Steve Haywood - Enduroman and Elite Coach

6hr cold water lake swim - Sandwell Valley

Steve Haywood — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:25:57 +0100

Before we decided to make the Enduroman Deca's swim open water, I was taking things at a leisurely pace in relation to the swim stage. I had reached the 3hr mark in the pool and I had planned a 4, 5, couple of sixes and an 8hr before the big day. Although, the swim would be far from 'easy' it was very manageable - water temperature would not be a problem, toilet facilities etc. My thinking was that this training along with what I still have in the bank from last year's channel swim would see me through.

The open water decision has changed everything. Yesterday's swim was a big step for me. My club (Sandwell Channel Swimming Club) was organising another 6-hour qualification swim for swimmers to gain their tick in the box before a channel attempt this year, and with only 10 weeks to go I needed to sort my sh*t out.

Before the swim Dan presented the Mike Reid trophy to me which listed all 3 successful channel swimmers from the club. The swim went quite well.

I completed 23 laps of the 800m lap lake which meant I completed almost half the Deca distance (48 laps). Apart from the fact that my shoulders were very sore I was happy with my progress.

During my channel preparation last year I completed the same amount of laps after considerably more training.

Out of the swimmers below, I was disappointed to find out that only Andrea and I had completed the 6 hours. Helpers from the club were good enough to provide safety and support for the day so it was a shame that more swimmers didn't turn up. I wish the very best to Andrea who is attempting to swim the channel later on in the year.

New Deca Course for 2009

Steve Haywood — Sun, 25 May 2008 09:18:29 +0100

For those clicking over from the Enduroman website (www.enduroman.com), you may be interested in the reasons why we have decided upon a new course for the Deca in 2009. There are 2 main reason. Firstly we have support issues.

Even for my own attempt this August, trying to find friends and family willing to support me over a 2 week period has been very difficult. The main difficulty with support was that each day would start from a different location from John O'Groats to Lands End.

Support crews would have to involve a driver who would also be responsible for the navigation of the athlete. Driving for up to 22 hours a day is a big ask and is also potentially quite dangerous.

Even if athletes found several supports to cover a few days each, the supporter would need dropping off and collecting a few hundred miles later.

The second reason is one of expense. I have been contacted by a few athletes desperately wanting to race this Deca but the costs would be too great. Athletes would need to hire a motor home which doesn't come cheap (over £1000), and the fuel required wouldn't be far off the same figure. Adding these costs to the race entry and food etc would be a tough ask.

We had to come up with a static location that we could use for the athlete village. I never liked the idea of a pool swim, so introducing a lake swim would add another dimension to the race. Both the bike and run courses will be out and back laps so supporters have the option of taking a day off or just responding to the athlete if needed. Athletes would also be able to navigate themselves once familiar with the course.

From the Heart of England to the Top of Wales: The bike course will be awesome, travelling from Lichfield into Snowdonia and back again. The run route will cover one of the famous footpaths in the UK; The Heart of England Way.

The admin and the costs would be far more attractive to the athletes and Enduroman would be able to lower the costs of the race entry.

The down side to this, is that I have to completely change my swim training. There is big difference between swimming 24 miles in a pool compared to a lake. I still have loads of miles in the bag. A quick 4hr lake swim tomorrow followed be a 6 hour lake swim at Swan Pool the following week should put me back on track.

Hayle Middle Distance Tri

Steve Haywood — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:00:11 +0100

Personally, I really enjoyed this race. I was cuffed to bits with my performance being as I have completed no speed training at all. I finished 6th overall in a time of 4hrs 44mins clocking splits of 28mins / 2:41 / 1:31.

Lucy however; had a stonker. She won the women's race by 12mins clocking 4hrs 49mins. After her second place finished at the Oxford Half Marathon, the Duston Sprint Triathlon and a 1500m track race, it was great for Lucy to notch up her first win of the season. Every seems to be going on track for a sub 10hr Ironman at Germany for Lucy.

Life just gets in the Way of Training!!

Steve Haywood — Mon, 12 May 2008 09:20:43 +0100

After finishing off the bike phase with a 90 mile bike with Lucy, my plan was to run 9 miles per day for 7 days. Things just went from bad to worse which led to met just getting in whatever training that I could. During the 7 days I managed 3 of the runs, 2 pool swims and another day of cycling 50 miles per day. All this was broken up with a day at the pub with my Dad and the monkey and 2 more visits to the dentist.

Although I could have times the Quarter-Deca better, it was a good fortnight's training.

Lucy is racing the Half Ironman at Hayle in Cornwall next weekend. I am seriously thinking about entering late. I obviously haven't prepared for the high intensity that this event involves, but sometimes you have to do things just for enjoyment.

Quarter-Deca Days 2 - 10

Steve Haywood — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:18:07 +0100

I must have chose the worse possible week to commit to 50 miles per day cycling. Last Sunday wasn't a problem as I had a free day after Lucy racing at the Duston Triathlon.

Although she finshed 4 mins quicker than last year's winning time, Lucy's time of 59mins 20 seconds only secured 2nd place for her. She had a great race, clocking 5 mins 4sec for her 400m swim (40 secs faster than her PB).

On Monday evening after I finished the bike, I went to supervise both Tom Beaver and Jo Kilkenny who both succesfully completed their 2hr cold water qualification swim for Enduroman.

They can both now use the boat in Weymouth for their channel training. I did however get caught in a storm where the hale stones looked and felt like footballs. I start work daily at 7am, so my plans were to bike the shortest route of 20 miles to work and back, refuel, then head out for an extra 10 miles. I managed this Monday and Tuesday but things got a little complicated Wednesday when my dentist called me in for an appointment after work.

