Black Trail Runners (BTR) Trail Running Workshop with Centurion Running

I was so delighted to be offered the opportunity to attend the first BTR workshop facilitated by Centurion Running! The workshop was in Wendover Woods, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire on 27th September.  I had never even heard of this trail nor had I been to Buckinghamshire before.

I drove down and the journey took about 1hour15mins. Wendover Woods is easily accessible by train but I definitely thought it made sense for me to drive. I arrived with just minutes to spare. I am not a fan of the M25 but had no choice but to use it to get there. Pleased to safe I got there with no problem.

The session was well planned and in a huge community hall which allowed for us to be socially distanced and we had to wear a face mask for safety. The location looked amazing but before we could go out running we had to complete the workshop delivered by James and Rachel.

From Centurion Running 

I love to write so I took lots of notes of course and was just so excited as all the information was making me feel better prepared for my Lea Valley 50km in November! 

From Centurion Running 

The workshop covered a range of topics from writing a training plan from footcare to running jargons.  Yes! Running jargons cause there are so many of them that we come across every single day!

From Centurion Running 

Lots of key takeaways including nutrition planning for a 50km or any other races which I have been thinking about.  I have a really sensitive stomach so always very cautious about what I consume on long runs. Having a chat with Rachel Dench during the trail run, she suggested some useful food for fueling as I like plain food during my runs... so soreen loaf, cheese sandwich or ham sandwich and the obvious sugar treats like Haribo as I don't really like gels. She also advices that I could stop and have a look to see what is available during the run as there will be a wide variety to choose from. I also like to use electrolytes in my water for any runs over 21km.

James talked about training zones which is something I have been trying to get a better understanding of. It's important to think about the perception of effort and something that I find often disrupts this is GARMIN! I have developed a bad habit of just looking at my pace constantly. I often have to put my watch in my pocket to focus on something else. 

Training zones involves  listening to your body, being able to run at the same effort and just go on feel not on what Garmin is telling you.

ZONE 1 - Recovery (max 40 mins or around 4 miles)
ZONE 2 - Endurance/Aerobic. These are long runs that feel sustainable. Be aware of your breathing (spend 80% of your time here)
 Polarised effort/ train easy
ZONE 3 - Tempo/Marathon Pace. You shouldn't train too hard in this zone and not too often
ZONE 4 - Threshold/ LTP (Lactate Turning Point). Massive boost of fitness 5-10 effort.  30 - 40 mins max (speed work)
ZONE 5 - VO2 Max Anaerobic  training.  Shorter races (speed work)

For Strenght and Conditioning, Rachel gave us some great tips:
Squats
Lunges/ Single leg exercises
Plank variations
Core workout to strengthen your core
Stationary workout with 2 tins of beans and use your arms as if you are running but stand still.
Foam roller!!!

Thank you to our BTR founders who supported us on the day (Sonny, Rachel, Donna and MJ) along with Centurion Running crew James Elson and Drew Sheffield along with our awesome photographer Phil Young.

Lots to take away on the day and I feel ready to write my own training plan! First thing first, let's get Virtual London Marathon out the way on 4th October with some of my @strongertogethercrew. So looking forward to this. Been a while since I've seen these guys. 

Background info on Black Trail Runners: BTR are a community and campaigning group that seek to increase the inclusion, participation and representation of black people in trail running. (Ref: taken from Facebook page). Follow them on Facebook and instagram @blacktrailrunners or/and www.smart.bio/blacktrailrunners

One of my goals for 2020 was to do more trail running and run an Ultra so really happy to be on this journey and planning some trail training in various parks over the next few weeks🌳🍃🍂👌🏿😉

I will be wearing my new Fractel cap! Along with my Stronger together crew new t-shirt . So exciting!

Photo credit from BTR:  Sylvie, Sonny Peart and Donna Richards.  Thank you😘😘

draft

5k run 💫 Being in the moment

The show kicked off at 10am with a 5km run which is 12.5 laps on an athletics track (ome lap is 400m) I ran with Hasan, Mollie, Katrina talked and got to know each other. Prior to this,  Mark White (host), Kevin and the camera crew introduced themselves. There were 15 runners.  7 women and 8 men. People from all over the UK. For the first 5k being in the moment and talking to people. Before had I had a special task to complete before  hand.... all will be revealed on 14th September!! Ran in my 361 degree Strata 4. Felt good  but the runderwear sock gave a tight feel. Will wear them again on mile 2 with stance socks to feel the difference..

