Bad news about WRN

It appears to have folded. I've asked England Athletics for clarification, but in the meantime, I suggest that you don't take out or renew memberships. I intend to ensure that Eastleigh WRN continues - perhaps as a stand alone club affiliated to England Athletics, but will organise a get together so we can discuss & decide as a group what to do.

Arrrrggggghhhh!

Running Reports for 2 weeks

I am rubbish - failed miserably to record our runs last week, so here's 2 weeks worth.

You lot, however, are brilliant. 13 of us did the Eastleigh 10K on Sunday - all of us finished & many did PBs. Dawn & Michelle were there too - Michelle as a Marshall and Dawn as photographer/bag carrier/glove retriever. Great running, fantastic support.

According to our virtual globe trot, the Eastleigh 10K took us through Vienna, past Bratislava and over the Hungarian border - 3 countries in 1 run! After tonight's runs, we're not too far from Budapest.

So, lots of runs to record - all numbers from my GPS:

21st March 7pm 5.1km in 30:54 417 cals

21st March 8pm 5.0km in 34:53 415 cals

22nd March 7pm 5.0km in 41:23 289 cals

22nd March 8pm 4.1km in 37:09 228 cals

Eastleigh 10K 10.0km 60:12 820 cals

28th March 7pm 6.0km in 41:49 483 cals

28th March 8pm 5.0km in 40:04 327 cals

29th March 7pm 5.4km in 43:43 347 cals

29th March 8pm 3.6km in 33:17 204 cals

Beginners Programme

This week we did 34 minutes with 4 walk breaks at 6, 13, 20 and 27 mins.

Next week (week 7), it will be 33 minutes with 3 walk breaks at 7, 16 and 25 minutes

Run for Japan

Take a look at www.runforjapan.com - it's a great idea that doesn't involve hassling sponsors!
Register a run - I will be registering Eastleigh 10k for me, submit a photo and donate £ equal to number of miles you have run. So that'll be £6.22 for me.
All money goes to the Red Cross, earmarked for Japan emergency relief.
A little like our global challenge, the organisers want to get enough miles registered to go around the world.
And Paula Radcliffe is a supporter.
What's not to like?

Regards,
Gin
Sent from my iPhone

Running Report 14th & 15th March

Many thanks to Jayne and Dawn for helping with the Beginners this week - and I'll be thinking of Dawn on Sunday when she's running the Reading Half Marathon. Her training has been inspiring & motivating to me! As it's the Eastleigh 10K on the 27th, next week's runs will all be gentle 5ks (apart from the Beginners).

We're in Austria now - we've shot through Salzburg (pausing for Mozartkugel & a Sound of Music sing along) & are heading for Vienna. So we're into our 6th country!

Mon 7pm 7.31km in 47:01, 606 calories

Mon 8pm 5.69km in 44:57, 399 calories

Tue 7pm 5.86km in 49:33, 370 calories

Tue 8pm 3.69km in 36:28, 214 calories

Beginners Week 5

This is the week when the shape of the training changes a little. We will be running 31 minutes in a 37 minute session tonight, with 6 walking breaks at 4 mins, 9 mins, 14 mins, 19 mins, 25 mins and 31 mins. Counting the breaks now rather than the length of the running interval.

Perfect Running Routes

What is the perfect running route?

My preferred road routes have wide, tarmac based pavements that are fairly even and don’t have a major camber. Tarmac’s a little more forgiving than concrete slabs. I avoid pavements that have been rendered uneven by tree roots or repair works – tripping doesn’t tend to enhance runs! Camber can cause issues with knees and feet.

At night, I look for good lighting – and if I’m alone, I tend to avoid quiet streets. I don't generally run off road in the dark.

Preferred off road routes aren’t too muddy (unless it’s not rained for a while), don’t have too many big ruts that I have to pick over & lack stiles and gates. Width is good too – especially when negotiating dogs & walkers.

Hills – I like them, but if I’m doing speedwork or pushing my distance, I opt for flatter routes. If you train on a hilly route for a race that’s much flatter, the event will feel much easier.

If it’s rainy, I avoid muddy off road routes. If it’s really windy, I avoid exposed routes. On hot sunny days, I gravitate to shaded routes.

Scenery – a fabulous added extra that can make a run really special. Woods, fields, sea, views, river – all good!

How to find the perfect route

Running is a great way to get to know your immediate neighbourhood – home is often the best place to start. Keep looking out for roads, tracks and cut throughs that you could add to your route whilst exploring. Take a look at an OS map to work out where footpaths and tracks go.

Map My Run, GB Mapometer and Google Maps are amongst some of the great online mapping tools you could use to plan routes. A great tip I got from Clare Lewis is to view in hybrid mode to spot paths that aren’t shown on the mapping.

Also have a look at the online running sites for routes suggested by others in the area, but don’t make your own routes from your home public for safety reasons,

Ask friends where they run, walk or cycle for more ideas. Also look out for where other runners are running – there's usually good reason why you often see runners on certain roads (e.g. Passfield Ave in Eastleigh is well lit, wide, even and flat).

