ELITE PAINTBALL FIT4LIFE ONE LAP CHALLENGE.
TWELVE NEW RUNNERS PARTICIPATE.
Round 2 of the 1 Lap Challenge was held on Tuesday night last in the grounds of the Friary College. The general improvement in weather seems to have encouraged more and more to dust down the runners take out the shorts (or track suit) and take up the challenge. We hade an extra 12 participants in round 2 with some new faces and some regulars making a return. In West Waterford A.C. we feel that if you are new to running then this is definitely the league for you. All of our leagues cater for absolute beginners but this is the one that is held specifically with beginners in mind. So if you think you might like to give running a go just turn up on Tuesday evening at 6.45 give in your name and €2 at the van. You will in return get an organised event, support in your quest for fitness and advice on all matters related to running in the area. Once again everyone is welcome so come along next Tuesday night and have a go.
SEAN ON A ROLL
One young man who is running extremely well at the moment in the Friary Leagues is Ardmore native Sean Stilwell. Once again last Tuesday night he was first man through the finish line in a time of 6.13. I’d say Sean might give that elusive 6 minute mark a rattle in the coming weeks. Also under the 7-minute mark were Kevin Kenneally (who improved his time by 18 seconds on week one), Johnny O Connor, Patrick Riordan, Corinna and Yev. Well done to all. 5 athletes breached the 8-minute barrier and notable improvements were made here by Kenneth O Donnell and Norma Wall who were 12 seconds and 17 seconds faster respectively. In the 8-minute bracket we saw a huge improvement in the time of Hugh O Connor who took a whopping 35 seconds from his week 1 time to finish in 8.11. Improvement was also made by Brigid Coffey who took 32 seconds from last week’s time. New to the Friary but not new to running, Maud Cunningham had a great return to athletics with a fine run of 9.38 and Diana Chizhikova also shaved 18 seconds from last week. So well done to everyone who took part, the improvements are there for all to see.
LEAGUE TABLES
The league tables are up and running now so have a look and see where you stand. They will be up on the board beside the times next Tuesday. Please bear in mind that your best 4 nights count and it’s your finishing position that determine your points awarded. Lowest points are best. At the moment also those who have only run 1 night will obviously have less points. Don’t worry about this, as it will sort itself out before the league finishes because you have to run 4 nights to figure in the tables. Bear in mind there is movement between the divisions so you can go up or down.
That said; don’t get hung up on league divisions. They are there to add some interest to the league but the most important part of any league is participation.
NOVEL IDEA
Last Tuesday Tony suggested a new competition within the league where each athlete was asked to predict the time for an athlete of their choice. This caused some brain storming as week 1 times were perused, discussed and debated. Corinna Walsh became the focus of many of the runners because of her accomplishments in the T.Q.S. league and her steady running. No fewer than 5 runners picked Corinna to predict a time for and of course Corinna did not disappoint. Corinna’s time of 6.56 was predicted by Onra Power making her the winner of the competition.
LEAGUE SPONSORS
Finally we would once again like to thank Jeff and Marie Allen for their sponsorship of this league and indeed their support of athletics in general. Marie was once again on hand to help out which is much appreciated. Thanks once again to the Friary College for the use of their grounds.
GARVEYS SUPERVALUE FIT4LIFE AUTUMN LEAGUE.
TIMES STARTING TO IMPROVE.
Well done to all the athletes who took part in the Garvey’s Autumn League last Thursday night. Could the weather or the ground conditions have been any better? The Friary grass was freshly cut and all the runners on the night really enjoyed their evening’s work. Remember there is still room for you in this league also, as there are another 4 nights left so, once again it’s Thursday night, around 6.20 in order to check in at the van and the league kicks off at 6.30. Come along, bring a friend for company and we will provide water at the finish and we guarantee you will enjoy your evening.
SUPER DEBUT FOR RONAN O MEARA IN 1 LAP
Well done to the runners who took on the one lap last Thursday night. Ronan O Meara made a very impressive debut here and with a great time of 8.54 he certainly took the 1.2 miles in his stride. Ursula Browne who is a regular in the Autumn League seems to enjoy her running in the Friary and in fact she took a very impressive 51 seconds from her round 1 time to run 12 30. Well done to these athletes and keep up the good work next week.
