I hope everyone is keeping well and staying safe. With the lockdown having been extended for a further 3 weeks and England Athletics banning all club activity until the end of May it will be a while before Fit Club sessions resume. I am delighted to see so many people still running and staying fit despite the restrictions. I'm also pleased to see everyone adhering to the restrictions and respecting the social distancing.
Myself, I have struggled for motivation to do my usual training, but have really enjoyed exploring the roads and trails around Winchester. I have realised that after 10 years of living in Winchester I really haven't explored much of the surrounding area. Most of my running is done near my work in Bournemouth and I actually do very little running in Winchester. So this prolonged period of working from home has enabled me to explore a little further. I've also found some new locations for sessions once we are able to restart (warning, most of them include hills)!
It has also been great to stay in contact with you all via the fortnightly zoom quizzes. The last one saw 35 of us all getting together online along with our children and pets. The quiz was won by Max and Lucie with a cracking 33/40 score. Congratulations guys!! Next quiz is April 30th at 7:30.
In the meantime stay safe and stay healthy!
Race Reports
Me, My Quarantine and I by Andy Mant
Far from being concerned about what I haven’t been able to do over the last few weeks, instead I have found myself reflecting upon just how lucky I have been to get out and still have a good run. But this story actually starts last September when on a very wet Autumn morning I stood in the rain with my son on my shoulders, and cheered as the first few WFC runners completed their home half marathon.
Despite what I had said to friends in the preceding months, it was at that very moment I decided I was going to run in that race next year. As I have spoken about in the past, moments like these crystallise for me what our running club stands for in terms of community and support, but also our ability to inspire each other to run further and faster.
Not being able to meet up as a club for the last four weeks must have meant I have lost something; surely... Strava tells me that in that time I have run 140k, with 32 ‘achievements’, even including a couple of cups and a crown to boot. So what does this mean? Perhaps it merely confirms something I have always suspected, when I strip back the watch, the shoes and all the other ‘essential’ kit; I run alone.
Having said that I have returned from my long run this morning, and would gladly swap all those ‘achievements’ for a Hills with Mills session, I’d gladly run up one side-across the long flat top-and down the other side of a James White pyramid, or even take part in a Hastie sprint up and around Blue Ball Hill. And please, won’t someone offer me a piece of cake!
Yes, I’ve managed to keep running for the last month, but that is all because of the inspiration acquired last September and the awesome spirit I have absorbed at Thursday sessions between now and then. Just because I run alone doesn’t mean I wish to run on my own! I am now left wondering, just how much longer that spirit I have saved up will last. Truth be told I can’t wait to ‘run alone’ with all of you again, as soon as it is responsibly possible!
Run safe everyone!
Not the Magaluf Half By Elise Gilbert
Back in December I was scrolling through the news feed on Facebook and saw a half marathon in Magaluf, Majorca in April. I have never entered a half marathon so I looked into it. I am terrified of flying and won't ever fly more than 2 hours away. I decided that if I booked the flight and went on my own this might help me overcome my fear of flying. My boyfriend was travelling to Benidorm the same week so I could travel to the airport with him to take my mind off the flight ahead & on the way home there would have been my diazepam & prosecco cocktail. It took me about a week to pluck up the courage to book but I finally did it. I would be flying out on the 17th, taking part in the half marathon on the 18th, then a few days in the sun & fly back on the 23rd.
Myself, I have struggled for motivation to do my usual training, but have really enjoyed exploring the roads and trails around Winchester. I have realised that after 10 years of living in Winchester I really haven't explored much of the surrounding area. Most of my running is done near my work in Bournemouth and I actually do very little running in Winchester. So this prolonged period of working from home has enabled me to explore a little further. I've also found some new locations for sessions once we are able to restart (warning, most of them include hills)!
It has also been great to stay in contact with you all via the fortnightly zoom quizzes. The last one saw 35 of us all getting together online along with our children and pets. The quiz was won by Max and Lucie with a cracking 33/40 score. Congratulations guys!! Next quiz is April 30th at 7:30.
In the meantime stay safe and stay healthy!
Race Reports
Me, My Quarantine and I by Andy Mant
Far from being concerned about what I haven’t been able to do over the last few weeks, instead I have found myself reflecting upon just how lucky I have been to get out and still have a good run. But this story actually starts last September when on a very wet Autumn morning I stood in the rain with my son on my shoulders, and cheered as the first few WFC runners completed their home half marathon.
Despite what I had said to friends in the preceding months, it was at that very moment I decided I was going to run in that race next year. As I have spoken about in the past, moments like these crystallise for me what our running club stands for in terms of community and support, but also our ability to inspire each other to run further and faster.
