Colwick Beginners - Week 9

Y'know... I have to pinch myself to believe that I was lucky enough to be there for that first 5k run this morning. It was an incredible sight! A sea of delicious purple weaving its way around the lakes. The way everyone paced themselves was superb... but what was even lovelier was to see the friendships that have developed over the past few weeks... to hear the chatting and laughing... to listen to everyone encouraging those around them... and to be part of seeing the completion of 5k was inspiring. A distance that seemed impossible just 9 short weeks ago... and yet today... absolutely smashed it. I will really miss our Sunday mornings together and I hope that as many of you as possible will want to carry on to Improvers from April 12th at 11... and that you will enjoy showing other runners just what you can do at next Saturday's parkrun!

Week 9's plan

There's very little to say about this week's plan! It's simple... a brisk warm-up walk of 5 minutes... then 30 minutes of running... then cool down with a 5 minute walk.

Don't feel like every run must be a brilliant one. Some will be harder work than others, that's just the nature of running. If you really need to walk, walk - there's no problem in doing that, just get yourself running again as soon as you can. It can be helpful to aim for something when you're running - the next lamppost, the next tree, the next road junction - and then evaluate how you're feeling. Do you need to slow down? Could you speed up a little? Is the pace you're at the right one for now? Then, pick another target, and re-evaluate things. By breaking your running down, it'll help make it all more manageable rather than being one big fearsome chunk!Warm up and cool down

I know that there may be a temptation just to launch into running with no warm up - I'm as guilty of that as anyone. But... do not forget to either walk or do some dynamic stretches. It warms up your muscles, gets your heart rate to start rising... and most importantly mentally and physically prepares you for running. Things like walking lunges, bottom kicks, even just jogging lightly on the spot can be part of that warm-up routine. For more ideas, have a look at http://www.runnersworld.com/stretching/a-runners-guide-to-warming-up as that should give you some pointers too. After your run, it's static stretches that you should be doing. Dynamic stretches are where you're moving while you stretch, static stretches, you stay still and just stretch the muscle you're targeting.

Dates for diaries

14th March - Colwick parkrun - our week 10 'graduation'. Meet at 8:45 at the Adventure Centre (where we turn to run around the little lake) for a run starting at 9am. Make sure you've registered at http://www.parkrun.org.uk and print off the barcode you'll get once you're registered. You don't need to bring anything else other than yourself and the barcode! It's our chance to take part in a fun start to a Saturday morning as well as showing other local runners how amazing Notts Women Runners are too.
27th March - We are having a social at 7pm on the 27th of March - details are in a pinned post in our Facebook group - let us know as soon as possible if you're coming.
29th March - Social run on The Embankment. Meet at 11am at the War Memorial for a social and sociable run with us all! No time pressure... no pressure on distance... just a chance to run with friends.
12th April - 11am for Improvers at Colwick Park! Your chance to gain more confidence in your running, to run a little bit further, a little bit faster and have a little bit more fun with us! We'll be building up really steadily and there will be flexibility to allow you to build to the distance you feel comfortable with. If you want to run 5k more easily that's as fine as it is to be aiming for a 10k.

Tesco Tuesdays will continue each week at 7pm from the big Tesco at the bottom of Carlton Hill (NG4 1EB).

Mentoring new beginners
If you'd like to come and help with our next set of Beginners' runs, you would be more than welcome. They will start on April 12th at 10am at Colwick Park. If you're interested and would like to know more, drop me an email to nottswomenrunners@gmail.com.

In the meantime, CONGRATULATIONS!! I hope that all of our purple ladies are still buzzing after that first 5k. It's such an awesome achievement and it was all down to you! Well done!! If there is any doubt in your mind as to whether you are a proper runner... YOU ARE!!

See you for Tesco Tuesday... or if not... for our graduation week 10 5k. Let's bring the NWR happiness to Colwick parkrun!!

Happy running!

Sarah