I decided that I would make this the day I only cycled 30 miles and jumped on the turbo. Thursday went to plan but then I rememebered that I had a works do on the Friday evening. As this was my last day of cycling 50 miles, I thought I would take a rest day, then go out for 100 miler on Monday with Lucy.

For the first time in months, I had one too many beers and it felt like a monkey had shat in my mouth on Saturday morning. No peace for the wicked though as I had to take Lucy to race over 1500m on the track at Leicester. Lucy hadn't raced on the track for 13 years so she surprised overyone when she came 2nd clocking a new PB!! Worse for me though, I got roped into doing the 3rd leg of a 4x400m relay. That certainly blew a few cobwebs off!! The plan was to do my 9 mile run when I got home but the one-lap sprint around the track finished me off!!

On Sunday morning, 2 of my athletes were racing at the 3 Spires Triathlon. Rachael Stoakes won the women's race even after punturing at the bike turnaround point and then riding 6 miles on a flat! Phil Wolfe came 3rd in the Men's race clocking an impressive 15mins 55sec for his 5K run split.

Having already completed my first 9 mile run in the morning, I took Lucy, Rachael and Greg for lunch. Things again didn't go to plan. Some 6 hours later, we were still rooted to our bar stools and I had already started to dread the hangover the next morning.

After the monkey had visited again this morning, I realised that the delay of muscle soreness was not delaying any more and the efforts of the relay 2 days previously were clear to see. Deca training couldn't be more different than 400m training.

I then found out that my Dad was travelling up from Cornwall to see me which could only mean one thing.... make way for the Monkey tomorrow! It looks like I will be too sore to train today. I may pop down the pool for a paddle but hopefully I will be back at it tomorrow.

I drink beer probably about once per month and then its only 3 pints before my homing pigeon takes me home. So the last few days have taken their toll.

Quarter-Deca Day 1: 6 mile Pool Swim

Steve Haywood — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 18:52:35 +0100

26-04-08 Day 1: 6 mile Pool Swim

I got my timings all wrong this morning as I had to wait 30mins for the pool to open at 6.30am. At least it gave me the chance to watch the latest episode of Lost Series 4 on my Ipod. 12 x 800m reps were on the menu, and I stuck rigidly to the '1 x Rep and recover' routine every 15mins.

So exactly 3hrs later, I had competed one quarter of the Deca distance swim. Now that the race format is non-wetsuit, I took this opportunity to try out my new Blue Seventy PointZero3 swim skint. The technology used is absolutely genius as you can feel the water just slip straight over your body.

Now today was the first time I have every really swam long in an indoor swimming pool. I am very disappointed to say that I left the gym with a very important question unanswered.

If a swimmer was caught short, and found himself running to the toilets with the intention of making himself lighter at the soonest opportunity, how would one go about dealing with the water issues?

The removal of swim wear followed by the drying of a towel is both impractical and time consuming, something which the swimmer may not have!!

When the swimmer finally sits down, a large pool of water congregates both on the floor, and on the toilet seat. Once the swimmer has become half the man he used to be, the wiping of the seat would be the polite thing to do, but would he also be required to find the pool attendant and request a mop and bucket?

I didn't have this problem in the Channel. Things were a lot easier as I was 'at one' with mother nature and used this issue both to warm up and grease up the inside of the wetsuit!!

4.5 Mile Pool swim

Steve Haywood — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 18:40:33 +0100

Next weekend I will be starting my 'quarter-decker'. A 14-day training period comprising of exactly one-forth of the Deca race. Day 1 will be a 6 mile pool swim (I am breaking it down into 12 x half-mile reps), so today I progressed from 6 half-mile reps that I completed last week (with wetsuit which has now been binned forever!) to 9 half mile reps. After each rep I am stopping for a drink / feed and I was surprised to notice that I drank just as much compared to when I wore a wetsuit.

I have now made a switch over to an electrolyte based carb drink to take care of mineral loss etc. I still received a few strange looks from the other pool users but this time it must have been the fact that I had 4 drinks bottles at the end of my lane.

Earlier this morning I met Jo Kilkenny and Tom Beaver lakeside at Swan Pool for some cold water coaching. Both Tom and Jo are attempting the Enduroman Arc to Arc (Tom - Sept 08 / Jo - July 09).

The water temperature was only 46 degrees and officials at the lake said it is about 4 weeks behind in temperature compared to last year. Both athletes pictured above swam well and I will be meeting them both soon again as they need to achieve a 2-hour cold water swim before we will allow them to use the boat in Weymouth for their channel training.

I don't need no stinking wetsuit

Steve Haywood — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:53:29 +0100

As I was swimming up and down the pool tonight, I thought about what a great race the Deca will be. 1120 miles of cycling the length of the UK and running 262 miles across South West Coast Path. 24 miles of pool swimming just doesn't carry the same 'umf' does it?

I would love to include a sea swim, but with the weaker swimmers taking up to 20 hours to complete the 24 miles, the risk of hypothermia and swimming into the night would be just too dangerous. Why then, have previous Deca's allowed wetsuits?

The only reason that I can think of is that the stereotypical triathlete would whinge without one. And as Dan Earthquake would say, 'Bloody triathlon wetsuit jessies!!'

So the latest amendment to the Enduroman Deca Iron is that the pool swim will be without the rubber.