Mile 4 - 💫 Running community

Sha Hussain (@bemore.you) talked to us about gratitude and how it supports mental health. Sha touched on the topic of Perma and how he uses it. The PERMA Model was developed by respected positive psychologist, Martin Seligman, and was widely published in his influential 2011 book,Flourish. 

Positive emotions – feeling good
Engagement – being completely absorbed in activities
Relationships – being authentically connected to others
Meaning – purposeful existence
Achievement – a sense of accomplishment and success.

More information https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/perma.htm

Be More You and Love Trails Festival are co-hosting a Virtual Race and Wellbeing Festival on Saturday 10th October 2020 to mark World Mental Health Day.

They are asking runners around the world to collaborate with them and create a solo or group run on this day (any distance at a time to suit) and take part in a task that we hope will unite us all in our common humanity. The task is to give each runner the opportunity to show up authentically for themselves - sharing two words out loud or with one another, describing how they are feeling during the run (i.e. happy and tired).

We then walked in pairs and shared 1 thing we are grateful for. I didn't have anyone to walk with and just had a think and walked. We then stopped at the start line, meditated for 2 mins, relaxed and thought about gratitude of life. Then it was time to run mile 4 which is 4 laps of the track.

Mile 5 - 💫Family

Music and DJ was live. We ran anti clockwise this time . Felt good. Cameron the camera man followed us round a few times. Still in runderwear top. This mile was dedicated to my daughter and being grateful that she received the grades she needed to start her chosen course at 6th form.

Mile 9 - 💫Opportunities 

Run with running heroes top and my Vaga cap 😊. We had the pleasure of a  yoga at the end of that run with Fotini (@fotiniwellbeing). This felt great. I have continuously worn the Strata 4 and they feel so light and comfortable.  Really enjoying running in them.

Mile 12 

We walked this mile as we had just had dinner at 6pm. It was chicken shish, salad and pitta bread..really nice meal, only ate a third as we had to run again in 40 mins. Took us about 18 mins to walk the mile. It was actually good to walk this round, and allowed me to this about this moment and how 2020 has played out.

Mile 13

Ran with Hasan (@thechallengerinme) felt good. Pace was quite quick, but felt awesome 😃👌🏿. Hasan and I recorded a vlog straight after about how we are feeling. We then now taking part in a breathing session organised by  Kevin. This session lasted 30 mins and was a  great to help us relax and concentrate just on our breathing 🗣

Mile 16
Fastest mile..the rain came down. Drank the coconut edition sugar free  coconut and berry flavour. Really nice taste. 

Feeling good. Used the muscle recovery fun before. Legs feel good. Had some gums from Brett, lifesaver. 

Mile 20
Starting to feel lethargic and making use of the  sleeping bag and blanket. Closing my eyes and trying to stretch bit by bit. Been wearing strata 4 with stance socks most runs.

Mile 22 - 💫 Good health

Feeling alert,  Hasan has been djing for a few miles now and that is really lifting the mood. Had an espresso and ate 2 pieces of pitta..finished the espresso not the pitta. Want something didn't know what... so went for something warm.

Mile 26

Memories

Final words

Run Grateful Challenge September 4th - 5th 2020

5k run 💫 Being in the moment

The show kicked off at 10am with a 5km run which is 12.5 laps on an athletics track (one lap is 400m) I ran with Hasan, Mollie, Katrina talked and got to know each other. Prior to this,  Mark White @markwhite_0602 (host), Kevin and the camera crew introduced themselves. 

There were 16 runners.  7 women and 9 men. People from all over the UK. For the first 5k being in the moment and talking to people. Before hand I had a special task to complete ... all will be revealed on 14th September!! I ran in my 361 degree Strata 4. Felt good  but the runderwear sock gave a tight feel. Will wear them again on mile 2 with stance socks to feel the difference..

Mile 4 - 💫 Running community

Sha Hussain (@bemore.you) talked to us about gratitude and how it supports mental health. Sha touched on the topic of Perma and how he uses it. The PERMA Model was developed by respected positive psychologist, Martin Seligman, and was widely published in his influential 2011 book,Flourish.

Positive emotions – feeling good
Engagement – being completely absorbed in activities
Relationships – being authentically connected to others
Meaning – purposeful existence
Achievement – a sense of accomplishment and success.

More information https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/perma.htm

Be More You and Love Trails Festival are co-hosting a Virtual Race and Wellbeing Festival on Saturday 10th October 2020 to mark World Mental Health Day.

