Heros and Speedos!

Hello blog lovers.

What a brilliant club run it was tonight!  The Hero to Zero group run and group 1 run!  Let me tell you all about them. 

Hero to Zero Group

All my regular helpers are busy training very hard for marathons or recuperating from doing a marathon, as Peter is.  He completed the Rome marathon at the weekend!  So it was just me with my regular members of Hero group.  So I was going to have to get inventive to keep all the group together.  Usually we usually split into three little sections, fast runners, middle runners and slower runners.  Unless I am going to run up and down like a demented puppy that has just got out of the bath, then my strategy for keeping us all together is going to have to bring my whistle into play.

We all started out just fine, and then the split started.  The faster runners started getting ahead.  I used my whistle and with that, they all came running back towards me until they got to just in front of me and then carried on running up the road again.

We got to the memorial hall and had a little break.  That's when I came up with my new rule.  when I whistle, they all had to come back with a bit of  a sprint and high five me and anyone else at the back! While who ever was at the back had to sprint faster to meet them!  There is no getting away from speed work even if you're at the back!

That was going to be the nature of the run.  I used the not so easy route today as well, just to keep it challenging, the undulating route up from Hazlemere, Great Thrift and Woodside (I think that is what the last bit of the road is called) This is how I described todays route in a text message to group 0 runners.  I do try and give them positive things to think about.

Quote

Who is looking forward to tomorrows Hero group run!! We shall be passing the delightful Turkish quarter as we run by the kebab shop, a quick gander at the fantastic shopping Pettswood has to offer (Morrisons). Then under the rail bridge to head for the local watering hole, The Daylight, all though no stopping there.  Then on for the last of the undulating landscape (ok, the long road) back to the park?

Unquote.

Now who wouldn't want to come on a run like that?  Let me tell you that all the ladies today were fantastic Heroes and they met the challenge of the interval running that I had sprung on them with a smile.  We did have a faller, on the very last part of the route back to the rec, but after a sit down, and rest she was fine to walk back the rest of the way!   I don't think there is one runner in our club that hasn't fallen yet!  It's like gaining a badge of honour!

Here is the geeky stats for Group 0

Group 1

And now for the speedo part of my blog.  I bet you are all waiting to see someone in a pair of speedos, right?  Well sorry to disappoint, but speedo is to do with the pace!  Sherry was taking group 1 today.  When I found out that she was I thought, "Great, its bound to be a nice easy route, fairly easy paced, as she ran 20 miles on Sunday!"  Well that was my thinking, and probably hoping!

She told us the route, I heard the first part ok, Southborough Lane, and then for some reason I didn't hear much more.  But I was thinking, "Well, that's all down hill, and then its a long slog back up again,"  But the Southborough lane part of todays route was just a small section of it.

What she had actually done was taken a route that we had done before and just decided to do it in reverse!  Although I was at the back,  I was at least running all the time, only stopping when the 'catch up' stop was happening.  At the first catchup point Sherry said, "Oo sorry I seem to be running a little fast than the usual pace"  I was totally amazed that she could run at that pace, after the 20 miles an all!  She seem to run effortlessly along the road and up the hills, chatting as she waited for me at each catchup.

It was when were running along Crofton road that I suddenly realised that we will be running up 'Cardiac Hill'.  So much for me thinking that this was going to be a nice easy flat, laid back sort of run!  These PWR's are made of stern stuff you know! 20 miles, is nothing!  Even another one of the ladies in our group, Jane,  did the same 20 miles at the weekend and she was up the front looking brilliant!  Both Sherry and Jane are doing the VLM. 

But anyway, after walking up said nasty hill, I didn't walk anymore after that,  I just kept plodding away!  I think those solo runs has started to pay off at last!  Just got to keep it going.  After all, I now have a race booked!  It's a half marathon in....wait for it.......May 17th!  I am so looking forward to it.

A great run today, and I thoughrouly enjoyed it!  Here is geeky stats for Group 1.