Strenua's World» Sport

Are you Good For your Age? Don’t miss the deadline for 2011 Virgin London Marathon entries

Strenua — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 06:15:21 +0000

Make sure that you don’t leave it to the last minute this year to send in your ‘Good For Age’ proof for the 2011 Virgin London Marathon which takes place on Sunday 17th April. If you already have a particularly fast marathon time since January 1^st 2009 then don’t forget to send in your proof for guaranteed entry. The deadline is 21^st August 2010 with the completed entry forms needing to be submitted by 4^th September 2010.

From my experience last year and hearing from a few other runners don’t rely on Royal Mail on getting your entry in on time even if you send it recorded or registered delivery. Things still go missing in the post and its hard to get compensation for a piece of paper. Get you proof and entry in now and if it goes AWOL in the postal system you will have time to resubmit another entry.

Good For Age Entries

You can apply for a good for age entry if you’ve run a full marathon in the same time, or faster than, the times listed below:

Men	Time (in hours)	Women	Time (in hours)
Age 18 – 40	2.45 – 3.10	Age 18 – 49	3.15 – 3.50
Age 41 – 59	sub 3.15	Age 50 – 54	sub 4.00
Age 60 – 64	sub 3.30	Age 55 – 59	sub 4.15
Age 65 – 69	sub 4.00	Age 60 – 64	sub 4.30
Age 70+	sub 5.00	Age 65 – 69	sub 5.30
		Age 70+	sub 6.30

In order to apply for a good for age place you will need to send:

Proof of performance
A photocopy of your running results, for example a certificate or newspaper clipping, from a marathon completed in 2009 or 2010.
Proof of age
A photocopy of your photocard driving license, passport or birth certificate.

Send your good for age application to this address:

Good for age
Virgin London Marathon
PO Box 3460
London
SE1 0YA

Championship Entries

If you’re a member of an athletics club associated with UK Athletics (UKA) and you’ve achieved a championship qualifying performance for a marathon in 2009 or 2010, you can apply for a championship entry place in the 2011 Virgin London Marathon.If you are Championship standard and have achieved the standard below, then you have until 2 January 2010 to submit your proof. You will then be sent an entry form to complete which will need to arrive back by 8 January 2011.

Men	Time (in hours)	Women	Time (in hours)
Full marathon	sub 2.45	Full marathon	sub 3.15
Half marathon	sub 1.15	Half marathon	sub 1.30

To apply for a championship entry, you’ll need to send us the following:

Proof of performance
A photocopy of your running results, for example a certificate or newspaper clipping, from a marathon completed in 2009 or 2010.
Proof of UK club membership
A photocopy of your athletics club membership card.

Send your championship application to this address:

Championship entries
Virgin London Marathon
PO Box 3460
London
SE1 0YA

More information about Good For Age entries can be found here or for Championship entries here. If you entered in the general ballot you will find out in early October.

Review: 9Bar Energy Bars

Strenua — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:07:04 +0000

Hemp must be the new in vogue ingredient as after our recent review of organic hemp protein, this week I have been sampling the 9bar range, a new nutritious energy bar. Made from a mixture seeds the 9bar’s star ingredient is hemp as it contains all 20 amino acids including the 9 essentials our bodies cannot produce itself.

9bar is described as having been designed to get the maximum nutritional goodness from seeds in a convenient and delicious way’.

The bars are great for active people as the unique mix of seeds and other natural ingredients provide a valuable source of nutritionally dense energy for both physical endurance and immediate impact. The company has many endorsements from a variety of competitive sports people who claim that it is easily digestible and that they have no problem eating them during an event or training such as ultra running and triathlons.

As a sports person looking to refuel without empty calories a 9bar is great. Each 50g bar is free from egg, dairy, gluten, lactose, wheat, yeast, preservatives and artificial colours. It is also approved by the vegetarian society.

9bars come in five different varieties: pumpkin, organic, nutty, flax and original. As an example of the nutritional content here is the nutritional information for the flax bar:

262 calories,
8.7g protein,
16.75g carbohydrate
17.75g fat of which
- 5g saturated
- 4.8 mono unsaturated
- 7g polyunsaturated
- <0.1g trans fatty acids
- 0.6g omega 3 fatty acids
- 6.5g omega 6 fatty acids
- > 3g fibre
- <0.1g sodium.

With an average egg or 150g pot of low fat yoghurt each containing only 6g of protein a 9bar is a good hit of natural people protein to help rebuild muscle after competitive exercise or training.

The Taste Test

I have to admit that looking at the packaging it doesn’t look that appetising. I know this as before being asked to review them I received a bar in a post race goody bag and I chose to give it away. The description of a nutritious carob topped mixed seed bar with flax and hemp combined with the images or piles of dried seeds conjured up thoughts of seed bars we leave out for birds and did not seem appealing after a race compared with the post race food I had bought with me.