They are asking runners around the world to collaborate with them and create a solo or group run on this day (any distance at a time to suit) and take part in a task that we hope will unite us all in our common humanity. The task is to give each runner the opportunity to show up authentically for themselves - sharing two words out loud or with one another, describing how they are feeling during the run (i.e. happy and tired).

We then walked in pairs and shared 1 thing we are grateful for. I didn't have anyone to walk with and just had a think and walked. We then stopped at the start line, meditated for 2 mins, relaxed and thought about gratitude of life. Then it was time to run mile 4 which is 4 laps of the track.

Thankful for Marcus (@themarathonmarcus) for his podcast where he interviewed the super inspiring Liz Warner, who challenged herself to complete 30 marathons before she turned 30 whilst raising money for charities. It was through listening to this podcast and posting it on IG that Liz reached out to invite me to this event. 

Mile 5 - 💫Family

Music and DJ was live. We ran anti clockwise this time . Felt good. Cameron  (@cameron_hall96) the camera man followed us round a few times. Still in runderwear top.

This mile was dedicated to my daughter and being grateful that she received the grades she needed to start her chosen course at 6th form.

Mile 9 - 💫Opportunities 

Ran in my running heroes top and my Vaga cap 😊. We had the pleasure of yoga at the end of that run with Fotini (@fotiniwellbeing). This felt great. I have continuously worn the Strata 4 and they feel so light and comfortable.  Really enjoying running in them.

I have been blessed to be given a number of opportunities this year. These include being ambassadors for Sundried, Runderwear and Vaga. 

Mile 12 - 💫 Life as it currently is

We walked this mile as we had just had dinner at 6pm. It was chicken shish, salad and pitta bread..really nice meal, only ate a third as we had to run again in 40 mins.

Took us about 18 mins to walk the mile. It was actually good to walk this round, and allowed me to think about this moment and how 2020 has played out.

Mile 13 - 💫  Macmillan Nurses 

Ran with Hasan (@thechallengerinme) felt good. Pace was quite quick, but felt awesome 😃👌🏿. Hasan and I recorded a vlog straight after about how we are feeling. We then took part in a breathing session organised by  Kevin and delivered by Brian via Zoom. This session lasted 30 mins and was a  great to help us relax and concentrate just on our breathing 👌🏿🙌🏿

This mile was dedicated to the incredible nurses at Macmillan who worked with my Dad and the family in his last few weeks.

Macmillan Nurses are qualified nurses with specialist qualifications and skills in cancer care. Their role is to support patients and their families through diagnosis and treatment. They also advise on aspects of care when treatment is for comfort and not cure, which is known as palliative care.

Mile 16 💫 Lessons I have learned throughout my life

Fastest mile..the rain came down at 3am. Drank the coconut edition sugar free  coconut and berry flavour. Really nice taste. 

Feeling good. Used the muscle recovery machine, before the next mile. Legs felt good.

Had some wine gums from Brett, lifesaver! I had been craving Haribo sweets for like hours! So it was just the best feeling to have them. All set for the next mile now 😁

Mile 20 - Run Grateful family

Starting to feel lethargic and making use of the  sleeping bag and blanket. Closing my eyes and trying to stretch bit by bit. Been wearing strata 4 with stance socks most runs.

Mile 22 - 💫 Black Girls Do Run UK

Feeling alert,  Hasan has been djing for a few miles now and that is really lifting the mood. Had an espresso and ate 2 pieces of pitta..finished the espresso not the pitta. Want something didn't know what... so went for something warm. My usual go to for hot drinks is Nestle Double Choc Mocha 😋. This is the 2nd time in my life that I have had an espresso, the first time being only 2 weeks ago on a long run with Ray @rai2176.  I was cold and needed a small hot drink (hot chocolate drinks don't come that small 🤷🏿‍♀️). 

This mile was dedicated to the wonderful ladies of Black girls do run. In April 2019, Tasha Thompson founded Black Girls Do Run UK with two friends, 'a small running family who are all about encouraging, inspiring and motivating' Black women to run, jog, and take part in events. Tasha has created a community for members to find support, motivation, and most importantly, fun, in the sport they so love. 

I had the pleasure of spending time with ladies on a run in Regents Park recently.

Mile 26 - 💫Growth mindset

Before the final mile, I took a walk around the track to reflect on the experience and actually let it all sink in.  The people, the atmosphere, the support, the stories told, the laughter and of course the running and gratitude. 

