News
This weekend saw Adam compete in the Race to the King, a 53.5 mile Ultra marathon. The race started at the Slindon
Estate near Arundel, headed along the South Down way and finished at Winchester Cathedral.
Adam ran superbly and finished in an amazing 9h21m21s....tha's 10:21 a mile for 53 miles! He also finished in 17th position (out of nearly 700 runners). He had some amazing support from his Fit Club family along the way. Thank you to everyone who came out to cheer him on!!
At parkrun this week we had 8 runners, with 78 of you at Winchester and myself at Cheltenham. With conditions great for running there were some more amazing results with PB's for Philippa (26:29), Alex (26:56) and Simon (30:06). We also had fastest times of the year for Glenna and Mike H.
Consolidated results for everyone registered as a Fit Club Runner can be found here - http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=26888&eventdate=2018-06-23
This week saw the Runners return to the North Walls Rec for a classic 12 x 1 minute interval session along the river. It was a beautiful evening for running and yet again we mixed hard work with fun. We welcomed more new members as The Fit Club Runners continue to go from strength to strength.
This week we have write-up from the Eastleigh, Alresford and Richmond 10ks. Thank you to Simon, Philippa, Rachel and Glenna for their contributions.
Eastleigh 10k - by Simon Boyden
Back in mid December after I
had recently lost 3 stone by a combination of exercise and diet and, determined
not to put any weight on over the Christmas break I decided to go for a
run....and regretted it 200 yards into a my planned 4 km route. Disappointed at
my lack of ability I set myself the challenge of completing without stopping
the upcoming Eastleigh 10k some 3
months later.
Training progressed, the times for the 4 km
trail that I take the dog for her morning walk tumbled from 33minutes (I know!)
down to just over 25 minutes. All the training was done on my lonesome, which I
admit was hard. The weather was particularly cold and wet and there was this
nagging feeling that I needed a little guidance but if I’m honest I didn’t want
to join a ‘running club’ because I was built like a rugby player and feared
really struggling.
The original date for Eastleigh 10k was then
pushed back until June because of snow giving me further time to prepare
myself. I had recently joined Winchester Fit Club and had noticed the Thursday
evening running club which I eventually plucked up the courage to also join.
Best decision ever!
My initial fears were allayed, the group
welcomed and encouraged me and, although the last one to finish (expected) I
was learning and steadily improving....and losing weight!
The morning of the Eastleigh arrived early for
me. I woke at 2.50am with hay
fever! Then as I lay in bed the nerves and excitement kicked in and I never
managed to get back off to sleep.
Fortunately the adrenaline kicked in as we
parked the car and I received an encouraging text from Coach James as the start
time approached. The weather was dry with a pleasant running temperature of
about 15 degrees.
I positioned myself around the 65 minute marker
(Coach James had suggested a target time of 68 minutes) ready for the off! The
start was a bit strange, I had been expecting a klaxon but instead the people
in front just started running. Then, drama! 5 steps into the Eastleigh 10k, the
lady in front of me fell over! I tried to avoid her and found myself crouched
over her in a ’Twister’ position with people then running into me....not a
great start?
Think that the commotion at the start was
responsible for me going out a little faster than planned. 7 minutes/km was my
target and in was nearer to 6.15/km. I also lost the guy I was running with
which enabled me to run freely without pressure. I got into my rhythm and just
tried to enjoy the experience.
Spectators were clapping and hi-fiving the
runners and it actually became enjoyable plus here was also a little banter
amongst us participants. As the kilometres went by I continued to feel pretty
good. I did manage to see the faster runners as they approached the finish line
and caught a glimpse of Lynn as she motored along!
At around 7km I ‘attached’ myself to a group of
very brightly attired ladies who where just that little bit quicker than me and
set myself the challenge on staying with them to the finish....which I did with
the help of the Alexander Technique! Competing the course in 66.39 minutes,
tired but very happy to be under the target time and because I had jumped on
the scales that morning and had reached another milestone of losing 5 stone!
Just a really positive day and I wanted to thank
all the people at Running Club for their encouragement and making me feel so
welcome...in particularly Coach James.
Onwards and upwards now....and my next goal is
to get under 30 minutes at parkrun and the Hursley 10k in September.
Alresford 10km - by Rachel Mills
Having discussed running the Alresford 10km for a
while, I thought I had better actually sign up for it! Though I left it until a
week before to do so! I knew that a few Winchester Fit Club runners were due to
take part and as I suffer from ‘fear of missing out’, I signed up without
really considering the route of the run. I was suspicious that the run may well
be ‘undulating’, but not knowing Alresford very well thought it couldn’t be as
bad as the Winchester 10km! It is a fairly small scale race, with only 500
available places.
On the Sunday morning I set off for Alresford with
fellow Fit Clubber’s Anne and Philippa. We arrived in plenty of time, meeting
up with Anne’s friend Tracey who was also running. My suspicions about hills
were confirmed not long after collecting our race numbers when looking at the
route map on the wall with Tracey who warned me that kilometres 4 to 6 would be
hard work!
We met up with Alex, Simon, Catherine, Allan and Tom
and had a Fit Club warm up together, complete with ‘shooing the chickens’ –
just for you coach James! After watching the junior races, it was our turn…
Now, as much as I complain (often!) about hill
running, I was very relieved that Coach James had taught me how important hill
training is for building strength. Not to mention encouraging me all the times
that I feel I can’t do anymore! It was straight into running uphill from the
start at Arlebury Park up the high street of New Alresford. I found the first
3km particularly difficult. It takes me a while to get my breathing into a good
rhythm and I really was not enjoying myself! Every time I left a hill behind
there would be another ahead of me!
