News
With no races this week the main news is parkrun related. This week Fit Club had 20 runners at 4 different parkruns.
Alice was visiting the home of parkrun at Bushy Park. This was her 3rd visit and she managed to take 1m15s off of her previous best running 26:25. Elise and Pete were at Netley Abbey parkrun and Glenna, Trish and Fran all visited Brockenhurst.
This left the rest running at Winchester, where once again we were the 2nd best represented club after WADAC. Conditions are North Walls are starting to get a little muddy (as those without trail shoes will attest) and so going is getting harder. Despite that there were some cracking performances. Most notably Sharon S running a cracking new PB of 26:53. We also had Mike and Anna who both ran great times, despite running 14 miles beforehand!
Here is a link to the consolidated report: http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=26888&eventdate=2019-01-19
Lastly I'd like to give a special shout out to Shelley T who has managed to continue her run streak from the start of December and as of Saturday reached 50 consecutive days!
Thursday 17th January - Blue Ball Hill
This week saw 29 Fit Clubbers turn up for one of the hardest sessions we have run. We met as usual at Abbey Gardens and welcomed new comers Alf, Pete, Matthew and Amelia to the group. After our normal warm-up we took the slightly longer route to Blue Ball Hill.Once at the bottom of Blue Ball I explained what we were going to do. The plan was fairly simple, 12 reps up to the junction and back down, running as hard as you could. As the group size was so large we split into two groups. Whilst the first one was running the second was recovering. As soon as the first was back down the second group went. It was a very hard session that got harder as legs got more tired.
The group were amazing. You could see how hard people were working on the way up and down. You also knew it was a tough session as the level of conversation dropped in line with the number of reps people had done!
After the final reps we took some photos and then jogged back to Abbey Gardens for a stretch.
Next week’s session will be starting at River Park Leisure Centre at 7pm.
New Year Running Challenge
After 2 weeks we still have a whopping 29 runners still on 100%, however the strain is starting to show with some runners choosing to use their wildcard. As the weather starts to get colder and legs start to get tired it will become more difficult to stick to your target. My advice is to plan your week in advance and make the time to ensure you get your alloted runs in.
Best of luck for week 3 and keep the stories and updates coming!
Anne A London Marathon Training Update
As most of you are aware
I am training for the London Marathon in April his year in support of a
wonderful charity, Leonard Cheshire Disability, for whom our lovely fellow
runner Shelly Talbot works- so no pressure! I am also lucky as I have Rachel
Mills as a partner in crime who is also running in support of Crohns and
Colitis UK.
I have agreed to write a
periodic blog to share with you he highs and lows of training. I am not a
natural runner but have always wanted to slog around a marathon (although I am
querying that at the moment) so this will be a warts and all update!
After hours and hours of
studying training plans, guidance and reading advice I chose a plan that
gave me the best chance to doing the marathon The Hal Higdon Novice 2 plan 18
week programme (a lot are 16 weeks) basically 4 runs a week one
of which is a long slow run plus one cross training session). How hard can that
be!
Day 1 of training was
actually Christmas Day – 3 miles – perfect as I had already planned to do parkrun what a great start! The first couple of weeks were really good and quite
exciting to be training for the Marathon with long runs of 8 and 9 miles so far
so good! Week three a little more tricky the legs were beginning to rebel
luckily I also have the short term focus of the WFC runners challenge where I
had signed up to 5 runs a week through January so more motivation to keep
going.
Sunday of week 3 the plan
called for 6 miles which tied in really well to the organised 11k “meet the
Leonard Cheshire Marathon Team” run in Green Park in London. Out of 98 runners
only 6 people turned up but still great t meet some of the other guys who
consisted of Ultra runners and seasoned marathon runners and me and my friend
Kate as novices. I huffed and puffed around the run at the back of the group (I
really only have one speed) but had a lovely time although I did have a crisis
of confidence on the way home as I read one of the comments from the runners on
his Strava page saying the run was really good but very slow! I really was
trying ,my hardest! Luckily I remembered a great quote “comparison is the thief
of joy” - Note to self;I think I need to keep reminding myself of this.
Week 4 Tired heavy legs
and really fed up with running this week. Although did two lovely early morning
runs in London the downside of this being 4.45 alarm call which doesn’t help.
Rachel and I did a super cold run on Sunday I didn’t have enough layers on and
I could hear Coach James in my ear assaying “ no such thing as bad weather only
bad clothes” nevertheless we completed our 11.2 miles as per the plan and then
home to a soak in an Epsom salt bath!
What’s next? Week 5 and a
training run on my birthday how good is life? This weeks plan is a ramp up to
12 miles may be a bit tricky as I fly to the Maldives on Friday night….such a
hard life...looking forward to some relaxing recuperation oh and some all
inclusive cocktails!
