great health benefits whilst enjoying the wonderful sport of running.

Price: £35 per session

Combination of online training plan and one-to-one coaching:

A bespoke combination of online training and one-to-one running coaching sessions can be arranged to suit the runner’s needs. 

Price: depends on combination of coaching required

So if you're a runner or want-to-be runner and are seriously looking to improve your running and general fitness, lose weight, look and feel great, and get faster, then check out our Vale Sports Therapy website or contact Mark (Cardiff, Penarth & Barry) on 07947 010276. 

Sports massage in Cardiff, Penarth and Cowbridge

With many sporting events coming up (Ironman Wales, Cardiff Half Marathon, Cardiff 10K, Swansea 10K, etc) more and more of us are getting out there and doing some serious fitness training. This occasionally brings along aches and pains, but have no fear, Mark and Delme are here to help and support you through this process and get you back fighting fit!

Sports massage is designed to assist in correcting problems and imbalances in soft tissue that are caused from repetitive and strenuous physical activity and trauma. The application of sports massage, prior to and after exercise, may enhance performance, aid recovery and prevent injury.

So if you're in the Vale of Glamorgan, Cardiff, Barry, Penarth, Cowbridge or Bridgend and need some sports massage, check us out at Vale Sports Therapy.

4 running tips for getting faster!

Recently some runners have been asking me how to get faster, so here are my top 4 running training tips that can take your running to new heights:

1. Run faster
It might sound obvious, but to run faster, you have to run faster! So, instead of simply plodding around in training you have to add some “speed” sessions into the mix. Your fitness and chosen race distance will dictate how far/fast your intervals should be, but simply adding in some shorter faster sessions will transform your running. Tempo/threshold and fartlek run sessions are ideal for this.

2. Get stronger
Strength underpins endurance. To be fast you have to have an element of strength in your training program, there’s no point in having a great "engine" (heart & lungs) if you have a weak "chassis" (body structure). You can add some simple strength exercises into your program without any impact on your normal running program, not only will it increase your speed and running economy but also help prevent overuse injuries.

3. Lose weight
By shedding some body fat your speed will automatically increase. Have you tried running with a rucksack that weighs 5 or 6 pounds? It’s hard work, but losing those extra pounds will make your running much, much easier.

4. Improve your technique
How many runners do you see heel striking, sagging in the mid-section, being tense around the shoulders with arms crossing their body? By moving to a mid-foot strike, holding a nice tight core, relaxing your posture around the neck and shoulders, and driving your arms forward and rearwards will result in a running style that looks light, relaxed, smooth and ultimately quick.

By adding some or all of these tips into your training program you’ll be amazed at how much your running will improve!

In fact, I'll break down these 4 top tips further in future blog posts, just so you know exactly how to take your running to a new level and get faster.

If you're a runner in the Cardiff, Penarth, Barry or Cowbridge area and are contemplating running a 10K, half marathon or full marathon and would like some help with your running training plan, check out our Vale Sports Therapy website or contact coach Mark (Cardiff, Penarth & Barry) on 07947 010276.

Product reviews coming soon!

Coming soon to this blog will be a whole set of product reviews, from nutrition products, to training equipment, to coaching and training plans and even some things you wouldn't think of!!! However, if there's something you'd like me to review, just let me know.

Magor Marsh 10K

Yesterday Mark raced the Magor Marsh 10K near Newport, about 15 miles from Cardiff. This race was part of Mark's training schedule in the lead up to a Half Marathon race that he's doing in September, so he knew he wouldn't be peaking for this 10K race but still would race it as hard as he could.

Over 220 people turned up for the race as it's renowned for being a flat, fast course. The race turned out to be a little slower than everyone had hoped (it was quite windy) but Mark still managed to come home in 13th position. Not quite a personal best time, but Mark was happy with his race, especially as it was not a priority race for him.

