As information has begun to trickle through that Greg took an early victory at the Helsby four villages the odds have changed. We now have a race on our hands.

Both men very aware of the training still required but also aware of the old saying:

‘It is better to lose the battle yet win the war!’

An insider from Tim’s training camp commented that Tim was unaware that Greg was at the event as Tim was concentrating on keeping his heart rate below 100bpm for the entire run!

Team Pyeman came straight back and pointed out that although Greg looks like he will need CPR at the end of a run he still has a bit left in reserve just in case.

Both Men have been said to be studying their training heroes in theses last 12 weeks; Tim has been watching Marathon Race meets Iron Man winners and understanding the mental focus of the great Lance Armstrong. Greg has been watching Eddie Izzard DVDs because apparently he did a few runs lately. He has also been studying the movements of Big Bird from seseame street who has the same size legs as him.

Sunday saw the body solutions runners take the Helsby Half Marathon by storm!

Helsby four villages as it is known is a cheeky little number with twists and turns and just when you don’t need it, a roller coaster of hills in the last 3 miles. But this didn’t stop the team battering the lanes, dodging the ice and finishing heads held high to receive the free bottle of beer at the end, my kind of race!

With only 13 weeks (unlucky for some!) to go until the London Marathon, both Tim and Greg are stuck into their training. Chomping away at the miles, it has been estimated that by the time the guys set off at the start of the Marathon they will have already run over 1200miles each that is the same as running from Lands End to John O Groats and then back to Liverpool again!

If you want to get behind the Lads and support them in their training please feel free to donate either personally or corporately at:

www.virginmoneygiving.com/pyeman

www.justgiving.com/tim-barrett

Back to work and back to training. Although those of us who have entered races in the early part of this year have had no time off!

 

With the london Marathon only 15 weeks away Both Tim and Greg have been battling the bad weather to keep up with their strict training programes. The boys have been so licra clad in the snow and ice, that at times they have been mistaken for spiderman and the silver surfer! Still, the very thought of not getting the times that they have set themselves for the big race has helped to focus their minds and made them push on.

The next few months are very busy with the Helsby Running Club 4 village race on Sunday the 17^th of January and then the first ever UK Kilomathon, that’s 26.2 kilometers (16.3 miles, the perfect race distance for the human body) between Nottingham and Derby on Sunday the 17^th of March, this is 7 weeks prior to the race.

 

We will keep you posted for information on how to get involved with sponsorship and tickets for the Winners Dinner to help celebrate after the marathon, Body Solutions style!!!

In 17 weeks time the Ironman takes on the Commander in Body Solutions' first head to head marathon! Two men one, one goal; to beat eachother in a race of 26 miles across London.

Each week insiders from each camps will keep you posted on each mans progressas their training is ramped up a gear, in this race there is only one title... the winner!

Keep following the blogs as we count down what will prove to be an exciting start to the year. Look out for your chance to get involved, corporate sponsorship, free virgin marathon wear and the 'Winners Dinner' all to come!

Stand By!!

It's that time of year again, mince pies, tinsel, mistletoe and hours spent rushing around shops desperately trying to find inspiration to save your loved one the ordeal of opening up yet another packet of socks! Fret no more, for Body Solutions is here to save the day! Check out our Christmas offer here. 

 

Its seems like everytime we blink someone else completes a race, hits a goal or smashes a personal best! Well this time its Robyn Curwen and her mum who we'd like to say a massive congratulations to. After seeing all the hard work that Robyn has put into her training and how far she has progressed in the last year, we couldn't be prouder. She completed her first 10k race in just 58 minutes with her mum coming in at just 1hr 3m, she wasn't far behind! Great work girls.

Last weekend all the team at Body Solutiosn got together for a weekend of what can only be described as something that should have featured as a 'Carry on Boating' special! We all dug out our thermal vests, waterproofs and slleping bags and made our way donw to Abersoch to set off for St Tud's island for a weekend of team building fun and frolics.