Fortunately for the benefit of our readers I agreed to give them a taste test and I am glad I did. Firstly 80% of the time cereal bars are hard, crunchy and dry which always puts me off or hurts my teeth. These 9bars are soft and chewy.

The second important discovery was carob. I had never eaten carob before and didn’t realise that it tasted like chocolate. In fact even when I was really concentrating on trying to describe the taste it could only come up with chocolate. As such a healthy alternative to chocolate I’m surprised that there aren’t more products using it.

Most cereal bars are made up of rolled oats and bran. But the mixed seeds in this 9bar comprised of sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, poppy, flax and hemp making a tasty combination. I was unable to distinguish great differences between the various flavours when I ate a different bar every day. Pumpkin may have been slightly sweeter although it did not have the carob topping and the Nutty may be slightly nuttier but fortunately the texture and chew-ability remains the same.

After this taste testing I certainly won’t be complaining if I receive any flavour 9bar in my next post race goody bag.

Overall

For active people who are looking for nutritious energy source 9bars are a great source of calories and protein, before or after exercise. They are easily digestible making them ideal for taking on long walks, cycles, runs, or paddles.

For those dieting I feel that a whole bar is quite high in calories, although half may be suitable when you are craving something sweet, without stocking up on empty calories and the fibre will help fill you up.

9bars are widely available across the UK and are stocked by health food stores, Holland and Barrett and all major supermarkets.

For more information you can visit www.9-bar.co.uk or find out how you can win your own box of pumpkin or original 9bars in our competition here.

Review: Flexitol Blistop

Strenua — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 19:19:40 +0000

Blisters are the bane of runners, walkers, hikers and sports players. Fortunately my current trainers fit like a pair of slippers from the first wear. The only blisters I have experienced have been during very long training runs or marathons when my shoes and socks have got wet and a huge fluid filled blister appears where the arch and ball of my foot meet. I have though frequently suffered when first wearing in a new pair of trainers, so I was happy to try a new product from Flexitol called Blistop for the prevention of blisters.

Blistop is described as forming a protective, water-resistant ‘second skin’ which acts as a barrier between the footwear and skin. It has also been awarded the prestigious American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) Seal of Approval. All you need to do is spray an even layer of Blistop on to clean, dry skin areas of unbroken skin in the areas where blisters may occur and leave it to dry.

Whilst I didn’t have any blister causing trainers to test the spray with, I do suffer when I wear my girly summer shoes with blisters develoing on my heels, little toes and across my foot where the straps rub.

In a highly (un) scientific experiment I applied the invisible spray to one foot in the blister susceptible areas and left the other foot. Not wanting to completely suffer for my science I walked for almost 2 miles in my new shoes until they became painful. Looking at my heel the protective layer provided by the spray had broken and my heel was beginning to get red. The instructions did say reapply as necessary and for brand new girly sandals I was quite impressed with a 2 mile walk especially as I imagine for most women they don’t walk more than a 2 miles through the course of a day at work.

Examples of treating heels with Blistop Anti-Blister Spray. Black line on treated heel is the edge of protective layer after wearing shoes.

I admit there are flaws in my road test: I didn’t wear them till skin broke on either foot; one shoe may have been bigger from being stretched in the shop;. and a blister may never have developed in the sprayed areas anyway if left untreated. However, I was impressed. Yes Compeed and similar products are probably best for preventing or treating deep multi layered blisters. But they are quite unsightly to be worn with strappy shoes and can be quite expensive to be just worn as a daily prevention.

The spray however was quick to apply, invisible, cheap and convenient to carry around to reapply as necessary. I would not want to recommend it will protect against blisters on a 26.2mile run after all I imagine the layer would dissolve through the damp socks rubbing against it unless you are happy to keep stopping to dry your foot and reapply. However, for small blisters on the toe or back of the heel or rubbing of straps on sandals I would recommend it.

Overall

Blistop is cheap, easy to apply, invisible and protects against blisters and skin breaking. The spray is also convenient to take it with you if you have missed a vulnerable spot, and to reapply at the first sign of friction.

Whilst it was great for strappy shoes, for runners it may dissolve in wet socks as it was easily removed by rubbing in water. Also it’s probably not so suitable for long events where you can’t easily re-apply.

Flexitol Blistop comes in a 32.5ml CFC-free can giving 50 applications.

It retails at just £5.99 and is available from Boots, Amazon and other retailers nationwide.

Just How Tough is Tennis?

