A/Rtist in the spotlight: Clearlier

Pacing Mule

Next up in the hot seat is Clearlier. We got him a new one as the last one melted Thanks very much M for agreeing to this. Clearlier is a true asset to the forum here and a real fountain of knowledge. Once referred to as

definitely one of the best posters on training on boards

and

tergats second coming and is deeply knowledgeable in both methodology as well as application of training methods and does so with a common sense aspect taken into account which I think often gets overlooked

he was also the 2013 graduate mentor and has been a regular quality contributor here on the forum for many years.

I believe he is a great choice for the spotlight, from an opportunity to learn about our sport as well as an opportunity to learn a bit more about the man himself.

First set of a mixed bag of questions for you:

1) How did you end up in Bournemouth ?

2) Do you coach many people (if any)?

3) Fill in the blanks ........

A normal individual without extraordinary natural talent for running, given dedicated full time training and commitment, is capable of running ______ for 5k and ______ for a marathon.

A normal individual without extraordinary natural talent for running, given training that has to fit into a busy lifestyle (full time work and family life etc) and commitment, is capable of running ______ for 5k and ______ for a marathon.

4) What are your own PBs ? (yes I'm aware that's a sneaky one after question 3 )

5) Steve Way who I believe is or at least was a clubmate of yours self coaches and self coaches to great success. Do you believe any talented and knowledgeable athlete can self coach to the same success level as if they were coached by someone else ?

6) Favourite TV Show ?

7) Ever ran a beer mile ?

8) Brexit - Yes or No ?

Will be back with more for you later in the week

Clearlier

Thanks for the very flattering intro PM although I suspect that the author of those comments would know better than to make them today now that he's got to know me a little bit more.

I'll be back on later tonight or at some point tomorrow to answer your questions and those of anyone else.

Chartsengrafs

Which of the races you have run in the past gives you the most satisfaction looking back?

What do you eat for breakfast, if any?

Have you a background in or do you partake in any
other sports?

Tipple of choice?

Pacing Mule

Clearlier wrote: »

Thanks for the very flattering intro PM although I suspect that the author of those comments would know better than to make them today now that he's got to know me a little bit more.

I'll be back on later tonight or at some point tomorrow to answer your questions and those of anyone else.

Two separate authors !

Clearlier

Thanks PM

Pacing Mule wrote: »

First set of a mixed bag of questions for you:

1) How did you end up in Bournemouth ?

My wife's job. It was at the time of the financial meltdown and she had an offer of a contract extension in Dublin that had a few conditions attached that weren't ideal so she looked around and applied to Bournemouth who laid out the red carpet and Coventry who didn't bother replying. At the time I was part of a team based around the world so my boss had no issues with where I worked. It all went a bit pear shaped for me but it went really well for her.

Pacing Mule wrote: »

2) Do you coach many people (if any)?

Nobody at the moment. I sort of fell into coaching one guy who I could see had way more potential than he realised but was being badly advised. I kept telling him what I thought he needed to do and it just sort of evolved from there. About a year back I felt that I had run out of ideas so I suggested that it was probably time for him to find a new coach.

Other than that I've helped out a few boardsies. It's something that I plan to get into, either when I join a club up here and/or when my kids start wanting to go.

Pacing Mule wrote: »

3) Fill in the blanks ........

A normal individual without extraordinary natural talent for running, given dedicated full time training and commitment, is capable of running ______ for 5k and ______ for a marathon.

A normal individual without extraordinary natural talent for running, given training that has to fit into a busy lifestyle (full time work and family life etc) and commitment, is capable of running ______ for 5k and ______ for a marathon.

I can see that you've been trawling through my posting history .

One thing I've learned over the past few years and you'll see a fair bit in my posting history is that everyone is an experiment of one. People's baselines are wildly different, their ability to improve differs enormously and the speed at which they make progress varies hugely too. So, sorry I can't fill in the blanks with numbers. If I were coaching someone especially a non-elite I'd tell them to be wary of setting numbers as targets, they have some value but they can hinder as well as help.

Pacing Mule wrote: »

4) What are your own PBs ? (yes I'm aware that's a sneaky one after question 3 )

I've had two running careers with quite different levels of performance.

My first experience of structured training was as a teenager in France. I was lucky enough to spend 6 weeks in school there with family friends, the son was a very good runner and I tagged along to his training sessions. I still remember the first one 2k - 3k - 2k and I couldn't finish the last one because of a stitch. I was generally quite fit though and improved very quickly and ran in the county 800m which was a fantastic experience. I ran a few more races afterwards but I was already running into injury problems and never improved. The school/club was something of a pole vault specialist (school record was 5.00m) and I got to do that as well which was a brilliant experience.
The only times that I remember from then are:

200 - 25
800 - 2:04.6
I could clear 2.80 in the pole vault when in France but there weren't really any opportunities to pursue this in Ireland).

