This week we had some surprising news when we found out that Wendy had been hospitalised and requires major heart surgery! Not only that but when they were scanning her they found that she had a fractured vertebrae...as Simon said...Wendy doesn't do things by halfs! It is such a shame as Wendy has been running stronger and faster than ever before this year.
As I write this Wendy is still awaiting her operation and I would like to extend mine and the clubs thoughts and very best wishes for a successful op and a speedy recovery. We are behind you 100%, will be there for you as and when you are able to start running again and will support you back to full fitness!
It does go to show that if you are feeling unwell or sense that something is not right you should make sure you get yourself checked out.
I would also like to wish Vanessa all the very best at the Portsmouth Coastal Marathon on Sunday. Whilst we have all been relaxing in the off season Vanessa has been pounding the streets on long runs and really putting the miles in. I'm sure she'll do really well and I'm sure you'll join me in wishing her all the very best!
parkrun summary – 14th December
This week we had 23 registered Fit Clubbers at 6 different parkrun venues. We had 15 members at Winchester, Glenna and Dave at Lydiard, Graeme, Kathy and Matt at Lee-on-the-Solent, Alice at Bushy, Andy at Southampton and James at Fire Service College. It was a strong week for “Team Kings”...There was a PB for Alice at Bushy with 22:02. There was also a course PB at Southampton for Andy with 20:09 and a course PB of 28:22 at Lee-on-the-Solent for Kathy.
Kathy ran her first ever parkrun at Lee-on-the-Solent way back on 13.08.16 when she ran 32:26. She’s returned once on 01.07.2017 and achieved 31:04 but on Saturday she ran a superb 28:22. It’s so good to see runners making such fantastic progress and goes to show what rewards hard work can bring. Well done Kathy!! Congratulations to everyone who ran and thank you to everyone who volunteered.
Here is a link to the consolidated club report: http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=26888&eventdate=2019-12-14
If you have yet to register as Fit Club then all you have to do is go to your parkrun profile (link in the results email) and select Winchester Fit Club RC as your club. You will then appear on our results!
Race Reports
Fire Service College parkrun by Coach James
As a pre-Christmas treat Sarah had booked for us to go to the Cotswolds for the weekend. This obviously meant a chance to do a new parkrun! our accommodation was less than 3 miles from Stratford Park parkrun, however we decided the night before that we were going to visit some nothern cotswold towns so decided to head to Fire Service College near Morton in Marsh.
It was a horrible morning! It was freezing cold with heavy rain and wind so when we arrived Elsie and Sarah made the wise decision to stay in the car, which left Bertie and I to run. The course was mainly on grass and the pre-run briefing informed us that there was lots of standing water, puddles and muddy sections...perfect for a big heavy buggy!
The course is at the Fire Training college (as the name suggests) and so is private land. this meant they had loud music blasting out at the start and during the run. They also had a fire bell to start the run!
The route is basically three laps of two fields with two short sections in the woods (on tarmac) between the fields. The fields were, as warned, very waterlogged, with puddles and some really muddy sections. Corners were treacherous and there were a few fallers. When it wasn't wet or muddy the fields had long grass which was hard to run and push the buggy through.
It was with relief that I got to the finish of one of the hardest 5kms I've ever run! I was soaked through, freezing cold, covered in mud and knackered. That said it was a good challenge, the volunteers were brilliant and I had great fun!
After the run I managed to grab a shower at the college before partaking in a cuppa and a mince pie (for a small donation).
Whilst not the most picturesque of runs it was certainly challenging and good fun on the day.
As a pre-Christmas treat Sarah had booked for us to go to the Cotswolds for the weekend. This obviously meant a chance to do a new parkrun! our accommodation was less than 3 miles from Stratford Park parkrun, however we decided the night before that we were going to visit some nothern cotswold towns so decided to head to Fire Service College near Morton in Marsh.
It was a horrible morning! It was freezing cold with heavy rain and wind so when we arrived Elsie and Sarah made the wise decision to stay in the car, which left Bertie and I to run. The course was mainly on grass and the pre-run briefing informed us that there was lots of standing water, puddles and muddy sections...perfect for a big heavy buggy!
The course is at the Fire Training college (as the name suggests) and so is private land. this meant they had loud music blasting out at the start and during the run. They also had a fire bell to start the run!
The route is basically three laps of two fields with two short sections in the woods (on tarmac) between the fields. The fields were, as warned, very waterlogged, with puddles and some really muddy sections. Corners were treacherous and there were a few fallers. When it wasn't wet or muddy the fields had long grass which was hard to run and push the buggy through.
It was with relief that I got to the finish of one of the hardest 5kms I've ever run! I was soaked through, freezing cold, covered in mud and knackered. That said it was a good challenge, the volunteers were brilliant and I had great fun!
After the run I managed to grab a shower at the college before partaking in a cuppa and a mince pie (for a small donation).