If you're a runner in Cardiff, Penarth, Barry or Cowbridge and are contemplating running a 10K, half marathon or full marathon and would like some help with your running training plan, check out our Vale Sports Therapy website or contact coach Mark (Cardiff, Penarth & Barry) on 07947 010276.

Got a desk job? Get out of the office during lunch!

Do you have a desk job and desk bound all day? Feel distracted, overwhelmed and unproductive? The answer is to simply step away from your desk and, if possible, take your lunch break outside, away from the stuffy office environment.

Take a walk. Not only are you getting in some exercise and getting the blood pumping around the body, but the feeling of the outdoors (and hopefully some sun!) seems to ease many worries and gives you an enormous sense of wellbeing.

Studies have shown a marked increase in mood, wellbeing, creativity and productivity with short breaks. So, next time you're stuck in a rut, take a break from the office, take your lunch outdoors and feel the benefits with a turbo-charged afternoon of productivity. Go on, you know you want to!

Train less to get faster!

How would you like to train less and still get fitter, faster and stronger? Well, it’s easier than you think. The number one mistake that self-coached athletes (and some poor coaches) make is that they simply train too much!

Some people believe you should do more training just for trainings sake. Unfortunately this ultimately is their downfall. Training too much has a significant effect on your progress, you’ll stagnate, you’ll feel you should train more because you’re not getting the results you want and head into a downward spiral.

I believe in doing the bare minimal to achieve the results you want.

Why? Because doing anything more than the bare minimum is a severe waste of your time and will probably end up in poorer and poorer results. This might mess with your head and sound counter-intuitive, surely if you can train more, then that’s what you should do?

Absolutely not! It’s called the bare minimum for a reason; it’s the least amount of work you need to do to achieve the results YOU want. You don’t need to do more, just to do more!  

But don’t fall into the trap of thinking that minimum training means easy training. It doesn’t, it just means being smart and doing the training required to achieve YOUR goals. Effective training means stressing the body, resting sufficiently to allow the body to absorb the training stimulus and then doing it all again.

So be smart, follow the bare minimum protocol and you’ll achieve the results you always wanted!

Train smart all! 

Cross training for runners

So, do runners need to do cross-training? The easy answer is no, runners don’t need to do cross-training. However, cross-training does have some very distinct advantages, the main one being able to increase your training “mileage” without pounding the joints that comes with running and avoiding over-use injuries. 

So what cross-training should you do? There are numerous types of cross-training you can do, but the one you choose should complement your running training, add some aerobic/anaerobic conditioning to your program and not open you up to injury (therefore avoid sports that have no relevance to running, like rugby or football, where there is no carry over to running and also opens you up to potential injury through physical contact and the short, sharp changes in direction required in these sports). 

Here are my top 5 cross-training activities (in no particular order):

Cycling:

Road cycling, mountain biking and spin classes all have cross over to running. The beauty of cycling is that it is non-impact (less potential for injury) and uses a similar muscular pattern to running, therefore can supplement your aerobic training in a very time-efficient manner. Also the variety between road, mountain and indoor biking adds different stimulus to your training program which keeps your training exciting. 

Cross-trainer/Elliptical:

The cross-trainer/elliptical machine provides a great low impact, full body workout. The smooth action of the machine aids injury prevention and injury recovery, whilst the addition of being able to use a backwards motion targets slightly different muscle groups, thus hitting the smaller supporting muscles. The programmable nature of the cross-trainer/elliptical machine also allows the user to match the training session to their needs, varying from an easy flat session to a demanding hill repeat session.  

Swimming:

Swimming is a great non-impact exercise, working on your strength, endurance and flexibility. It mainly targets your upper body, but when done correctly it works your legs and core muscles very effectively too. Like the cross-trainer/elliptical machine, swimming is a very good tool for injury prevention and injury recovery.