Last Sunday I made the trip down South and jogged around the London Marathon with Tom Beaver (Pictured Centre)

Tom was raising money for the Missing People's Helpline. Please visit http://www.missingpeople.org.uk/ for more information.

3 mile pool swim & a great result for Lucy

Steve Haywood — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 14:35:28 +0100

Swimming across the channel was all about breaking things down into realistic size distances (I fed every 45 mins for 16hrs and only ever thought about the next feed not the remaining distance). Swimming 24 miles up and down a 25m swimming pool creates a new mental challenge. I know I can do the distance, but the added complications of wearing a wetsuit, dealing with dehydration, chaffing and the boredom spices the preparation up slightly.

I am focusing upon the challenge of swimming 48 x half mile reps. In between these reps I can either drink , feed or use the loo etc. My first Deca specific swim this morning was 6 x 32 lengths. Although I had a few strange looks from the locals as I was dressed in beloved rubber suit, it was great to wear the wetsuit again and I felt great again averaging around 13min per 100m.

Last weekend, Lucy had her first road race of the season.

We travelled down to Oxford for the White Horse Half Marathon. I must admit we didn't think that the race would go ahead in the snow but it cleared nicely before the start.

Lucy continued to show great improvement finishing second in a new personal best.

I'm going to have a jog around the London Marathon tomorrow with Tom as a warm down from the ONER. Now the miles are in the bag, I can just keep the run fitness ticking over until some more specific work in June and July.

In 2 weeks time I will be doing a 2 week training block representing a 1/4 of a Deca. That's a 6 mile swim, followed by 6 days of cycling 50 miles per day, then 7 days of running 9 miles per day. No problems.

The ONER - More like 'Just the TWO of us'

Steve Haywood — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:20:48 +0100

He who dares Rodney.....

When one turns up on the line of an ultra race, one expects that things are going to get a little tough. Tom Beaver and I stood on the starting line at Lyme Regis with 30 other ONER hopefuls wearing three outer layers and the wind and rain flying horizontally into our faces. The organizers told us that we had a South West wind. He went on to say that if it had been a North wind then he would of cancelled the event.

We had a checkpoint to pass through every 6 miles of the 78.6 mile route. At the first checkpoint the organizers cancelled the event. I can totally understand why they cancelled; after all they are a business and their business is more important than the needs of the athletes. The bad news came at 7pm on the Saturday evening and the organizers suggested that we slept until 5.30am, then start at another location and run the last 54 miles of the course.

Myself and Tom were there for one reason: It was a training run for Tom and the goal was to run through the night for 78 miles. Some athletes decided then and there to go home, others headed for the accommodation so they could get their 8 hours beauty sleep before their double marathon the next day. Tom and I however, headed off to do what we had set out to do: 78.6 miles. We had to tell the organzers that we had pulled out from the event so that we were no longer their responsibilty.

To start with, we headed onto the road, but then we navigated back onto the coast path as we thought that running on the road was more dangerous. The road route we took added another 5 or 6 miles onto the course.

At around 6pm on the Sunday evening, we completed the 78.6 mile course we now call, The 'TWO-'ER.

The ironic thing, is that about 4 hours after they cancelled the event, the rain and wind stopped. I then went on to get sun burnt on Sunday.

Photo's to come......

Weekend spent on the Coast Path: 139 Days until the Enduroman Deca Iron

Steve Haywood — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 11:36:50 +0000

The Deca's run course will take the athletes from Lands End up to Sandy Bay some 262 miles apart. This will be the longest and toughest footrace in Europe even if the athletes did not have the small job of a 1120 mile bike before hand (oh yeah, and a 24 mile swim). This type of running is miles apart from road running, and with the ONER 7-days away, I thought I'd go and have a look around the course. The ONER's course starts just after the Deca's course finishes. There are parts of the ONER course that goes inland, so I took a look around them in the daylight before I have to navigate around the course in the dark.

The main purpose of racing (training would be a more appropriate word), at the ONER, is that it provides a 'training run' for Tom Beaver for his Arch to Arc preparation. Once these miles are in the bag, Tom can now concentrate on his Swim training for the English Channel.

Please have a look at Tom's training blog at www.runningbeaver.co.uk

The Sennie Extreme is about 2 months away. This is a 200-mile footrace from Birmingham to London. Athletes have 3 days to run 174 miles, then they all run 26 miles on the last day. This will be great training for the Deca. I will run 58 miles for the first three days. Although this is a little longer than the daily requirement for the Deca, the course will be much easier and the time on the legs will be ideal.

The photo above was taken just West of Lyme Regis. This is a view of the route to Portland. Awesome!!

4-hour hill march - Brecon Beacons

Steve Haywood — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:26:48 +0000

The Brecon Beacons weather lived up to its reputation as Lucy and I met up with Tom Beaver who I am coaching for the Enduroman Arch to Arc Triathlon and Greg Woodward who apart from being a great friend, is supporting me at both the ONER, the Sennie Extreme 200 and the Enduroman Deca Iron 2008.

The Fan Dance is a route over the Beacons that I had ran across many times with the army, but even the best can get i wrong sometimes (slight navigational error)

For me, it doesn't get any better: great company and the mountains. It was great to see that Tom's ankle injury had cleared, so it is all systems go for the ONER.

You read many articles about peaking for your race, how you need to do your last long session 7 or 14 or 21 days before your race. Last year, a good friend told me that your endurance base could last for up to 10 weeks without training. As an experienced coach who researches scientifically, I thanked him for his advice and promptly discarded this information. A few months later, there I stood on Shakespeare Beech, just about to swim the channel. My last long swim was 7 weeks previously, and this was for 8 hours. I then went onto complete a 16-hour channel swim, getting faster and stronger all the way as the weather deteriorated. The lesson I learned was that you still need to condition your body, but once you have it in the bag, leave it there, and focus on another element.

