Chris' Blog
Cosford Open Match
Saturday saw the 1st outdoor track competition, the RAF team competed against various other teams such as the Police Force, Shropshire county and Wolverhampton. It was an ideal opportunity to see what improvements you made during the tour in Portugal and to catch up with all the old personalities. I personally competed in the 1500m, setting myself a target of 4.30, if this happenned to be the winning time then billy bonus. I came home in 4.29, a measured attempt but unfortunately it was only good enough to finish 5th, however it gives me focus for my training before the next event. I was lucky enough to see some of the team competing in their respective events, including Greg who sailed home in the 110m hurdles and Si who won both the individual 400m and brought gold in the anchor leg of the 4x400m. Andy also supplied lots of budding athletes with their monthly supplements, your wasted as an instructor, perhaps you should think about sales, "ice to eskimos springs to mind." The RAF men were victorious at the end, thanks to all the athletes that got involved!! Look forward to seeing more faces at the next event!
Overseas Visit - Last Week
So the tour is now complete, all athletes have been transported back to the reality of work and training in the cold and wet weather. I have come back with a great deal of focus though, thanks must go to the other athletes on the tour for this, seeing their training attitudes has given me inspiration. So much so that I attended athletics training with the City of York Athletics Club on Wednesday night, absolutely no sun cream needed. It was a horribly cold affair and I will be shopping round for some cold weather clothing this weekend before embarking on Monday's session. It was good to see some of the athletes that were training in Portugal though and see what progress they had made.
So, a roundup of the tour. What have I learnt? Firstly, that I naturally enjoy athletics and this is vital if I am to make further progress. Secondly, the body has a much higher threshold to training than i previously imagined, with the correct preparation, including nutrition, warm-ups and stretching I can push myself much further. And, thirdly, what a great crowd there is within the athletics world, I have met some fantastic personalities over the past two weeks and look forward to training and competing with them in the future.
For anyone who is interested in athletics, this team is certainly the way forward, you don't have to be pushing for an Olympic place or even scoring level 15 on the bleep test, anyone who is motivated and enjoys the sport I actively encourage you to get involved.
Lastly, who would I most want to be right now? Well, its simple... Stu Benson.. I'm sat here contemplating the gym but know i'll have to dig the beanie hat out and iron my kit for tomorrow at work. Whilst he remains in Portugal, still training, still in the sun and still donning his spiderman outfit at every convenient moment. I told you life of a sprinter was easy.
Overseas Visit - Sixth to Ninth Day
I have taken great pleasure by informing all my friends that I am training abroad with the RAF, emphasising the great weather and cracking Portugese lifestyle... Well, its all changed - Today has seen monsoon like rain, enough to scare the sprinters back into the relative safety of their hotel rooms. Dan and myself motivated ourselves enough to get out for our planned 1km rep session, within the first 300m metres we were soaked to the bone and cracked on regardless. The reps were done on a track leading to the sea, so running with our backs to the sea was fantastic, heading straight into the gusts of wind was less so, strong enough to make you think you werent actually moving. However session over, we headed straight to the local restaurant/greasy spoon for a much deserved burger and brew... Nutrional value - very little. Motivational reward - Priceless.
I haven't managed to keep up the daily blog, so here is the last few days in one. Friday night saw the arrival of the fancy dress party, some cracking outfits including a feminine cowboy, Spiderman and two cleaning maids in the actual uniforms donned by the hotel staff.
We were back on the track doing intervals on the Sunday, fortunate to meet Belgium's No 1 javelin thrower who was simply in awe of Dan Parry's pressup prowess, belting out 35 non stop - CDT may wish to visit RAF Halton on our return. Incredible strength Dan!
I did a 6mile run Tues am and a 4 mile run Tues pm, ensuring a fairly quick pace throughout and finished the day with one of Tom Dobbing's DVDs, perhaps a little heavy for Tues night, forced to watch the Max and Paddy DVD again in future.
Thanks must go to my friend from home, (Dan Hodgkins) who when he lent me his laptop for the tour, forgot to remove the football manager disk - An absolute delight when the rain is slotting down outside, cheers mate - Call it a beer!
Back to the hotel now to prepare for this afternoons 4mile run and weights session. Although the weather is awful, its still a great tour, highly recommended to anyone!!
Overseas Visit - Fifth Day
I woke up this morning knowing full well I had a massive rest day tomorrow, so mentally prepared myself for a tough session. After a steady 2 mile run to the athletics stadium I spent a good 30 minutes doing mobility and striding exercises together with a full stretching session. It paid dividends, the first part of my session went well - 4x400m at goal race pace, so well in fact that I could not help but run too fast. These intervals were completed with a short recovery - approximately 60 secs and going into the 2nd part of the session I felt strong both physically and mentally, however 4x800m was perhaps a little short sighted. I did 1x800m and 1x600m and felt like a weekend jogger, not an RAF athlete. This was rammed home by the high standard of athlete at the stadium with some Olympic representatives gliding round the track and making it even more frustrating for the likes of myself.
