Hello. Here I am!!
Please check out what we’re up to this coming week. Don’t be late for training. Please.
Sunday 13th September. GNR Good luck to all those taking part and enjoy the challenge. I will be watching you all on tv and enjoying every moment. I’m not envious. I’m glad it’s you and not me. Being a shy and retiring person, I don’t do crowds and I don’t do roads or built up areas. If I remember correctly this has quite a bit of both. I’ve ran it five times and I’m quite happy to leave it for someone else.
Monday 14th September. Sowerby Gateway.
6.15- 6.30 start. Rolling core work to merge with the running group at 7.15pm. . This is the last outdoor core session for 2026 before we move inside. I can’t remember having a wet night all summer ( Monday is now bound to be wet!!) and we’ve been spoilt to death. Thank you everyone who has supported this group. I’m glad you appreciate it and we’ll strive to keep it going. I also hope you’re enjoying the new time keeper with the new and slightly more accurate watch!!!
6.45- 7.00pm Running group.
Tonight you get a choice. Not to confuse the situation I’d suggest the you choose whether you walk or jog before you start. Some groups insist on a walk recovery and others don’t. This is one training session that the coach in charge finds themselves not always totally in charge. This is never a life or death situation so let’s see how it goes.
Warm up, drills and speed work
Main session;
Fartlek (speed play).
Option 1: Jog 100m, Run steady 100m, Run fast 100m, Run steady 100m, repeat.
Option 2: Walk 100m, Jog 100m, Run steady 100m, Run fast 100m, repeat.
28 minutes
Cool down/stretches
Wednesday 16th September. Sowerby Gateway.
6.45- 7pm start.
19:00 – 19:15 (approx. 15 mins)
Warm up and running drills.
Technical skill – focus on tall posture.
19:15 – 19:45 (approx. 29 mins)
Pyramid intervals. Your pace during the reps should be slightly faster than the pace of the race that you are training for. Try and maintain a consistent pace for each rep and avoid setting off too quickly.
1 min, 2 min, 3 min, (1 min rec between reps) 4 min, 3 min rec before next set;
4 min, 3 min, 2 min, 1 min (1 min rec between reps)
19:50 – 20:00 (approx. 10 mins)
Cool down jog/walk 5 minutes and then stretches.
Don’t say we don’t give you variety. Another big training session for you to get your teeth into. Listen carefully to the coach for all details and listen out for the whistle. There are lots of stops and starts so don’t miss them.
Book in progress.
I’m thinking the tittle is going to be; Everyone has a story. Everyone has a dream. So please keep those stories coming by sending them to my email address and we’ll start putting them into some sort order. At the moment I envisage 4 to 6 chapters, each focusing on a different theme. To lay out your stories interspersed with photos and every now and then slot in a line or two from Rob’s Thoughts of past and present and I think we may have something well worth reading. Inspirational, motivational, not for getting the emotional and darker moments which we all come across and which happen in our everyday life. The most important theme I want to put across is that there is no wrong or right answer. We are all equal and we all have a story. It’s important we all give time in our life to listen to some of those stories and encourage others to live their dream.
The grass is getting greener by the minute and the phone just keeps wringing. Customers are sensing autumn is now with us and Christmas is not too far away. For quite some time gardens were more of less dormant for a big chunk of summer but now leaves are starting to fall, days are getting shorter and gardens need making tidy for the winter. We’re as busy as ever and we just don’t catch up. It’s only when the clocks change the phone stops and the jobs stop coming in.
Christine and I have three lawn mowers which you would think is a little excessive but we seem to be having a few breakdowns this year. Not every day is a good day and some days can be quite worse than others. We’ve just had a mower repaired. A new clutch and gear box. Think in terms of car price repairs and you get the idea of what it costs. Just like a car we can’t do without them and if one breaks down then we have to work longer hours or drive them a little bit faster!! I am using one at the moment which is stuck in high speed and won’t slow down. Christine’s mower is set on a steady recovery mode. Mine seems to be fixed at a busy 10k and no chance of a recovery pace. It’s the first time I’ve ever had to run with a mower and I’m not enjoying it one bit. If you see us out working on your travels I’d just like to inform you we are not running intervals whilst we’re at work. Roll on winter.
Having recently been on a three week holiday which was followed by getting a cold and another three week recovery period my running is not in as good shape as I’d hoped. I don’t seem to be able to get into a routine or regular training. However, It’s not all bad news. Even though I’d like to be running a little bit faster I’m going ok and recovering well. Luckily, all the races I plan to compete in are of the shorter distance. Shortly I’ll be getting my flue jab and from then on maybe I’ll be able to build and improve. I’m hoping Xcountries will provide the inspiration to get me going again. I’m in my fourth year in my present age group and it’s not going to be easy. I love a challenge and maybe it’s just what I need.
Keep smiling, keep running and see you all at training, Rob