8 hour Run: Last long run before The ONER

Steve Haywood — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 19:13:29 +0000

What a fantastic day's training. I had 8 hours planned for today's run and managed to time the run along side the Milford 21. The race is ran on Cannock Chase and is more of a fell race than anything else. It is organised by my athletics club, Cannock & Stafford AC, so I volunteered to be the rear running marshal.

My job was to run behind the last man (or lady), and 'mop up' as they say in the trade. I looked at last year's last place time (4hrs 45mins), and was happy to realise that his was exactly the same time as I passed through 21 miles last week during my 6-hour run.

The sun was out and it was a fantastic day. Of course, my husky ran all the way with me. I soon started running with a chap called Andy. He showed such determination to finish the race. I was amazed to hear that he was training for the London Marathon and that he had only done 2 x 10 mile runs so far. I didn't have the heart to tell him as he started walking at the 5 mile point that this race was tougher than the London Marathon.
The above picture isn't me by the way. I don't have a lot, but I do have some hair!!
You meet all sorts of folk at these races and all have a story to tell. Doctors told Andy this time last year when he was 20 stones that he would suffer a heart attack very soon if he did not change his lifestyle. Andy is now 16 stone and we completed the Milford 21 together in a time of 4hrs 50mins. Well done Andy!!

As Andy drove off with his girlfriend from Milford Common, I filled up my camel back, gave the husky some water and a few biscuits, and then set off for another 3 hours across the chase.

Everything suddenly felt great again, and it brought back memories from the Arch to Arc in relation to the fact that after about 6 hours of running, I don't actually get any more tired. Things start to ache, but I felt that I could just carry on running through the night.

3 more weeks left until the ONER. Tom Beaver, Greg Woodward and I are off to Brecon Beacons next weekend to tab over Peny Fan. This will be forced marching only. There will be many hills to walk up at the ONER, and those ultra runners amongst you will know that walking hurts the legs much more than running. So I am going to apply the System 4 theory and use this mountain climb as a conditioning session.

The "Oner" Session 5: 6hr Run

Steve Haywood — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 16:26:05 +0000

After another 5K pace hill session mid-week, it was time to move up 6-hours on my weekly run. I didn't need the alarm clock this morning as I woke up at 4.30am on the dot. As I held my ultra bag in my hand that I had just filled with a rain jacket, Buffalo, first aid kit, map, compass, mobile phone, money, emergency pooh-roll (most important bit of kit), 5 energy bars, 4 gels, 4 drumstick lolly-pops, a 4-litre Camel back liner, camera, head torch, spare batteries and a woolly hat; it really felt like I was back in the army just about to go point-2-point across the Breckon Beacons.

My kit was just too heavy, but as always I want to train in conditions that are harder than the event itself. I think however, when I move up to 8 hours next week I will probably do multiple laps so that I can refuel back at home.

As you can see from the profile, the route is far from flat, but I stuck to the planned pace (11mm flat / walk hills) and I averaged around 13.30 min / miles. I need to average under 20mm to finish the ONER in under 24 hours. I do recognize however, that the Jurassic Coast may be a little more tricky to run across.

The Heart of England Way is a 100 mile trail that runs from Bourton on the Water to Milford Common (Cannock Chase). The trail runs about half a mile past my house so it was a great opportunity to try out a new route.

The Heart of England Way gives a green route, for 100 miles, the length of the West Midlands region. Linking Cannock Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in Staffordshire, with the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in Gloucestershire, with much mileage in rural Warwickshire.

Starting at the Northern end, adjacent with the seat of the Earl of Lichfield, Shugborough Hall, at Milford near Stafford, the first sections of the WAY take the walker across some of England’s most precious heath lands, within Cannock Chase AONB. Past the Iron Age fort of Castle Ring, and onward, a gentle roll down to Lichfield where “The Mother of The Midlands” (Lichfield’s three spire Cathedral) stands proud. Steeped in history, from Charles II and Dr Johnson, as well as Roman roads (Ryknield Street is crossed first), onward towards the hilly and impressive section near Hints and the Roman road of Watling Street.

On towards Drayton Manor Park (the former home of Sir Robert Peel) and the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal, to Kingsbury Water Park, before running to the east of Birmingham, and then to Meriden (the centre of England). The pretty English villages of Berkswell, and the moated Baddesley Clinton Hall (NT property) are next, before crossing the Grand Union and Stratford Canals. On to our second “Beaudesert” and the Motte & Bailey castle at Henley in Arden.

On to Alcester, there is gentle walking through low-lying country with woodlands, canals and agricultural land, and the well-wooded landscapes of the Forest of Arden, the Avon Valley, the Vale of Evesham, to Meon Hill and Chipping Campden. After this honey-pot of a Cotswold treasure, you walk along through long shouldered hills and deep wooded valleys, through Batesford Arboretum, Swell and Lower Slaughter. This is The Cotswolds where Heart of England Way finally ends in Bourton on the Water. An exquisite place and a grand final point. Alternatively, a great place to start! Here is a neat table of approximate distances from key points along Heart of England Way!