I continued to consider myself as a(n) (injured) runner throughout my 20's but it was only when I got a pair of orthotics (maybe my 5th or 6th pair) from someone who knew what they were talking about that I actually started running again. Since then my PB's are (at least the ones worth mentioning):

5 miles - 33:01
10k - 41:01
10 miles - 68:00
Half - 1:27:11
Marathon: 3:24:00

The marathon is probably my weakest PB mostly because it dates back to 2010. I've run one since then which was a bit of a disaster and planned a couple of others but never completed the training.

Pacing Mule wrote: »

5) Steve Way who I believe is or at least was a clubmate of yours self coaches and self coaches to great success. Do you believe any talented and knowledgeable athlete can self coach to the same success level as if they were coached by someone else ?

I don't, it's a rare beast who is almost entirely self-coached as Steve is. There are huge benefits to having an external person at least cast an eye over your training and comment on it. If you're serious about being the best that you can be I would always recommend getting a coach.

Pacing Mule wrote: »

6) Favourite TV Show ?

West Wing of course . I'm not much of a TV person to be honest but for some reason I really got into this. I've probably watched it a half dozen times at this stage.

Pacing Mule wrote: »

7) Ever ran a beer mile ?

No, I'm not really a drinker, in fact I don't think that I've ever even tasted beer let alone downed four bottles while running laps of a track!

Pacing Mule wrote: »

8) Brexit - Yes or No ?

There's a part of me that wonders whether I should take up my vote as I'm not British. I don't plan to finish my days in Britain and in many ways the impact on me is small.

If I do vote it will be to remain. Although I have a better understanding of why Britain might choose to leave than I had before I think that it would be a great example of shooting yourself in the foot. A lot of the issues that Britain has with the EU are not specifically British though and are shared throughout Europe. I think that it would be better for everyone if they worked to change the EU from the inside. The lies that I hear from both sides do frustrate me though, the decision isn't likely to be made on a rational basis.

Pacing Mule wrote: »

Will be back with more for you later in the week

Thanks for all the questions Pat.

Clearlier

Chartsengrafs wrote: »

Which of the races you have run in the past gives you the most satisfaction looking back?

What do you eat for breakfast, if any?

Have you a background in or do you partake in any
other sports?

Tipple of choice?

Hi Chartsengrafs, thanks for the questions.


The half marathon where I got my PB was probably my most satisfying race. I had a decision to make early on as to whether to follow someone from my club who I knew was around my level and I let them go because it felt just a touch too fast. I judged my effort perfectly and went past them later on in the race. I'm not typically great at running by feel but this was a rare exception. I also had a slightly bizarre ambition to run a half in fewer minutes than I did in kilos which I did that day.

I don't eat breakfast. In fact I almost never eat before 12 and do the vast majority of my runs before I eat at the moment. It started when I wanted to try intermittent fasting to lose weight. I lost 10kgs (although there's room to lose at least the same again) and have kept it off so far.

I was a very active kid, the next door neighbours had 9 kids and we played whatever was on the TV, so tennis during Wimbledon, football during the world cup etc.. They were mad into cricket (I think that 5 of them played for Ireland and one for England as well) so I played that although I was not much good for anything other than fielding! We got a basketball net in the back garden which I spent hours trying nto dunk into. At school rugby was the main sport and that's the sport I continued playing until my late 20's though never to a high level and always from injury to injury. In fact most of my running injuries can be traced back to a neck injury I got when I was 19.

I'm not really a drinker I'm afraid. My Dad's an oenophile and my wife has been trying to get me into drinking wine but a mouthful is about as much as I've ever managed.

Pacing Mule

I promise you question 3 was not posting history inspired

It's a question I've wondered about for quite some time. People tend to trot out things like anyone can hit a 20 min 5k or a 3:30 marathon. (Those 2 in particular I've read on boards quite a bit)

With that in mind will press you as a follow up. Not withstanding your point about individuals having individual goals and limits do you agree with the above figures. Would you set them any lower (as a general in the right area kind of figure as opposed to nailing a top end one)

Younganne

Hi Clearlier

What's the Most important piece of advice re running you have received?

What's your favourite racing distance?

What are you hoping to achieve in your 2016 running year?

If you could train with any other Sports person in the world, who would you chose?

If you could do an interview with any runner in the world, who would it be?

Dinner party guest , 3 male & 3 female(alive or dead) who would they be?

What food would you serve them?

Best books ever read,
sport &
non sports books?

Favourite film?
Favourite band/musician?
Favourite chocolate?

Cheers
Anne

UM1

Biggest difference between irish rinning clubs and english ones?
Is the general club runner standard higher over there?

Kennyg71

Hi Clearlier

Training by HR or training by Feel?


Any near term plans to do another Marathon?


How many of your PB's do you think you'll brake in next 12 months?


Which PB would you most like to beat?

Clearlier

Pacing Mule wrote: »

I promise you question 3 was not posting history inspired

That's my paranoia then :-). I said something about what a good time was for a teenager a few years ago and it got a few peoples backs up.

