Thursday 29 December 2011

Architecture: a running commentary

For a long time I regarded a pair of running shoes to be only thing that an athlete requires.  And of course socks, shorts and a polyester top of some description.  Then my mother informed me that it might actually be polite, and that I should, wash these garments.  So throw in a washing machine.  But essentially, the landscape is there, roads, hills, grass, trails.  Granted this is dependant on where one lives.  I’m fortunate enough to come from the countryside, where a grassy forest is 5 minutes round the corner.

But it was a tutor at university who encouraged me to expand my thinking.  Yes we don’t fundamentally need anything else, but what might we like, and how can the experience of exercise be heightened?  After all that’s what architecture is all about.  A flat and measured surface perhaps?  A room full of heavy iron weights to improve our static strength?  These facilities exist, they are called a track and a gym, and contrary to popular belief, they vary considerably.

There are some shocking examples out there.  My local track for example feature no protection from the wind, so the benefit of having a measured distance is instantly gone, and no protection from the chavs: they’ll play football on the adjacent grass and not unreasonably expect you to get their ball back when it goes over the fence.  There is the modest upside that in a post-maximal workout haze, you can stretch the imagination to pretend that the adjacent drab building is a beautiful modernist Le Corbusier library

Today, however, I had a brainwave and drove the extra 4 miles to the Loughborough HiPAC, the High Performance Athletics Centre at Loughborough University campus, and it was well worth it.  This place is designed, and I mean thought out.  A modest £4 got me not only the use of an indoor and outdoor track, a weights room, a extensive array of useful equipment and changing facilities, but the additional feeling of physical inadequacy; that my Type 1 muscles were vastly inferior to the giant GB sprinters who were also training there.  But it also afforded me the opportunity to experience a place that I’d have to call architecture. 

The 2012 Olympic Stadium which I look forward to running in (fingers crossed) in May features a continuous wind envelope boasting the minimalistic sustainability associated with running, with a high performance track installed to produce fast times and in my opinion is the perfect way to compete, or rather not compete with the Beijing Birds Nest.  The HiPAC on the other hand runs the length of the stout Loughborough Uni track straight without any unnecessary enclosure of space, and blends with existing tall surrounding trees forming a public/private perimeter, and complete shelter from the wind.  The site is well chosen, tacking advantage of the level change to produce a track which is recessed to compliment this shelter, but also allows for a 3-storey structure which is submissive to the surrounding architecture, even framing the 1937 Hazlerigg Building, which forms a focal point of the campus to the South.  Upon entering the HiPAC, one find themselves on a small mezzanine level, greeted with a wide open view of the primary indoor spaces, enclosed by a large glazed façade offering a view of the track, and achieving a sense of community, which – possibly by chance – also provides a reflective surface for one to self-analyse their gait and form while training.

 [Loughborough HiPAC, adjacent to the Athletics Pavilion]

[Inside the HiPAC from above]


While I feel that the use of some masonry to add character by better-relating to the adjacent heritage-rich athletics pavilion and other campus edifices, while providing a some thermal mass to absorb what I hear is massive summer solar heat gain, this is the first facility that I have experiences that actually speaks to the holistic needs of athletes, both through function and design. 

The country-wide absence of suitable facilities is well documented, and with David Cameron recently announcing that an additional £41m would be allocated to the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies, thus shattering the concept of not trying to compete with Beijing, and indeed undermining possible investment in grass route sports.  Obviously the functionality of the HiPAC is designed for the elite, and would not realise its potential should it be used predominantly by the average person, nor do we need to many more of these facilities. 

At uni, I explored an alternative idea, and designed a retreat to educate and empower the everyday individual - in this era of growing obesity - in how to lead a healthy lifestyle, a societal need which is being continually neglected.  A fat camp if you will.  This, I feel, is far more beneficial than token gestures, such as the funky, but predominantly aesthetic sprint straight at the Evelyn Grace Academy by Zaha Hadid.  Saying that, through its sheer novelty this may ironically interest a few school children in athletics, which cannot be a bad thing.