Strenua — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 01:13:22 +0000

2008 US Open Final - Andy Murray and Roger Federer

Following the epic match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut at the beginning of Wimbledon 2010, Andy Murray tweeted ‘This is why tennis is one of the toughest sports in the world, this will never ever be matched again’.

After watching some of the world’s elite footballers play so disappointingly during the World Cup, supposedly their sports most prestigious competition, Murray’s point is justified. Football is a team competition; players can be rested during matches, be substituted when injured and even miss matches by suspensions. Even the winning team will have only played 7 matches of 90mins (with possible extra time of 30minutes) over a period of 4 weeks.

In comparison Isner and Mahut’s single match took a record breaking 11 hours and five minutes, with the final fifth set alone taking eight-hours 11-minutes. In total 980 points including 215 aces were played over 183 games, the final score at 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(9–7), 7–6(7–3), 70–68. However, when you see slightly overweight, middle aged people inspired by Wimbledon fortnight, playing tennis on your local courts tennis doesn’t seem so demanding.

So why should tennis be considered a tough sport?

Whilst a knock about on the beach or the local park does not seem that strenuous, professional competitive tennis requires a combination of physiological and unpredictable variables. Each match depends on adapting to a number of factors:

Match duration (3 or 5 sets)
Weather
Opponent
Surface
Level of play

But within each match or indeed between each point there are also a number of variables that need to be considered:

The length of the point
Playing style of both players
Velocity of shot
Shot selections

Tennis players need to train specifically for their sport and playing style. During high level matches points have an average length of between 3 seconds to around 15 seconds on some of the faster surfaces such as grass and indoor. However the total playing time is only between 20-30% of the total match time and varies considerably between when the player in control of a rally is an attacking player who hits the net hard then consistently comes to the net, a whole court player, or a baseline player.

Is Tennis an Aerobic or Anaerobic Sport?

Tennis requires short explosive bursts of energy repeated hundreds of times per match which as we have seen can be of a long duration. This requires players to be trained anaerobically for performance and aerobically to aid recovery during and after play.

Maximum oxygen uptake (VO₂max) is used as a marker of aerobic capacity. Generally VO₂max and heart rate increases as the game progresses, decreasing during rest periods and end changes. VO₂max in competitive high level tennis players has been reported to be greater than 50ml/kg/min classifying tennis players as highly aerobically trained with aggressive attacking players having a lower VO₂max than baseline players.

The mean heart rate in trained players aged 20–30 years has reported to be between the ranges of 140–160 beats/min during singles matches. The long duration and moderate mean heart rate during a match suggests that tennis an aerobic sport.

However the explosive nature of the serve and ground strokes, along with rapid changes of direction requires a tennis player to have a high anaerobic capacity. Together with the need for a high percentage of fast twitch muscles tennis could be considered more as a predominantly anaerobic activity, needing high levels of aerobic condition to avoid fatigue and aid recovery between points.

Strength, Speed and Agility

In addition to stamina tennis players need fast reaction times to respond to every shot from the opponent. They are required to move not only forwards and backwards but also sideway and diagonally, so need to be agile, able to accelerate and move at a maximum speed.

Strength training is also important not only in muscles and joints for performance but also to reduce injuries. As well as the expected required strength in the shoulder and upper arm, tennis players require a firm wrist to direct the racket head under high speeds. Players also require a deal of flexibility, not only through reaching for or playing a racket shot but also when throwing the ball when serving.

There is no doubt that training as a competitive tennis player is demanding. You need to be both anaerobic and aerobically fit, have stamina, strength, speed, flexibility and agility, as well as being mentally aware to respond to your opponent’s shots. There are however other professional sports which could arguably also be considered some of the toughest in the world.

Triathletes competing at Ironman distances for example, may argue that a 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bike and a marathon (26 miles 385 yards, 42.195 km) run, raced in that order and without a break, is also quite tough. As might the cyclists competing in the Tour de France covering around 3,600 kilometres (2,200 mi) through 21 stages over 3 weeks. But considering it took Rafael Nadal 17 and half playing hours, over the course of two week tournament to win 2010 Wimbledon championship I will concede to Andy Murray that professional competitive ‘tennis is one of the toughest sports in the world.’

Why We Should Embrace The World Cup – Vuvuzelas and All

Strenua — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:25:11 +0000

The waiting is over and finally the 2010 World Cup has begun in South Africa. There will be people complaining about how their soap scheduling is being ruined by the dominance of football coverage on the TV and how much the economy is losing through hangovers and policing the streets on nights England play. But overall I think everyone has to acknowledge the benefit the world cup brings to our country.

To the people who don’t understand what all the fuss is about, football is the English national game and although we like to talk the players down we do have a good chance to progress to the final stages and it is a chance to be proud of our country.

