www.youtube.com/watch?v=awiGfpFCp0c

If you are just starting out on a fitness routine and planning to either walk or perhaps jog some parts of the event, now that we are starting to use a bit more effort, it is time to pay attention to your fast walking or jogging style.

If you are getting sore ankles, feet, knees or even hips, the chances are that you have either poorly fitting or worn out shoes or you are moving with an ungainly action ‘“ or possibly both!

Pain is a good indicator that something is not right, so don’t carry on and hope it will go away, because it probably won’t. If you have physical pain, you should see a physiotherapist as soon as possible for corrective advice.

In my experience, most of these types of pain can be alleviated or eliminated after taking a careful look at how your feet come in contact with the ground. One of the things I do is jog on different surfaces such as on the grass or the beach. The beach is fantastic because the sand absorbs most of the impact of each step.

With 7 weeks to go, it is time to introduce some interval work. For those of you who plan to walk the City2Surf, your goal should be to walk as fast as you can or to jog for a minute, then continue at a relaxed pace, then repeat this 3 or 4 times with each walking session.

The most important thing at this stage is to stick to your commitment to get outside and keep up the training. Staying focused on your goal is one of the hardest things to achieve on your own.

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Weeks to go until the City2Surf
Ten > Nine > Eight > Seven > Six > Five > Four > Three > Two > One > Go

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc7y7ntcMi8

So far we have been walking a regular 12,000 steps per day. Now, with two months to go until the City2Surf, it is time to vary the program by adding in some different terrain and some longer walks.

I recommend that you do longer walks on at least 4 days each week and on one of these days, you add in some hills if you aren’t already walking hills. On your rest days, as usual, don’t let your daily step count drop below 12,000. (Remember that you still want to burn those kilojoules.)

I always do a long training session on either the Saturday or Sunday. By long, I suggest you do a minimum of 16,000 to 18,000 steps. Aim higher if you can. Damien, who appears on the video on this page, has been averaging over 16,000 steps every day since we started this program and has lost a few more kilograms since the video was shot.

And, rather than simply accumulating your 12,000 steps over the course of the day, schedule some longer walks of  7,000 to 10,000 steps into your day on at least four days of the week.

If you feel like jogging occasionally, you can introduce some jogging on your four training days. Depending on your level of fitness, it is a good idea to use a use a heart rate monitor so that you don’t over do it. Remember that you want to train using no more than 75 to 80% of your capacity. (See ‘Calculating your Ideal Training Level‘)

If you are feeling pretty good and you want to push yourself more, have a look at week 8 of the Lifting your Game training program.

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Weeks to go until the City2Surf
Ten > Nine > Eight > Seven > Six > Five > Four > Three > Two > One > Go

With Sue and Sonia and our pedometers in the rain at 11pm

Most of the people I know of who are following the New Beginning City2Surf training program are averaging 13,000 to 14,000 steps a day, which is excellent considering many of you have been regularly walking in the rain.

Sonia and Sue are both joining us in the Life7 City2Surf team this year. I was about to leave their house late one night last week when the discussion moved to their daily step count. Without batting an eyelid they decided to get a few more steps in before day’s end.

We headed off for a walk in the dark and the drizzle. I rather enjoyed the rather damp tour by foot of Wentworth Falls Lake, with its eerie lights reflecting through the mist across the water.

After two weeks of regularly walking a minimum of 10,000 steps a day, almost everyone has already lost a kilogram or more. Some, who have been studiously watching their food intake, have lost over 2kg.

This is a great start, but the real challenge will be to maintain this new lifestyle routine until it becomes a habit ‘“ and over the winter is the most challenging period you could choose to do it.

With nine weeks until the City2Surf, you still have plenty of time to get into condition for the event (but don’t wait a moment longer).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy2YXDkhMvg

In the first week we set ourselves a target of 10,000 steps per day. This is the minimum the experts tell us we should all be doing every day of our lives in order to maintain our general health, but the average office worker only does around 3,500 steps a day (which is one of the reasons we are all getting fat!).

When you look at it that way, we haven’t really started training yet! So, now it is time to step it up a notch. This week the goal is to do a minimum of 12,000 steps a day. (To lose weight you’ll need to be doing more than 10,000 steps a day.)

If you watched the video of Damien and you’ve wondered how he has lost 23kgs so far, you might be surprised to learn that he hasn’t stepped foot in a gym. What he has been doing is managing his food intake and averaging around 14,000 steps a day. It is actually quite easy, once you get in the right mindset.

Remember, you don’t need to walk 12,000 steps a day all in one go. Put the pedometer on every morning when you get up and keep a record of your step count for the day, reset it and start again the next day.

Don’t forget to drink plenty of water and enjoy your week.

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Weeks to go until the City2Surf
Ten > Nine > Eight > Seven > Six > Five > Four > Three > Two > One > Go

Finally held the City2Surf trophy

In 2009, as I was just reaching the halfway point at the top of ‘Heartbreak Hill’, Michael was crossing the line in a time of 41’02′. It staggers me to think of the speed these elite runners are able to maintain as a result of serious race preparation.

So what is serious City2Surf training? How much training do you need to do to be up the front with Michael Shelley?

Well for starters, pay no attention to my City2Surf training plans‘¦ go straight to expert level. My City2Surf training programs are designed for the non-runner or the casual jogger. Michael basically runs twice a day, seven days a week (a rest day for him is a slow jog!)

Attempting an elite runner’s rigorous training routine will have the average jogger laid up with a multitude of stress related injuries and probably put off running altogether.

The worst part of the course

The killer part of the course for Michael isn’t the much-publicised Heartbreak Hill at Rose Bay, but rather the sharp steep hill after the turn at Vaucluse.

These undulations toward the later part of the course challenge the elite runners to maintain their rhythm. Rather like changing gears on a pushbike, little hills require you to vary your effort in order to maintain your pace.

You may think that because you are running in a big crowd you don’t need to worry too much about pace, but you will find that when you are running in the crowd it is almost impossible to get into a rhythm due to all the people stopping, swerving and blocking your passage.

This is one of the reasons we recommend fartlek training (interval training) as part of your City2Surf preparation, as it will help you to get used to terrain and pace variation.