Articles

Joanna Rowsell Etape Preparation – May Blog

Image
The clock is ticking towards my longest bike ride ever on 16 th July – the 178km Etape du Tour in the French Alps. For this blog I thought I would talk about motivation. As a full time athlete I often got asked about how I stayed motivated, but the answer was relatively simple. I was training for the Olympics, the biggest sporting competition in the World, and I was completely focused on winning a gold medal. Of course there were bad days, but in general the huge goal of the Olympics always got me out of bed and on my bike. In my retirement, however, motivation is very different. I am now exercising for health and need to maintain motivation during a busy lifestyle where it is so easy to put things off til tomorrow, or next week, or next month. So here are some of my top tips for how I am keeping motivated. Set a goal My goal is to complete the Etape in July. This is keeping me motivated to go out on my bike as there is an event coming up. A solid goal with a date is far better

Reaching for the six stars with Sports Tours International by Shona Thomson

Image
Over the last few years, I’ve been writing about my adventures with Sports Tours International as I worked towards completing the six major marathons. In this, the last of my write ups, I summarise all the events and provide a fuller report of the final major: the oldest marathon, Boston.   Why run the Majors? After completing the seven marathons on seven continents challenge, I felt I needed a new goal. There are so many marathons to choose from that aiming to do the six world majors with Sports Tours International seemed a structured approach, as well as an opportunity to take part in some of the most iconic races on earth, and  as see some amazing cities on the way. I ran my first marathon with Sports Tours International  in New York in 2010, and despite vomiting and a fairly high degree of pain at mile 23, I felt a pretty good sense of achievement at the end of it. At that time, I thought I would only ever run one marathon. I thought the story would end there. However, it was a

STUDENTS & STAFF GET THEIR RUNNING SHOES ON!

The University of Salford, one of the world’s most international universities, and the UKFast City of Salford 10k are now Official Partners for the 2017 10k race, in what is their 50 th year anniversary. Kevin Harmer, UK Events & Sponsorship Manager said : “We here at Sports Tours International are delighted to be working with the University of Salford this year in what is a year of great celebration for them. Both staff and students alike will be getting involved as runners, volunteers and via work experience on the race day. We are really pleased to engage with another of Salford’s key organisations to further develop the ‘Salford feel’ of the race and to help the Universities students to raise money for charity whist keeping healthy and active”. The event takes place on Sunday September 3 rd when over 3,500 runners are expected to take on the 10k route which takes in some of the most iconic landmarks in the area including MediaCityUK, Imperial War Museum, Coronation Street

ETAPE DU TOUR MAY TRAINING

Image
Welcome to the fifth of our six-month series of articles supporting you in your training and preparation for the 2017 Etape du Tour. This is the month things start to get drawn together and more specialised to your individual Etape.  At the start of this month you want to be doing a detailed technical plan to focus your training to meet your individual demands over this final event specific training phase.  Your training aims to consolidate what you achieved in April and continue through to the taper phase in June/July.  Hopefully you have one or two sportives planned over the next 6 weeks to help you test out your event day nutrition / kit selections to enable you to get “ smart and sharp”. Goals: Perform the technical planning process Retest your CP20 to reset training zones Check your travel plans and pre-departure admin. Technical planning Ensure you have an outcome goal in mind, whether it is to finish your first sportive or to set a specific time.  This will help you foc

Our happy customers – April

Image
We’ve been flat out on the Spring Classics and the marathon calendar has ticked off some big races this month. Check out our clients having fun at Paris Marathon, Boston Marathon, Tour of Flanders, Paris – Roubaix and Liege Bastogne Liege Paris Marathon    Boston Marathon   Tour of Flanders and Spring Classics week   Paris Roubaix   Liege Bastogne Liege   The post Our happy customers – April appeared first on Sports Tours . from Sports Tours http://ift.tt/2oFz8KW via IFTTT

Spring Classics Paparazzi 2017

Image
So it’s clear we aren’t Professional Photographers, but we still managed to snap our heroes! We always get you close to the action.               The post Spring Classics Paparazzi 2017 appeared first on Sports Tours . from Sports Tours http://ift.tt/2oFzAsA via IFTTT

Our marathon heroes

Image
Karen, Candice and Julie from our office all successfully completed the London Marathon this year. Candice and Julie have shared their experiences with us below: Candice – First time Marathoner  Candice’s story is testament to her commitment to following a good training plan and as a result being rewarded on race day. “London was my first ever Marathon! For the last 16 weeks I have been training with my friend/work colleague Karen we have been on such a journey. Each Sunday we would meet for our weekly big run although some runs would go to plan others however did not, one of my most memorable moments has to be our last 20 miler where we set off to Timperley and end up getting lost and arriving into Manchester City Centre and having to get a taxi back to our cars!! Race day seem to arrive so fast and although you train hard nothing can prepare you for the emotions you go through that last week leading up to the race I went from being excited, to anxious and then scared there was