Saturday, October 15, 2022

Cross Country Running – My first but definitely not my last!


- What is cross country running?

Cross Country running may sometimes be abbreviated as XC as you will see on this page. XC is an event in which individuals and teams run off-road on a variety of terrains which can include single track, undulating, grass, river-crossing, mud, woodlands, flat ground etc. XC is for all abilities. In the same field you’ll find elites, complete newcomers, veterans and juniors. No medals are awarded as you cross the finish lines, instead team scoring is based on the finishing positions in each race of the series.


-  Why?

I have always loved watching and reading about runners of cross-country of all ages. Looking at the terrain it is similar to trail running and if you know a bit about me, then you would know that this is right up my street. I first started reading about XC back in 2019 and wanted to join a club. With one thing or another, I just could never get organised enough to do this join a club. So when the conversation and opportunity came up again this year, I just had to grab the offer with both hands.
What made this connection special was that I spent the whole day working with the team captain! 

-  Joining Harrow AC and how that came about?

Whilst officiating at an athletics event for Middlesex Championships on 14th May 2022, I met Lesley who is the team captain for Harrow AC women’s team. We spoke about all things running and then she told me about her XC team and she asked me to join. We worked together all day and had a great connection so it was an easy YES! Sometimes you just have that connection with some people. I was so excited but explained that I was currently injured with ‘runners knee’. With rehab going well, I joined Harrow AC on 21st September! Joining was super easy and Jim (Harrow AC athlete plus other roles) made everything so easy and I became a member within a day or two.

-  When is XC season?

XC season typically starts in mid to late October, running right the way through to late February or early March. It’s long so I have been told that it is important to train well and pace yourself!

My first race will be on 15th October in Claybury Park, Roding Lane North, Woodford Green, IG8 8NN. The 2022/2023 season starts today. Just found out that we are going into the season as the reigning division 3 champions and how amazing does that sound!

Entrance to Claybury Park
Harrow AC flag

The race is a mixture of trails and grass. It is in a mini forest/park and have been told that it is a lovely setting. It is a three lap course and a big hill which of course you have to tackle to few times as it loops! I love hill running but let's see the verdict on this after the race! The weather at the moment has been quite dry so I have been informed that trails shoes should be OK. Later on in the season I most likely would need to wear spikes, but some people wear trail shoes all year round.

-  How far do you run in XC?

Distance for XC is never exact but the Claybury course has been measured as 8.2km. Most races are either three miles or five kilometers long. Occasionally a course will measure slightly short or long.

-   My expectations of first race

It is difficult to know what to expect. I have read lots about it and watched videos but everyone’s experience is going to be different. I am really looking forward to it and not worried at all. To be honest, I am more focused on my strength training and being in the best possible shape to get me through the race. I want to enjoy it and do the best I can. I know I will take away a lot of lessons that will hopefully make be a better XC runner. But we must get to the 1st start line 1st!

My hope is to see diversity on the start line. As with trail running I have a feeling that XC will be similar in terms of lack of representation of black and brown people. Let’s see what happens and I will feedback in my race day report.

-  My first XC race!

Breakfast – Granola with Greek yogurt. Also had a banana whilst warming up.

Travelling there – Travelled from Mile End station on the central line to Woodford. As I approached the station I chucked a message into the group chat to see if anyone else was nearby. Luckily Joanna was one stop behind me on the train so I waited for her and we walked to the park together. Took about 25 minutes to walk there.
Waiting for Joanna 

Meeting my team – we have been chatting a lot in the group chat so it was lovely to meet them all in person. 

Warm up time with some of the team
1km warm up - very humid and sweaty already!

Club kit – I purchased my race vest from Jim who does the club admin but is also part on the men’s team. The vest cost £18

Each individual runner will retain the same number throughout the season.

Start line diversity – As you can see in my team photo I was the only black female. Within the Harrow camp, there were some black male runners. As a whole there was definitely a lack of representation but we have to start somewhere. Half way through the race, I ran along side a lady called Mary who was running for Barnet. As we both stomped up the hill we had a muttered a few words (mostly 'hi' and 'welldone' ) which was nice and then we carried on. I carried on pushing as it is about places I was determined in that final lap that no one else was going to pass me!

Course –women race start: 13:15pm. 3 laps of 2.7km of parkland – a mixture of grass and trails. Race should have totalled just over 8.1km but Strava measured it as 7.61km. Very undulating. Up, down, up, up, down….. and so on. As it was 3 loops, the first time up the hill I did run  up but the rest of the loops I had to walk up the hills as I was truly knackered. I walked at a good pace and used my arms. The course was dry and has the weather has been quite warm, trail shoes was perfect as the course was a mixture of grass and some trails.
Photo by Mike and Ian (Harrow AC)

Finish line feels – oh wow! As with all my races I always push to the finish line. So happy to get to that finish. That was challenging and fun at the same time. If that is possible … ha-ha. Lovely to have the support with people shouting 'GO Harrow' and some team mates calling my name. That was awesome and kept me smiling 😃. 

