Beginners Week 7 - They're coming!

Hello blog readers.

They're here!

On Saturday our beginners met up in the rec.  I think it must have been the coldest morning so far!  It didn't stop all of our beginners from getting up early to meet their running buddies in the rec.  I was looking forward to it too, I just love doing this!

Waling warm up

The session was running for 8 minutes and walking for 2 minutes.  I knew they could do it.  I think most of them have been doing homework at least twice a week too.  We have a very dedicated group this time, with only just a few people dropped out.

I took them through their drills and walks and then the running.  I just flipping love it!  I try to talk to most people, from the slower runners to the faster runners.  I have a technique for chatting to the the faster runners, I run in the opposite direction from the group and start a conversation with the faster runners before we meet and then make sure it's finished just as they get to far away from me!  Simples!

Only another two weeks to go before the parkrun graduation, which means that next Saturday we are out on the streets of Petts Wood!  I must make sure that I am as fit as I can get by then (I know, how is that going to happen?) That cheeky little hill is always a great challenge!  I can't wait!  I am sure that this group will embrace the challenge and will come to love (or appreciate) hills.  I am still waiting on the 'love of hills' to kick in!

Not Long now

Lou took some brill pictures and I took  one or two as well.  And SnapperHannah, well she did that first picture!

Athletes will soon be here!!!!

Hunting The Mojo At The Track

Hello readers.

I am on the case, the case that is my elusive mojo.  It appears when I am leading group 1 and on Saturday mornings when I am with the beginners.  I am hoping Mojo is at the track, with PhysioMiketheMod or Jane.  I know it's around, I just got to find it and keep it!

SnapperHannah had asked me about track and if it was for just the fast runners!  Well, she had it half right. The 'runners' bit was totally spot on!  Track with PMtM and Jane is for all runners, all us at PWR are runners!  So we made a plan, I would pick up SnapperHannah just in case 'mojo' was no where to be seen (like last week).  I drove along to pick her up and went to the track with a very happy smiley Hannah.  I feel sure she will be smiling after the session too!

Thankfully tonights session included a whistle, no counting up the seconds, no trying to guess how many laps I had done (apparently that's next week!) There were a few missing people that usually do track but they were not here.......there's a small matter of the Dublin Marathon which a few of our members are doing or going to support! It does mean that there is a lot more chance of getting noticed! Hmmm, lack of mojo I was hoping the newbie Tracksters would get noticed more! 

The session was to the whistle, it was run for 90 sec, the rest for 90 sec, run for 90 sec, rest for 60, run for 90 sec, rest for 30, run for 90 sec rest for 15 sec, then run for 90 sec. We had another 90 sec rest and the we did the whole thing again!  Sounds good doesn't it! But first we had the warm up to do.  All the faster runners were to run nice and east for 10 minutes, me and the 27+  parkrunners would be doing some other stuff with Jane!  Drills, high knees and all sorts of other stuff, for our ten minutes of warm up.

We all joined together again at the start line, ready to do this 'what looks easy on paper' session.  Well to me it really does look easy on paper.  I mean running for 90 seconds, 90 seconds that 1.30 minutes.  And all we have to do is do that 5 times......the running for 90 minutes that is.  I always tell myself that it looks easy on paper, but of course there is the little matter of pushing out a little bit harder than you would be doing a parkrun!  On each of the 90 sec runs, what with that and the diminishing rest time it really isn't that easy! Shhhh, don't tell mojo!

The first 90 sec run I of course ran out to hard and fast!  I know, I know....those two words do not generally go to describing me and my running.....but there you go!  But I did, I took a look at my Garmin and I am pretty sure the first number in the pace window was an 8!! No, no, no, way to fast.  I slowed down to just over my parkrun pace and watched for the rest of the 90 seconds everybody else just disappear in front of me!  Including SnapperHannah and the other two newbie, Jane and Paula.  I think I managed to capture Paula here with Hannah in black.

The first half of the session seemed to go by pretty quickly, with me just concentrating on my pace, not to fast (he he he, it seems funny to be saying that about myself) but not too slow either.  I had to keep it above my parkrun though. By the end of the first half I was looking forward to the longer rest before we do it all again.