Pacing Mule wrote: »

It's a question I've wondered about for quite some time. People tend to trot out things like anyone can hit a 20 min 5k or a 3:30 marathon. (Those 2 in particular I've read on boards quite a bit)

You won't find me saying those things - at least not any more. If you really want my view on those numbers then I reckon that 75% of male runners could hit a 20 min 5k and/or a 3:30 marathon but some would have to train an awful lot harder and longer than others to get there and there will be some fit healthy normal people who just can't hit those numbers

Singer

How did you end up in Liverpool?

Are you going to stay "over there" or do you intend to come back?

Have you joined a local club there?

Have you dabbled in coaching anything else other than running?

Best and worst subjects in school?

What are your main sources of running information?

laura_ac3

Hi clearlier,

Just a few questions.

What's the most common mistake do you think people make about their running?

What sports if any do you follow?

Will you be supporting England as your second team in the Euros?

Preference for running in the cold or heat?

What's your favourite place that you spent a holiday?

What is your favourite event to follow in the Olympics? If it's one of athletics what's your non athletics favourite?

You've logged into boards and mostly everyone has logged updates - race reports, weekly training updates, session updates etc. Who is your first go to log to see what they've been up to?

I'll probably be back with more

annapr

Hi Clearlier,
First of all thank you for mentoring the 2014 graduates... Your 'Clearlier plan' has been the highlight of my (very limited) running career!

A couple of questions:

--Do you have a training log yourself? If not, why not? If yes, why? Is it on boards?

--in debates on here, you always come across as rational and thoughtful and calm... Is there anything that makes you see red? On boards and/or in real life?

Thanks!

Clearlier

Younganne wrote: »

Hi Clearlier

Hi Anne!

Younganne wrote: »

What's the Most important piece of advice re running you have received?

'Ne force pas' is what the coach I had during my time in France used to tell me all the time. Essentially he was telling me to relax and let it come to me rather than going at everything 100% like I used to.

Younganne wrote: »

What's your favourite racing distance?

The one that I'm best prepared for, that allows me to finish feeling like I've given a good account of myself and done myself justice. In recent years that has tended to be half marathons.

Younganne wrote: »

What are you hoping to achieve in your 2016 running year?

I realised recently that with all the interruptions that I've had to training I've never run 1000 miles in a calendar year which is just shockingly bad! So, more consistency, less time out injured and then as a result PB's at every distance that I run (unless I do the 200 or 800 which are out of reach).

Younganne wrote: »

If you could train with any other Sports person in the world, who would you chose?

Great question. Interpreting it as whose brain would I like to pick it would probably be Michael Johnson as I think that he knows his biomechanics inside out and I'd love to improve mine.

Younganne wrote: »

If you could do an interview with any runner in the world, who would it be?

Bekele maybe. Not really sure to be honest.

Younganne wrote: »

Dinner party guest , 3 male & 3 female(alive or dead) who would they be?

Tougher question that I anticipated!

Mandela - a bit of a cliche but he's one of the greatest people of our time IMO and his achievement in looking beyond the hatred on both sides is a blueprint for how to live life.
Mary Robinson - Totally different scenarios but I'd be fascinated to hear a discussion between her and Mandela on how to influence when you have no obvious power.
Hitler - to understand what drove him to such evil and to see what impact Mandela would have on him.
Hilary Clinton - I'd like to know what she's really like after all of the caricaturisation that has gone on for so long
Seeing that I've got all politicians so far I'd add in two comics, one male and one female. I can't name names because I don't really know any but I've always found the best comics are acute observers of life who find humour in sending up the absurdities of everyday life.

Younganne wrote: »

What food would you serve them?

I'd be hiring a room in a good restaurant because I wouldn't want to miss a minute of the conversation. Beside while I actually do most of the cooking at home I'm under no illusions about going on Masterchef and the like.

Younganne wrote: »

Best books ever read,
sport &
non sports books?

I'm a voracious reader but often of rubbish so these are what come to mind although I'm sure that there are better.

There are some great sports books out there. The sporting gene by David Epstein is one that I've read in the last couple of years that was excellent. I'm not sure that it's the best sports book that I've ever read - in fact I'm sure that it's not but I can't think of any better right now.

How do we get out of this mess by Robert Peston is a reasonably in depth analysis of what caused the banking crash. It's three years old now and a little out of date but it gave me new insights into things like the banking rules put together at Basel which in the end are the source of the crash. Scarily they've not been properly fixed and human nature being as it is I can easily see another crash happening just as soon as the memory of this one fades away a little.

Younganne wrote: »

Favourite film?

Who doesn't like The Shawshank Redemption?

Younganne wrote: »

Favourite band/musician?

There's nothing but nothing sophisticated about my musical tastes. I'm totally unmusical. Someone I trust told me that there's no such thing as being tone deaf but if there were I would be. That said I've come to realise that I miss music if I avoid it. I find it incredibly hard to hear the words of songs so I veer towards those which I can comprehend so Dire Straits and Queen feature. On a more contemporary note I like Hozier.

Younganne wrote: »

Favourite chocolate?

