Archive for the ‘Jogging’ Category

Be honest, how many of you have thought about entering a marathon, confident in your mind that it doesn’t look that hard? If a 101 year-old plumber can trot around drinking beer and still finish, then what’s stopping you, right?

Cut to two months later. You have your place, you’ve got your new trainers and you’re about to go on your first long-distance run. Off you go…

3 hours later, you stumble home; pale, knackered, nipples bleeding and chafing so bad that you look like you’ve won first place in a John Wayne look-a-like competition. Slumped on your sofa you think to yourself, what went wrong?

A common mistake in training for a long-distance run is starting too strong too soon. Prepare well and you should have no trouble achieving your goals.

Read the rest of this entry »

A preview…

Our friends over at ASICS have kindly offered us the chance to visit their flagship store in London. One of the earliest blog posts at Sir Jog A Lot was a post on choosing the right trainers. For those attempting long distances, picking the right trainers can only really be done when you know what style runner you are.

To accurately judge your running gait, ASICS can provide a full 3D foot scan. Jenny Meadows, bronze medal winner at the World Championships in Berlin, took a trip to the store to do just that.

Every October since 1992, the city of Lausanne, Switzerland plays host to the Lausanne Marathon. With over 10,000 participants, and a number of different races on the day, the event is set over one of the most stunning backdrops in the world, Lake Geneva and the Swiss Alps.

There are 9 different events to choose from on the day. Obviously the main event is a full marathon, but also available to participate in is a quarter marathon, 10km walk, ‘mini’ races for children and a handcyles half marathon. However, the most popular distance (with over 3000 more entrants than the full marathon) is the half marathon.

The starting point is a 20 minute train journey away from the finish line, in La Tour-de-Peilz, a cool 13.1 miles away. Handily, your running number is your train fare, but the train runs almost side-by-side with the running route, painfully showing you just how far you have to run to reach the finish line back in Lausanne.

Read the rest of this entry »

Update: This blog post was revised on 29th October to reflect the mistake made when heating the custom footbeds. UK ovens are measured in Celsius (C) not Fahrenheit (F). Looks like Sir Jog A Lot overheated the footbeds by a full 110°C!

If Paula Radcliffe has one bit of advice for runners, it’s don’t scrimp on shoes. Getting your gait analysed can mean a pair of trainers could last you a year, instead of a few months. You’re also far less likely to pick up an injury.

However, this isn’t always an option. You might not live anywhere near a sports shop that provides such a specialist service (I know, can you believe that not every trainer store is equipped with a treadmill, a 3D foot scanner and a gait analysis expert these days? It’s scandalous!). If money and specialist athletics shops are a problem, then a possible solution is a pair of SOLE Custom Footbeds.

Read the rest of this entry »

If only we each had a personal running track.

Read the rest of this entry »

After any long distance run, the steps you take during your recovery process can determine how quickly you are out running again. Those in full swing of a marathon training plan, will be running anything from 5 to 20 miles each weekend. Here are a few tips to ensure you are back on your feet by the time the next weekend comes around…

• Stretch
  Probably the most important thing you should do immediately after your run is stretch. It will help increase the length of your stride. You’ll also flush out lactic acid and prevent an injury creeping up on you over the next few days. Position your stretch and hold it for 10 seconds. Do not bounce. Some people believe that stretching can sometimes cause injury (muscle tearing etc). While this is true, injury normally occurs when you stretch cold, tight muscle (i.e. before a run). Stretching warmer muscles (which they will be after a run) should be fine. Check out Brad Walker’s book, The Anatomy of Stretching for more information.
  .
• Refuel
  Make sure you take on plenty of water as soon as you finish. This will replenish the fluids you’ve lost in sweat as you’ve been running. A good way to check that you are hydrated enough after a run is to look at the colour of your urine. If it is darker than usual, drink more. Drinking sports drinks and using sports gels or CLIF Shot Blocks will also replace electrolytes so try to do this as you run. Once you are back your body will be screaming out for you to replenish your glycogen stores. You’ll need to stock up on carbs and protein so get a banana down you within 20 minutes of getting back.
  

