Colwick Beginners - Week 8

Running in windy weather

Well, we didn't get blown away at Colwick this morning even though the wind tried its hardest to do so!! Anyone who managed to get round the lakes with that headwind making them feel like they were wading through treacle with lead boots on did an absolutely incredible job. Of all the types of weather I ever run in, wind is my least favourite. You did brilliantly!! As I said to a few of you this morning, when you're running into a headwind treat it a bit like running up a hill. Try to keep the same cadence (rhythm) with your feet as you would do if you weren't running into the wind... but shorten your stride. If it helps, count in your head as you go... anything to get yourself into a rhythm which means you can keep on going a bit more easily! Once the wind eases, just lengthen your stride a little and keep the same cadence. It's a bit like shifting down a gear to get up a hill and then shifting up when you're on the flat again!! Don't fight it, just work with it. And swear a bit if that helps!!

Week 8

So... this week's plan... we're very very nearly at the point where you will be able to run for 30 minutes without stopping. Try to do the following 3 times in total this week:

Start with a brisk five-minute walk (properly brisk!) then 28 minutes of running with no walking and a five-minute cool-down walk.

	Activity	Duration	Total time
	Brisk walk	5 minutes	5 mins
1	Running	28 minutes	33 mins
	Cool down walk	5 minutes	38 mins

If you want to take it slightly more gently, then replace one of the above runs with the following:
Begin with a brisk five-minute walk, then 14 minutes of running, 1.5 minutes of walking and 14 minutes of running.  As ever though, aim for the 28 minutes.  Even if you have a bad run, remember, it's only a blip - you've worked really hard to get to the point where you can call yourself a runner... and all runners have runs that aren't so great!
International Women's Day - 8th March
Next Sunday is International Women's Day and to celebrate that and our week 9 run, where you'll run for 30 minutes non-stop, we're going to paint the park purple! So... come along, wear something purple - from purple hats to purple shoes, tops, leggings... we don't mind - and enjoy your achievement as well as showing Colwick how fabulous you are. If you know any other female runners who'd like to join us on that day, just get them to come along for 11am and we'd love them to run with us. We're going to be having a sweaty beetroot-faced running selfie competition (I will have my camera if you don't have one!) where you could win some fabulous socks. We'll be live Tweeting from the run. And we'd love it if you'd take pictures and share them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram... or wherever you fancy! Just tag them #nottswr and we'll track them down!

Parkrun

As part of graduation from our Beginners' course, we'll be doing a parkrun together on the 14th of March at Colwick. It's an early start at 9am... and I know some people are feeling a bit nervous about be. But... don't be! There are people of all ages who do parkruns. From teeny tinies to people in their 70s and 80s. Some people run... some run fast, some slower. Some people run-walk. Some people walk the whole thing. The main thing is enjoying being active together.

So, what do you need to do to take part? Well, register. Go to http://www.parkrun.org.uk and fill in the simple registration form. Select Notts Women Runners as your club and then once that's done, you'll get a barcode which you need to print off and bring with you to the parkrun on the day.

We'll all meet at the Adventure Centre (where we turn to go around the little lake) at about 8:50, so we've got time to chat, get rid of some nerves and take photos! If our NWR t-shirts have come by then... wear those... otherwise anything purple would be good! If you've parked near the racecourse and walked across, you'll already have done your 5 minute warm-up walk. At 9am, they ring a bell... and you run - first around the little lake, then around the big lake, then back around the little lake. There are marshalls at various points on the course to show you where to go, and we'll all be there to cheer you on as well! At the end, you're given a little plastic chip which you then take along with your barcode to the people with the barcode scanners. They scan both of them, give you back your barcode and your time and position are recorded. That's it!

The Tuesday Run

Unfortunately, I cannot make the usual Tuesday run as Zoe and I are doing a live thing for Notts TV (exciting!) at 6:30. It would be great to think that you'd all still meet up at 7 and run together. Repeat the run from last week (out to Lidl, along the Loop Road and back along Burton Road via Stoke Lane) and that'll give you a great chance to get another 5k under your belts. If you'd like to run with me, however, I'm happy to repeat the session on Thursday at 7pm from the big Tesco at the bottom of Carlton Hill. Just reply to this email and let me know so that I have an idea whether or not that's something people would like! If you'd also like to carry on meeting on Tuesday nights for a run together, I'm happy to establish that as one of our official NWR runs. Again, let me know if you would as it would be lovely to carry on running together after the Beginners' course is done.

Rightie ho. I think that's everything! I really hope you all feel as proud of yourselves as I do of you. I also hope you've discovered that running can be fun along the way and any memories of bad PE experiences at school or thoughts that you're 'just not one of those people who can run' have faded!

You've earned a celebratory cuppa cha and then some. Feet up and enjoy the rest of your Sunday!!

Sarah