ELITE PAINTBALL ONE LAP CHALLENGE.

JEFF AND MARIE ALLEN TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE.

The second night of the one lap challenge was held in the grounds of the Friary College on Tuesday night. We were very fortunate with the weather and it was so encouraging to see such a great turn-out. The entry was up on the previous week, with more newcomers starting each week. We had a total of 38 runners last week including newcomers and those well used to the running scene. Well done to our league sponsor Jeff and Marie who themselves have taken up the one lap challenge and are progressing nicely. Indeed improvements by many have been made already from week one so just imagine what you will be capable of after six weeks. We all have to start somewhere and this is the perfect opportunity to get out there and get fit and healthy. You have no excuses!! We provide the grounds, the time is set for you, we organise the clock and the finishing tunnel. There is a large amount of people present who are in the same boat as yourself, totally new and not sure if they are capable for the challenge or not. Just walk a bit and jog a bit, that’s all you have to do. If you’re still not sure, why not come along on Tuesday night and watch how it works and then you can always join the following week. All you need is a pair of runners and tracksuit or shorts and you’re ready to take the challenge. The league is held on Tuesday night and begins at 7 p.m. and the entry fee is €2 per night. All are most welcome.

LEGAUE TABLES UP AND RUNNNING.

There are currently nine divisions in the Elite Paintball One Lap Challenge League at the moment. It is your best four nights out of the total of six nights that will determine your overall score. Please bear in mind that at the minute, the league tables look misleading. The people that have run just one night will be at the top of the league tables, as naturally they will have fewer points at the minute. Those who have ran each night will be lower down on the league tables as they will have accumulated more points. However, at the end of the league, only those that have ran four or more nights will be eligible to be in the league and it is then that each person’s best four finishing points will come in to place. There will also be movements between divisions. This means that you could move up to a higher division or down to a lower division. This all depends on your finishing position and also on the finishing positions of everybody else in the league. That said, we’ll take care of the leagues, you just concentrate on running and enjoying the one lap challenge. See you all on Tuesday. All are very welcome.

SPONSORS.

The club would like to take this opportunity to once again thank Jeff and Marie Allen of Elite Paintball for coming on board and offering to sponsor the One Lap Challenge.
Indeed, both of them have taken on the challenge and are doing very well. We are indebted to sponsors like these who through their generosity and support add to the success of our running leagues. Many thanks.

ENRIGHTS EUROSPAR AUTUMN LEAGUE.

BIG TURN OUT FOR ROUND TWO.

Round two of the ever popular Enrights Eurospar Autumn League experienced a huge increase in numbers, most noticeable in the one lap league. This was a great achievement and all at West Waterford Athletic Club were delighted to see this as the League is designed with the newcomer in mind. In round one of the league we had ten participants and for round two it more than doubled to twenty-three. The good news is that there’s plenty more room and we would love to see even more to come along and to give it a go. As already stated, you don’t have to run every night, just come along when you can. Having spoken to some of the participants from the last two weeks, all were delighted that they gave it a chance and all are coming back for round three!!
No previous experience is required at all, bring a friend or two along if you like and enjoy taking the first steps to a fitter and healthier you!
The League is held every Thursday night beginning at 6.30 p.m. and the entry fee is just €2 and water is provided at the finish.

SUPER DEBUT FOR LOIS CHAPPEL IN ONE LAP RUN.

Well done to all twenty-three who took part in the one lap league. It certainly is a challenge on the first go but stick with it and you will find it easier as each week passes. It was great to see all the new faces and you must all be very pleased with the times that were recorded. Well done to newcomer Lois Chappel who whizzed around in a time of 9.27, followed closely by Diana Chizhikova and Sharon Lynch. Nice to see Paula Early back again and she had a great time of 12.03 with Bridget Blackwell hot on her heels with a time of 12.12.  Well done to you all and see you all for round three.

IAN O’ GRADY MAKES HIS MARK OVER TWO LAP COURSE.

We had some more new faces for round two in the two-lap league, which was encouraging to see. Ian O’ Grady had a fine run to finish well clear of Yevgeniy Chizhikov who only had a second to spare over Corinna Walsh. Deirdre McCurtain ran the two laps with ease recording a great time of 17.36. Inese Melne was unlucky not to break 19 minutes but no doubt this will be her target for the next night. Welcome back to Paula Nugent who also had a great time, finishing just behind Caroline Flynn. Well-done girls.

BIG IMPROVEMENT FROM ALAN LYONS.

Alan Lyons had a splendid run in the three laps to record a great time of 23.37. Next to finish were Dzintars Sanders and Mark Vespa. Only a mere second separated Mark Cahill and Shane Power, recording 27.41 and 27.42 respectively. Carol Whelan and Noel McKenna both had fine runs and will surely be aiming to run sub 28 before the end of the league.

