Running with ID

Hello my name is Anne and some of you know me from the beginners group and Gin has kindly invited on me on to the blog for a little guest post. 

We have just had week 7 for the current beginners group (how did that happen? I thought I had only just started!)  Gin discussed safety when out running and one of the issues raised concerned id.  If you were incapacitated in some way whilst out running solo how would your relatives be contacted if, like me, you go out with a bare minimum of keys and an ipod/generic mp3player?

I remember once hearing about Cram tags an idea developed by Steve Cram you can read about the story behind them here.  The idea is to have a small tag which you attach to your running shoes with details of who to contact in an emergency. Though I cannot find a source of these anymore something similar can be purchased from icetags.co.uk.  The original idea seems to have morphed into an id band cramalert.co.uk.  The shop no longer seems to be open, but if the idea of a wristband appeals then all kinds of bands, or other sport id are available from the ID Band company. 

Runs on 23rd and 24th Nov - and Beginners next week

Mon 7pm 5.85km in 39:26, 481 calories
Mon 8pm 5.466km in 41:44, 388 calories
Tue 7pm 5.00km in 48:08, 270 calories
Tue 8pm 3.85km in 34:02, 214 calories

Tuesday's beginner's programme:

• Warm up
• Run 10mins, Walk 1 min, Repeat 3 Times
• Cool Down
• Stretching

We've nearly completed the 10 week programme. We will continue for a couple of weeks taking distance to 5km - last one will be on Tue 29th Dec. After I come back in the New Year (I'm having 1 week off), I'll start a new Beginners Group on 12th Jan. At this point, the current beginners will be able to run at either Mon 8pm or Tue 7pm - and switch between the 2 as suits! Hope this makes sense.

Gin

This week's runs plus next week's beginners

Just realised I haven't posted the times etc - sorry!

• Mon 7pm 6.06km 39:22 498 calories
• Mon 8pm 5.13km 44:07 286 calories
• Tue 7pm 5.00km 46:40 276 calories
• Tue 8pm 4.10km 36:24 244 calories

Tueday's Beginners Session will be a total of 30mins running with 3 walk breaks:

• Warm up
• Run 7 mins, walk 1 min, repeat to 16 mins
• Run 8 mins, walk 1 min, repeat to 34 mins
• Cool Down
• Stretching

See you Mon/Tue!

Gin

Week 6 Beginners - 4 walk breaks

Apologies - I meant to post this on Friday but didn't. This week, we're out for 34 minutes, 4 walking breaks and 30 minutes of running. This is actually 2 mins less running than last week - but 2 less walk breaks:

• Warm up
• 0 mins: Run 5 mins, first walking break
• 7 mins: Run 6 mins, 1 min walking break, repeat to 27 mins (walk break)
• 28 mins: finish with a 7 min run

If you need more walks, it's completely acceptable to do so. You will start to find, however, that sustaining longer runs becomes easier. You are all getting fitter, more used to running - plus it's easier to find a pace and rythm with the longer run intervals. Honest!

See you on Tuesday.

Gin

This week's runs - 9th & 10th November

Cold wasn't it? And horrendous traffic on Tuesday - thanks to a bad accident on the M27. I'm still tweaking my cold weather kit - layers seem to be the answer. Don't forget that if you are a Standard runner, you have the choice on Mondays at 8 or Tuesdays at 7 - and you can flit between the 2 to suit your schedule.

Anyway, the runs - we used the same route for all bar the beginners this week. The advanced group did a bit more looping with speedwork.

Monday 7pm 5.54km in 36:49, 451 calories
Monday 8pm 5.32km in 44:25, 331 calories
Tuesday 7pm 5.33km in 38:32, 430 calories
Tuesday 8pm 4.39km in 37:09, 277 calories

I'm writing up a newsletter atm - let me know if you'd like to contribute.

See you next week.
Gin

Week 5 Beginners Programme

32 mins of running this week - with 6 walking breaks in total:

• Warm up
• 4 mins jogging, 1 min walking up to 14 mins
• 5 mins jogging, 1 min walking up to 38 mins
• Cool Down
• Stretching

See you on Tuesday.

Gin

Mince Pie Run

Just in case you've not spotted the invitation yet:

You are all invited to mine on Sunday 20th December at 3pm. We'll make the most of the fading light for a gentle jog in the woods followed by mince pies and mulled wine (non alcoholic alternative too for those who aren't convinced of the merits of mulled wine as a post run beverage). No charge!
Feel free to bring others.

Let me know if you can make it & I'll let you have my address.

Gin

Runs this week

Numbers for the week:

• Mon 7pm 5.85km in 38:28, 481 calories (and a big hill twice)
• Mon 8pm 4.82km in 37:45, 335 calories (in the freezing cold)
• Tue 7pm 4.95km in 37:05, 390 calories (with a guest)
• Tue 8pm 4.68km in 41:11, 307 calories (with extra bonus running bit at the end)

See you next week.

Gin

Stitch

I was asked last week about stitch - how to avoid it. The bad news is that there isn't any consensus about what it is, what causes it & how to prevent it from occurring - sorry!
So the following is a list of ideas that have worked (apparently) for some people - hope it helps:

• Might be caused by your abdomen adjusting to the internal jostling that running creates. Strenghtening your core muscles may help - as may increasing fitness generally.
• A good warm up may help.
• Breathe out hard.
• Don't drink big volumes at once whilst running - opt for little & often. And apparently, avoiding fruit juice & soft drinks could help.
• Check that your sports bra fits & is suitably supportive!
• Could try avoiding solid food in the hour before your run.
• If you get stitch on the right side of your body, try to breathing out as your left foot hits the ground. Vice versa if the stitch is on the right side.

Gin

Week 4 Beginners Programme 3rd November

Can't believe that we're already at week 4...

• Warm Up
• Run 3 mins, walk 1 min & repeat up to the walking break at 13 mins
• Run 4 mins, walk 1 min & repeat until we get to 36mins.
• Cooldown
• Stretches

We'll be up to a total of 29 mins running (it was 26 last week) - good going!

See you on Tuesday.

Gin