Week Eleventy-Hundred of Lockdown

Whilst the majority of club running action is still local,  the easing of lockdown means that Harriers are again starting to venture further afield ….social media suggests that: 

• Chris Webb and Tim Budd took in the queues on Snowdon whilst doing an extended version of the Peris Horseshoe
• Kasia Osipowicz has been providing much Bob Graham support
• Ian Crutchley, Luke Holme and Paul Skuse have been reccying leg 2 of the Bob Graham
• Lins Palmer has been running along Offa’s Dyke

Strava Leaderboard

• Furthest:  Riccardo G – 88m, Chris Smith – 56.2m, Paul Peters – 54.1m, Jess Camp – 51.5m
• Highest: Kasia Osipowicz – 16,096 ft, Robin Hoffman – 12,388 ft, Chris Webb – 12,290 ft, Paul Skuse – 11,975 ft
• Speediest (Av. Pace):  Steve Crossman – 6:57/mi, Stevie Knowles – 6:58/mi, Paul Peters – 7:16/mi, Kirsty Sharp – 7:23/mi

Jude’s after-the-event hen run

Earlier this week, our lovely former ladies captain, Jude Stansfield got married to (or, more correctly, formed a civil partnership with) her also lovely partner, Simon and, in a slight departure from the normal sequence of events, Jude had her hen-do-run this weekend.  The blushing bride accompanied by Captain Bridesmaid and a full GDH Bride Squadron appear to have had an absolute riot across Kinder yesterday. The celebration also doubled as the annual club stocktake and, for audit purposes, Jude is happy to confirm that all 4 fascinators are still in full working order and able to withstand winds of 18.3mph (on ‘fuller’ heads) and 14.6mph (on all other heads).   HUGE CONGRATULATIONS, Jude and Simon!

Club Training

More news is expected shortly on club training arrangements however, there are still lots of options to get out and run with other Harriers in the meantime: Wednesday Hills with Matt Crompton; Thursday Fartleks with Paul Skuse;  Wednesday Circuit Training in Manor Park with Chris Smith and also maybe Rob Anker;  Sunday Trail Bashing with Coach J and Dave Chrystie-Lowe and; of course, the ever present NOT Coached sessions ….

NOT Coached Session for the week 3-9 August. Last one ever….???

No, I am not quitting but hopeful that after this week we’ll see the return of “Coached Session” again.  Watch this space and Facebook/Yahoo for updates!! Back to the job in hand, your challenge for this week. Carrying on the “theme” of a little more distance and longer reps. The set this week is 3x 1 mile or, if you regard yourself more towards the “elite” level in the club (or just extremely keen ! ) 4x 1 mile.

• *1st mile ~10 seconds slower than your 10K pace (6/10 RPE)
• * 2-minute easy recovery jog
• *2nd mile @10K pace (6.5-7/10 RPE)
• *2-minute recovery jog
• *3rd mile ~10 seconds faster than 10K pace (7.5/10 RPE)

Keen/elite version:

• *2-minute easy recovery jog
• 4th mile @5K pace (8/10 RPE)
• Note: ONLY (!) do a fourth mile if you are confident you can do it quicker than your third!!!

For that all-important warmup:

• *Baby skips with arm rotation (30m)
• *3x 30 seconds butt kicks with walk-back. Each rep a little faster leg turnover
• *Baby skips backwards with arm rotation (30m)
• *3x 30 seconds Plyometric skips (drive raised leg down fast!) with walk-back
• *2x 30m Carioca with step-over (once left and once right)

Coach J

In addition to planning the joy that is the weekly NOT coached sessions, Jeroen has also been checking out new kit….

Last week, when visiting a friend, I had the opportunity to finally use an Eliptigo. It is like a “stepper” on wheels. The rear wheel is driven by the steps you take. It is used by quite a few (elite) runners trying to keep their fitness when not able to run due to injury and runners forced to retire from running as a result of injury but not yet completely ready to give up completely. Great fun and very similar to running but….much faster. Easily covered 25k in an hour, even into a strong wind.

Have a good week – keep running and keep staying safe!