RORY MOLONEY IN CLOSE CONTENTION.

Last year’s winner of the four lap league, Raivis Zakis looks set to retain his title again this year as he recorded another great time for round two. However, young Rory Moloney closed the gap considerably and in the end it was only eight seconds that separated the two. One to watch over the league is Eric Meade who had a super time and no doubt will improve with each outing. Amsterdam bound, Pat O’ Riordan was unlucky not to break 31.03 but will have this in mind for round three. Michael Roche will surely break 36 minutes for the next round having recorded 36.01 for his efforts. Geraldine Heffernan took it all in her stride and was well under 40 minutes for the four laps. Well done to everybody and we look forward to seeing you all for the remainder of the league.

LEAGUE SPONSORS.

Once again, we would like to thank Ger Enright and family of Eurospar, for their most generous and kind sponsorship of the league. The support of our sponsors enables us to hold such leagues and for this we are very grateful. Many thanks.

WEST WATERFORD ATHLETIC CLUB PARTICIPATE IN SPECIAL OLYMPIC TORCH RUN.

There was an encouraging turn out of West Waterford athletic club members both Juvenile and Senior in Grattan Square last Sunday evening to be part of a very special occasion, the arrival of the Special Olympic Torch to our town. On behalf of the organisers of the event through our club notes they wish to thank all those from the club who came along to support the run, the club vest, which was worn by our members on the night, was very noticeable in its numbers. On behalf of the club we extend our best wishes to the area’s only Olympian on this occasion Jean Fenton who is part of the Irish Basketball team and of course to our own club member Jim Fleming who is making the trip to Shanghai with the team as coach. The games will be held from October 2nd – 11th.”Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

SEASONS FIRST CROSS COUNTRY RACE IN KILMACOW THIS SUNDAY.

On October 14th in St Augustine’s College at 2.30 PM we have our clubs premier event of the cross country season the Annual Garveys SuperValue 5 mile race which will attract some of the area’s finest cross country runners. However before that we will have the first outing of the season with our annual trip to Kilmacow for round one of the Ryan brothers perpetual shield match between West Waterford and St.Senans. Round two will be held in conjunction with the Garvey’s SuperValue race, Cross Country co-ordinator Tony Ryan will be expecting a big turn out for the St.Senan’s organised event on this Sunday September 30th.The programme gets under way with a full Juvenile programme at 1 PM.The Men’s race will be held over the 8.000 meter’s course and the Ladies race over 3.000 meters. There are prizes for the first 3 seniors and first three Masters plus first 3 juniors. Team prizes Men and Women with 4 to score. Entry to race is 5 Euro. This year again any runner from St.Senan’s or West Waterford who runs both legs of the shield will be entered into a raffle for a pair of running spikes kindly donated by our match sponsors the Ryan brothers. Anyone needing transport ring Tony on 087-7657805.

RUNNING QUOTE.

The woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep. Martin Hayes.

ANDREW “DOC” LEARY COMPLETES CAPE TOWN MARATHON.

Andrew Doc Leary was back in South Africa recently where he ran the Cape Town Marathon just as a training run. The Lismore maestro completed the course in a handy 3.15. Last Sunday he had the regular Sunday morning long run group on home turf when we made the trip to the Cathedral town where a stiff course was mapped out by the Doc.All completed this run in one piece and our thanks to Doc for his efforts with the water and sports drinks etc .we will be back.

SYMPATHY.

West Waterford Athletic Club extends sincere sympathy to club member Josie Uí Chuirrin and family on the recent sad passing of her young nephew in Kilkenny, also to the family of Liam O’Rourke Clashmore whose untimely death occurred recently also and to club member Garry McCormack on the death of his uncle in Waterford.

MARRIAGE.

Congratulations from all at the club to Nuala Hearne and Noel Hogan on the occasion of their marriage recently. Health and Happiness to you both.

MASON CLAN EXTENDED.

Congratulation’s to Mark and Louise Mason Cappoquin on the recent birth of a baby girl, Rebecca. Health and happiness to all.

BILLY MAGUIRE BERLIN BOUND.

Best Wishes go to club member Billy Maguire and training partner Cathal Lowe in this Sundays Berlin Marathon.Both runners have prepared well and are in super form as they showed over the summer series races this year, now its all down to a bit of luck on the day. Best of luck to you both boys.

DAVID MC CARTHY OUT OF THE BLOCKS IN US.

In the US West Waterford’s David McCarthy got his Providence career off to a flying start when he finished fourth in Franklin Park, clocking 24:31 for the 8k cross country race.David has settled into the life on the Providence campus superbly where he is on an athletic Scholarship we will through these notes keep his many admirers and supporters updated on his progress over his time in the U.S.A. 