The "Oner" Sessions 3 & 4

Steve Haywood — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 20:41:23 +0000

Wednesday is hills day. The plan: to run for an hour going hard up hill for 2mins, then recovering down hill for 4mins. (4th pace) This will increase the body's efficiency to deal with lactate acid and convert this acid into energy for the next hill rep. Most people believe that lactate acid present in the muscles is a bad thing. This is true if you do not train to deal with such conditions (hence why I apply a reverse periodized annual plan for some of my athletes). Lactate is valuable source of energy and we need to train this system.

After my alarm clock went off at 4am Saturday morning, on went my head torch after grabbing my map and compass and I headed off into the centre of Cannock Chase for a 4hr run at ONER pace. This pace is very close to what I will race at during the Deca Iron this August (58 miles per day for 5 days), so I was killing 2 birds with one stone.

Running in the pitch dark gave me an ideal opportunity to brush up on my map reading skills (off-road), which have lay dormant since I left the army. If I saw a hill, I would force march up it, continue to walk for 2mins afterwards to allow the lactate to settle and off I would go again at around 11min / mile pace.

I averaged around 13min / mile for the 4hrs. Parts of the course I had to scramble up, but the highlight of the run came when at about 5am, when around 30 wild deer just walked out in front of Codi and I.

6hr run planned for next weekend. Bring it on...... just like the ol' days

The "Oner" Session 2

Steve Haywood — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 18:41:27 +0000

What a perfect day for a run. It took me back to when I used to be a drill instructor at the Army Training Regiment and used shout at the recruits whenever there was frost on the ground and a blue sky, "What type of morning is it?" as I approached the drill square. The reply from the troops was, "Its a fine crisp guards morning Sgt".

And indeed it was. I really enjoy my running on days like these so I left my garmin and heart rate monitor behind. Codi and I then set off on our adventure around Cannock Chase. We purposefully get lost every time we run on the Chase. As we set off from Castle Ring which is the highest ground in the area, its always easy enough to find our way back.

With the ground cracking under every footstep, we headed off-trail to find some hills run up. I kept the pace and the intensity at the correct level for the ONER but it was difficult not to get carried away with the beautiful scenery.

After so many months without training, I was starting to feel fit again already and the extra pounds gained have started to come off.

I'm looking at a mid-week 3hr run back from work, which although will be fairly flat and on road, it will link up this weekend with the 4hr run have planned next Saturday.

I am also going to start incorperating a 3rd pace into my training which will be one at marathon pace. This however, will include several hard efforts to raise the HR as per the ONER on the tough terrain.

The "Oner" Session 1

Steve Haywood — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:00:00 +0000

As I haven't ran for a couple of months and I need to able to run for 24 hours in less than 7 weeks time, I just wanted to be out for over an hour.

I live close to Cannock Chase which has tracks and trails that are similar to that of the Great South West Coastal Path (although I didn't have to do any scrambling!!)

To complete the ONERS course in under 24hrs, I will have to average just over 3mph. I am aiming to average 15 min / mile (total time just over 19hrs). This way, I have a 4hr buffer zone should things go wrong. As the pace will drop to around 20-25 min/mile on the slopes of the course, I need to stick to a strict 10-11min/mile pace on the flat and down hill (of which there is very little on the Jurassic Coast).

Although I only walked a couple of times yesterday just to mimic the ONER and to lower my heart rate slightly, I averaged 10.15min / mile pace for the whole run.

It was uneven and damp underfoot which was great training and will toughen the ligaments up before the event.

It is clear that my heart rate will be unable to stay below tempo intensity due to the elevation of the course profile. I didn't have this problem in the Arch 2 Arc as the route was entirely on road and there were very few hills of note. If 11min /mile pace is one of the paces I have to train at, my second pace is clearly at a faster intensity to help me climb the hills.

The other two paces will be discussed at a later date

System 4 (Neurological Training System)

Steve Haywood — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 17:11:01 +0000

Every Session Has to have a Purpose - System 4

I have been developing 'System 4' for the past three years, and after successfully using the system to help four age-group athletes progress to elite status in 2007, as well as the success of the Arch 2 Arc it is time to apply the system to a new challenge.

There are many articles in relation to the correct volume / intensity ratio an athlete should observe and at which times of year they should apply this training. The biggest set back our home grown athletes face in the UK is the fact that our coaches are not brave enough to try new innovative ideas as they are scared that they will fail along with their athletes.

After following a project held in Austria, I was excited to hear that conducting anaerobic (sprint) training at the start of the winter could bring fantastic results the following summer. Although the athletes threshold fitness would at first suffer due to the heightening of the anaerobic capacity, the athlete would be able to train for longer and harder after this phase as he would be accustomed to the presence of lactate acid.

I have always been one to continue (even in small amounts) speed work over the winter. When I say speed, I mean faster than race speed. So for a marathon runner, I would ensure that they continue to train at 5 and 10K speed during the winter.

Peter Coe, father to the infamous Sebastian Coe (ex world record holder for 800m) once said, "If speed is the game, we should never get too far away from it".
System 4 is all about training at 4 different PACES, whilst observing training zones prescribed both from field and laboratory tests. Any coach worth his salt would know that heart rate alone isn't worth the watch it is written on. Training at a prescribed pace, neurologically trains the muscle fibres to contract at the pace that athlete needs them to contact at. It is common sense to think that if he wishes to run a marathon at 6min / mile pace, he needs to do alot of training at that pace. If the athlete goes for his long runs at a slower pace, and also includes speed work into his program, when it comes to race day, how is the body going to able to run at a pace that it had never trained at?

