One of the world's fastest ever 44-year-old 10km runners may have swapped his running kit for swimming trunks, clocking an impressive 68 minute for a recent 5km open water race, but Clowne’s Andy Ward is still a firm believer in the power of heart rate training, be it on the road or in the water.

Incredibly, in the 18-month period from getting his heart rate zones set up at Dave Tune’s lactate testing clinic at Blizard Physiotherapy in September 2012, to hanging up his running shoes in the summer of 2014, he ran his UK V40 rankings-topping PBs off predominantly threshold sessions.

Yet during that purple patch under Dave’s coaching wings, he ran the fifth fastest ever V40 10km at the Leeds Abbey Dash in 2013. His 29:57 result, aged 44, is ranked behind just four athletes in the whole of the UK - including the great Mike McLeod - all of whom were three to four years younger when they ran just seconds faster in the preceding decades.

The popular Derbyshire gardener credits the 70 mile a week training blocks for his success, the majority of which was run in his lactate threshold heart rate zone. The veteran distance legend’s correct zones were set during his tests at the Blizard clinic, and then applied to his new training programme.



Crucially though, the man who Dave once described as a “28 minute 10km runner in a 44-year-old body”, based on his lactate test readings, brought his threshold pace down from an already sprightly 5.50min/mile pace to an impressive 5 minute a mile speed over the course of those 18 months.

Cruelly, a nerve injury put paid to his ambitions to break further world records in his impending new V45 category, when, in the summer of 2014, Andy discovered a love of open water swimming, and, almost inevitably for this high achieving family man, an innate talent too.

However, he is in no doubt that he wouldn’t have broken the 30 minute barrier for 10km if he hadn’t have teamed up with his old time racing rival when he did. The pair met in their early twenties when they represented the North of England for the first time in a Welsh 10km, and have remained friends ever since.

“I had enjoyed running in my early twenties, peaking with a low 30-minute 10km before taking a decade off to bring up our two children,” he explains. “It wasn’t until I hit my 35th birthday that I started to race again, and by 2012 I was back to my best, but couldn’t progress any further.”



Any runner worth their salt will understand the importance of marginal gains at this level of elite competition, when the body is agonisingly close to its physical limits of power and speed, but clever changes to a runner’s schedule offering the potential to push those boundaries back even further are difficult to attain.

He continues: “It was after I had run 30:31 at the Wilne 10km in September 2012 that Dave invited me to find out what my potential was by means of a lactate test, and the results were surprising. I had always thought I was strong but just not fast enough, but the test proved exactly the opposite.

“I had the speed to run a sub-30 minute 10km but Dave showed me that I just wasn't strong enough, and, as that was my target, I was very open minded to anything that might help me.

“From that point onwards, my mileage stayed the same, covering 70 miles a week, but I found big blocks of threshold running was what served me best, and Dave still has the data to prove they made the difference. As mentioned earlier, I did very few interval sessions, with the best ones on the treadmill - they are really hard work!”

Interestingly, the number one ranked V40 in 2012 for 5000m with his 14:45 result, also topping the veteran league tables in 2012 and 2013 with his 24:37 and 24:44 5 mile clockings, highlights the 2014 National Cross Country Championships race as one of his best ever performances.

Andy finished 17th in the muddy quagmire of Nottingham’s Wollaton Park, adding weight to his race selection by explaining “the national can make good runners look very ordinary!”

Although that race marked the beginning of the end of his running career, he is unequivocal about the importance of the athlete-coach relationship he had with Dave during that golden era.



“My time with Dave marked my best running years by far, not just because of the times I ran, but also the feeling of achievement I got from becoming stronger and more consistent,” he explains. “I was very lucky to be able to team up with him, as without that daily heart rate training, a sub-30 minute 10km would just not have happened. I think I also hold the Blizard record for the longest streak of threshold runs in a row - 19 on the trot - and often went 8 to 10 days running only at threshold pace, with the hardest run left until last!”

He is adamant though, that his ability to take regular rest days - and enjoy them - along with periodic running breaks - helped him maintain his impressive consistency, dipping under 30 minutes four times, as well as clocking up numerous victories over full time athletes more than half his age.

His coach and friend is proud to have helped the talented Clowne star reach such impressive heights in his running career. Dave said: ”Helping Andy reach his true potential ranks right up there with any achievement I have enjoyed in athletics, and it was a pleasure to work together in applying the lactate test rules to his training. The fact he is a top bloke as well helps!

“The first time we attempted a sub-30 minute 10km was at the Leeds Abbey Dash in 2012. We had tested him about 10 days before the race, and all data indicated the sub-30 was achievable. In fact, I was more confident than Andy was!”

Now Andy has turned to the open water for his adrenalin kicks, he is again benefitting from Blizard Physiotherapy & Sports Performance’s coaching expertise, but from a different expert in the form of GB age group triathlete and elite Team Blizard athlete and coach, Jono Frary.

He now takes advice on how to use his beloved heart rate zones in the water instead of on the road, following his swimming analysis session last summer with Jono near the Bircotes clinic.



Andy is full of praise for the service offered to swimmers of all ages and abilities: “The swimming video analysis teaches you so much, I just couldn't believe how bad my form was before! Jono is a great lad - nearly all the advice I have received from him is technical or tactical, along with stroke advice, which is vital.  I now swim five times a week, with four of those sessions completed early in the morning in the pool, and one swim outside in the reservoir. I cover between 8-10 miles a week in the water, along with two little runs, just to keep the legs from going altogether.

“Although my heart rate zones are lower in the pool, I also use threshold swim speed using the same principals as running. This was taken from my swim stats and heart rate during the swim analysis workshop, with a lot of focus on technique and consistency. If the technique is good and you swim enough, I promise you will get fit, although I do still have a lot to work on!” he adds.

Coach Frary concurs with the hard work element, but is in no doubt what Andy has achieved in just 12 months is just the beginning of a burgeoning new career: “Since last summer he has knocked a minute off his 400m time, dropping from 6:30 to sub-5:30 for the distance. He has progressed because he has put into practice the key drills and technique observations given to him after his swim analysis.

“Andy has put a lot of hard work in, and as a result has gone from someone who could just swim, to someone I would now class as a competitive open water swimmer.”



It remains to be seen if the 46-year-old can emulate his success on the roads in the water, but his recent third place in the Long Distance Swimmers’ Association 5km race in Nottingham suggests he has every chance of harnessing Blizard’s impressive coaching skills in his swimming career, just as he did in his running.

But for now, he is just happy to be competitive again, and with plans to race in the water once more in July, all eyes will be on this rare talent from Derbyshire to see what magic he can next conjure up, with his trusted heart rate zones at the core of his progress once again.