Bath University sports scientist and physicist Ken Bray noted recently in a talk about penalty shootouts that in the 2006 World Cup Owen Hargeaves was notable not just for being the only England player to score from the spot in the quarter- final shootout against Portugal. He also maintains that Hargreaves kick was the only properly taken kick among the England attempts.

Bray attributed this to Hargreaves playing for a German club (Bayern Munich) where such things are practiced. Bray says while penalty shootouts appear to many fans to be a lottery, they should in fact be a pure skill-based exercise. Given their predominance as a means to settling tied international tournaments, only by practice can teams hope to avoid chance outcomes and win.

There has been a widespread belief among many pundits in the UK that a professional footballer should not need to practice penalties. Bray argues, based on time of goalie reaction and various risk factors, it is best to aim for a slightly elevated kick wide to the right or left of the goalkeeper. It should take not much effort to perfect such a kick, but aiming in this zone removes the chance of goalie interception. The Germans, and Hargreaves, practice this. The rest of the England team, and some others don’t, leading to randomness. The Times, in an article today quotes England coach McClaren describing Hargreaves thus:-

“We need him,” McClaren said. “I always remember the first time he played in a World Cup warm-up match [in 2002] and Owen wanted me after the game to get the video out and go through it with him. That was very unusual. Most players you have to drag in. I thought, ‘This is a different breed, a different type of player here, a different mentality.’”

Continue reading ‘Hargreaves’ studiousness “not football”?’

The first time in recorded literature Paula Radcliffe and PG Wodehouse’s Bertie Wooster have not only shared a sentence (this one) but a headline (you clicked on it). What they have in common is cold bathing. I too have joined these honoured ranks. It feels like madness, and perhaps it induces it. But there are good reasons to follow the model, not least that Seneca (the champion stoic) favoured cold baths and long runs. Endurance training after all is a form of modern stoicism.

The Bath University Human Performance Centre advises the following regime:- alternating cold and warm showers for 30 seconds, three times each, as hot and cold as you can bear.

Sports psychologists have shown that cold showers not only reduce stress, but increase mental agility and toughness. The reason to adopt the contrast bathing approach above is to develop recovery. Using “intervals” of cold then hot is supposed to speed the removal of toxins from exercised muscles by stimulating blood flow. It certainly does that at this time year when the cold is particularly cold.

Today was a rest day, and I started using the recovery test in my Polar S625x running computer. For two weeks, I take a test three mornings each week to establish a baseline. This involves lying for a minute or so, usually pre-breakfast, in a quiet room with no distractions, and then standing for about the same. Thereafter I repeat the test a minimum of three times a week to measure, through variation in heart-rate during the “exercise” to determine to what extent the body has recovered. There is a total of eight different states from recovered to severely overtrained. The computer can even observe if my training is becoming too monotonous leading to a negative effect.

My resting heart rate was a bit variable this morning, but at its lowest (briefly 44 bpm) much lower than I have seen for a while.

Resting heart rate 48

Weight 71 kg

Mood

Rest day, no exercise

If you are offended by smileys and a fan of the “smiley” intervention on YouTube then don’t read on.

My blog is covered in smileys. I use only three ( and ) to indicate my prevailing daily mood. By monitoring mood, excercise scientists say, we can get an early indication of overtraining. Too many s and the signs are you should be resting more. Clearly my three-week virus involved an almost continuous line of s.

That mood modulates with exertion sounds terribly obvious, but we are not very good at responding to it. Since I started doing this, strangely enough, I’ve found it much easier to get over bad moods, and not let it affect work or other areas of life. With the appropriate rest, a lot of bad mood can be overcome. However, if you overstress yourself when you’re already in a bad mood, whether through doing too much or (in this case) overtraining, then things may go quickly from bad to worse.

I was very focused on staying within heart rate zone when running today. So when my heart rate computer says “no”, I slow right down. One area where I’ve been much more negligent is in making sure I get eight hours sleep. That also means looking at the watch, and doing what it says. Most nights the past few weeks I’ve been too close to only getting six hours. I’m going to try now to respond to the clock the same way I do to the heart rate monitor.

I also reckoned today that there are less than two and a half months to the Flora London Marathon. I’ve had to resume my long run at a lower level than pre-virus and build up again, leaving me short of training miles. This will make me much more vulnerable to the dreaded “wall”. That’s enough to put me in a bad mood. But on the positive side, I hoped that if everything else in training goes perfectly, I could still be in fantastic shape. And the long run, while necessary, does not alter the huge volume of mileage I will have put in over the past few months, and in the final build up.

Resting heart rate 49 bpm

Mood

Weight 72 kg

Total exercise energy burned 979 kcal (1:07 hours run, 10 mins bike)

First Ron Hill shows me up for my malingering, now England Rugby star Jonny Wilkinson kicks me into touch.

His remarkable return to the England team after four years on Saturday against Scotland was considered a questionable decision on the part of coach Brian Ashton. Incidently, Ashton is ex-Bath rugby coach, and the England squad practised at the university facilities last week.

Wilkinson’s performance, among others, clearly lifted England, who have suffered a string of defeats leading to the departure of Ashton’s predecessor.

The risk in playing Wilkinson, if there was one, paid off. The England team seems rejuvenated, and pundits have been bewildered by the stunning form Wilkinson has shown after such a long break.

Two things are striking from a recovery point of view. On radio today, his fitness advisor Steve Black at club Newcastle Falcons remarked that with each reinjury and setback, he recovered (motivation) more quickly.

In the Times today, Wilkinson also explained the role of practice in improving his game even when he was not able to train fully, or compete:-

“I may have made my comeback in an England shirt on Saturday but, as far as I was concerned, I hadn’t really been away. Every day that I’d been out of the game, I’d been training for the day when I was back in it. So I was absent, but not in some rugby wilderness. With every injury, I had a plan: different parts of my game or my physique that I could work on.

So I don’t see myself as particularly different to Jason Robinson. He’d been away and come back, too. I’ve spent my time working for and preparing for that day, so I could come in and thrive from the off.

So, yes, it was sort of a dream comeback. But it was also one that I’d thought about, prepared for. I am delighted it went quite well, but I can’t say that it was a surprise — as in a shock — because I’d just spent three years practising for it.”

In comparison over the past three weeks with a virus, I even gave up strengthening and stretching exercises, which I guess, in some light form, would not have hurt me.

As an aside, Friday’s run was premature. I mistakenly ran up a hill, albeit slowly, when I should have chosen a very flat course, or not exercised at all. Saturday and Sunday I felt weak again, so did not train.

Resting heart rate 51

Weight 72 kg

Mood

Exercise none, but reintroduced Nike Free barefoot simulating training shoes while walking to smooth possible return to training