However, not everything went to plan. It took us about 3 hours to actually get onto the island as we could not get the boat into teh water! When we finally ddi manage this, the boat got stuck in the sand and it took all of our combined strength (plus a few very helpful waves!) and lots of shouting of 'to me, to you' to get it facing in the right direction, however, the boat being in the water was not such great news as we were all still on the beach! So, all the lads braved the cold of the british sea and get very wet loading most of the kit onto the boat, the 'kit' consisted of our sleeping bags, the food, the water and of course me and Charlotte (well, we didnt want to get wet did we?!). I did however get the short straw as i was carried in by Tim, Charloote got fireman lifted by the very tall Simon who easily kept her up and above the ever rising sea water. Tim however though he would dip me in the sea, just for fun which resulted in very wet boots and trousers for the entire weekend. Thanks Tim.

As we approached the island me, Charlotte and Dave braced ourselves for the jump, there was no jetty or sandy beach for us to arrive at, instead we got some moss covered, sharp looking rocks and an order of when to jump. Purely by chance we made it onto the other side, along with two extremely heavy boxes filled with food and utensils, great, me and Charlotte thought, time for a brew while Greg does the second run to the beach. How wrong we were. As Dave had been submerged in water loading things onto the boat he had removed his boots - but had left them on the main land. This meant that Dave could not help out in hauling the two huge boxes up the nettle covered steep hill to the brick building we would be calling home for the night. Lets just say after that task was finished we well deserved the cup of tea and flapjack break :)

Most of the night passed with a blur due to the amount of alcohol consumed we think we all had a good time!! The next day we ate our bacon and egg sandwiches and packed up to return to civilisation. This was where the whole saga started again. In fact we thought we had gotton away with it, the packing had gone fine, we didnt leave anything or anyone on the island and we all got onto the beach safely and (almost) dry. Getting the boat out of the water and onto teh trailer again was the tricky part! The wynch to help pully the boat back onto its traler had been stolen overnight meaning that it took a couple of hours of pure man strength (and a jeep) to to get it on.  A few favours were asked of the locals and a couple of bottle of wine dished out afterwards but thankfully we all made it in one piece to the local pub for a home cooked roast dinner.

Thats just an outline of our shananighans... check out our facebook page to see the pics http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=2019897&id=1371056530&ref=mf 

Until next time - over and out!

Hope everyone is looking forward to their long weekends! With bank holiday approaching there is a sense of excitement in the air as the trainers get ready for a weekend of fun and frolics with no work in the morning! Unfortunately, this does mean that there will be no sessions delivered on Sunday or Monday, but take comfort in the fact that your personal trainer will be back on Tuesday refreshed and ready to deliver a session you will be proud of :-)

Give me a call at the gym if you would like to book an additional session to replace any you may miss on Sunday or Monday.

 

Interval training guides runners in developing workouts that are tailored to their particular situations. Interval training refers to workouts in which hard running efforts of prescribed distances or time are repeated with intervals of rest between the repeated hard efforts.

There are three main reasons that interval training is done:

1. Intervals are used to increase anaerobic threshold levels. By repeating sustained hard efforts at near anaerobic condition, the runner improves his ability to run hard without going into oxygen debt.
2. Interval training also increases a runner's endurance. This means that the runner can continue at a certain pace for an extended period of time.
3. Finally, interval training builds muscle strength. Typical distance running exercises the leg muscles in a certain range of motion, with the focus on slow-twitch fibres. By running at faster speeds, the runner exercises all leg muscles and improves flexibility during running, both of which will mean improved muscle performance in races. This makes running at a race pace easier and improves top speed for sprint finishes.

Simon has very kindly invited us to join him at Ness Botanic Gardens on Saturday 1st July to see an open air production of William Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing'. The performance begins at 7:30pm and Body Soilutions will take care of all tickets, food and drink but any additional guests are welcome to join us and can purchase tickets on the night. We would really like to have a good turnout to support Simon and the 'Off the Ground Theatre Group' so get it in your diary!!