Not being able to meet up as a club for the last four weeks must have meant I have lost something; surely... Strava tells me that in that time I have run 140k, with 32 ‘achievements’, even including a couple of cups and a crown to boot. So what does this mean? Perhaps it merely confirms something I have always suspected, when I strip back the watch, the shoes and all the other ‘essential’ kit; I run alone.
Having said that I have returned from my long run this morning, and would gladly swap all those ‘achievements’ for a Hills with Mills session, I’d gladly run up one side-across the long flat top-and down the other side of a James White pyramid, or even take part in a Hastie sprint up and around Blue Ball Hill. And please, won’t someone offer me a piece of cake!
Yes, I’ve managed to keep running for the last month, but that is all because of the inspiration acquired last September and the awesome spirit I have absorbed at Thursday sessions between now and then. Just because I run alone doesn’t mean I wish to run on my own! I am now left wondering, just how much longer that spirit I have saved up will last. Truth be told I can’t wait to ‘run alone’ with all of you again, as soon as it is responsibly possible!
Run safe everyone!
Not the Magaluf Half By Elise Gilbert
Back in December I was scrolling through the news feed on Facebook and saw a half marathon in Magaluf, Majorca in April. I have never entered a half marathon so I looked into it. I am terrified of flying and won't ever fly more than 2 hours away. I decided that if I booked the flight and went on my own this might help me overcome my fear of flying. My boyfriend was travelling to Benidorm the same week so I could travel to the airport with him to take my mind off the flight ahead & on the way home there would have been my diazepam & prosecco cocktail. It took me about a week to pluck up the courage to book but I finally did it. I would be flying out on the 17th, taking part in the half marathon on the 18th, then a few days in the sun & fly back on the 23rd.
I didn't tell many people about the trip as I didn't want the added pressure of a race time along with my fear of flying. I remember the pressure I put myself under for the great south when James set me a time n so I wasn't going to make that mistake again. I was so excited about this trip (apart from the flying part ) so I was really disappointed when it was cancelled due to coronavirus but it is what it is. I decided when it was cancelled I would go out and run the distance anyway so I was praying that we wouldn't go into full lock down as that would have been a tough run in my one bed house with a 12 ft x 12th garden!!
I decided to get up early on Sat to complete it but as always didn't sleep well as the time of under 2 hours was playing on my mind. When the alarm went off at 05.45 I remember shouting out 'Nooooooooo' but thought the sooner I get out of bed and get on with it the sooner I would be back eating Easter eggs being delivered in my shopping today.
I set off with a good pace and completed the first 5k in under 28mins so was pleased, got to 10th and completed this in under 55 so again I was pleased as I was on target. By about 13th I could feel myself slowing down. After thinking about a conversation with Anne the night before saying she missed running with me as I motivated her, this spurred me on so I dug deep and pushed on. I got down to the last 2k and kept checking my garmin which was jumping around all over the place and didn't know what was wrong with it as I was well ahead of target up to this point.
I finally finished with a time of 1hr 59mins 58seconds & although I think I was quicker than that I was really pleased it was under my target time of 2 hours. The only disappointment I had was when I returned home to get my shopping delivered to find out they had substituted my Easter egg with a vegan one!!!!
General Announcements
CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
WFC parkrun Club
Winchester Fit Club RC 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 RC and you will appear in the consolidated club report that we get each week.
WFC Runners WhatsApp Group
There is a WFC Running Club 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.
There is a WFC Runners Facebook page where we put the blog posts, news and race pictures. Follow the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/976444695871618/
If you are a Strava user there is a Winchester Fit Club RC page. This can be accessed here: https://www.strava.com/clubs/WFC-RC. 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 through the Fit Club website: http://www.winchesterfitclub.co.uk/
Training Kit
The method of ordering training kit will be changing shortly with it all being available through the main website...watch this space!
WFC Running Club Calendar
CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
WFC parkrun Club
Winchester Fit Club RC 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 RC and you will appear in the consolidated club report that we get each week.
WFC Runners WhatsApp Group
There is a WFC Running Club 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 Facebook Group
There is a WFC Runners Facebook page where we put the blog posts, news and race pictures. Follow the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/976444695871618/
WFC Runners Strava Club
Booking onto sessions
Booking onto our training sessions enables the coaches to plan the session accordingly. You can book on through the Fit Club website: http://www.winchesterfitclub.co.uk/
Training Kit
The method of ordering training kit will be changing shortly with it all being available through the main website...watch this space!
