Beginners Week 8 - Final Day!

Hello blog lovers!

So yesterday was the very last time that we will be meeting our beginners on a Saturday at the rec.......and I can't run with them!  I was just so disappointed to not be running with them but I still went along.  If I can't run with them at least I will be able to walk around the rec for first, and then just watch them run out and then run back in!  You see, I hurt my back!  After all the activities I do, running half marathon, helping out at the water station at mile four on the Virgin London Marathon last Sunday, and standing around on trains, pushing wheel chairs....how did I hurt my back!?  Putting my socks on!  I know!  It's safer to go bare foot!

So I turned up to see nearly 40 runners for the final training session.  It's all done now,  there will be no more for these spring beginners.  The next time we all meet will be at Normans Park parkrun, next Saturday to do our free timed 5k!  We had about 8 PWR's with us, some have been here every week and have been running and watching them all achieve what they thought they couldn't!

So before we even started with the brisk walk around ZippySherry spoke about what's going to happen next week and what time we will be meeting up.  By the way, we shall be meeting up about 8:30 in the car park of  Normans Park, Bromley common entrance! That received a huge gasp, I could hear them all, '08:30, my goodness that's early' was the buzz going around!  But Sherry explained that parkrun starts promptly at 09:00 and we need to get organised first! And then she said what our session is going to be today, 14 minutes for walking around with 2 minutes of walking, times twice!  Do you know, there was not one gasp!  Our runners that are here know that they can do it!  There was no 'So what happened to 12 minutes' or 'Can we not just jump to 13 minutes' Nope, they all just accepted it because they knew they could do it!

I walked around with them as they did a brisk two laps of the rec and then ZippySherry did the warm up drills! And then the running started.  I sat down on the bench, and I collected house keys, car keys and I became 'cloakroom manager' while they all started running around the green and then out onto the roads.  I started up my garmin when they started running just so that I knew when they would be coming back into the rec.  Let me tell you, sitting around for half an hour seems a lot longer than running around for half an hour!  I was getting itchy feet, I was just so wanting to be able to run with them.  But rest and gentle movement is what is needed for me and I shall just have to be patient!

It was good to see them running back after half not only that but running strong! Some of them had done the loop 3 times before getting back to the rec, others had done it twice!  Truly amazing.  One of the runners came and showed me his phone with his activity app opened on it "Whats that in kilometres?" he said to me.  I looked at his phone and it said 3.12 miles, "That's 5k" I said to him!  Well the look on his face was magic and he just realised that he had ran a parkrun in the half hour or so they were out!  Thrilled to pieces!  I felt proud for him, and for all of them that were coming through the gate, Grace and Ali and Claudia, Tracy, Shalini are just some of the names that I can recall (my memory is like swiss cheese!)  They all looked pleased that they completed the course!  I was a bit overwhelmed myself!  Thinking about my own journey of how I got to here!  What out for blog to come about about that!

When everyone had come back to the rec and the time had run out, although ZippySherry was doing a 'Donna' but ignoring the clock!  But she was doing it deliberately, trying to get them to 15 minutes!  They would have actually have done it!  They all looked so comfortable!  Really, honestly, so comfortable, even though they said it was tough!  Oh my goodness I just can't wait for next week when they all run parkrun, at the own pace, doing their own thing, running for as much as they want to get around!  I wonder how many will run it non-stop! I should imagine they all will have a go, and will probably do it!  That two minutes walk we throw in the middle, its really not needed, it's just there like a comfort blanket, to know that there is a walk there!   I know on my runs I have lots of comfort blankets!!

And so to the warm down stretches,  our spring beginners course comes to an end.  Graduation day is next Saturday at parkrun!  I can't wait!  I am just so excited!