Aqua-jogging:

Aqua-jogging is another non-impact exercise. For those who aren’t too familiar with aqua-jogging, you put a floatation belt (an aqua-jogger) around your waist and “run” through the water in an upright manner. You should remain tall (do not hunch over) and move your arms and legs forwards and backwards in a running motion. You should try to keep a fairly high cadence (fast arm and leg movements) to propel yourself forwards in the swimming pool, however you can control the effort level to match your training needs. You can keep a steady continuous effort or add in faster high intensity efforts for variety, with little or no chance of injury.

Strength training:

I love strength training for runners. I absolutely believe that strength underpins endurance, there’s no point in having an amazing “engine” (heart and lungs) if you have a weak “chassis” (body structure), therefore exercises that increase running functional strength should be targeted. Now for the science part, most runners (and many coaches) believe that runners should lift a light weight many times to build endurance, however many studies have shown this to be false. The new viewpoint is that the runner should lift heavy weights to build strength; allowing the runner to generate more power or force quickly (into the ground) and also making the runner strong enough to resist over-use injuries.  Some of the exercises to be considered should be squats, deadlifts, lunges, pull ups, presses and rows; and if you’re doing theses exercises correctly, you’ll be working the core muscles at the same time, bonus!

Adding some cross-training into running program can be very beneficial, bringing your running to the next level. But beware that the cross-training doesn’t get in the way or take over from your running. To run fast, you need to run; you need those miles in the bank to build your endurance. Cross-training is great, but use it to complement your running training, not replace it! 

Sports massage and half marathon training

With the Cardiff half marathon just over 3 months away, you should be starting to pick up the training, you'll be starting to get more time on your feet and extending your longer runs. As you increase your training this is when you start to pick up little running niggles. To ensure you keep these issues at bay, you should consider some sports massage to ease those aches and pains, thus ensuring you can keep going with your half marathon training. 

So if you're a runner in Cardiff, Penarth, Barry, Bridgend, Cowbridge or Llantwit Major who's doing the Cardiff half marathon or another local running race, and would like some sports massage to keep your training on track, check out our Vale Sports Therapy website  or contact Mark (Cardiff, Penarth & Barry) on 07947 010276 or Delme (Bridgend, Cowbridge & Llantwit Major) on 07887 924901.

Sports massage in Penarth and Cowbridge

With the weather getting better, more and more of us are out and about being active and doing outdoor pursuits. This sometimes brings along the inevitable aches and pains, but have no fear, Mark and Delme are here to help and support you through this process and get you back fighting fit! 

Sports massage is designed to assist in correcting problems and imbalances in soft tissue that are caused from repetitive and strenuous physical activity and trauma. The application of sports massage, prior to and after exercise, may enhance performance, aid recovery and prevent injury.

So if you're in the Vale of Glamorgan, Cardiff, Barry, Penarth, Cowbridge or Bridgend and need some sports massage, check us out at www.valesportstherapy.co.uk

FREE 5K beginner running training plan!

That's right! Coming very soon to all Vale Sports Therapy clients will be a FREE 5K beginner running training plan. The training plan will allow a total beginner to start training in a structured manner, allowing them to build up their run fitness over a period of 10 weeks. This plan takes someone who is a self-confessed couch potato, gets them moving, with a view to complete a 5K run in just over 2 months. We've found that clients who follow this approach reach their running goals in a safe and controlled manner, whilst having fun and getting fit!

So if you're one of our clients in Cardiff, Barry, Penarth, Cowbridge or Bridgend and want to train in a structured way to run your first 5K race or to simply boost your fitness, keep watching this blog, it's coming very soon!

New PB for one of our running clients

One of our running clients, Darren Floyd, set a huge 2 minute personal best this morning at the Cardiff 5K ParkRun!

Darren has been training with Mark for nearly 3 months now with a view to run the Chicago marathon later in the year. Mark sets out a detailed weekly running program for Darren which is tailored especially for Darren, to take into account his busy lifestyle.

Darren has seen some massive progress in the last few months and I'm sure he'll set a new PB when he tackles the llanelli half marathon next weekend. Watch this space to hear how Darren gets on.