SPORTS
Songkran 10km road race and Fun Run
Hua Hin Hash House Harriers will host a ‘Thai Happy New Year’s 10 kilometres road race and a 5 kilometres fun run on Monday, 13 April. This event in the hot and dry season promises to be cool and not dry at all as those NOT on the run will be hosing down the runners as they pass by!
Participants will meet at the Hua Hin train station on the platform at the south end at 0730 for an 0800 start.
To sign up for the run e-mail donaltetley@yahoo.com
Read the Observer for more information on this event in the April issue.
Check out www.huahin-hhh.com and watch for information about a Summer Solstice Run hosted by the H2H3 which will hit the road on Sunday, 21 June.
Ray's Regime
Our expert Ray Roseman discusses stretching and exercise:
This month, I have been asked to say something about stretching exercises. I am afraid that my knowledge of stretching as a warm-up for sport is limited. Back in my competitive days, British distance runners were notorious for neglecting stretching and ignoring weightlifting as training aids, and I was no exception. We regarded stretching as something done only by sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers.
The British National Coach Tom McNab often ribbed us mercilessly about this, telling us that we had ‘the range of movement of piano legs’. He maintained that flexibility was a good defence against injury, and he may well be right.
But throughout his distinguished athletics career, Dr Roger Bannister (world’s first sub four-minute miler in 1954) was never able to touch his toes without bending his knees; and those who can remember David Bedford when he was an Olympian and world-record holder may also recall his famous quip, “The only time I stretch is when I reach for a bar of soap in the bath tub!” Bedford based all his success on sometimes running a prodigious 200 miles (320 kilometres) a week in training, and the heaviest thing he ever claimed to lift was a pint of beer, which he carried to his lips when ‘training’ in his local pub in North London.
Possibly through better coaching advice, British runners became much more flexible in later years. Sebastian Coe, (now Lord Coe) who set 11 world records and won four Olympic medals between 1979 and 1988, always stressed stretching before and after training, and used weights as part of his meticulous preparation.
I also recall watching my fellow Sussex athlete, Tim Hutchings (4th in the 1984 Olympic 5,000m) standing on a bench and stretching both hands BELOW his toes without bending at the knees during a demonstration at a training weekend. At this same weekend, Seb Coe gave us a lecture on weight training. He talked for half an hour whilst clasping a bar and weights totalling 145lbs (66 kilogrammes) on his shoulders, and did not seem to even notice it!
Coe also demonstrated one good warm-up stretching exercise. Here’s how it goes: Lie full length on the floor or a bench, reach forward and grasp your toes with both hands without bending your knees, and then hold that position for ten seconds. Slowly pull back and then repeat the stretch five more times.
This is commendable, but my experience of watching Asian distance runners in training is that they often spend more time stretching than they do actually running!
Anyway, here is some advice on how much time you should spend in warming up in the gym (light jogging on the treadmill) before serious training: For those aged 16 to 25, run for 15 minutes at an easy pace if the temperature is over 25 degrees Centigrade; and 20 minutes if the ambient temperature is below 20 degrees C.
For those aged 40 and above, I would suggest the following: set the gauge on the device to 7 or 8 (that is, kilometres per hour pace) and walk/jog very slowly for 10 minutes; after another 5 minutes move to a setting of 9 or 10 and then run another 15 minutes at 10.5. After 35 minutes, move the gauge again and run at 11 or 11.5 if you still feel good.
For those aged 50 to 60, I would suggest 20 minutes at 7 or 8, followed by a maximum of 10 minutes at 10 or 10.5. For those aged 60 to 70, I would advise running 10 minutes at either 7 or 8 speed. It is important to remember to always run well within yourself, breathe easily and NEVER, EVER STRAIN. If you feel yourself straining, slow down or stop immediately. If you are straining, you are defeating the whole purpose of exercising. (More follows)
My experience is that those who have kept active in their younger days can adjust very easily to daily training between the ages of 40 to 55. After age 60, however, exercising can become pretty tough, even if you are used to it. This is where the aging process can really hit you very hard.
I will be 70 years old on 19 May, and this is my daily schedule on the treadmill: I jog easily for 10 to 12 minutes at a setting of 9.6 (km/hr); after 12 minutes I run at 10.5 pace; after 25 minutes I run at 11; and after 30 minutes I crank it up to 11.5. If I am coping with this comfortably, I will run at this pace until 35 minutes and finish by running for another minute (or two) at level 14.5.