I believe I kept my pace above my usual plodding along on the first part, now was the harder part, repeating it all.  This is where I start talking to myself again. "Come on you lazy bloody mare"  and I even think I added a "That'll teach ya for eating/drinking/smoking"  I am feeling the effects, but I was determined to try and keep up the 'faster than usual' pace.  It is so easy to slip back into the old ways, but I am so blimmin grateful that I have PWR.  I feel sure that if I was just a lone runner then.....well.....then there wouldn't be hundreds of blogs so far!  I would have given up in 2010!  I will get back my fitness, I will!  Mojo please stay around!

The second set of the session was nearly over, I was really feeling it, the hard work that I had put in.  I had to nag myself to keep on going.  I wanted to stop running but I didn't, I wanted to quit but I didn't, I wanted to walk on the running sections but I didn't!  It was tough but I did it!

It would still be good if I had my mojo though, I could do some solo running with my lovely ear phones!

Anyway, here's some snaps we took at the track, WE DID IT HANNAH 

Me and Hannah just after it's all done

An action shot....it had to be done

This is Hannah, my photographic skills
are not brilliant!

But I did get a rather smiley Hannah!

And of course geeky stats

Club Running - K9 route!

Hello blog readers.

It was my turn to lead group 1 this week.  I do love leading, I can put as many walking breaks in as I feel!  Oo, is that being lazy or what?  But I really do love to lead, to put group 1 through their paces, encourage them to push just that tiny bit more.  It's great fun.

The weather couldn't be more perfect for an October evening.  It had been a lovely day out and the evening was looking just as lovely.  I don't know if I have mentioned this, but my running Mojo has kind of been hiding again.  I don't know what I do with that darn thing.  I do know one thing, it hangs around the beginners a lot and it appears when I am leading, just for a very short while!  I don't know what to make of it!

Anyway, with the Mojo just making a slight appearance at Tuesday club run I had decided to do a bit of a hilly route!  Well, there is the flat route, but with the mojo just showing then hills were the thing to do.  When I gave out my route I said there was a hill.  I didn't lie, I said there was a hill, it was a hill that led to another hill, and just another small, tiny insignificant one after that!  If mojo stays around after that then I could be running marathons next year!......well, if I put my name down......oh darn it....am I too late already?

To be honest it felt really good running on Tuesday,  I am not sure if it's because I have lost the few pounds that I gained over eating and drinking for the past few months.....and given up the fags.....again...... but I really did enjoy it, even getting up Birchwood Road.  I heard in the ranks that they thought I was running a little faster than it was last week, but when I checked my Garmin it was all ok.  Sometimes other peoples mojo leave them for a while, leaving this void which can be filled with, doubt, laziness, food and drink (that was me) or all of that a more (to be fair, that was me too!) I just need to stay focused, keep on running, and thankfully that is something that hasn't stopped.  It may be less running, on less days, but I am still running!  Blimey, I can't imagine what I would like like if I didn't have my running!

After that first hill, we turned left, crossed over the road and ran down the road with the house with the lovely chandelier!  Oh my goodness, it really is a lovely chandelier. Tearing myself from there we ran down to the small round about.  We took a little breather here because this is where there is another one of those tiny little inclines!  I said that the athletes I had with me, by the way, there were 11 of us that evening!  Plus we had a couple of injury/illness returnees back into the fold!  Oh my goodness, this is what group 1 is all about!  When you have had an injury or been ill and you want to come back to running, for goodness sake, do not go up to your usual group!  It can be just so demoralising.  If you run in a lower group and find it comfortable or even easy, then that just gives you an instant boost!   So Jane and Julie were both sweepers for me, bringing up the rear, making sure that no one was left behind.  And also feeling their feet, see how it all goes!  I had some of the usual group 1's there too as well as newbie!

We turned right once at the top of that hill which led to.....another smaller hill with a roundabout at the top of it.  I left them all run at their own pace till they got there.  We had a little break and then....some hill reps.  When I say some, I meant twice. because after the round about was another tiny little hill, great for doing some hill reps.  Not every one did it though, which is just fine, you got to keep running fun!

But after this last hill we were at the top of our route again, which meant that it was all either flat or down hill till we got to Crossways!  A great run and the weather was perfect again!  Is this really October!  When we got to the rec I noticed that we still have a tiny bit left to do before we got to the 3 miles mark, so I had to run all the way in the park and half way to the other gate!

