WFC Runners: WFC Runners - Wickham 10km, parkrun and dealing with pre-race nerves

News

On Sunday we had Glenna racing at the Wickham 10km. It was an undulating road 10km with a big hill smack bang in the middle of the course. Storming round in just over an hour, it was another impressive run from the ever inspirational Glenna. Thank you also to Philippa G for her support and the photos!

This week saw more action at parkrun for the WFC Runners! There was a cracking turn out at Winchester with 11 WFC registered runners plus numerous other Fit Clubbers turning out for a 5km trot around the parkrun course.

I had a number of my family visiting to celebrate my sister Carly's 100th parkrun. Carly ran with her husband and 2 kids, my brother came over from Wales with his girlfriend and I was running with Elsie in the buggy. Carly had made loads of cake which made it easy to find the Fit Clubbers at the end of the run!!

There were some cracking performances with Tom getting an official PB of 20:52 having remembered his bar code this week! Sarah P also recorded a PB of 27:27. Well done both of you! Charlotte W matched her PB of 23:01 and Anna was only 1 second off of her PB with a great 24:41. Simon H and Rachel P were only 11 seconds off of their PBs. Glenna was once again over 75% age grading and Eric recorded his fastest time running with the buggy.

In addition we also had Lynn running at Oldbridge parkrun in Ireland. Lynn also ran a PB of 23:09 and was 3rd lady home. Superb running!

Fantastic running from everyone!

Here is the consolidated parkrun report for this week: http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=26888&eventdate=2018-08-18

With myself still enjoying some family time the session was once again led by Mike and Anna H, this time supported by Rachel M. I set the session, which was held at the North Walls rec and consisted of a short set of sprints, followed by a couple of longer reps, finishing up with another set of short sprints.

20 Fit Clubbers turned out for a cracking session in the summer sunshine.

Read all about it here: http://wfcrunners.blogspot.com/2018/08/wfc-runners-16th-august-training-session.html

Pre-Race Nerves

Here is a great article I found online regarding pre-race nerves...thought it may help those of you coming up to Autumn races!

Pre-race nerves. They affect the best of us, from Olympians to first-time parkrunners...
To an extent pre-race nerves are part and parcel of taking on a challenge that represents a huge achievement, but there are ways to keep them in check and stop the fear completely ruining your race day.

Let’s have a look first at how pre-race jitters can manifest themselves. They can largely be split into two camps: physical and mental.

The physical symptoms, know as somatic anxiety, can appear as stomach aches, headaches, muscle tension, muscle aches, increased heart rate, rapid breathing/hyperventilation, sweating, shaking or nausea.

The mental manifestations – cognitive anxiety – can range from fear, unease and repetitive negative thoughts through to difficulty concentrating and confusion.

By now you will probably have recognised one or two of these in yourself if you’ve suffered from jangling nerves before that gun goes off – and they may well have scuppered your hopes for a fast time.

A 2015 study published by European Academic Research found a link between anxiety and a lowering of performance in runners, but the experts also found that those who use coping strategies are able to reduce the impact of those pre-run wobbles on their overall performance.

So what can be done to stop those worries derailing your quest for a PB? Try these tips to flush out the fear.

Positive self-talk
This is a common trick many top athletes use to keep their nerves in check. Lots of research has been done in a wide range of sports to ascertain the benefits of giving yourself the right kind of pep-talk and, invariably, they’ve all concluded that it works.

So, what kind of stuff should you be saying to yourself? If you’ve trained well and have banked some long runs at your target pace, you should remind yourself of that, e.g. 'I’ve done this in training, I’ll do it again today.

And studies also show that self-talk centred on the process and outcome of what you’re about to do can have a great impact on your performance. So, try talking yourself through your race: 'I will stay strong and steady, I’ll control my pace and speed up going down every hill' and 'I will run the second half of the race faster than my first.'

Relaxation techniques
The start area before a race is not exactly the most calm, relaxing environment to hang around in. So try to take yourself away from the hubbub and give yourself a couple of minutes of quiet time.

Close your eyes, take long deep breaths and feel your heart rate lower as you conserve energy and focus on how much you’ll enjoy this run once you get going. A few minutes regulating your breathing and deliberately emptying your head can work wonders.

Visualisation
By picturing yourself breezing down the home straight or running along with a big smile on your face, you can actually melt those race day fears away. According to studies, “Visualisation techniques can help you feel more confident as you have already accomplished your goal in your mind. You will be less likely to have negative thoughts while running and if they do arise, you can use your positive image to overcome them.

So if you’re worried about an uphill section of the course, or have concerns about running in a large crowd if it’s your first big race, picture yourself enjoying those challenges and overcoming them, so when they arise you will have seen yourself conquering them already.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation
So far we’ve focused on techniques to calm your mind down, but there are also physical tricks to lowering your stress levels. Progressive Muscle Relaxation is the process of tightening then relaxing your key muscle groups

Doing this for a few seconds in each area of your arms, legs and core will enable you to pinpoint areas of muscle tension.

Go through this routine a few times until you start to notice a reduction in the tension of any troublesome areas.

Pre-race prep
One of the biggest – and most unnecessary – causes of pre-race nerves is a lack of preparation for what lays ahead. This doesn’t mean training, but having a practical plan for race day itself

Know how you are getting there, have your kit laid out and ready the night before, build in plenty of time to avoid being late and go through any instructions given to you by the organisers so you know where you need to be, how to drop your bag off, where the loos are and any race day registration steps you need to go through. That way there will be no unexpected surprises on the morning that could spike anxiety levels.

Finally…
Remember why you’re here! We run because we love it! Whatever the reason you took this incredible sport up, you’ve come so far as to WANT to pin a number on and take part in a race. Everyone else is there – just like you – to be a better version of themselves. So, smile, chat to other runners and remember this is supposed to be fun!

General Announcements

WFC parkrun Club

Winchester Fit Club Runners is set-up as a club with parkrun. If you go into your profile (there is a link to it on the parkrun results email and newsletter email) you can select your club. Change yours to Winchester Fit Club Runners and you will appear in the consolidated club report that we get each week.

WFC Runners WhatsApp Group

There is a WFC Runners WhatsApp chat group where we generally just wang on about running, races and cake. If you are not already part of this then please get in contact with Coach James or Coach Mike who will add you.

WFC Runners Strava Club

If you are a Strava user there is a Winchester Fit Club Runners club page. This can be accessed here: https://www.strava.com/clubs/WFC-Runners. Request to join and we will approve!

Booking onto sessions

Booking onto our training sessions enables the coaches to plan the session accordingly. You can book on in the following location: https://winchesterfitclub.simplybook.it/v2/

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/

Race Calendar

Here is an updated race calendar. If you have any others that you wish to add, please let me know!

Overton 5 - 2nd September 2018

http://www.overtonharriers.org.uk/club-races/overton-5/

New Forest Half - 9th September

http://southernrunningguide.com/race/new-forest-half-marathon

Baccus Marathon and Half – 9^th September

https://www.209events.com/uk-running-events/surrey_bacchus_marathon_and_half_marathon

Meon Valley Express 5km, 10km and Half - 16th September
https://www.eventrac.co.uk/listed-races/meon-valley-express

Hursley 10km - 16th September
https://www.hursley10k.co.uk

The Lake Run, Andover 10km and 5km – 16^th Septembver