Tonight's 10K run

Congratulations to Kerry and Helena on your first 10K - you did fabulously as did Clare, Claire (first 10K for a little while) and Pauline.

10.01km in 71:57 burning 777 calories - nice work!

Don't forget that there's now no running with me until Monday 12th July.

Monday 21st June's runs

Well done to Elysabetta who ran 5k really well on Monday!

The longer run will be on Thursday at 7:30pm from the Hub. We'll be doing about 10K - with lots of off-road. Looping back as per usual - so please feel free to come along whatever your speed. After Thursday, there are no sessions until Monday 12th July as I'm off on holiday.

Eastleigh parkrun is short of volunteers for 3rd July - if you are able to spare a little time that morning, do get in touch with them: eastleighHelpers@parkrun.com

Monday's runs:

7pm 5.43km in 37:38 441 calories

8pm 5.13km in 40:27 371 calories

A bit more about... How much running?

How often should you run? Lots of things to consider, including how
much do you run now, are you training for a specific event,
babysitting, any other exercise activities.

However, 3 times a week is a good guide. This gives you 2 spare
exercise "slots" for other aerobic activity based on the govt advice
of 5 sessions per week of at least 30 minutes.

Why not run all 5? You can, and if you enjoy doing so with no problems
then great! However, running is high impact and it will be kinder to
your body (especially your feet) to mix in some lower impact aerobic
activities like cycling, swimming or walking. It's good to mix to
prevent boredom setting in - aerobics or dance classes are great for
giving interest.

Rest days are important. This is when your body recovers and rebuilds
strength. If you've seen me struggling on a Monday, it's normally
because I was mountain biking on Sunday. Ideally after a strenuous
workout, I would have a rest day instead. I do still walk or cycle on
a rest day - but gently.

And if you run once or twice a week, that's fine too - especially if
you are not training specifically for an event. Make up your weekly
training sessions to 5 with other activities.

Not all your activities need to be intense or hard work. Taking a 30
minute walk in your lunch hour counts - and you can break it down to 2
x 15 minute or 3 x 10 minute sessions instead.

Gin

This week's runs - 14th & 15th June

Well done to Claire D - who completed Winchester Race for Life in a fabulous 33 minutes, and who has just progressed from Beginner to the Standard runs. Congrats also go to Helen C also did the Race for Life - and is doing Newbury too. Good luck to all of you who are doing Southampton next month.

I'd like to reiterate that all speeds are welcome for the runs at 8pm Mon and 7pm Tue - looping back means that you shouldn't be running at any pace other than your own, and you won't be holding anyone back!

Check last week's post for the disrupted running dates - first of which is Tuesday 22nd. Running times all normal on Monday 21st and there's an extra longer session on Thursday 24th (7pm from the Hub).

Anyway, the runs:

Monday 7pm 5.08km in 33:34, 423 calories (speedwork)

Monday 8pm 6.34km in 47:29, 485 calories

Tuesday 7pm 5K in 36:36, 403 calories

No Tuesday 8pm as the Beginners have graduated.

A bit more about.... Pacing

Pacing is one of the most important skills you can learn as a runner. Get it right and you'll complete runs in your best possible time.

For perfect pacing, you need to plan a little and wear a watch.

If I want to run 5K in less than 30 minutes, I need to check that my pace is around 10kph, so every kilometre should take around 6 minutes. Running our beginner's route that you all know, I can use a mapping website (e.g. www.gb.mapometer.com ) to see where 1K is – it's on the junction of Sayers Road & Hamilton Road. If I get there 6 minutes after starting, I'm on track. However, much less than 6 minutes and I've run too fast. I then need to slow down a little – otherwise I'll be at risk of not being able to complete the distance.

At the 2.5K turning point (just after the Olympic Way crossing), I should be at 15 minutes. If I'm over that, I need to see how I feel about upping the pace a little for the second half of the run, or decide to delay achieving my goal for another day (and do a bit more speedwork!). If I'm under 15 minutes, I may want to take it a bit easier to ensure that I can complete the run if I'm feeling tired.