Geeky stats and as you can see.....it's the K9 route!

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Beginners Week 5 - repeated

Hello blog readers.

Last Saturday was our 'Just stand back and breathe' week.  Because of the school half term holidays some people go away, or just have busy lives during the holidays.  So we take a break, but in order to keep things going, those of us without kids or who don't go away we still meet at the rec. Just so that no one feels like they will suddenly feel left alone and left to fend for themselves!  Mind you, the people we have left now, they will never feel like that!  They are all so dedicated now, there is no stopping them!

I wasn't taking the lead neither was RefMichael, we had our PhysioMikeTheMod doing it.  I love it when he gets in there.  It's a great reminder for me and for the other PWR's that come along to help!  Each time something else sticks in my mind to help me we my own running..........mind you, in the meantime something gets lost in the fog that is my brain! 

I know that I have been lacking in my running lately, as well as totally pigging out and drinking way to much.  All the bad things that you can think of I have been doing.  I have been trying to get back on track.  Helping with the beginners always gives me a much needed boost, I feel sure that my 'mojo' is somewhere with these guys.

We have one more session in the rec and then the following week we shall be out on the roads!  That's always fun and a little bit more harder work......but I won't talk about that now.......shhhhhh some of the beginners read this!

PhysioMikeTheMod had them thinking about running technique and he showed them some ways that they can run more efficiently, from toddling like a toddler to running like a zombie!  It's try, you had to be there to understand it!  I tried to get some nice pictures for the zombie running, but maybe I will try on Saturday to do it! Even if I get them to do the Zombie running for just one shot!  Very apt for this time of the year!

Here are some pictures that I did take and some that Lou took as well!  She managed to get the zombie running!

Beginners Week 4

Hello blog readers.

Today was week 4 for our Autumn beginners course.  We still have quite a full company of runners!  It's amazing, I just love it.  I am sure I have said that before!  But I really do.  Just watching them as they start to realise they are running!  Pat, if you have read my previous blog, was walking today, I think I may have broke her on Wednesday!  Aches and pains do happen, aches are usually the good ones, it's just muscles complaining about what you are asking them to do! Because you have never asked it of them before now of course you will ache a bit.  But doing the warm ups and the cool down stretches will limit a lot of that, which is why it is important to always do those.

Pains are different, it's a warning, you should deffo listen to warnings. I am no in the school or 'no pain, no gain'!  I don't like it!  If there is pain you should stop, rest up, then begin again.  So having said all of that, I am sure I haven't frighten you all! 

Watching and talking to some of the beginners today was very inspiring.  When the whistle blew the the reactions and comments where sheer pleasure!  Pleasure because it was finished and pleasure because that actually did it!  I know there are some there that doubted they could run for even that first minute, yet they did it it, five times!  Today, they ran for 4 minutes, well, the last rep was for 5 minutes, and a few extra seconds!  But that was the best reactions from the runners, "We did it" "I did it" All said with a huge smile and almost a fist punch in the air!  Seriously, just fantastic to see their faces when the realise they can achieve their goals! 

The hardest part of runner is putting on your running shoes!  That's what I said to them in the beginning, and it really is.  When you look outside your window and see that it's not the brightest of days, or if there is rain about, it's so easy to roll over and think "I'll go when it's brighter or stopped raining"  I have so enjoyed running around the green with our beginners twice a year, because twice a year I get inspired by them. It does me a power of good!  What a great running club I belong to!

We did some good running today, we have faster runners and slower runners, and all those in between.  I do get to chat to some of the faster runners, I have to run in the opposite direction to them though and start my conversations with them from about ten feet away!  But that's why it's brilliant to have all the other PWR's that come along to help out.  See what I mean about being a great club! The faster runners come along and encourage and help out!  I think most of them were also exactly where our beginners are now! 

I hope I have 'bigged' up my running club enough, oh and one more thing, we put on an awesome show once a year too.  One of the best 10k's for this time of the year!  It gets voted every year and we are always in the top ten list!  Why not come and join in, tomorrow, on the 7th October 2018, in the rec!  The race begins at 10:30, there are no on the day entries, but there is still lots of fun while watching the beginning and then watching them come in again!

See you all in the morning!

Post Holiday Homework Run!

Hello blog readers.