However, my day did perk up when I grabbed a bottle of water and saw a team mate with his head over the toilet, he could well have been looking for a lost euro but it looked more like a member of sprint group was the 1st to taste vomit. Better luck next time.
After a steady walk back to the hotel, taking in the sea air and thinking about the fun the Police Flight at RAF Linton-on-Ouse could be having on a Friday lunchtime I rested by the pool.
Its now time for a steady run along the beach before my 30min muscle rub session with Dave Lemon, the tour sadist (masseuse). Thankfully, I have offered the kindest words to him throughout the Visit so it shouldn't be pay back time when he digs his thumbs into my calfs, fingers crossed anyway. Until next time.
Overseas Visit - Fourth Day
Nominated myself for a beach session with the sprint squad today, they seem to have it a lot easier than the middle distance crew!! We started off with the warm up, a 500m jog with drills, please bear in mind the middle distance guys do a steady 15min run. Then came the harder stuff, bunny hops across the beach - The idea of the exercise was to develop power, we did it 3 times - Each time looking to surpass the last effort. For the next drill we split up into teams, unfortunately for me - Neither team could see my sprinting prowess and I was picked last. Tears in the playground once again! However, we were victorious - Even with Zico's less than traditional techniques, I hasten to add he did not of course cheat! This progressed to hopping exercises and finally 30m standing sprints, with a 5 minute recovery? Sprinters - Please explain? 5 mins? We finished off with a frantic game of beach football, very much enjoyed!
This afternoons session saw both Dan and myself do an intense circuit in the gym, low weight high reps with no recovery! Hard work - The 30min run added on made it into a tough session. So, in conclusion - Do the sprinters work hard? In their own unique way, yes. Do they work harder than the middle distance runners?.... Not a chance! The ball is in your court Stu - Fight your corner! Stu's Blog
One more hard days training until a much needed rest on Saturday, it will tie in nicely with Portsmouth beating West Brom too!
Overseas Visit - Third Day
Day 3 saw the hardest track session yet, intervals consisting of 1x800m, 2x400m and 3x200m. I was pleased with the times that I clocked, especially the 200m intervals where I found an extra resource of energy and produced some fairly quick times (for a middle distance runner that is). I really need to work on speed endurance now in order to bring it together. It seems all the other 1500m runners are carrying a lot less weight too, so I need to work my healthy 80kg down to around 72kg, much to Shelley's (my girlfriend) dismay I hasten to add. In the afternoon I headed out with Dan for a steady 4 mile circuit to loosen up muscles and watched the Liverpool vs Arsenal match in the evening for a well deserved rest. The team is working well together. Everyone does the neccessary training during the day and makes a habit of meeting up for meals in order to evaluate their day and advise each other if so required.
Overseas Visit - Second Day
I didn't set any alarm this morning, I purposely wanted to see how much sleep I required. Thankfully, I was naturally awake by 0800 and headed straight down with my room mates for a well deserved athletes breakfast before heading to the track at 0930. On the track, post warm up, we did striding exercises before hitting a pyramid session of 200m, 300m and 400m intervals and finishing with weights in the gym. The track is often busy, but its incredible to see training methods of the other athletes, all of different nationalities. The standard of athletes currently training here is very high and its inspiring for newcomers like myself when doing focused training for the first time. In only two days I have learnt a lot, from Andy´s nutritional advice, Dave Lemon´s squat power techniques and Stu Benson´s demonstration of a ´James Bond´ dive in the pool. Its only day two, but I have very high hopes about what can be achieved on this tour.
Overseas Visit - First Day
It was a strange start to the trip, we all headed out into Wendover for a curry to facilitate team introductions. As a newcomer I thought it would be pasta salad, a few stretches and bed - Live and learn. After a full night out it was onto a coach for the relatively short ride to Gatwick. People got sleep where they could and we arrived at the Hotel in Monte Gardo around midday Monday. The priority then became food and everyone headed to the local cafe for pizza. Once the food had settled, Dan Parry, Dave Lemon and myself headed to the stadium via some local dirt tracks. I felt comfortable with the pace and predicted it was around 6.30 mile pace, it later transpired to be closer to 8 min. Can jet lag be blamed on a flight to Portugal?
We've been very please with the facilities so far. We did a quick PTI press up and sit up challenge before heading back, doing a couple of kilometre efforts on the way. It was time for a well deserved dip in the pool to relax the muscles before doing a stretch session.
Normal Training around Work
There is two compulsory sessions of PT a week on Unit, with additional running sessions conducted after work and at weekends. I also play football for a local team at weekends at train during the week. The gym facilities at Linton-on-Ouse are fantastic, the best I have used since being in the RAF, there is plenty of organised sessions by the PEd staff ensuring constant opportunities to improve fitness.
Applying for the Overseas Visit
I was very keen to get involved with the RAF Athletics team and set myself targets in terms of representation this year. After joining the team I found a link to the overseas visit, fortunately my boss is a very keen runner and was happy to endorse my attendance on the training visit. I saw it as an opportunity to train with top athletes in order to stretch myself and improve my current training schedule.