Unlike America we seldom get to show our support for our own country. We don’t have a national holiday; we would rather celebrate St Patrick’s Day rather than St George’s. We rarely get to fly the cross of St George, as councils and other official organisations think that flying our national flags will upset other nationalities living in England.

I love walking around my local housing estates and seeing houses draped in England flags and bunting spanning the road to neighbours houses, it shows a community spirit that we hardly ever get to experience. I thought there was a great atmosphere around on Saturday from early in the morning; shop workers wore England T-shirts instead of their regular uniforms and kids were waving flags and blowing hooters or practising their own football skills in the street.

Whether it’s Wimbledon, the Olympics or the World Cup, sporting events traditionally encourage people to get out and participate themselves and Saturday was no exception as it was also England Football Day. Young players from all over the country experienced the ultimate football adventure by playing on the pitch at Wembley Stadium, whilst nationwide, over 300 England Football Day events were organised by teams of all ages and abilities.

With the depressing state of our country’s economy at the moment I think it’s great that something has captured the country’s imagination and is raising at least some of the English population’s spirits.

If you doubt the value the World Cup can bring to a participating country then just ask the Irish. Following the incident in November involving Thierry Henry’s hand that knocked Ireland out of the Finals one expert estimated the cost to the Irish economy would be £100 million.

And according to a British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) poll it was suggested that nearly 23 million in total would watch some part of the opening game. 55% of English adults will be watching the first England game, compared with 43% of Welsh and the 23% of Scots that plan to tune in. Actually at its peak 20.1million people were watching the match – the highest TV viewing figures for four years. The BBPA also estimates that over 21 million extra pints of beer will be enjoyed in pubs during the first three England qualifying matches of the tournament, with around 35,000 pubs showing the matches. With many pubs fighting back through hard times, the World Cup provides a vital boost to the trade, and is the perfect opportunity for fans to support their local pub while supporting the national team.

So if you feel you are a suffering football widow console yourself with the fact that it will be another 4 years till it comes round again, and maybe you could embrace the first World Cup final to be held in Africa and all the benefits it brings to their country and ours.

And finally I know you must be asking yourself where can I buy my own Vuvuzela in the UK? The answer being that you too can imitate a swarm of bees by buying your own South African horn from here. However if the trend for playing Vuvuzelas makes it way over to the UK then surely the most unexpected boost to our economy from this World Cup will be through the increased sales of muffling earplugs.

Women still wanted for Cancer Research UK’s 2010 Race for Life

Strenua — Sun, 30 May 2010 09:39:03 +0000

Summer is finally here, a perfect time to go for a walk, run or jog in the sun. Whether you are new to running to get fit or just enjoying exercising outdoors in this fantastic weather, having a goal to aim for is always great motivation to keep training.

What could be a better goal than to complete a 5k this summer for charity?

Entries are still available for the Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life series this June and July. Whether you want to walk for fun alongside girlfriends and family members, or get competitive with your work colleagues, you can improve your own health and fitness whilst also helping to raise money for Cancer Research UK, whose work has saved millions of lives in the UK and across the world.

5k is an achievable distance for most people and women are being encouraged to come together to walk, jog or run to help raise over £60 million to fund Cancer Research UK’s life-saving work into all types of cancer. 5k is also a good distance to attempt if you are beginning starting a fitness program and with a little bit of training through the summer you may be ready for one of Cancer Research UK’s Run 10k events that occur in the Autumn, when the men in your life can also enter.

Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life continues to be the most successful and largest women-only fundraising event series across the UK and has raised a staggering £290 million for the charity’s life-saving research. The 2009 series was the biggest yet with over 730,000 women taking part. This year is Race for Life’s 16^th Birthday and since it began there has been a 15% drop in the death rate from cancer, something that Race for Life has helped to achieve.

If you are looking for something to wear during the event then visit the online shop, where you can buy your fancy dress accessories including fairy wings, bunny ears and pink glitter cowboy hats. If you want to show your support in other more subtle ways there are also socks, sweatbands, caps and key-rings as well as essential T-shirts. These include the new Race for Life 2010 celebrity T-shirts designed by choreographer, Arlene Phillips; girlfriend of Arsenal star Theo Walcott, Melanie Slade; and fashion designer Tracey Boyd.

This year there are over 230 Race for Life events throughout England, Scotland and Wales. Women from across the UK of all ages and abilities aged are invited to enter, whether you are a cancer survivor, want to test your fitness, celebrate or remember a loved or simply do something positive to raise money for a great cause. Entry fee is only £12.99, although participants are encouraged to also get sponsorship and help is available to set up on an on line fund-raising page. Enter by clicking on the banner below or visiting www.Raceforlife.org.