I stopped eating chocolate about 18 months ago because my consumption had gotten totally out of control but until then outside of high quality Belgian (or Irish) I would plump for Nestle crunch. There was something about it that just hit the spot for me.

Younganne wrote: »

Cheers
Anne

Thanks for all the questions, some were tougher than I expected.

Clearlier

UM1 wrote: »

Biggest difference between irish rinning clubs and english ones?
Is the general club runner standard higher over there?

I was only ever a junior member of an Irish club so I really don't feel like I could comment on the differences. I wouldn't have thought that the standard of a general club runner is particularly higher outside of what you might expect courtesy of a much bigger population but I'm a bit too uninformed to make a realistic judgement.

Clearlier

Kennyg71 wrote: »

Hi Clearlier

Hi kenny!

Kennyg71 wrote: »

Training by HR or training by Feel?

Both. I find it easy enough to persuade myself that I'm working harder than I am. HRM is a great leveller for that. If it says 140 and I'm looking for a tempo effort then I know that I'm fooling myself! OTOH - I don't want to be a slave to my HRM so if I need to use the HRM to give me a read on my actual effort I'll try and dial in that effort. I don't want to be checking my watch every minute or so to see if I'm still trying hard enough.

Kennyg71 wrote: »

Any near term plans to do another Marathon?

I've planned to do Dublin for the last 3 years, came pretty close last year so maybe this will be the year.

Kennyg71 wrote: »

How many of your PB's do you think you'll brake in next 12 months?

Every distance that I run above 800m.

Kennyg71 wrote: »

Which PB would you most like to beat?

Well the 800 because I'd be pretty fit! A sub-40 10k would be a nice milestone. A half PB would represent the fittest that I've been as an adult and a marathon PB would mean that I'd worked out how to train for an extended period without getting injured.

Clearlier

Singer wrote: »

How did you end up in Liverpool?

My wife again. She realised that she had reached a point where she either stayed in Bournemouth or moved to a 'proper' university. It's also quite close to her parents (they live in North Wales) who are getting on a bit and beginning to experience some health issues. Add in that it's a bit easier and cheaper to get back to Dublin and that I wasn't massively happy in my job and it wasn't that difficult a decision in the end. Oh, and our landlady wanted the house we were renting back which would have meant our 4th move in Bournemouth and there was no way we were going to get something that would work as well for us.

Singer wrote: »

Are you going to stay "over there" or do you intend to come back?

We expect to come back but have no plans to if that makes sense.

Singer wrote: »

Have you joined a local club there?

Not yet, I haven't found work yet and want to wait until I do before I decide which club to join as the likelihood is that any training sessions I go to will be straight from work.

Singer wrote: »

Have you dabbled in coaching anything else other than running?

I coached one of my school rugby teams for a year after I left school.

Singer wrote: »

Best and worst subjects in school?

French or History were my best. Chemistry was probably my worst. I had no interest and should never have chosen to study it. I dropped it after 5th year without a second thought.

Singer wrote: »

What are your main sources of running information?

Books and the internet. When I first got injured I read through one of the Lydiard megathreads on Letsrun which opened my eyes about training methodologies.

Clearlier

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Hi clearlier,

Just a few questions.

Hi Laura!

laura_ac3 wrote: »

What's the most common mistake do you think people make about their running?

Nothing original about this one but easy runs too hard is very common.

laura_ac3 wrote: »

What sports if any do you follow?

There was a time when I was a whiz at A question of Sport but then I grew up and had to choose. Rugby is the main sport that I follow. I keep an eye on cricket courtesy of the neighbours that I grew up next to. Having lived there for a while I've been interested in how Bournemouth have gone in the premier league especially given where they have come from. I'll have a general interest in most sports but aside from rugby I don't prioritise following other sports.

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Will you be supporting England as your second team in the Euros?

I'll be doing well to follow Ireland as my first! My wife is Welsh so they're a more likely candidate although if England were to do well I'd be happy for the people around me.

laura_ac3 wrote: »

Preference for running in the cold or heat?

Train in the heat, race in the cold.

laura_ac3 wrote: »

What's your favourite place that you spent a holiday?

Paris probably.

laura_ac3 wrote: »

What is your favourite event to follow in the Olympics? If it's one of athletics what's your non athletics favourite?

I love watching the 4*400 relays. Non-athletics will probably be the rugby 7's in Rio.

laura_ac3 wrote: »

You've logged into boards and mostly everyone has logged updates - race reports, weekly training updates, session updates etc. Who is your first go to log to see what they've been up to?

Whoever's at the top of the list or if I'm feeling diligent I might start at the bottom.

laura_ac3 wrote: »

I'll probably be back with more

Thanks Laura.

Clearlier

annapr wrote: »

Hi Clearlier,
First of all thank you for mentoring the 2014 graduates... Your 'Clearlier plan' has been the highlight of my (very limited) running career!

I'm glad it helped. I'm actually following a variation of it at the moment myself.

annapr wrote: »

A couple of questions:

--Do you have a training log yourself? If not, why not? If yes, why? Is it on boards?