• Keep warm
  You’ll feel understandably hot after a marathon and keeping warm might be the last thing you want to do. But the foil blankets are there for a reason! Your defences are weakened after a long run and as your body loses heat you’ll increase the risk of infection. Your muscles will also become stiff. Cool your body down gradually by keeping moving (strong walks will loosen the muscles).
  .
• Sooth those aches and pains
  If you have picked up an injury, or you find that one part of your body is aching more than usual, then rest that area. Massage gels like Jointace, Blue Active Gel and Tiger Balm are useful for reducing inflammation around the knees or the lower back. Alternatively, grab a bag of frozen peas or have an ice bath.
  .
• Get a massage
  If you’ve just finished a marathon and ran for a charity, a lot of charities provide free sports massages at the finish line. They can be pretty intense though so you might want to ask the masseuse to take it easy on you. If you’re in training, chances are that you won’t be able to splash out for a sports massage every week so try out the Scholl Percussion Massager (£49.99). One of the detachable heads has a group of rubber pinpoints that really loosens your thigh muscles. It also has a detachable handle so you can do your own back (if your other half won’t oblige)!
  .
• Aerate your feet
  Get those soggy socks off quickly and let your feet breathe. The moisture that can accumulate in your shoes during a long distance run can lead to infections. Change into dry socks immediately after your run. Better still, wear flip-flops around the house. It’ll also mean that blisters will heal more quickly. SOLE’s Platinum Sandals do the trick nicely as they have an orthopedic  footbed (rather than a flat piece of rubber) that supports your arches and are much more comfortable than standard flip-flops.

Sir Win A Lot

For a chance to win a huge goody bag full of products that will help you on the road to recovery, including:

• 8 Jointace patches (www.vitabiotics.com/Jointace)
• A tube of Jointace massage gel
• 6 CLIF Shot Blocks (www.clifbar.com)
• 2 pots of Blue Active joint gel (www.blue-active.com)
• A pair of SOLE Platinum Sandals (www.yoursole.co.uk)
• A Scholl Muscle Therapy Percussion Massager
• 4 sports books (The Anatomy of Stretching, The Anatomy of Sports Injuries, The Anatomy of Pilates and Stability, Sport and Performance Movement)

… all you have to do is either…

1. Post a message on Twitter by clicking this link or…
2. Answer the following question:

ACCORDING TO THIS ARTICLE, WHAT IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU SHOULD DO AFTER RUNNING?

A. Eat

B. Stretch

C. Sleep

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED

*Winners will be contacted either by email or Twitter and announced on 12th October. Your email address will in no way be distributed to third parties.

If you’re a gym-goer who lives in a major city across the globe (London, New York, Frankfurt, Sydney, Singapore or many others), you’ll have undoubtedly seen someone wearing a white t-shirt with ‘JPMorgan Corporate Challenge’ written on the front. If you’re really lucky you may have even spotted someone wearing one that fits them.

On the rare occasion that you actually spot a shirt that hugs the biceps and doesn’t flap around in the air conditioning from your local gym then go over, shake that person’s hand and ask them if they’d like a running partner. The likelihood is that this person has finished the JPMorgan CC in under 24 minutes.

Every year business moguls in their thousands turn up to one of their city’s finest parks to run the JPMorgan Corporate Challenge, an event now over 30 years old and so popular that it boasts nearly a quarter of a million entrants each year across the globe. Part of its popularity is probably down to the length of the race; a manageable 3.5 miles. This gives even the hardest working city trader time to put down his or her Blackberry a couple of times a week to train.

If you’re lucky enough to get a place then the first question you’ll be asked is whether or not you think you can run 3.5 miles in under 21 minutes. If you think you can then you’ll be given a red sticker and, on arrival, you’ll be ushered to the front of the line to be given a relatively clear run to the finish. If you don’t then be prepared for an elbow-jousting scrap for one square-foot of asphalt at every other step.

The London event is hosted at the beautiful Battersea Park and is a utter schmooze-fest. If you’re a client of one of the corporate giants attending then you’ll be in for plastic glasses and private portaloos. If not, feel free to be intimidated by the size of another company’s hospitality tent and get in the queue for the sub-£5 million-a-year toilets.

It’s a very crowded race once you’ve managed to get over the start line so don’t be expecting to be beating any PBs. You’ll be lucky to get under a minute over your usual time (the London race actually ground to a halt during one bottle-necked corner). The atmosphere makes up for this though. Each year all companies compete in a t-shirt competition and this makes for an interesting read as you progress (this year’s London event was won by Tudor Capital). There’s also an award for the fastest ‘most senior executive’ and, as you can imagine, an incredible amount of money is raised for causes across the globe ($600,000 to charities and even more for not-for-profit organisations).

At the end you’ll get the fabled JPMCC t-shirt and if you’re quick enough, you’ll get one in your size! Wear it with pride.