As well as training at race pace, we also need to train below and above race pace. So why do we train faster than race pace? To simplify things, take two 1500m swimmers. Each are rivals wishing to win the race. Swimmer A can swim 750 m in 10mins. Swimmer B can swim 750m in 11mins. If both swimmers reach 750m in 11mins 30sec, who would feel fresher? It is for this reason that we need to train faster than race pace and to develop power in certain circumstances.

We also need to ensure that we train to our race duration and beyond. For example, a 25 mile bike TT athlete who finishes his race in 52mins would not want to go out every Sunday for a 52min bike at race pace, or he will be racing each weekend. By training slower, it enables him to build aerobic endurance by extending his training duration.

Conducting field and laboratory tests on athletes reveal their weakness and strengths. These will either be anaerobic or anaerobic weakness. Depending on the results from these tests, athlete's current / past performances and race distances planned for the coming season, the 4th session will be prescribed at an even faster or slower pace to transform this weakness into a strength.

For example, I train a female elite triathlete who wishes to run 3hrs 20mins at the end of her Ironman for the marathon. Her predicted time for a marathon alone would be 2hrs 54mins. In a 2-week cycle I would prescribe the following training:

Session 1: Run at 6:38 pace (marathon pace) building to 18 miles
Session 2: Run at 7:48 pace (Ironman pace) building to 3hrs 20mins
Session 3 10K Pace interval session

As this athlete's weakness is her aerobic threshold:

Session 4: 5K Pace interval session.

The session above would be separated by short runs of 35mins at 7:48 pace (Ironman Pace). You can see here that EVERY session has a purpose. Neurologically, it's perfect. Every session is teaching her to run a speed that she needs and that she can remember. The same system can be applied to cycling, swimming, indeed - all sports.

The questions are: What are the intervals? What are the recoveries? When do we start this type of training? The answers to these stay with my athletes and I. But to prove how good the system is, how does this sound?........

On 29th March 2008, there is a 78.6 mile race along the Jurassic Coast in Dorset. The course has to be completed in 24hrs. Last year, only 5 of the 20 competitors finished. I have ran over this area before and it is nothing short of a serious fell race. Without exaggerating, you have to climb certain parts of the course.

Since August 2007, I have been for 4 runs, 5 swims and 2 bikes. The race is only 7-weeks away. I know that some people have trained for 12-months for this race. I am that confident in this system, that making sure that every run I do in the next 7-weeks follows the system, will ensure that I finish the event within the 24hrs. As all training has to be neurological, the type of terrain (trails, hills etc) will have to be Incorporated into the programme.

Basically, I have only 7 long run training days before the event. The traditional method of training would be starting to think about tapering by now. By extracting all TRASH MILEAGE from my programme, I will be able to considerably reduce the time needed to prepare myself for the race.

The hardest Deca on the planet!!

Steve Haywood — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 19:56:41 +0000

Course plans are finally being drawn for the bike and run routes for the Deca Iron UK.

I have spoke with a few seasoned Deca Iron athletes over the past few weeks and this event will be without doubt, the toughest Deca Distance Triathlon on earth.

I have stopped updating the website with the name of athletes that are interested in competing as I have received over 500 emails from people wishing to compete.

The map above shows a 950 mile route from John O'Groats to Lands End. As this course is approximately 170 miles short of the Deca distance bike route, we are looking for safe but breathtaking trip into the heart of Wales. This awesome triathlon will travel through 3 countries and will test the most experienced of ultra and extreme athletes.

Talks have begun with the managers at Wick Swimming Pool, which is located only 15 miles from John O'Groats. There are not many pools to chose from in area, but it is essential that athletes have a short journey from the pool to the start of the bike stage.

I am happy to say that I have finally found my motivation again for training. But while the weather remains to be chuffin freezing, my bike is staying firmly inside the house and I will appreciate the views of the Swiss alps from the comfort of my I-Magic!!

Cani-Cross (Canine Cross Country Racing)

Steve Haywood — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:00:10 +0000

Delemere Forest in Cheshire was the venue for my next assault on the limits of Endurance. Ok, so it was only 6K but Codi put me through my paces. I took my hound to compete in her first race last Saturday. Cani-Cross is a sport where you wear a harness, tie your dog to the harness and ask your dog to pull you as fast as you can around the cross country course.

Codi and I finished 2nd in field of over 60 runners. Pictured above is the great Colin Jackson seen here competing at an earlier Cani-Cross event down South last year.

Cerist Aquathlon

Steve Haywood — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 17:49:51 +0000

Off-the-hoof, Lucy and I decided to head into Wales to compete in the Broddyfi Leisure Centre Aquathlon held in Machynlleth.

We fancied doing something completely different. We both feel totally a home in Wales and we do not need an excuse to pop over the hills and walk the dogs. My 'come back' into training hasn't exactly gone to plan. Since the Arch 2 Arc, (August), I have been on my bike 3 times, swam 5 times and ran about a dozen times. I haven't trained at all in the last 4 weeks. I have put on a grand total of 16lbs since the jouney from London to Paris!!

On a very windy and rainy day, only 32 athletes turned up. But this was exactly the type of event we wanted to enter. An event that was friendly and good fun. In fact, when we entered the race a few days before there were only 10 athletes due to race. The event ran like clockwork and the event organisers did a grand job. To be honest, I was quite nervous. I hadn't raced over 5K for over a year and I haven't trained for a 5K for 3 years. Lucy was setting off in the 20m pool about 30 seconds afterme, so I new that if I beat her out of the pool, I would be running scared all around the run course!!