Wednesday was the day that I returned from my holiday in Rhodes.  A beautiful place, fantastic hotel, lovely staff and an enormous amount of food to eat!  Not to mention the occasional beer, wine and cocktails!  As you can imagine I was a tad stuffed by the time a came back!  We also landed in the early hours of the morning, getting home by about 4 o'clock in the morning!  So, with that in mind you will forgive (hopefully) my slight mistakes as I took Pat through her paces Wednesday evening!

Pat had messaged me that if I was about on Wednesday evening then maybe I could put them all through their paces.  As it happened it was only Pat the could make the homework at 5 that night.  So it was going to be a rare 1 to 1 leading session.  I love these, she says with a wicked giggle and rapid eyebrow movements!

Just because there were only two of us didn't mean that we would fore go the delightful pre-walk and drills!  We have to keep up standards!  And besides, we were waiting for our friend to turn up as well, she walks around the green while running homework takes place!  Then it was time to do the running.  It was three minutes of running and three minutes of walking.  The same amount of each. After the next session the running sections will be longer than the walking!  Now, you know when you get chatting, you're having a great time, listening, chatting, laughing, catching up? Well that was how it was when we were doing the first rep, just chatting and chatting!  Pat then asked me how long there was left, I checked my garmin it said that we had 1.20 minutes left.  Pat couldn't believe it, but I checked it and there it was! But then when I re-checked it, I realised that we actually had just under a minute left of the WALKING section left!  I chose not to share that with her at that precise moment, I thought I would wait until we finished the running. 

Well when I told her that we had just ran for 6 minutes, I don't think she could quite believe it! "No!" she said.  "...um, yeah, soz.....but I was chatting"  I think she was secretly impressed with herself for that!  Anyway, after that I made sure that I kept an eye on my watch, but then I couldn't quite figure out the figures, for when we had completed what I thought was four runs, which included that double in the beginning, I said "just one more to do"  For some reason Pat was unsure, but, I did the maths, and we should have been running for 30 minutes, right!  Well, actually I was wrong, so we ended up doing 6 reps!  It's all good! Right!?

We finished with our usual stretches which our friend Janet joined in with.  Even though she is not running along with us, she is out walking and talking to all the dog walkers that she meets.  And it's good that she goes along with the others to 'oversee' the homework.  She says "It's an extra walk that she wouldn't have done before"  All forms of exercise is good!

So the geeky stats for this run, as you can see definitely 18 minutes of running!  That's just brilliant!

Beginners Week 2

Hello blog readers.

Yesterday was the second week of the beginners autumn course.  And it looked like it was a full house with yet more people starting!  Oh I do love, love, love doing these courses with all the new people that want to improve their health and fitness.

There are all sorts of people that turn up to our course, as PastorPaul said today at church, "There are fast runners, little runners, older runners", he said that last one while looking at his wife, she has come along too!  I expect she will get him back later for that!  But it is true, as long as people are as fit as they can be, maybe even check in with the docs to let them know what they are planning to do, then it's all good.  For a start, we don't speed off, we do everything slowly slowly, building it up just a minute at a time while people get used to it!  Encouraging them to do homework too, so they are not just doing it once a week.  It really does help, it gets your lungs working,  your legs working,  work on the breathing as you are running!

I took them through the walking,

This is the walking bit.

the drills and then the running.  It's interesting listening to all the budding athletes as they try and convince themselves that they 'can't do it' and then they are thrilled to bits when they find that the 'can do it!'  The great thing about the beginners course is that nearly all the people that turn up are complete beginners with only a few people that just need a bit of confidence building getting back into running.  Because everybody is virtually starting out from scratch everybody is feeling and thinking the same thing.  Everyone will be growing in confidence at the same time and so help each other along as we run around the rec.  When we had finished the session and were stretching out, I believe everyone had a smile on their face!  Honest, I am not joking!  I think this autumn group will all be getting to Normans park in a few weeks time!

This is the running bit

I think I managed to remember everything this time, although again, I forgot to thank the wonderful PWR's who turn up each week to help out with this course.  They truly are invaluable.  I managed to run just over a mile and a half, talking to people and keeping an eye on my watch, well I didn't want to go over the 2 minutes of running..........or did I!

I thoroughly enjoyed week 2 and look forward to the next time I am running with them all!