I kept going, and remembered what Tracey had said and
once I got to 6km I felt that I was doing reasonably well. Then came the final
and worst hill of all at 7km! Once I had got past this check point I suddenly
felt really strong and felt able to pick up the pace a little. I hadn’t
considered trying for a PB, but at the back of my mind I thought that it might
actually be possible. I continued to push myself on and when I spotted the 9km
marker I knew I was going to achieve a PB.
I was spurred on when I spotted the
finish line and could hear my fellow fit clubbers cheering me on. I even
managed a sprint finish for a final time of 56:15 – over 2 minutes faster than
my Winchester 10km time! Despite my hill hatred, I felt that my running might
be improving and felt that the weekly Thursday runner’s sessions are paying
off. Thank you to my fellow fit club runners for your support on the day, and
to James for your encouragement and belief in all of us.
Alresford 10km - by Philippa Gammie
To sum up Alresford 10k, it was...
- Small and sweet,
- Horribly hilly,
- Worse than Winchester,
All the same, awesome Alresford!
Alresford was dauntingly small in numbers but
the angst soon disappeared when we arrived and there was a real community vibe.
The Mcvities biscuit purchased from a tea stall at the beginning also helped
'ground' the event (thank you Anne)! However, I'm still unsure how I feel about
receiving my finishers t-shirt before I've completed the run but great that
someone had some faith!
It was a really tough run but somehow very
enjoyable. This was partly due to the beautiful country route, perfect weather
conditions but mainly down to the camaraderie of the WFC Runners! Although, all
different paces and therefore don't complete the run together, you can't beat
the pre and post run chat!
Coach James was very much there in spirit; my
internal running dialogue was continually thanking him and WFC for High Street
Hell training!
Finally finished, the Watercress smoothie (and
a PB) topped off a great morning and I definitely recommend Alresford 10k!
Richmond 10k - by Glenna Greenslade
My son Daniel invited us for the weekend for Father’s Day
and there is a 10k run on Sunday morning! Becky, my daughter-in-law said she
would like to run it too so Dave took our two granddaughters to spectate.
Daniel had planned to run as a guide with his VI friend
Simon who is also partially deaf as well.
His parents were away and he sometimes has trouble hearing his phone
alarm. He puts it on vibrate under his pillow, however if the phone falls on
the floor then he doesn’t hear it and this morning it did not wake him.
Becky and I set off on our bikes to the start, where we met
up with Daniel, picked up our numbers and made our way to the starting point
with Daniel edging nearer to the front.
I knew my running wasn’t up to trying for a10k PB but I did this run in
2016 with a time of 1:01:02 so my goal was to try and finish within the hour.
The run is a flat two-lap course with an out and back to the
start and finish, a large portion of the course is run along the scenic Thames
towpath with the chance to enjoy the view of the river, Teddington Lock and Ham
House, it also takes in part of the Kingston parkrun route where Dave was
waiting with the girls to cheer us on.
The weather conditions were good and the event was well
organised with plenty of marshals on the route and water available at 3 and
6km.
Daniel came in with a time of 40:42, Becky 52:47 and I was
pleased to be within the hour at 59:25.
Winchester Half Marathon - Volunteers needed!
Some of you may have seen the post by Lynn on the WhatsApp group about the Winchester Half Marathon needing volunteers for this year's race. The race is on Sunday 23rd September and needs over 300 volunteers to be successful.
By volunteering you get free entry into next year's race.
If you are interested please follow this link: http://winchesterhalf.co.uk/get-involved/win-city-marshal/
Here is an updated race calendar. If you have any others that you wish to add, please let me know!
Baccus Marathon and Half – 9th September
The Lake Run, Andover 10km and 5km – 16th Septembver
Winchester Half Marathon – 23rd September
Cardiff Half – 7th October
Hayling 10- 4th November 2018
http://www.havantac.co.uk/hayling-10/
Gosport Half - 18th November
Victory 5 - 2nd December 2018
Stubbington 10km - 13th January 2019
Ryde 10 - 3rd February 2019
Fleet Half - 17th March 2019
Eastleigh 10K - 17th March 2019
London Landmarks - 24th March 2019
Salisbury 10 - 14th April 2019 Alton 10 - 12th May 2019 Netley 10K - 19th May 2019 Hook 10K - 19th May 2019 Alresford 10K - 16th June 2019
Endure 24 - 14th-16th June 2019
Lordshill 10K - 23rd or 30th June 2019
As ever, if you have any submissions for the next blog then please send them through to WFCrunners@gmail.com
Coach James
***************
Kit pictures and prices
Following the initial flat intervals we headed off road and round Barton Meadows. This is a beautiful trail that I only discovered a few weeks ago. Here we did some hill reps. In past hill sessions we have been running up steep hills for short amount of times. This builds strength and endurance. Today we ran for longer up a slightly shallower gradient hill. This was aimed at replicating the hills that you are more likely to see on race day. The next section of the session was therefore 4 x 1m30sec hill reps with a jog recovery back down the hill. 
After completing the final rep we gathered for the obligatory group photos in front of the rolling fields of Barton Meadow before heading back to Courtney Road. Here we did one last 1m 30sec rep down the road to round off the session and headed back down the hill to the North Walls rec for a cool down stretch and a chat about puddings.
Following the session a few of the Runner’s headed off to the pub to catch the end of the England Belgium game. The other runners headed home to watch Love Island. I headed home to write this! 