Those of us running completed our 4 laps and then joined a member of the Run Grateful family on their walk around to finish off and support each other. It was a fitting final laps to what the event was all about. We then walked back and received some final words from Mark with a lovely surprise of a medal.

Before the event I didn't even know we would receive a medal so it was a lovely touch to get this.

More Memories

Hasan enjoing another Moju ginger shot!

What am I grateful for?

Great to see Mollie! Last saw each other at the beginning of the year... funny enough on another athletics track😊

My namesake @Katrina.runs. Kat is a phenomenal human and a great person to be around. Lots of singing, laughter and dancing💃🏿🏃🏿‍♀️. Of course we both love colours and Goodr sunglasses.

 We sure had lots of laughter and moments in the man size tent! Cosy too for sure.

GORGEOUS medal 😍

Ice bath moments for many, NOT me. I love warm and hot water. Couldn't even handle a cold shower🤣.

Hasan having his photo taken by Cameron, our camera guy😊

Final mile ❤❤❤

Final words

So hard to put the 24 hours into words.  An experience I will forever hold close to my heart. I appreciate each and every person I met, who willingly shared their story with us all and for all the people behind the scenes who made the event possible. I know Liz was gutted not to be there but I am sure will meet one day. Thank you Liz and Mark for all you do to help others and the community. We are blessed and appreciate you. I hope I get to meet each and everyone of you again in the future to run another grateful mile. As Mark says 'Gratitude always win'

Really happy to have shared this experience with Hasan. He really doesn't know how much inspiration people take from his journey. 

Everyone has a story. It might or might not be a love story. It could be a story of dreams, friendship, hope, survival or even death. And every story is worth telling. But more than that, it’s worth living. - Savi Sharma

People need stories. Stories of love, hope, survival, wisdom and sometimes pain. Maybe you don’t tell them the full truth; maybe you tell them lies. But what is this world? A lie in itself. - Savi Sharma

The night before 26.2 mile/24 HOURS RUN GRATEFUL CHALLENGE

Well well well... this week has been extremely busy! Work has been full on as the school term starts. The ideal plan for me would have been to get at least 2 runs in this week, but unfortunately I have not run for 4 days. I know that is not a long time, but in a runners mind that is a long time. Ok, I can't change what's done so let focus on the challenge ahead.

Packed all the essentials:

2 pairs of trainers, both 361 degrees (spire 4 and Strata 4). Both of these trainers were gifted. I have run in the Spire 4 a number of times and the level of comfort in the runs is amazing. They have a great cushion feel and ideal for long and short runs. I have been gifted the Strata 4 to test run and provide a review. What an ideal way of doing that by taking them along on this awesome challenge. I will alternate between the pair and vlog my review straight after the runs. Packed a few of my favourite t-shirts including Black girls do run UK, Running Heroes,  Teamrunderwear,  Adidas Runners Zurich, few leggings, socks,  toiletries etc.  Most likely overpacked, better safe than sorry, right lol. Also have a yoga mat, foam roller, sleeping bag, camping chair, powerbanks to charge my phone - you name it, it's there!

Nutrition:

I have done quite well today in terms of hydration and fuelled reasonable well. 3 meals and no snacking in between like usual, but this may be because I was really busy WFH today..either way 'thumbs up'

Preparation:

How do you mentally prepare for such a challenge? The excitement is sky high and over the moon that I have one of my close friends taking part too, Hasan (@thechallengerinme). It is going to be an awesome experience.  I have never really taken part in a gratitude run/activity/event, and I think this is a great way of actually celebrating and giving thanks for what we have. I have a few dedications in mind and one of my IG friends has asked me to dedicate one of my gratitude mile to them for which I am extremely grateful and be so happy to do. I will also be thinking a lot about my dad and will be taking a picture (keyring) with me on my miles.  Life is short and what this year has taught me more than ever is to be in the moment, appreciate what you have because there is someone praying for what we have. When things look especially dire, it's tough to muster up a whole lot of gratitude. We sometimes need help turning our frown upside down (or you, know getting out of bed).

A.A. Milne

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”

I also strongly believe that we should 'pay it forward '. What I mean is that it's important for me to help people wherever possible.  We all need a little help at times and no one has ever become poor by giving. A little kindness goes a long way and you may just be the only person that has ever helped that one person😉

On that note, it's good night from me and I will keep you posted on this awesome experience.