Race Write-ups
Stubbington 10km - by Catherine Westoby
I first learned about Stubbington 10k when I received an email
saying I had entered. I thought this was a scam, but then caught up on the
Runners Whatsapp Group Chat and discovered that Allen had decided I would need
to run off the Christmas calories so entered on my behalf!
My training on the lead up to the race was less than
ideal. Before Christmas I bought new trainers and picked up a hip
injury and could barely run for some time. The week before
Stubbington I was also struck down by a cold & had a wheezy cough right up
until race day. Despite this I was really determined to complete Stubbington as
I had to drop out of Gosport half last year, which was gutting.
The morning of the race I felt really chilled as I had very low
expectations of how I’d do and set out with a mind set to just enjoy it and
hopefully get through as pain free / cough free as possible. We
travelled down with Coach James and 1R and arrived in good time to do the
standard couple of wee’s, shoo some chickens and get an obligatory pre-race
picture. It was great to see so many familiar faces
from Fit Club and it felt like a proper team event. Again,
it was the first race I haven’t had pre-race nerves which is probably because
we were chatting right up until the start… taking things seriously of course!
There was a short walk to the start line and it was only then when
I appreciated how many people were racing. Despite this it didn’t
feel too congested at the start and I soon forgot I was injured and started way
too fast as standard. The course was a nice mix of gentle ups and
downs with some long stretches of flat. Running by the sea front was
my highlight as there were drums and a tail wind. My hip started to
hurt at this point, but with only 3km to go and lots of support by the road I
kept a smile on my face.
I found an extra gear after seeing fit clubbers on the side
cheering everyone to the finish line and managed to sprint finish and pass a
few people on the line. This probably wasn’t that sensible as it
really hurt but it didn’t feel right just coasting in. My finish
time was 53:28 which is only 41 seconds slower than my PB. I was
chuffed with the result considering my sub-optimal training of
late.
I would thoroughly recommend Stubbington to anyone that hasn’t
raced it before and will be adding it to my race calendar for next
year. It was well organised, got a great top included and so many
FitClubbers PB’d.
Finally, it would be rude not to mention the car snacks provided
by James and 1R. Starters of crisps, main course of flapjack, rice
crispy bites (Waitrose no less) and sides of jelly babies and wine
gums. Pudding was Maoam.
Stubbington 10km - by Coach James
I was a late entrant to the race having fortunately been able to take Caroline's place after her injury ruled her out. I travelled down with Catherine, Allen and Sharon and we got there in plenty of time to collect our numbers, grab a team photo, have a wee and walk to the start.
Knowing that I wasn't 100% fit and was undertrained I was targeting a sub 50 minute run, but I secretly had in the back of my mind that I thought I may be able to squeeze around 48 mins. Subsequently I had decided to start further back in the field so that I would be forced to take the first mile easier than I would do if I were starting further forward.
The race started with very little fanfare and we were off!! As expected the first half mile was fairly congested and so this meant I was able to get nicely warmed up by the time the field started to thin. By this time I was into my stride and feeling good.
The course undulated through the first few miles and as the course went on I started to push my pace a little. Just before halfway I caught Ben, who was working hard and running well. As the route wound on I could see Anna running ahead of my down the road. Every time I thought I was catching her she would accelerate away (usually on the downhills). She was having a cracking run and was clearly on for a fast time.It wasn't long before we turned onto the sea front at Hill Head and were greeted by a large drum band. The tempo was excellent and I found my pace picking up as a result. As we rounded the corner on the front I could see that Anna had caught up with Lynn and Mikaela and so I mentally targeted catching them before the finish. Just before we turned off the front I pulled level with the ladies and managed to push on past. they were all running extremely well and clearly supporting each other through the last couple of miles, which was great to see.
We soon approached the school, however the finish was on the far side and so there was still a good half mile to go. I was starting to tire so was just focussed on keeping my form and not falling over! As I rounded the final corner I could see Mike and Allen cheering us in. I remember thinking that they must've run extremely well to already be back taking photos! I tried to pick my feet up for a sprint finish and crossed the line stopping my watch on 46:13. Shortly after Anna, Lynn, Mik and Ben came through. We made our way back to where Mike and Allen were standing and cheered in the rest of the team
As coach I was so proud on the day. Seeing the hoards of Fit Club shirts before, during and after was a sight to behold. I was also proud of how we conducted ourselves as a team. We were so supportive on the way round the course and then we all stood together as a team and cheered every last runner home. After more team photos we headed off.
On a personal note I was really pleased with my run. I paced it really well and ended up having every mile faster than the previous (Royal Flush Negative Split) and felt great at the end. I'm hoping I can carry this forward into the rest of the year and maybe even get close to my PB at some point!
It was a great day out made even better by the car snacks on the way home!
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/
Race Calendar
The race calendar is now stored here: https://wfcrunners.blogspot.com/2019/01/race-calendar-2019-and-beyond.html
Kit
Details and prices of kit can be found here: https://wfcrunners.blogspot.com/2019/01/kit-details-and-prices.html
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