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!

Neyland 10K race

Yesterday our running coach, Mark Whittle, took part in the Jan Younger Memorial 10K race in Neyland, west Wales. This is a strange 10K race as it starts off very flat, then has some horrendous hills and then finishes with a flat fast section.

Due to the terrain Mark was unable to set a new personal best time, but he did manage to come home in 5th place! Well done Mark! 

If you're in the Cardiff area and would some more information about running coaching or running training plans, contact Mark via www.valesportstherapy.co.uk or www.personal-trainer-cardiff.com/index.php/personal-trainer-cardiff/running-coach-cardiff-penarth

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.

Learn To Run workshop

We held the first Learn To Run workshop of 2012 this morning in Cardiff's Run & Become running store.

Our Learn To Run workshop is aimed at beginners and improvers, where we teach the principles and drills of improved running technique with the aim of improving efficiency, reducing injuries and making them faster runners.

A beautiful morning greeted todays runners, the eager participants (from Cowbridge, Cardiff, Penarth and Sully) seemed to bring the weather with them as we were bathed in sunshine during our outdoor sessions.

For more information on our workshops, check out www.personal-trainer-cardiff.com/index.php/personal-trainer-cardiff/personal-trainer-cardiff-learn-to-run