The swim splits were taken outside, but athletes had to walk around the pool, put their racing daps & number belt on and leave the building before the split was taken. I think both Lucy and I were just a tadge under 6mins (400m). On the first turn-around, I reckon Lucy was about 30 seconds behind me, so I changed my 'just a jog around the lovely Welsh countryside' attitude and went hell-for-leather for the remainder of the run.Somehow, I managed to win the event overall in 24mins 16sec. Lucy won the women's race but amazingly came 2nd overall beating all the other men!! I must admit that finishing 1st and 2nd as man and wife was a pretty cool thing to do and we stopped off at the local buttery on the way home and celebrated with a roast beef lunch.

The race entry was £10 only. We also received a series t-shirt, a can of Red Bull and one of the organiser's home made flap jacks. Great event - cheers folks!!!

If you are intested in competing in any more races in the winter aquathlon series organised by Ceris Triathlon Club; here are the details:

February 3rd - Plascrug Leisure Centre Aberystwyth.
February 24th - Bro Dysynni Leisure Centre Tywyn.
March 16th - Bro Ddyfi Leisure Centre Machynlleth.

The Grand Birmingham Canal

Steve Haywood — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:11:36 +0000

Somebody told me once that Birmingham has more miles of canal than Venice.

I've been never been to Venice so I will have to take their word for it, but I can say that the Canals around the Midlands provide an excellent haven for the ultra distance runner.

Although we are restricted to daylight hours, it also provides a terrain that is softer underfoot for mt training partner Codi.

With that said, every weirdo who lives in the Midlands must have decided to take a walk along the canal at the same time!!

I saw one rather strange older gentleman fishing, wearing a Tesco carrier bag on his head.

A few hundred yards later, a guy was paddling a gondola with a young lad (who I assumed was his son), fast asleep under the guy's feet.

I was however, entering Walsall, and having worked in this area before, three-eyed locals are a norm so the sights I witnessed did not come as a surprise. Codi and I completed an out-and-back route covering around 20 miles

Training at last is becoming more consist ant. I always cringe when I read or hear the training that some athletes are doing at this time of year. I have read on one forum that some athletes training for the Enduroman Double Iron next year are already going out for 5 hour bike rides. Training needs to be progressive. A 5 hour bike (regardless of ability), takes a great deal out of the body. If they are doing 5 hour bikes now and their training is progressive, what will be the length of their rides next June? I understand that athletes enjoy their training, but I find it frustrating sometimes when I know that these athletes will be able to perform to a much higher standard if they applied a different approach.

I just can't swim!!!!

Steve Haywood — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 18:47:54 +0000

With over 3 months gone by since the Enduroman Arch 2 Arc, I am really having problems swimming again. My running is going fine. In fact, I am enjoying my running again for the first time in years. As I have only done one turbo and one outdoor bike since the A2A I can't really comment, but everything seems to be fresh.
My swimming however has been completely bizarre. I just can't swim over 100m without my shoulders locking with complete exhaustion. Swimming the channel was an awesome experience and I could have swam for another few hours if Eddie had told me to do so. So why can't I swim for more than 90sec when I swam for 16 hours?

I think that mentally, I have pretty much had it with swimming, so I need to come up with a method to provide me with some motivation for swimming up and down a 25m pool.

Maybe that it is: subconsciously I just can't see the point in swimming up and down the same few yards of rope. I don't know what the answer is just now. I will think of something.

Dan Earthquake - if you are reading, I may have to join you on New Years Day in Swan Pool. Maybe that will reignite the old flame!!

Two cannibals eating a clown. One turns to the other and says, 'Does this taste funny to you'?

This one's for you Geth

Steve Haywood — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 16:22:39 +0000

One of my athletes text me tonight and complained that I do not post a training blog as I did for the Enduroman Arch 2 Arc. So, just to keep Geth happy, myself and the good lady took our husky for a 15 mile run over Cannock Chase today.

We were going to take a trip down to London to run in the Lea Valley Ultra but found out last minute that it was on the Sunday and not the Saturday so had to pull out. Fortunately, Ambition events are holding the same event again on Sunday 16th December, so hopefully I will be able to make that one. As always, every session I do will have a purpose directed towards the Enduroman Deca. I haven't ran more than twice a week for last 4 weeks. Before that, I rested for two and a half months after the A2A so the old legs are taking a while to warm up again. The Lea Valley will probably take me around 5-6 hours at steady Zone 2, so a 3 and a 4 hour run in the next couple of weeks will make sure than I don't cripple myself down in London!!

My goal after LV, is to pair my long runs so that they are on consecutive days to mimic the Deca and build up the distance over the next 10 weeks so that I can run the 2 x 45 mile runs over 2 days at the Tring 2 Town.

Team Haywood

Steve Haywood — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 09:26:29 +0000

"Hi!! I'm Caitlin Haywood and Steve is my dad. I am 8 years old and I have a twin brother called Jack. On Tuesday 13th November me and Jack ran cross country for our school St Thomas at Painsley. There were 36 people in my race and I came 8th. I started off in the middle of the pack but then moved up to 8th place towards the end of the race. The race was very slush / muddy as it was on grass fields. Jack came 20th out of 80 people".

Caitlin Haywood

"Hi my name is Jack and I am 8 years old. My twin sister is Caitlin. I did a cross country like my sister but raced 80 people and I came 20th and was the 5th St Thomas (my school) runner to finish. I started off at the back of the race but everyone tried to hard on the first corner which meant I had enough energy to overtake them all. I stayed at 20th for the rest of the race".