WHAT AN IMPROVEMENT BY JENNIFER FAHEY IN 2 LAP
Some of the old regulars were back again for the 2 Lap on Thursday night. 11 athletes took on the 2.4 miles and covered the distance at their ease. Once again Corinna Walsh managed to take 1 second from her time last week and finished with a time of 15.08. Noel Mc Kenna (19.10) who took a massive minute and 37 seconds off from last week was just 3 seconds ahead of Tony Ryan (19.13) with Pascal Proctor (19.20) not far behind. Several other athletes took time off here including Brigid Coffey, Diana Chizhikova, and Nikki Mc Kenna but definitely the athlete of the night was Jennifer Fahey who last week ran 25.43 and this week got around in 21.40. Well-done Jennifer.
CAROL, ONRA AND LINDA (SISTERS DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES)
There’s no doubt that great improvements were made by all athletes on the previous weeks times and this trend continued in the 3 Lap League. First home here for the second week in a row was Yevgenniy Chizhikov in a time of 23.11. Tom Byrne was not far behind in 25.55. It’s nice to see Earl Navin back and he cruised round in 26.41. Last week we said Carol Whelan would take on the 30-minute mark and she duly achieved this by running the 3.6 miles in 28.45 nearly 2 minutes faster than last week. Well done also to John Murray who moved up to the 3 Laps this week and ran a fine 29.55. Most impressive also here were Onra Power fresh from her win on Tuesday night and Linda Bradfield who both took nearly 2 and a half minutes from week 1. Great improvement girls. Not to be outdone our sponsor Liam Power was also an improver with his time of 29.42. Thanks again to Liam, Garveys Supervalue and Garvey’s Coolagh Road for all your support in our leagues.
33 ATHLETES TAKE ON 4 LAPS
It was déjà vu on Thursday night as the first 2 past the post on Tuesday night once again filled these 2 positions on Thursday. Sean Stilwell (28.04) and Kevin Kenneally (28.16). Dennis Mc Carthy also broke the 30-minute mark (29.56) and in the process took a minute and a half from his week 1 time. Des Feeney was next in a time of 30.15 and no doubt will have his sights set on that 30-minute mark as will Johnny O Connor (30.27). Brett Lynham’s marathon training is going well as his time of 31.43 shows. Another showing great improvement is Sean Dwyer with his time of 34.09. Nice to see you keeping up the Dwyer tradition Sean. As with the other distances great improvements were made by many athletes including Ann Whelan, Thomas O Grady, Micheál Callaghan, Jim Barry and Fergal Connolly.
LEAGUE TABLES
The format for the League Tables for the Garvey’s Supervalue League are the same as the Elite Paintball League and once again they will be up on the board on Thursday night. Divisions are now in place and of course you have to run 4 nights in a given distance to feature on the tables. Once again there is movement between the divisions and your best 4 nights count. So once again well done to all and we hope to see you all next Thursday evening 6.20 and bring a friend!
SANDIS 2ND IN ADIDAS DUBLIN HALF MARATHON.
Sandis Bralitis was in great form last Saturday at the Adidas Dublin Half Marathon in the Phoenix Park when finishing 2nd with a time of 69.08.Winner on the day was Galway’s Michael O’Connor and Sergie Turea was third with a time of 70.16,Annette Ka;y won the ladies race in 77.42 from Maria Mc Cambridge 78.52.
RUNNING QUOTE.
The most important message I stress to beginners is to learn to love the sport. Like other endeavours, if running is not undertaken properly, it can be difficult and discouraging.
WEST WATERFORD ATHLETES IN BERLIN.
Best wishes go to popular club members Andrew “Doc” Leary,Michael Dunford and John Kearns who take part in this Sundays Berlin Marathon.On the regular Sunday morning long training run’s they have been most impressive these past couple of months,The work is in the bag now have a good one boys.
ARE YOU EATING THE RIGHT KINDS OF FOOD?