 
[Urban Retreat : university project]


[Evelyn Grace Academy : Zaha Hadid]


Saturday 24 December 2011

The Cream Cracker Challenge

5000m PB : 16:29.9
5k SB (post-Sept 2011) : 17:36
Cream Cracker PB: 49.2s

Over the last few days my focus has shifted away from the monotony of high quality miles.  While former friend and colleague Steven Bayton will be running away from all of the lesser humans in his native Halifax, my endurance sessions will involve spending the Christmas period with my family, while attempting to maintain a good posture throughout. 

This hardcore mental and physical preparation is just the beginning of what should be an exciting month however, centering around my recent breakthrough at the Cream Cracker Challenge.  A season’s best, and PB of 49.2 seconds (manual timing) for the three-cracker event has meant that Matthew Quine’s PB at 400m (47 point something fast) is now within my reach, and he has accepted my challenge of a Quine versus Carter, 400m versus Cream Cracker Challenge at the upcoming Northern Athletics Meeting in Sheffield.

“I have been eating lots to improve my jaw strength,” mused Carter, in a silent interview with myself, who is also my coach.  “Multiple soft snacks improve my bite turnover, while generously portioned main meals improve my static jaw strength and overall endurance.”

Housemate Alastair Canaway became very excited about this new challenge, with recent binges of running and swimming rumoured to have ended.  “Eating lots is a training pattern that I can really identify with.  Lets just hope that Carter’s small bladder doesn’t become his Achilles heal in this challenge.”

GB Steeplechaser and Olympic hopeful Eilish McColgan was said to be so impressed in fact that she ‘friended’ me on facebook, with her blog stating that she has “…literally never been so excited!”, possibly in regards to something else.

My feet remain grounded, however, with my father remarking at lunch that “he’ll never succeed in this challenge,” while scoffing the last of the only pack of Jacobs, rending any time trials over the coming days improbable.  Instead I’ll be looking at returning to dry cereal to promote saliva production, while ballooning out over the holiday period to try and better fit in with the rest of my friends and family.

Monday 12 December 2011

Diminishing Marginal Returns

5000m goal : 15:50
5000m PB : 16:29.9
5k SB (post-Sept 2011) : 17:36

At first I had been very reluctant to put a target into writing.  The obvious downsides: the pressure of trying to achieve it or perhaps the public humiliation should I fall miles short.  But my cockiness in doing this has had some positives too: aside from the secret hope that I’ll somehow surpass it by at least a minute, motivation.  There’s a number in my head.  15:50.  Its right there,  15:50, whenever I am feeling slightly lazy.  This morning it got me out of bed at 06:54 (yes my alarm is set that accurately) to get to the pool.  This evening that goal flashed in my head while I considered if I could be arsed to do the prescribed 3 sets of conditioning circuits when I returned soaking wet from an hour post-work run.  But that goal does mean that my rather feeble hips and shoulders are slightly more tired than they otherwise would have been tonight, and I can enjoy the standard 2¼ bowls of evening Weetos guilt-free.

Living with Mister Alastair Canaway for the last 11 months has left me privy to many economic terms.  “Opportunity Cost”, “Propensity to Consume” and “God my bum insertion point is aching again” are all economic phrases to which I am regularly privy.  But the one that sticks most in my mind is “Diminishing Marginal Returns”.  The concept that a higher proportion of my fitness gains will come in the first half of my training, with the applied effort being worth less the closer I get to my goal.  As such I am nailing the endurance work and racked up 73 hard and lazy miles, and one emergency sprint to the bathroom from a lying down position, last week, with a solid Saturday afternoon spent tactically planning training patterns with Chief Movement Coach Nick ‘Nandos’ Howard fitted between games of Fifa 12.

Despite being snubbed by UKA for the recent High Alitude Endurance Camp in Iten, Kenya, I more than made up for this with 15 consecutive mind-numbing laps of Metchley Park, leaving me ideally prepared for a SB lowering attempt at Saturday’s Cannon Hill Park Run.  I still remain fearful of my house Triple Jump Lead, which with housemates practicing bouncing routines around the clock, the 1.16m looks less secure each day.