I have, it's on boards and it's here. I've tried keeping a public log in the past and found it difficult although it did help me to ask myself some of the right questions. I said at the start of the year that come what may I'd keep a log for this calendar year and review at the end of the year whether I wanted to keep it or not. I've just about kept it going so far although I'm overdue an update.

annapr wrote: »

--in debates on here, you always come across as rational and thoughtful and calm... Is there anything that makes you see red? On boards and/or in real life?

Thanks!

I've made some stupid posts in my time . I did find myself getting angry a couple of times about a year ago and when I analysed it I realised that I don't like people saying that certain people and in particular women can't or shouldn't run.

This Fat Girl Runs

Hi Clearlier. Couple of questions for you.

If you could go to Kenya and train with the Kenyans, would you?

How would you define the 'perfect run'? Have you ever experienced it?

If you could save one animal from going extinct, which animal would you coose and why?

Clearlier

This Fat Girl Runs wrote: »

Hi Clearlier. Couple of questions for you.

Thanks TFGR

This Fat Girl Runs wrote: »

If you could go to Kenya and train with the Kenyans, would you?

If you mean on holiday or for a couple of months yes, if you mean would I go live there like the NZ Robertson twins then no, not any more. Maybe 20 years ago I would have considered it.

This Fat Girl Runs wrote: »

How would you define the 'perfect run'? Have you ever experienced it?

The perfect run is getting exactly what you set out to achieve. I get that a few times a week!

This Fat Girl Runs wrote: »

If you could save one animal from going extinct, which animal would you coose and why?

Tiger I guess because it's a magnificent marriage of power and grace.

Dubgal72

Hi, fair play for taking this on

Just one question for now (well, in two parts), will be back for more tomorrow.

Cross country: how do you feel about its usefulness

A) personally i.e. Have you much experience and is it love or hate and
as an integral part of middle distance-endurance athlete's development?

TIA

Clearlier

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Hi, fair play for taking this on

Just one question for now (well, in two parts), will be back for more tomorrow.

Cross country: how do you feel about its usefulness

A) personally i.e. Have you much experience and is it love or hate and
as an integral part of middle distance-endurance athlete's development?

TIA

Cross country....

I've mentioned elsewhere that my last cross country race was over 20 years ago - the junior inter-counties. I was 2nd last in my race and I'm guessing that they're still searching for the guy who came last . The race was in Dungarvan and was a complete mud fest. I watched the senior races afterwards and saw John Treacy and Catherina McKiernan run away from the rest of the field. What I noticed most was how they skimmed over the surface whereas when I ran there was a sucking noise for every step as I extricated my foot from the quagmire that was the course. It's not like I had any weight to lose either. I had a 28" waist and you could count my ribs without needing to lift my arms.

I had a little more success with schools cross country mostly because they were run on relatively firm well drained ground.

So that's my experience of cross country. Essentially I have no confidence that I've any hope of success so I've focused my efforts elsewhere. I'm not saying that I'll never run a cross country race again especially as I prefer to train off-road but you'll never find me targeting any race which brings me to your second question.

The honest answer is that I don't know but that I suspect that it depends on the runner. Plenty of successful middle distance runners did cross country and plenty didn't. It's my impression that most did it as children but some gave it up as adults whereas others continued it so I'd say that it can be useful but isn't essential. It might be more suited to slow twitch dominant runners but the whole discussion is worthy of a thread on its own I think with hopefully some other posters able to provide more useful insights.

Murph_D

Hi C

1. Do you take gels for HM or longer? What's your strategy?

2. Favourite session?

3. Hayek or Harvey?

4. Age grading - useful metric or wishful thinking for aul lads/lasses?

Cheers.

Clearlier

Murph_D wrote: »

Hi C

1. Do you take gels for HM or longer? What's your strategy?

2. Favourite session?

3. Hayek or Harvey?

4. Age grading - useful metric or wishful thinking for aul lads/lasses?

Cheers.

Hi Murph,

1. I haven't run a race longer than a HM since 2011 and haven't used a gel since then either. If and hopefully when I run a marathon again I'll see how my training goes but I'd probably plan carry one with me in case I need it (having used one in training beforehand).

2. There's a Danish/Irish guy living near us who rings bells with my wife. He got a small band to come to his house to play a private gig. I've never been at anything like it before or since but it was brilliant.

3. Although I had heard of Hayek I didn't know anything about him and I'd never heard of Harvey so I had to google them to find out what they were about. I guess you're asking me if I veer towards the left or the right? Neither to be honest. I vote Lib Dem over here. I struggled to vote in Ireland and usually ended up going Green as I didn't and don't think that environmental issues are assigned the importance that they should be. Overall I'm fairly liberal on social issues but would probably be considered left of centre on economic issues.

4. My previous club has internal competitions using the age graded tables over 10k, 10 miles and half marathon. I think that that is a pretty good use of the tables.

Battery Kinzie

Hey Clearlier,

Is there any aspect of running and the 'world of running' that you really don't like?