The importance of a nutritious diet while running cannot be over emphasised. It’s absolutely necessary to fuel the body with the right type and amount of food in order to achieve optimal levels while training and on race days. Skipping meals and not eating the right types have a detriment effect on performance and our overall well-being. Not only does the right diet improve performance but it also plays a major part in our recovery after training and races. The benefits of an appropriate diet also include the following:
ü Improves exercise tolerance and capacity to train hard
ü Improves capacity to recover quickly
ü Helps to achieve an appropriate body weight
ü Improves the immune system
Each person’s diet should have a combination of carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals and water. When devising an appropriate and nutritious diet the following factors should be given careful consideration:
ü The amount of each food type to be consumed
ü The actual source of the food type
ü The timing – when the food should be eaten-before training, during training or after training
ü Consistency
The importance of carbohydrates in the diet
Carbohydrates should be the main source of energy in the diet. The timing and source of the carbs is also important. There is such a thing as good carbohydrates and bad carbohydrates. In choosing the right type of carbohydrates to eat, it’s important to note that they should be high in fibre and low in sugar. As well as this, they need to be slow absorbing for longer lasting energy. This type of food are low GI Foods and are absorbed more slowly by the body but also released more slowly thus providing the body with more energy. This is in stark contrast to those foods that are high in sugar. Although they will give you that “quick fix” you might be looking for the chances are that after a short period of time your blood sugar will dip below normal and you will be feeling worse than before you took the sugary food. Taking food that is high in sugar causes a sugar spike in the blood level, which is always followed by a sugar crash whereby the blood sugar dips below normal causing hunger feelings and cravings and affects performance.
The best sources of carbohydrates are:
ü Whole- grains-bread and cereals
ü Brown pasta and rice, sweet potato and cous-cous
ü Fruit and vegetables
ü Cereal bars with 2g of fibre and less than 8g of sugar
Protein in the diet
The main function of protein is for repairing damaged tissue and rebuilding after exercise. It helps to build muscle mass. It can also be used as an energy source if sufficient carbohydrates are not consumed although this can be quite costly.
Lean sources of protein are the best choice.
Protein in the diet is very important for recovery and insufficient amounts can prolong the recovery process.
The best sources of protein are
ü Fish-salmon, mackerel and tuna
ü Eggs
ü Lean meats- chicken and lean pork
ü Lean steak and mince meat occasionally
ü The protein sources should be baked or grilled and not deep-fried
Fat in the diet
While many of us would think to avoid fat altogether in our diet, such is not the case. As with good carbohydrates and bad carbohydrates, there are also good and bad fats. Fat in the diet is important as fat protects the body organs and also helps the absorption of vitamins. It’s also important for hormone production and brain activity. As with carbs and protein the source of the fat is important.
The best sources of fat are:
ü Unsaturated fats
ü Olive oil
ü Nuts and seeds
ü Avocadoes
ü Fat that is in fish-omega 3 fat
HOW TO READ A FOOD LABEL
Food labels can be difficult to understand. In general you are looking for foods that are high in fibre, low in saturated fat and low in sugar. It’s important to take all this into consideration when choosing a food and not to simply look for low-fat foods or low-sugar foods, which is what we generally tend to do.
The first thing to remember is that ingredients are listed in descending order. Therefore, whatever is listed first is what is in the product most. You don’t want to see fat or sugar in the top three ingredients.
As serving sizes vary, use the nutrition information per 100g in order to compare items.
Foods that have less than or equal to 3g of total fat per 100g of fat are considered low fat foods, look for foods with less than 5g of saturated fat per 100g.
Foods that have less than 5g of sugar per 100g are considered low sugar foods.
Foods with 6g or more fibre per 100g are considered high-fibre foods. If a certain type of food has more than 6g of fat but the majority of that fat comes from an unsaturated source (olive oil, sunflower oil etc) then it would be considered a good food.
This certainly gives us all food for thought and a few small changes in our daily diet will make all the difference in our performance. Next week we will deal with the timing of these foods-when to take carbohydrates and protein and we will also discuss the importance of hydration before and after training.
CORK TO COBH
Albert has a bus organised for the Cork to Cobh race on October 5. It will leave the Park Hotel at 7.30 a.m. sharp on the morning of the race. If interested, please contact Albert as soon as possible. The cost is €20 and your money secures your seat.
CROSS COUNTRY IN KILMACOW
The club’s first cross country outing for the season will be to Kilmacow this coming Sunday for the St. Senan’s open day. The club has always been well represented at this and it is hoped to send as many as possible again this year. We will meet at the Park Hotel at 12 noon and travel from there. All are welcome.
CLUB WEB-SITE.
Just a reminder to all that our club web site is very busy with over 1.000 hits per week now the norm. You can log on at www.westwaterforathletics.org to keep up to date on all club activities on a daily bases. The most recent attachment of photos covers last weeks John B. White Accountants West Waterford Schools cross country event, which was great success with over 130 photos to view on the site. Plus the senior’s are not forgotten either with plenty of photos and league results plus all club race results available.