Jack Haywood

No 1 in the UK - TCUK athlete Phil Wolfe

Steve Haywood — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 20:54:10 +0000

Every Thursday evening I coach a track session at Cannock Sports Stadium. I have turned the conventional periodization method on its head this winter. After a couple of weeks of acceleration runs, a few of my athletes are just about to complete a 6-week anaerobic block before they start their base training. The idea, is to raise the anaerobic capacity. In the short term, this will reduce aerobic endurance, but once base training begins, the body will be able to deal with the onset of lactate acid more efficiently. This will enable the athlete to train harder and longer with less risk of injury or over training.

TCUK athlete Phile Wolfe (above), was proudly showing off his medal last night at the track, for ranking number 1 in the British Triathlon National Rankings for the U20 age group during the 2007 season. The medal was very shiny - you can see the huge glare bouncing off my forehead!!

Filling the winter months with Ambition Events

Steve Haywood — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:29:29 +0000

What can one fill the cold British winter months with? Well first of all, I'm going for a quick jog around the Lea Valley Ultra Mararthon (32 miles) on Sunday 24th November. The course follows the Grand Union Canal from Tring in Hertfordshire to Brentford in London.

Next will be the Town 2 Tring on the 2rd February 2008. The 45 mile course follows the Grand Union Canal from Tring in Hertfordshire to Brentford in London. The next day on the 3rd February, I will retrace my steps and run from Tring to Town. A total of 90 miles.

The above logo lies as the Seni 200 mile ultra run is on May 13th - 16th May 2008. This event is the Longest Footrace in the Europe Yes that’s 200 miles between Birmingham and London on May 17th – 20th 2007. Ambition Events are looking for people to run to the Seni Show at ExCeL in London. Ambition Events is carrying the torch for the event from its previous location in Birmingham to its new London home.

"The Powersport part of the Seni event is offering the best in extreme athletic performance, what better way of showing your extreme athletic prowess than running 200 miles" say Ambition Events. They chose the best 12 athletes from those that apply and only 12 will be on the starting line. The organiser phoned me tonight and told me that I was in.

Better go for a run.....

The Enduroman Deca Iron UK

Steve Haywood — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 17:57:56 +0000

We have had to have a re-think about the dates for the Deca 2008. As I have to plan the event around the kids holidays (Lucy is a teacher and more importantly - my support crew!!) 2 weeks at Easter will not leave me enough time. The school holidays in August will leave me 6 weeks to play with.

As part of the Enduroman Team, August will also be a busy month for the Arch 2 Arc, so careful planning is needed. Enduroman is going from strength to strength. Arch 2 Arc challengers are booking already for 2009. Relay teams from South Africa, fire service and bank relay teams are also getting involved and the 2 new events of the Double Iron UK and the Deca Iron UK are putting Enduroman on the world Ultra Endurance Events map.

Viva Enduroman!!!

Date set for the Deca Iron (Trans UK) 2008

Steve Haywood — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 22:28:26 +0000

On Saturday 22nd March 2008, I will begin my assault on the Deca Iron UK as part of the Enduroman Team. The epic journey will start with a 24 mile pool based swim in Wick near John O'Groats, then a 1120 mile cycle to Lands End (the long way around as the most direct route isn't long enough!!! )and finally a 262 mile run along the south coast in the direction of Weymouth. I had toyed with the idea of running a standard Deca format in 2009 around a closed circuit of a few miles each lap, but I thought what the heck... if athletes have to cover over 1300 miles, let's include in the course the breathtaking views of the Scotish Highlands, the Welsh mountains and the Cornish Coast.

(Karan from Mammoth doing her thing during the Arch 2 Arc)
The swim will start and finish on Day 1. Athletes will then start at the same time each morning on the bike stage covering a distance of around 200 miles each day. Each athlete would be in company of their own support vehicle. The run would follow the same format with each athlete running a set distance each day of around 60-70 miles. Athletes would then achieve an aggregate time over the whole event. Those of you that have seen the Race of Fire across Australia where runners ran 52 miles each day for 65 days followed the same format. Each athlete would make their own sleeping arrangements (camper van or B&B). With the above times and distances in mind the event would last only 11 days (the original Deca format has a 14 day cut off time).

After mentioning this idea in a previous thread, Neil Kapoor from Iceland contacted me and asked me if I wanted to make a race of it this March. Neil has entered the Double Iron UK 2008 and is keen on completing a Deca early on in 2008. Brave man to even think about doing a Deca in the March and then a Double in the August!!!

The only expense other than fuel, nutrition and accomodation will be the hire of a pool lane in Wick so this may be the cheapest Deca on record!!

If you fancy joining us - get in touch - the more the merrier!!!

Deca Iron UK - The Trans UK Deca

Steve Haywood — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 18:24:34 +0100

Over 2 months has now passed since the A2A (www.arch2arc.com), giving me plenty of time to think about the next challenge. The A2A hosts the UK's (and possibly the world's) most challenging swim and the fact that one has to run 87 miles before hand makes it a tough event to top on the gruelling scale. Doing a 'Deca' is an obvious choice, but it doesn't have the same 'will I or wont I' factor that the A2A has. Don't get me wrong, it will be a awesome test of mind and body but I believe that if the body holds out, I would make it to the finish. I've been throwing a few ideas around for a few weeks and I have come up the following challenge.....

Hire one lane of a pool near to John O'Groats for the day and swim 24 miles, bike 1120 miles from Joh O'Groats to Lands End and then run 262 miles along the Great South West Coastal Path in the direction of Weymouth.

This challenge would host the UK's most famous bike route and most famous walking path. I have spoken with a couple of friends who are 'interested' in doing it with me. If you are up for it - let me know.