TV/Films or music, if you could only do with one for the rest of your life?

Do you use earphones when running?

Favourite workout?

Do you always try to have a training plan to follow, or do you set aside your general training days (e.g 6 days a week with LSR Sunday), and then throw in speedwork/hills/whatever as you go along?

Murph_D

Clearlier wrote: »

Hi Murph,

1. I haven't run a race longer than a HM since 2011 and haven't used a gel since then either. If and hopefully when I run a marathon again I'll see how my training goes but I'd probably plan carry one with me in case I need it (having used one in training beforehand).

2. There's a Danish/Irish guy living near us who rings bells with my wife. He got a small band to come to his house to play a private gig. I've never been at anything like it before or since but it was brilliant.

3. Although I had heard of Hayek I didn't know anything about him and I'd never heard of Harvey so I had to google them to find out what they were about. I guess you're asking me if I veer towards the left or the right? Neither to be honest. I vote Lib Dem over here. I struggled to vote in Ireland and usually ended up going Green as I didn't and don't think that environmental issues are assigned the importance that they should be. Overall I'm fairly liberal on social issues but would probably be considered left of centre on economic issues.

4. My previous club has internal competitions using the age graded tables over 10k, 10 miles and half marathon. I think that that is a pretty good use of the tables.

You threw me on number 2 there! I was thinking training session. Great answer though!

Clearlier

Battery Kinzie wrote: »

Hey Clearlier,

Hi BK, Thanks for the questions.

Battery Kinzie wrote: »

Is there any aspect of running and the 'world of running' that you really don't like?

Doping. From what I'm reading it's becoming very prevalent in amateur cycling and triathlon. I dearly hope that it doesn't spread to amateur athletics as well.

Battery Kinzie wrote: »

TV/Films or music, if you could only do with one for the rest of your life?

TV/Films - they have music in them too you see

Battery Kinzie wrote: »

Do you use earphones when running?

No

Battery Kinzie wrote: »

Favourite workout?

Something with marathon pace in it usually gets the endorphins flowing with relatively less pain.

Battery Kinzie wrote: »

Do you always try to have a training plan to follow, or do you set aside your general training days (e.g 6 days a week with LSR Sunday), and then throw in speedwork/hills/whatever as you go along?

I've gotten better at this and usually have a pretty good idea of what I'm trying to achieve on a daily, weekly and longer term basis.

gramar

Which of the following affects your enjoyment of running most: wind, heat or hills?

Clearlier

gramar wrote: »

Which of the following affects your enjoyment of running most: wind, heat or hills?

Heat probably. I'm much happier training in warm weather than cold weather.

demfad

Hi Clearlier:

Any interest in trying hill running/fell running?
Are you worried by current global politics? (less than 2000 words please)
Olympics was founded by a Frenchman based on English schoolboy sports, to get youngsters healthy. Have they lost the plot now?
If you could do any pastime from the perspective of interest/enjoyment (not necessarlity sports) what would it be?
France versus England as places to live?
Running: healthy pastime or unhealthy healthy obsession (or both)?
Thks

Firedance

Hi M, great answers so far!

1) As anna already said, you put together a great plan for us DCM 14 Grads (thanks!), how do you go about doing something like that and getting it right?

2) You have a time machine, where do you go to and what do you change?

3) Do (we) need talent or can sheer hard work help tumble race times?

4) You can't run anymore, do you turn to
a) alcohol
b) cycling

cjt156

Clearlier wrote: »

Hi Murph,

...guy living near us who rings bells with my wife....

...Overall I'm fairly liberal...

Yes, it would certainly appear so!

Clearlier

demfad wrote: »

Hi Clearlier:

Hi Demfad

demfad wrote: »

Any interest in trying hill running/fell running?

For competitive purposes no. I've enough of a lunatic streak in me to go down hills fairly quickly but I've never gone up hills quickly even when you count the ribs on my body from a mile away.
For the enjoyment of it and training absolutely. Djouce was where I first stated to run long. Every week I'd drive out there and go for 5 minutes longer than I had the week before, now that was more trail than hill/fell running but there were some undulating parts too.

demfad wrote: »

Are you worried by current global politics? (less than 2000 words please)

Are you hinting at the possibility that I might be a little bit wordy from time to time?!

I'm not massively concerned about global politics per se. I really don't see world war 3 coming over the horizon even if Trump somehow gets into power. Putin is obviously trying to reassert Russia as a global power and fighting proxy wars to aid this but fundamentally Russia hasn't built the foundations to do this over the longer term. They'll always be a power but they're not really in a position to be a dominating force. China is concerning because it represents the unknown for me and they are laying the foundations to dominate the world. Their island building in the South China Sea is a clear attempt to assert a claim to a greater amount of natural resources. ISIL/ISIS will continue to have some local gains and losses and inflict a lot of harm but fundamentally I don't see that they're trying to establish themselves in the world - instead they want to take over the world and they're not going to succeed at that. That could change as they obviously have some strategic thinkers in their organisation but I see their role as spreading terror which will gradually be controlled.

