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5 ways to run 5k faster

17 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by in PB or Race Tactics

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DragonCon Saturday If you want to run faster this coming weekend (Saturday) then training will not really help you so here’s what you should do.

1. Train as normal until Tuesday. On Wednesday do 5-10 short sprints of say 100m somewhere around the speed you want to race at on Saturday. On Thursday and Friday do not train.

2. Set a realistic goal and determine a tactic to achieve it. Eg get a better runner to pace you or use your GPS watch to race against a ‘course’ or against a fixed speed. Or use that watch to run at a constant pace.

3. Look up what a dynamic warm up is and use one on Saturday morning allowing plenty of time to do it, finishing 10 minutes before you start the race.

4. Eat lightly and normally on Friday. Stay hydrated on Friday. On Saturday drink and eat as little as you can without feeling ill or risking throwing up.

5. Your attitude and determination and aversion to pain will make at least 2% difference to your time I reckon. So you have to adopt whatever mental strategy that works best for you to overcome that. Personally I know it’s going to hurt and I prepare myself to live with that and visualise the glory at the end (maybe!)

A more detailed look at this subject is discussed and there are various plans and other tips all over this blog.

Related articles

Box Hill: Cycling in Surrey

15 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by in Cycling

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English: View from Juniper Bottom, Box Hill Lo...

English: View from Juniper Bottom, Box Hill Looking across the Surrey Hills from Box Hill National Trust nature reserve. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Surrey Hills are turning into a cycling Mecca for The Lycra-men of London.

I was out there again last week for 5 hours of ‘fun’. There is some quite amazing scenery and hills to test us all. General road surfaces are a bit poor however and there is also often a need to get from A to B via some pretty nastily busy main roads. Like everywhere else motorised road users tend not to welcome cyclists to their domain.

So bringing us to Box Hill. EVERYONE goes there. It does have particularly nice views and a café at the top and a bike shop not far from the top and often a mobile cycle repair guy at the top. However it’s not that hard a hill really, I don’t know why everyone raves about it. Going down takes a fair while and you think that the way up will take ages but, for some reason, it never seems quite that bad. Maybe it’s the smooth road surface post-Olympics?

Anyway there is the feel-good factor of doing a non-trivial hill that everyone goes on about and not feeling that tired at the top.

 

How to revert Garmin 910XT firmware BACK from 2.70 to 2.60

15 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by in Gadgets & Gear

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This the location of the firmware which you will need to click to download. Please use the SAVE AS option (or the equivalent for your operating system).

http://the5krunner.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/garmin-firmware-2-60-revert-back-from-2-70.jpg

You need to download and then rename it to a .zip file as wordpress won’t let me host .zip files. But it is the right one really, honest! Don’t do it if you don’t believe me. Alternatively you can get the same files and instructions from: Social.Support@garmin.com

After downloading and renaming to .zip follow these instructions:

For PC:

1.      Navigate to this folder location:

a.       Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\User account name\Application Data\GARMIN\Devices\numbered Unit ID folder

b.      Windows Vista / 7 / 8: C:\Users\User account name\AppData\Roaming\GARMIN\Devices\numbered Unit ID folder

2.      Unzip or drag and drop the files inside attachment to location above

3.      Close windows explorer

4.      Open Garmin ANT Agent

5.      Turn On Forerunner 910XT and bring within range of the ANT stick

6.      ANT Agent will transfer software to device

For Mac OS:

1.      Navigate to ~user/Library1/Application Support/Garmin/Devices/numbered Unit ID folder/

2.      Unzip or drag and drop the files inside attachment to location above

3.      Open Garmin ANT Agent

4.      Turn On Forerunner 910XT and bring within range of the ANT stick

5.      ANT Agent will transfer software to device

1On Mac OS 10.6 and higher: the Library folder is hidden. To get to Library:

1.      Open Finder

2.      Click Go in the top menu bar

3.      Click Home

4.      Click Go in the top menu bar

5.      Click Go to Folder…

6.      Type Library

7.      Click Go

The perfect freestyle technique: could you learn by watching?

12 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

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Reblogged from Ella PandaHill:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=vceKCgkc9SE

It occurred to me simply describing common freestyle faults is a useful tool to identify what's going wrong when you swim, but it's only half of the battle. There are so many other things that can be done to enrich the learning experience, both in and out of the pool.

Here I've included a great example of a classic freestyle stroke.

Read more… 86 more words

Certainly can learn by watching this. Def need to up my cadence.

HOW TO: Open water swim tips for triathletes

12 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

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Reblogged from LoneSwimmer:

This follows up Part 1 and Part 2 of common triathlon swimming techniques and remedies, and Evan's tips on the best use of a public pool for training and a simple effective front crawl stroke tip.

I've written various How To's about different aspects of open water swimming in detail. This post is intended to be a general round-up of maybe useful advice for triathletes (based on substantial open water swimming experience).

Read more… 477 more words, 1 more video

The best post I've read so far with OWS tips. Great summary and insight

Keri-anne Payne reveals open water swim on Loch Lomond

12 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

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Reblogged from ZwemZa:

Click to visit the original post

Olympian Keri-anne Payne has launched a swimming event at one of the UK's largest stretches of water.

Around 2,000 people are expected for the open water Great Scottish Swim in August, held for the first time at Loch Lomond.

Payne, an Olympic open water silver-medallist and 10k open water world champion, will join participants for the event which is part of the Great Swim, …

Read more… 144 more words

Now there's a great idea...if only I lived a bit further North. Still we have the Thames swim down in sunny London to look forward to.

That's my Buoy!

12 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

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Reblogged from whirlpoolheadcase:

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We had an eventful Open Water training session at Colwick Park today.

It was quite busy and there were lots of swimmers wearing pink hats.  I'm sure some of them were pretending to be marker buoys (which are also pink).  Every time I raised my head to spot where I was going I caught sight of one of these 'buoys'.  Or so I thought. 

Read more… 112 more words

With other posts I'd been reading on sharks and seas and headlands Colwick Park seems much more at home to me!

Swimming a new location: Ardmore & the wreck of the Samson

12 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by in Uncategorized

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Reblogged from LoneSwimmer:

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Regular readers will know from past posts such as Ballymacaw, Portally, and Whiting Bay that when I am swimming a new location by myself, I try to understand as much as I can before I get in the water. When swimming a new location, it's always well to remember my safety motto: The best safety decisions are made outside of the water…

Read more… 1,014 more words

Must be some interesting currents around the headland. Can you research those or ask locals for knowledge? Just wondered about the best approach.
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