Some athletes embrace winter’s chill as a welcome change from exercising in summer’s heat. But others complain about hating cold weather. If that’s your stance, remember that exercising with proper nutrition (and layers of dry clothing) offers the opportunity to chase away the chills.
Q. Help! I don’t feel like I’m making progress
A. If you’re new to running, we’d call going from doing no regular exercise to doing a run-walk programme pretty good progress. Don’t measure yourself against other people – if you’re running or walking further, more often, more quickly or more easily, you’re making progress. Improvements come in stepsQ.
Help! I have aches and pains
A. Feeling a bit achy after running isn’t uncommon. Minimize it by starting and finishing each run with a few minutes of gentle jogging or walking, and do some stretching when you finish your session. If your ache turns into a pain then you may need to ease up, or take a few days off running.
Q. How fast could I (should I?) go?
A. Most beginners’ goal is simply to finish the race with a smile on their face. but if you need to calculate a goal in your training programme, break it down per kilometre and set your watch.
Why do we run distance races and put ourselves through tough training?
Well if you hadn’t notice, one of the largest half marathons in the world was run this weekend. The Great north run this year was in its 29th year. It ran with 42,000 runners and nearly 5 years ago I was lucky to be part of the 55,000 competitors who started when it broke the world record for most number of people in a race. So the question is what drives people on to run these events, well some do it to raise money for charities, some do it for fitness and losing weight, some do it in honor of loved ones they have lost, but most do it for the camaraderie that an event like this creates.
I remember been stood on the start line on a lovely autumnal morning. It was hot weather for England 15 degrees and no rain, which was a nice change from running through muddy forests with rain running down my back. I was doing it for My mums charity, they helped the old people from around our area who couldn’t get out of their houses by buying a mini bus and picking them up and taking them once a week to a local centre so they could meet people and sing songs, even celebrate Christmas as some were completely alone. As there old mini bus was getting old and falling apart, I thought I would try and help them by raising money for a new one and had accumulated over £2000 towards them buying a new mini bus. So I stood there with a good feeling, but the thing is I find it hard to explain what it was like stood there. I was nervous, but with excitement, this was about my 6th half Marathon, so I was no virgin to this distance and new I could make it to the end. As the swell of people came into the paddock next to me, it was this nervous excitement which had people randomly walking up to you and saying hello, chatting about where they had come from and how much they had or hadn’t trained for the race.
When the gun went everyone was slowly jogging off together, no one was really bothered about the time as we all had chips on and new we would eventually get to the start. The music was booming all around me and me and my friends from the Leeds Dragons were chatting away about how it was going to be and talking about how they were going to celebrate after, mine was obvious as I had made a self imposed ban on fish and chips for over 6 weeks, so had already worked out where I was getting them from.
As the run progressed it was a bit stop start as the people who thought they were good started to puff and pant around me and started walking after 3 miles. This was a little annoying, but I kept telling myself I was here for charity and not for a time. Around the half way stage I suddenly realized the temperature was getting much hotter than earlier and when I noticed a temperature sign it read 23 degrees. It had become very hot over a short time and was rising. Suddenly I noticed that every mile of the course was lined with people and they even was handing people drinks and sweets to help them run. The locals was also out with their hose pipes showering people when they went past, it was great relief.
As the last few kilometers came, it was now baking hot and I slowed to a walk, ‘come on son’, shouted this voice. I looked round and it came from this man dressed as a bumble bee! He looked roasted thought the little air hole he had. This inspired me to push on and as I came up to the last 2 kilometers I suddenly felt I had energy again, so I made a last spurt and crossed over the line in 2 hours 20 minutes.
This was one of my slower times, but all my club colleagues came up and gave me a hug at the end and it was a near tear moment for me as I felt a huge amount of feeling lift up from me.
So I got my fish and chips, Mum’s charity got their new mini bus and I felt good about myself.
This is the same camaraderie I would like to have with our club in Basel and I know we can all have it. We just need to work together more in all aspects as a team and then we will go on from strength to strength in our friendship and in our private lives, in and away from the club.
Keep on running
Martin
If you don’t have the time to read a book, here are 20 proven and effective tips for getting rid of your spare tyre.
Easy guide to starting to run
Take the ‘talk test’ always run at a relaxed and comfortable pace. This isn’t the Olympics – it’s a lifelong fitness quest. To check your effort level, start a conversation with your training partner. You should be able to speak without gasping or feeling out of breath. If you can’t, then slow down.
(more…)
Run safe, strong and injury-free – wise up to the what’s, whys and when’s of stretching
This training schedule is a guide to getting fit to run a half marathon and has been worked out over an 8 month training plan.