Checking the time again at the junction of Sayers Road & Hamilton Road, it should be 24 minutes. I've only got 1K to go, so now's the time that I can up the pace a bit more, and maybe try a sprint right at the end.

Starting too fast is a really common problem, so that time check at 1K is key to achieving objectives. To prevent this, consciously start gently, ensure that you are running aerobically (can you talk??) and save faster music on your MP3 for later in the run. Kilometre or mile markers at races are invaluable tools.

For parkrun, 1K is after we've run around the lake, doubled back on ourselves and about halfway before reaching the railway.

GPS gizmos like my Garmin Forerunner 305 and iphone's Runkeeper and iMapmyrun are really helpful for pacing as you can see how fast you are running without having to work anything out in advance.

Some simple calculations:

25 minute 5K = 1 kilometre in 5 minutes = 1 mile in 8mins

30 minute 5K = 1 kilometre in 6 minutes = 1 mile in 9mins 40 seconds

35 minute 5K = 1 kilometre in 7 minutes = 1 mile in 11mins 15 seconds

40 minute 5K = 1 kilometre in 8 minutes = 1 mile in 12mins 50 seconds

Do bear in mind that the further you run, the slower you will run. I suggest that the first time you run a new longer distance, just build to that distance without worrying about the time. Once you can do the distance & want to go quicker, use the time you last ran it in as a benchmark and simply aim to beat it slightly with your pacing plan.

This week's runs (7th & 8th June)

Week 10 of the beginners programme!  Congratulations to Elisabetta & Claire who completed their 30 minutes with aplomb.  As of next week, the beginners are now improvers & get to run with either the Monday 8pm or Tue 7pm group.  There won't be a Tues 8pm group now until the next 10 week Beginner Programme starts (probably September).

Advance warning - I have a work commitment and 2 (yes, 2!) holidays coming up and until somebody else trains up as a leader (1 day training, free, hint!), I don't have backup.  Runs on the following dates are cancelled: Tue 22nd June, Mon 28th & Tue 29th June, Mon 5th & Tue 6th July, Mon 26th & Tue 27th July.  I will however do some longer runs, both from the Hub: Thursday 24th June 7pm and Thursday 15th July 7pm.

I am also changing the pricing structure from Monday 12th July.  WRN members will be able to opt to pay £2 per session (as per now) or pay £10 for 1 year's of sessions (unlimited).  Beginners will pay £2 for each of the 10 week programme sessions as this requires more support from me.  There are many reasons for making this change that I'll go through with you sometime.  It will save regular runners money - and no more scrabbling for change before coming running with the group!

This week's runs:

Monday 7pm Advanced 5km in 28:22 (I think!), 373 calories

Monday 8pm Standard/Improvers 6.53km in 53:22, 448 calories

Tuesday 7pm Standard/Improvers  6.88km in 47:37, 565 calories

Tuesday 8pm Beginners 3.76km in 29:41, 261 calories

Gin

Tip for the week - extending the life of trainers

Tip from Women's Fitness magazine on extending the life of your
running shoes: undo your laces and take them off properly. Pushing
them off with the laces done up can wear the back of your shoes out.
And your trainers will dry out quicker and breathe more with the laces
undone.

This week's runs - 31st May & 1st June

Monday's runs went fine, but as many of you know already, Lucie had a nasty accident on Tuesday, tripping over in the woods & breaking her leg. This meant that I went with her to A&E, cancelling the beginners. Hoping that she recovers quickly and comfortably - there will be a card for signing with next week's runs.

Monday 7pm - 6.75K in 47:45, 554 calories

Monday 8pm - 5.04K in 41:47, 328 calories

Tuesday 7pm - 5K in 44:46 for me, 281 calories

Tuesday 8pm - you guys did 32mins - well done!

Beginners - We'll still be attempting the 30mins without a walk on Tuesday as you did so well on your self-led run.