Look for opportunities to run when away from home - one of my favourite's is in Torquay from my in laws' house to their beach hut and I've loved the runs I've done on holiday.

And do keep looking for new routes - it'll keep your running fresher and more interesting.

Running report 5th-11th March

I'm blogging late this week - got a bit sidetracked. We did 2 practise Eastleigh 10Ks this week - one for newbies and 1 for those who have already nailed the distance. And the Beginners finished week 3. Well done to Sarah R - who did the Winchester 10K - her first!

On the virtual challenge, we started from near Stuttgart, passed through Munich & could have gone into Austria - but looking at the full challenge, I've opted to keep us in Germany just a little longer, aiming for the border near Salzburg. Over 300km ran this week - amazing!

Saturday 10K in 83:12 minutes, 652 calories

Monday 7pm, 5.79km in 37:39 - sorry no calories as I had the GPS on the wrong setting

Monday 8pm, 6.01 in 47:42 - ditto

Tuesday 7pm 5.11 in 42:42, 316 calories

Tuesday 8pm 3.87km in 36:16, 224 calories

Thursday 7pm 10K in 66:47 minutes, 833 calories

Beginners Week 4

It'll be crisp week this week - find out what this means at Tuesday's session!

• Warm up
• Run 3 mins, walk 1 min until we get to 13 minutes
• Run 4 mins, walk 1 min until we get to 36 minutes
• Cool down
• Stretching

See you Mon or Tue!

Gin

International Women's Day - Marathons

I've been reading up about the history of women in distance running - although Stamatis Rovithi ran the original marathon course in 1896 just after the Olympic revival, women were barred from marathons for many years. Bobbi Gibb hid in a bush before running the Boston Marathon unofficially in 1966, followed in 1967 by Katharine Switzer who entered as K.V.Switzer - officials only realised after she'd set off that K was Katharine and one attempted to remove her from the course. Women were only allowed in the Boston Marathon 5 years later!

It wasn't until 1984 that the first women's marathon took place at the Olympics - American Joan Benoit won.

Am I a runner?

This is something that’s cropped up in a few conversations recently – I was a bit miffed to hear 2^nd hand that somebody had said that I didn’t look like a runner for example!

So am I a jogger or a runner? Does that matter? Am I only a runner if I’m going at a fast pace? Maybe there’s a set distance? If I don’t run for a couple of months, am I still a runner? How about if I only run once a month? Or if I run in the gym on a treadmill but not outside? Is it about my kit?

There was a great article by Sam Murphy in Runners World a couple of issues ago on this topic – well worth a read. Her definition is that if you have your trainers laced up & you are out of the house, you’re a runner. Speed and distance don’t change that.

The difference between walking and running is that both feet are off the ground at some point in the movement if you are running – perhaps only briefly and only a little. No matter how gentle your running pace, you’d be disqualified from a walking athletics event for using this movement! It’s not defined by speed.

I think once you’ve done some running, you always are a runner. If you take a break and return, it’s very likely to be easier than it was learning to run initially – and you’ll know what to do.

I’m not keen on the phrase “jogger” as it implies a low level of effort that I don’t see at any Eastleigh WRN sessions! Jogging is a gentle running pace – but it is still a run.

I’ve found other runners very happy to chat about running with me, even when I know that I’m in a different league of performance – and I know that I’m not alone in that. Don’t be embarrassed to talk about your running with colleagues or friends who run – it’s a great chance to share tips and experiences.

“It is the runner in me who understands that the beauty of my body is in the things it can do, not the way it looks doing them.” - Kristin Armstrong, Runners World September 2010 and it's my new motto.

Anyway, we are all runners – enjoy!

Running Report 28th Feb & 1st March

We did some great running this week - the Beginners are doing really well (thanks to some extra help from Sarah F), Lisa & Fiona did their first 5K run with the group and it was great to welcome back Angela. I only managed to run on Tuesday - my back is pretty much better now though.

On our virtual global challenge, we' re now in Stuttgart, making some real progress down Germany with 160km run this week. Do have a look at our map - it's looking so impressive now!

For those of you doing the Eastleigh 10K, I have 2 extra runs coming up. 9am tomorrow (Saturday) from Fleming Park is aimed at first timers who are working up to the distance & will be very gentle with walk breaks. Thursday at 7pm from Fleming Park is for those who've nailed the distance & want to run the route.

Downloads for the sessions from my GPS:

Mon 7pm 7.5km in 48:04mins, 599 cals

Mon 8pm 5.1km in 40:41mins, 336 cals

Tue 7pm 6.0km in 46:42mins, 404 cals

Tue 8pm 3.7km in 34:12mins, 222 cals

Beginners Programme - Week 3

We'll be focusing on posture and technique on Tuesday - but here's the running plan:

· Warm up

· Run 2 mins, walk 1 min for first 13 mins

· Run 3 mins, walk 1 min for next 22 mins

· Cool down

· Stretching