50 Minutes Easy (7 Miles approx)
I went running today from Newbury along the Kennet towpath towards Reading for 25 minutes, then ran the return section untimed. I ran with my M.P.U. in my WO NB 834's, and the pace was generally easy, but not a jog. Enjoyed the route, as that section of the towpath is very varied & mostly offroad in composition. My legs felt nice & loose and I can honestly say I didn't feel my right knee once. I concentrated on getting an active foot-strike during the run, having been inspired by the articles of John Raucci, an American high school coach. Most of what he says is guff, but some of it rings true. To try and run with a more active foot-plant for the umpteenth time, I tried a new drill & it seemed to work for me. In the past I've been told to contract my calf, or pull the leg under my body faster, but no avail. This time I focused on using my foot to 'clap' against the ground. After all, the foot is the proprioreceptive part of the leg, as far as running is concerned, so why focus on any other body part? To my surprise my foot-plant quietened almost instantly with little or no cost to my effort expenditure. Yay!On a slightly more pessimistic note, after reading this month's Reading Roadrunners newsletter, I have some negative social commentary to make. Our women came second in the team event for this years Flora London Marathon, a great achievement I'm sure you'll agree. For their efforts- 'the club received £500'. Herein lies my gripe, did the club pay for their entries? I'm certain it did not; after all at the clubs AGM this year the treasurer suggested that paying for the entry of athletes to championship events was elitist, as only a small proportion of the club benefits from it. Thus, the club isn't likely to pay for normal race entries, and assuming this, under what justification is the club taking the team prize off our winning ladies? Come on Roadrunner's, you cant have it both ways, it's like saying-
"We like fast runners when they contribute to the club coffers (thanks for the monkey girls), but they're the worlds biggest cads when we're asked to financially support their competing in higher level events (damn them wanting to compete & expecting something back from the club)".
Also, considering the glut of excess money the club is raking in every year, perhaps whining about paying for championship event entries that raise the profile of the club both locally & nationally is a little petty? After all, I'm sure the ever-increasing membership numbers in due in some small part due to efforts of faster runners competing in races & gaining exciting headlines (read: free advertising). Faster runners, if I might add, who might not be quite so attracted to a club that resents their participation at the levels of the sport which they should be competing. I'm tempted to write in a letter for next months newsletter, but that'd be too much like effort...
Please note, the above post is written on the assumption that the club kept the prize money, as is my interpretation of the newsletter. If the club redistributed the money amongst the athletes, or the athletes gave it up voluntarilly, then I will happily retract my comments & my firey vengance will be averted, or something to that effect....
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