Related to politics I'm more concerned about things like global warming, banking regulations (as I mentioned earlier the fundamental conditions for banks to lend recklessly haven't really changed) and inequality are big issues for me.

demfad wrote: »

Olympics was founded by a Frenchman based on English schoolboy sports, to get youngsters healthy. Have they lost the plot now?

If they ever had it then yes they've lost it but it can still be found and it remains a great spectacle if you can shut your eyes to the possibility/probability of doping.

demfad wrote: »

If you could do any pastime from the perspective of interest/enjoyment (not necessarlity sports) what would it be?

Interesting question. If I could avoid injury I'd quite like to do judo. I'd quite like to be able to play the piano but aside from the lack of a musical ear I'm not willing to put the time or money into it and I'd quite like to learn to fly airplanes.

demfad wrote: »

France versus England as places to live?

I'm not sure that I can make a fair comparison as I've only lived in France with my uncle for 2 summers as a student whereas I've lived for nearly 7 years in England now. That said I'd lean towards France (faraway hills always being greener perhaps). The weather is a bit better, the bread is a lot better and I'm benignly amused by French arrogance.

demfad wrote: »

Running: healthy pastime or unhealthy healthy obsession (or both)?
Thks

For me, at the moment, it's a healthy pastime. It wouldn't take much to turn it into a unhealthy obsession but having kids and other interests keeps enough balance in my life.

Thanks for the questions!

Clearlier

Firedance wrote: »

Hi M, great answers so far!

Thanks Firedance!

Firedance wrote: »

1) As anna already said, you put together a great plan for us DCM 14 Grads (thanks!), how do you go about doing something like that and getting it right?

It came completely out of the blue when Ososlo asked me if I would do it. I knew that the novices thread existed but I was completely unaware of the previous graduates threads. The idea really appealed to me though and it didn't take long to decide that I wanted to do it.

When it came to putting a plan together I had a few ideas about what kind of runners I'd be working with which I confirmed and expanded on via the intro. questions that I got everybody to answer. I plugged all the answers into a spreadsheet and did what I think academics would call a thematic analysis. The main things that came out were that most people were relatively new to running and most people had just created a training block where being able to run the distance was the primary goal which meant that speed work had been relatively neglected.

There were two things that I was hoping to achieve, the first was to rebalance everybody's training so that they would become better all-round runners with a reduced chance of injury and secondly to increase everybody's knowledge of how to train so that they would have the tools to continue to develop after the thread had ended.

After having an initial attempt at writing my own plan from scratch I recalled a 5k plan that Myles had linked to in his previous incarnation and I used that as the basis for the plan that we followed.

I made a pile of mistakes but it really helped me to organise my thoughts and I think and hope that I helped at least a few people who took part.

Firedance wrote: »

2) You have a time machine, where do you go to and what do you change?

I'm going to take that as a personal question rather than an opportunity to assassinate Hitler etc. . I'd go back to my 18 year old self and pass on what I know now about how to get past shin splints.

Firedance wrote: »

3) Do (we) need talent or can sheer hard work help tumble race times?

Once we have physically matured only work causes race times to tumble, talent decides how fast and how far they tumble.

Firedance wrote: »

4) You can't run anymore, do you turn to
a) alcohol
b) cycling

Well I don't really drink and I don't like cycling so a bit of a Hobson's choice there. Probably cycling as much though my wife would like me to share a bottle of wine with her she'd probably prefer it if I could cycle her around on our tandem.

Clearlier

cjt156 wrote: »

Yes, it would certainly appear so!

Hmm... church bells. One of the benefits of moving up to Wirral is that she recently got a chance to ring the heaviest bells in the world in Liverpool anglican cathedral. Apparently it's very much a bucket list thing for campanophiles.

annapr

Clearlier wrote: »

Hmm... church bells. One of the benefits of moving up to Wirral is that she recently got a chance to ring the heaviest bells in the world in Liverpool anglican cathedral. Apparently it's very much a bucket list thing for campanophiles.

Is there a forum for that somewhere?

Thanks for the explanation of how you put your plan together, very interesting and from my point of view, you got it spot on.

The Muppet

Hi Clearlier

You said earlier in a question about gels that if running a marathon you would take a gel with you in case you needed it. How important do you think gels are for longer runs or does it depend on the time on your feet rather than distance?

What refueling strategy would you recommend for a 4.30 marathon runner?

What the best piece of advice you receive when starting to run?

Whats your favourite piece of running Kit?

kit3

Hi Clearlier,

Can't believe your week is almost up. Meant to get to this days ago & haven't had the chance to read all your answers so apologies if this has been asked already !

Do you have kids and, if so, do you find it difficult to fit your training in around family responsibilities ?

Without being specific, what age bracket are you ? I always find it difficult to judge with posters on here & am just curious

Clearlier

The Muppet wrote: »

Hi Clearlier

The Muppet wrote: »

Hi TM

You said earlier in a question about gels that if running a marathon you would take a gel with you in case you needed it. How important do you think gels are for longer runs or does it depend on the time on your feet rather than distance?

