Swimming the Thames
The Financial TImes | Saturday 19, June 2010
You may not consider the Thames - busy with boats, murky in colour and home to more than the odd abandoned shopping trolley - to be the best place to take a wild swim, but I was willing to be shown otherwise by the author of a new guidebook to swimming the mighty river. Read on to find out how we fared when we went gently down the stream...
Stretch yourself
Cycling Plus | Monday 10, May 2010
Cyclists may be renowned for their supreme cardiovascular fitness, phenomenal power output and colossal thighs – but when it comes to flexibility, it has to be said that most of us are decidedly lacking. But does it matter? Sam Murphy finds out...
The fine art of transition
Sportsister | Friday 25, September 2009
Transition – the progression from one discipline to the next – is popularly described as triathlon’s fourth discipline. Read on for Sam Murphy’s guide to a successful transition.
Learning to run barefoot
Observer Sport Monthly | Sunday 07, February 2010
There's more to barefoot running than simply taking off your shoes. It takes time to get your feet fit for baring all and know-how to adapt your technique to the nuances of the barefoot strike. I unlaced my trainers and headed out with barefoot running coach, Rollo Mahon, to see how it's done...
'And for my next challenge...' Dunwich Dynamo
The Financial Times | Saturday 22, August 2009
'And for my next challenge...' is a series of articles describing various physical endeavours I've put myself through all in the name of training, and a good story. This piece is about the legendary Dunwich Dynamo - a unique night-time 116 mile bike ride from east London to the Suffolk coast. Find out how I fared...
Last-minute marathon training
The Financial Times | Saturday 06, February 2010
If you’re one of the 48,000 people who has a much sought-after place in this year’s Virgin London Marathon on April 25, your training should now be well under way. But if you haven’t put quite as many miles in the bank as you’d hoped – or worse still, haven’t even started yet, what are the options? Sam Murphy investigates...
'And for my next challenge...' The Swiss Alpine Marathon
The Financial Times | Saturday 05, September 2009
I don't quite know who - or what - persuaded me that running a marathon at 2000m altitude on a course which seems to consist only of vertiginous climbs and perilous descents was a good idea. But I signed up for the 2009 Swiss Alpine Marathon in Davos, trained like crazy and gave it my best. But was it good enough? Find out here...
How to enhance your running technique
The Financial Times | Saturday 05, December 2009
Running. It's as easy as putting one foot in front of the other, isn't it? Not according to a growing number of coaches and experts who believe that, like a tennis serve or the butterfly stroke, running is a skill that we need to acquire and fine-tune. Sam Murphy meets one of them, Malcolm Balk, a Canadian running coach and purveyor of the 'art of running.'
How to get fit outdoors
The Financial Times | Saturday 03, January 2009
Recent statistics from accountancy firm Deloitte show that gym membership is in decline in the UK. With the average monthly membership fee sitting at £46, it would be easy to blame the recession – but there is more to the gym exodus than a tightening of purse strings. Many exercisers have simply found better ways of working up a sweat outside the confines of a gym.
Testing times
The Guardian | Friday 23, October 2009
Sam Murphy is put through her paces with a new free online fitness test. But how accurate is it, and how does it compare to other methods of assessing aerobic performance? Read the full article to find out and put your own fitness to the test...
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