Whilst not the most picturesque of runs it was certainly challenging and good fun on the day.
Spring Challenge details!
Here are the initial details about the 12 week new year challenge!
STARTS 6th Jan and is FREE to enter!
Challenge is broken into 3 parts each lasting 4 weeks. Aim is to build consistency and focus into your running and help you achieve your 2020 spring targets.
It is open to EVERYONE and ANYONE. The scoring of the challenge is fair and constructed in such a way that anyone can compete regardless of the standard they compete at!
The first 4 week block is simple! You just have to tell me how many runs you plan to do for each of the 4 weeks. It is a minimum of 1 run and that run must be a minimum of 1 mile. Run the number of times you said and you will get maximum points. Points docked for missing runs. (Full details of scoring will be released later).
The second 4 week block builds on the first. You will still predict the number of runs you are going to do each week, but in addition you will predict the length of the longest run you will do each week. Points docked (on sliding scales) for missing runs and not achieving targets
(Note; as the aim is to build consistency into your training and help you get a better understanding of your running, you will be penalised equally for being faster than your target as you would be for being slower. This also prevents people sandbagging when it comes to target times!)
The third block of 4 weeks is the same as the second but we add in a target race. So you will predict the number of times you will run each week and your longest run each week. In addition you will state a target time at a race or parkrun or distance of your choice (eg I will run 1:39:59 at the Reading Half) You only pick the target race time once for the whole 4 week block, not one per week. As with above you will get docked points for not completing the number of runs and not meeting your target distance. You will also be docked points on a sliding scale for being over or under your target time.
Obviously you could just set the minimum number of runs, make distances low and predict a time you can achieve easily...but that’s not really in the spirit of the challenge. I want you to really think about what you want to achieve next year and push yourself to go for it. If you normally run twice a week maybe try and go for 3 runs. Think about your goals and really go for it. For the marathon runners the number of runs and target distances can tie into your training plans and the target race may be a half you are planning to do where you will aim for a marathon race pace time. If you are doing C25K you could use the number of runs and distances dictated by the plan and then have a target 5km at the end...it really can be whatever you want it to be!
At the end of each week (on a Sunday) I will ask you to let me know what you actually achieved. I may do some small checks on Strava from time to time but on the whole I’ll be relying on you to be honest about it. I will then enter this in the spreadsheet and produce the points table.
Everyone will have one wildcard which they can play at anytime. This allows you to get maximum points for the number of runs and the distance (but not the target race) for one week only. This is to be used in case of minor injury or life drama where you need to take a small pause in your training. Obviously any major injuries my advice would be to rest and recover for as long as you need and forget about the competition!
It is only a bit of fun but we may have some small prizes donated for the top runners at the end.
LOGISTICS:
This will be an honesty based challenge. I will create a spreadsheet where I will log your predictions at the start of each 4 week block.
At the end of the day the only person you are really competing against is yourself. Done properly I believe this is an excellent way of really focusing on your training and how you are going to achieve your targets and it’s a great way to get you into shape going into the spring race season.
Please shout if you have any questions or need anything clarified. I’m putting all of this into a pdf which I will put on google docs and on Facebook. This will also have full details of the scoring.
General Announcements
Dates for your diary:
17th Dec - Tuesday Trot - Worthy Lane car park
19th Dec - Abbey Gardens with Christmas drinks afterwards
26th Dec - NO SESSION
Sally's Marathon Journey
You can follow Sally B's Marathon journey in her blog: http://sallymarathon.home.blog
Sally is also fundraising for Winchester Hospice. Her JustGiving page can be found here: https://www.justgiving.com/Sal
Winchester and District Sports Awards
Every year the Winchester District Sport & Physical Activity Alliance recognise local clubs, organisations and residents who have been recognised for going above and beyond whether individually or as part of a club or team.
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 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
Race Kit
The full range of kit available to purchase and instructions on how to order can be found in the following link: https://wfcrunners.blogspot.com/2019/01/kit-details-and-prices.html
General Announcements
WFC Running Club Calendar
Dates for your diary:
17th Dec - Tuesday Trot - Worthy Lane car park
19th Dec - Abbey Gardens with Christmas drinks afterwards
26th Dec - NO SESSION
Sally's Marathon Journey
You can follow Sally B's Marathon journey in her blog: http://sallymarathon.home.blog
Sally is also fundraising for Winchester Hospice. Her JustGiving page can be found here: https://www.justgiving.com/Sal
Winchester and District Sports Awards
Winchester Fit Club and Mike D have previously been recognised, If you would like to nominate Fit Club or any of its coaches, or any other local sports organisations then you can do so by following this link: https://www.winchester.gov.uk/sport/sports-awards-2019
Nominations close 3rd of January, with the awards on the 6th of February.
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 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
Race Kit
The full range of kit available to purchase and instructions on how to order can be found in the following link: https://wfcrunners.blogspot.com/2019/01/kit-details-and-prices.html