BUS INFO FOR CORK TO COBH THIS SUNDAY.

Best of luck to all club athletes taking part in this Sunday’s Annual Cork to Cobh 15 mile road race, and its defiantly on this Sunday.!! Traditionally a race ran by those training for the upcoming Autumn Marathon season it will be an indicator for many as to their current form before they take on the might of the 26.2.Please note those who have booked their place on the club bus to the race that it will leave from the Park Hotel at 7.30 AM sharp. The starting time for the race is 9.30 AM so if your not on the bus do give yourself plenty of time to travel. It is an A to B course so its handy if you can arrange to have your car at the finish in Cobh an idea would be to drive to Cobh leave your car at the finish where there is a taxi rank, You can then take a taxi to the start in Cork the lead car will take your track suit or any another gear back to the finish in Cobh.Waddle on friends.

MARATHON CORNER.
TAPERING FOR THE BIG DAY.
Getting fit and fast is only part of the equation to having a great day come Marathon day. Not only do you need to ensure that you peak at the right time, which is on the day of your event, but you also need to arrive fully recovered; that is fresh and without any feelings of fatigue.
Peaking and tapering is about ensuring full recovery while maintaining performance adaptations.
Why do you need to Taper?
You need to reduce your training volume (taper) to ensure full recovery. Running training causes muscle damage, fatigue and also depletes carbohydrate stores in muscle. You need to ensure that these factors are reduced as much as possible while at the same time you need to make sure that the adaptations your body has made from your training are not lost.

ENSURING FULL RECOVERY.
Let's take a closer look at the key factors you need to work on for full recovery in the taper:
By reducing training, and in particular long or intense speed training sessions, you will arrive at your event with fresh legs. Quite often marathoners and half marathoners find that it is their legs that give out in the latter part of a race. Starting with muscle soreness or muscle fatigue will increase the risk of not finishing.

FATIGUE
By fatigue I mean general fatigue from lots of hard training over a prolonged period (16 weeks plus). A proper taper will give you some mental drive, a very necessary component to ensure that you can focus for your event and push hard in the closing stages. Your central nervous system needs several days of light training as a minimum and the longer your buildup the longer the taper needs to be to remove this.

CARBOHYDRATE STORES.
Your body can only store a limited amount of carbohydrate in muscle (600g or so) and so your final week should focus on maximising this. You therefore need to ensure that you do keep eating well. But you can overdo it. If you have been training hard you will be eating more food than usual, so when you reduce your training in the taper, most athletes would be advised to keep their energy stores up by keeping the same eating patterns. This also follows the age-old rule of not changing anything close to your event. By also timing your meals immediately (<30min) after your training, you will also ensure that you store less of your food as body fat and more as muscle glycogen, which is good general training advice anyway. You need to make sure that while you are reducing your training so that you are fully recovered you will need to ensure that you maintain all the adaptations from your training. These adaptations have been hard earned so you want to hold onto them. The key areas are cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, cardiovascular speed, and muscular (leg) speed.

CARDIOVASCULAR ENDURANCE.
Many of the adaptations to endurance training are rather permanent things like red blood cell numbers, the oxygen carrying molecule hemoglobin, blood capillary density in muscles and muscles cells mitochondria and oxygen carrying myoglobin don't change rapidly. That's good news if you want to cut back your training and freshen up. So this explains why you can do your last long run as much as a month out from a marathon. You body still maintains the benefit for up to 30 days. The key point here is that you should never be afraid to back off your long run. By reducing your training volume to 1/3 of your highest level you can maintain your cardiovascular fitness for around 8 weeks.

CARDIOVASCULAR SPEED.
Your taper must include speed work, but reduced to limit muscle damage. If you have run a time trial of about 50% of race distance (Cork to Cobh) a couple of weeks out from your event you will need to do something hard 8 days out of around 25% of race distance. This would be your last hard session. The Garveys SuperValue event would be ideal for this.

MONITOR YOU STATE OF READINESS.
It is not uncommon for athletes to become sick during the taper. To avoid this monitor how you feel. If you feel lethargic this is a sign that you need to do some running to 'wake your body up'. Some runners need more training than others when it comes to the final few days. If you need more training to avoid going sluggish, be careful that you don't end up with tired legs and depleted energy stores. Keep on the grass and top up your energy stores as you go.
Many athletes get a massage in the week before their goal event. My advice is not to do it if you don't get a regular massage or keep it very light if you are going to get a rub. The rule is before exercise use active stretching and after exercise use passive stretching. Remember one of the most important things in the final weeks is sleep make sure to get your 8 hours every night. Your body needs it to recover sleep-sleep-sleep folks. Keep the faith were almost there.!