I wouldn't use a gel for longer runs in training except for practice. I'd carry one in a marathon in case I bonked. I think that the need for them is determined by a combination of how well your body can use fat for fuel, how hard you're running and how long you're running for. If for example I was to do a marathon as a training run at say 9mm pace then I wouldn't expect to need one. The last marathon I ran was London 2011 which went badly wrong for me due to a multitude of factors. It left me run/walking from mile 16 which wasn't pushing myself very hard and I finished in about 3:50. I did take a gel at one point because that was in my plan but I got a sugar buzz from it because I didn't need it and I didn't take any more. However if I were pushing myself to my limit then even though I have trained my body to use fat as fuel reasonably well compared to how I used to be I'd still carry one just in case - mostly I suppose because I don't know how well my body had adapted to use fat as a fuel source and I'd feel a bit stupid bonking at mile 24 without any backup.

The Muppet wrote: »

What refueling strategy would you recommend for a 4.30 marathon runner?

For a first timer who's relatively new to running, hasn't trained themselves particularly to run on fat and is pushing themselves hard I'd probably suggest every half hour or so but everyone is an experiment of one.

The Muppet wrote: »

What the best piece of advice you receive when starting to run?

I mentioned earlier 'ne force pas' which the coach that I had for 6 weeks or so when I went to school in France used to say to me and he was absolutely right. Don't force it. Let things come to you.

The Muppet wrote: »

Whats your favourite piece of running Kit?

A comfortable pair of shorts I think. My thighs are a bit flabby so I have a tendency towards chafing. The shorts I currently use have a bicycle short type inner which does a great job of preventing most chafing on my inner thighs.

Clearlier

kit3 wrote: »

Hi Clearlier,
Can't believe your week is almost up. Meant to get to this days ago & haven't had the chance to read all your answers so apologies if this has been asked already !

Hi Kit,

kit3 wrote: »

Do you have kids and, if so, do you find it difficult to fit your training in around family responsibilities ?

I have 2 kids aged 5 and 9. It's fairly straightforward at the moment as I'm not working but I'm hoping that changes soon and it will get harder then. Ideally I'd like to get out early and have it done and I have done this in the past but it was always a struggle as I'm not really a morning person. When I've got a specific goal it's easier to justify getting out after the boys have gone to bed but it does eat into time that my wife and I have together. I've started doing the odd run with my eldest on his bike - we'll see how that develops as an option.

kit3 wrote: »

Without being specific, what age bracket are you ? I always find it difficult to judge with posters on here & am just curious

I'm very specific on the 1000 mile thread so no reason not to be here. I'll be 39 at the end of the month.

Thanks for the questions.

Pacing Mule

Clearlier wrote: »

A comfortable pair of shorts I think. My things are a bit flabby so I have a tendency towards chafing. The shorts I currently use have a bicycle short type inner which does a great job of preventing most chafing on my inner thighs.

For God's sake man. FYP !

Clearlier

Pacing Mule wrote: »

For God's sake man. FYP !

I can type faster than I think which isn't really a good thing.

Clearlier

Will be setting up a new thread tomorrow for the next victim participant tomorrow so if you have any more questions you'd like to ask get them in quick!

Dubgal72

More

Coe or Ovett?
Ketchup or mayo on chips?
Championship pacing, yeah or meh?
Life ban for PED users or?
Bray. Charming seaside town or shabby dump?
When are you joining Bray Runners? We'll give you a non-resident discount


Thanks for the great read this week!

Clearlier

Dubgal72 wrote: »

More

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Coe or Ovett?

At the time it would have been Coe as I wouldn't have liked Ovett's 'arrogance'. Now I'm not so sure at all. Maybe Cram

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Ketchup or mayo on chips?

Ketchup although I've been known to mix the two if its not Heinz ketchup.

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Championship pacing, yeah or meh?

If I had my way I'd ban pacers from any races.

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Life ban for PED users or?

Tough one. I don't want any PED users to compete again but giving them a life ban isn't necessarily the best way of trying to eliminate doping from the sport. Also, for all of the cheating that has been going on sometimes it really isn't as clear cut as it might be. The issues with the American v. the British vicks inhaler for example. I'll leave you to ponder that while I take some of the splinters out of my behind!

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Bray. Charming seaside town or shabby dump?

Well both isn't it? I grew up near the seafront with it's echoes of faded glory but I could hear the chants of the vigilante marches to get the drug dealers out of Fassaroe etc..

Dubgal72 wrote: »

When are you joining Bray Runners? We'll give you a non-resident discount

Send me the form and I'm in. If I hadn't left Ireland I probably would have joined Tallaght as it was near where I was living but I grew up in Bray and I think that I may actually have briefly been a member of Bray Runners as they integrated the Bray Striders training group that was organised and run by Nigel Brunton's dad.

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Thanks for the great read this week!

It has been fun if occasionally a little wordy!