Hi Jocelyn,

Just wanted to add my thanks to those of CV - it was a terrific read, full of sporting endeavour and a whole load of humour.  It really was very funny in places - think I'll end up buying one or two more copies as Christmas presents.

Think the pages on sports bras were a bit over my head though.... 

Another great blog Brandon.....LOVING  that line dance action!

Think they must've had more than a few refreshments      

holy moly.....is he a wookie?   

Coolio......45cm of untapped potential on each leg.....I'll be flying by next season   

Ha, ha Bek.....now I'm the one that isn't sure he should comment - I don't want to admit to measuring various parts of my body with a tape measure too often           I don't make a habit of it HONESTLY!

Anyway, just for the record: 45 cm.....

Thanks guys....you are backing up what I am slowly learning.

No more excuses from me - next time I'm running like a big blouse I'll think of SupaBek rather wishing I had legs like Wilson Kipketer   

PS. If you read this Bek I thought your little speech at the awards ceremony on monday was dead good

Cheers Doc.....all very interesting.

Glad we had him for a bit, but shame it wasn't for longer as he certainly seems to get results

Thanks again...

Well they certainly weren't mine then Stephen   

Bit of an odd one this.....

I have stupidly big calfs.....they are enormous and quite out of proportion with the rest of my body - nothing to do with training, just natural genetics

My question is this:  what affect should my "tree trunks" have on my running?
Well all know that distance runners have silly little spindley legs that anyone over 80kg would buckle in a second, but should my legs in theory give me an extra push forwards or is it just a lot of extra weight to carry forwards with each stride?

To be honest, I've kind of assumed that my calfs hampered my running (because I'm not too hot at it), but a few months back in T-Mac's blog when she was playing match the legs to the person there were some pretty good legs on show there too (mentioning no names)......so now I am confused.

Any ideas?   

I guess this is one mainly for Doc as I was curious on what he (or indeed anyone else) knows of Bill Sweetenham.

On the BBC coverage of last week's Euro swim champs the commentary team were discussing BIll Sweetenham and they said that when he took over GB swimming a few years back that there was a lot of kick back from the established squad members and that he was fairly unpopular.
His training methods were not liked for whatever reason and relations were rather strained - none of this is really news.

What was interesting however, was that a lot of the then younger (and now more successful) swimmers now cite Bill as a big influence and say that they wouldn't be where they are now without his hand in their development.....quite a difference between the two different camps.

Reading between the lines, it seems another case of if you are prepared and made to work hard then you'll reap the benefits and Bill took things up a notch or two and eventually the success came.....can you bear this out Doc? Or was there maybe more to it ? 

Good call Huggy....was thinking just the same thing myself

Aha, I'm not pooh hooing anything, merely questioning the article - surely it is wise to query and not take everything at face value?

I have to say though, that while studies and lab tests have their place, nothing beats plain old first hand experience.....and there is a whole lot of good experience here

Sorry, I'm certainly not saying I disagree with the article, but without specifically naming the studies it mentions it is next to useless.
Unless it contains acknowledgments then it is just a load of waffle.....why should anyone believe what it says over any other unsubstantiated source?

That said, I don't stretch much and only ever after a session, never before....

Welcome to the Challenge Copenhagen start line SupaBek.....here's hoping that you tear it up!

And it looks like GAME ON already.....

http://www.challengecopenhagen.com/da/challenge-copenhagen/news/301-challenge-takes-care-of-their-pros