This is probably an old habit on my part, simulating finishing fast – many times in races over a mile or 1500 metres, I was able to sprint the last (400 metres) lap in around 53 seconds. I would very rarely leave my finishing burst to the closing 100 metres - I believed in striking before my opponents started to mentally gather themselves for a dash to the finish.
I do not recommend the above schedule unless you are already very fit and have trained daily for years.
(More advice from Ray next month)
Fitness regime from Klaus Lippert
JUST DO IT! (Part 2)
For our second month I would like to give you step two of a ten minute exercise program.
Start gently with the warm up exercises described last month (arm swinging/gripping/twist the back/bend to the side/hip circles/knee circles/ankle circles). Do five repetition of each. Do all these in a 4 minute period. Then proceed to the following:
Leg Splits: Lie on your back, straighten your legs and lift them about 30 cm from the floor. Split and cross the legs with the right leg under the left. Then split again and cross the left leg under the right leg. Split again and close the legs before you withdraw; then straighten your legs to repeat this exercise. (Keep your legs straight and do not drop them before one minute is finished and try 10-15 repetitions!)
Swing Squats: For one minute. Stand straight with feet together and your arms next to your body. Turn your hands so that the palms face forward. Swing your arms forward as you sink your body. Lift your heels as your arms extend forward to horizon level. Stand up and withdraw your elbows and press the heels down at the same time. Return to start position. Try 25-30 repetitions.
(This exercise is very good at improving your balance!)
Twist crunches: For one minute: Lay on your back. Draw your knees up to a ninety degree angle. Lock the hands behind your neck and lift the upper body diagonally. Right elbow to the left knee, sink back and lift the left elbow to the right knee. Try 40-45 repetitions.
Bootstrappers: For one minute. Stand straight with feet together.
Crouch down and touch your fingers to the floor. Then straighten your legs (lift the bottom) while keeping contact with your fingers to the floor. Try 30-35 repetitions.
Push UpS: For one minute. Lay flat on your chest, with your hands on the ground beside your shoulders. Keep the arms close to the body and push up the whole body. Keep the body straight. (If you cannot do this at the beginning, you can go onto your knees. Take care when you get down that your face comes down at least between your hands, better if it is in front of them.) Try 25-30 repetitions.
Warm down stretches:
A) Put your right hand over the right shoulder between your shoulder blades. With the left hand hold the right elbow and push gently back as far as possible. Give pressure with your elbow into the left hand.
Keep this pressure for about 10 seconds, release for about 3 seconds. Then push again before you give up this position very slowly and change to the other side. Repeat this exercise for one minute.
B) Bend your right hand so that you put the top of your wrist onto your hip. Than grab your right elbow and pull it forward. The right arm should gently resist the pull. Change to the other side.
Repeat this exercise for one minute.
C) Stand straight with feet together. Lift the right leg to the back and grab the ankle with the right hand. If you can, do it with both hands and pull up the foot. (Take care that your knees are close to each other and don’t bend the upper body forward.) Hold this position for about 10 sec. Release and pull again before you leave this position gently.
Bring knee to the front while supporting the leg and straighten the leg slowly. Change the leg and repeat. Do this for one minute.
D) Take a chair, stand behind it and grab the back of it. Take one big step back. Drop the heel down onto the floor and push the knee of the front leg forward, as far as you can without lifting the heel. Hold for 10 sec. Release and repeat before you change to the other side. Do this for one minute.
Observer Quiz, March 2009
- Who wrote ‘A Clockwork Orange’?
- What is the currency of Vietnam?
- Which World War II fighter aircraft was known as ‘The Cadillac of the sky’?
- Where is the oldest monarchy in the world?
- What in the ancient world was a ‘hoplite’?
- Which was the last European country to win the men’s Olympic Football (Soccer) title, and when?
- Who played both ‘Brett Maverick’ and ‘Jim Rockford’ on TV?
- Where is U-Tapao airport?
- Who was the Christian saint who was martyred by being shot to death with arrows in 288AD?
- ‘Take My Breath Away’ is the theme music for which Hollywood movie?
Answers:
- Anthony Burgess
- The Dong
- The P51 Mustang
- Japan
- A Greek infantry soldier
- The USSR beat Brazil (3-2) in 1988 at Seoul
- James Garner
- Near Pattaya, Thailand
- Sebastiane
- ‘Top Gun’ (1986)
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