Women’s before and after race photo

This Tunnock's is apparently traditional so I definitely had to have one! 
Extra reward given to us by Captain Lesley

Always lovely to see a familiar face - Miry 

Stayed around and cheered on the men’s race. Woodford Green and Essex Ladies opened up their club house  for light refreshment after the race. Jen, Leslie and I walked over. Had a class of Kopparberg and it was great!

Jen, me and Leslie (women's team captain)
£2 not bad! 
Woodford Green AC with Essex Ladies clubhouse is the closest to the event so all the athletes came here for some light refreshments and post race catch up.


Photo: Mike (Harrow AC)

PS Tom (to my left in the photo) and I completed our CiRF (Coach in Running Fitness) together in June of this year. Who knew that we would be running on the same team. The running community never cease to amaze me 🙏🏿❤

Photo: Liviu

Take-away tips

Train hills - although each course is different you will encounter some hills during the XC season

 Onto the trail - train on different terrains.

No weather is bad weather, train in all weather.

The end is what matters - give it your all!

Overall verdict

Really happy to be part of the team.  It is never too late and you are never too old.
In terms of representation, from general conversations in my short membership, the club would like to reflect the diverse makeup of Harrow better and this is something that I am happy to help and support with.

It only takes one person to show you that you belong and there is a space out there for you too. I will continue to champion the cause and hope to inspire, encourage and support others to take that first step whether it is trail running or XC.

Thank you for taking the time to read my page. Happy to hear any feedback. 

Peace and love ❤ 

Saturday, October 8, 2022

Does interval running really live up to the hype?

Run walk run intervals is a strategy for runners of all experience levels. You may have heard the myth about ‘do real runners take walk breaks?’. Yes they do. This method has been used by runners of all levels. 
You may have heard of the term ‘jeffing’. 'Jeffing' is a run-walk-run method which consists of purposefully breaking your activity down into running and walking intervals from the beginning of a training session or race. It is often associated with beginner runners but experienced runners use it too.

There is no one set interval so it is important that you try different ones on your runs to work out the best one for you. Walk breaks are personal so give it a go and find out what works for you. Walk breaks will significantly speed up recovery because there is less damage to repair. The early walk breaks also erase fatigue, and the later walk breaks will reduce or eliminate overuse muscle breakdown. 

Jeff Galloway - The technique of 'Jeffing' is named after American Olympic runner Jeff Galloway. Galloway was on the 1972 American Olympic team competing in the 10,000m.

He is an exceptional runner, previously setting an American 10-mile road record and winning the 1974 Honolulu Marathon in a time of 2:23:02.


How to work out the most suitable intervals for you.


Here is a great video from The Running Channel about the run-walk-run method.


How interval running has helped me to start running again

I first started to use the run-walk-run interval in August 2022 when I was preparing for the big half marathon. I am still seeing a physio for an injury I sustained a while back but I have been following my strength training programme in the gym, no running and just building back. Initially I used the run-walk-run method on the treadmill for a 30 minutes run then 3 days later, increased the duration. The following week I then tried this run out in my local park. I didn’t want to run too far away from home just in case I became distressed.

I was impressed as it all felt good but I was still cautious as I did not want to push too much. If I am was going to run the big half then I needed to have a plan and followed it through. One of my friends Ray  wanted us to run together as he had not run a half marathon for a while. I told him my plan and he was happy to tag along. He was even happier as he was thinking we had to count 180 seconds in our head and then walk/count 60 seconds for the whole race… haha. I told him about a gadget called gymboss and he was relieved.

We arrived at Tower Bridge for the race nice and early (I am an early bird and do not like rushing or to feel rushed). If you have ever been to a race start then you know what the toilet queues look like and the bag drop etc. We did both in good time and still had plenty of time to watch the elites (Mo Farah, Eilish McColgan and many others) and then we warmed up properly before we set off.

I started the gymboss as soon as we crossed the start line. As I had trained using the 3:1 interval (3 mins run : 1 min walk), we set off using this. A few minutes into the run, I heard someone’s timer set off, I thought to myself, that sounds familiar and then mine went off and we walked. As the race progressed, I could hear other people’s timers! This is something that I had NEVER noticed in the past. I think it’s amazing the number of people that do interval running. We completed the big half feeling great and still energised believe it or not in a respectable time of 2:40:03. The plan was to finish not in pain and that goal was achieved. Moving forward I will definitely continue with run-walk-run as much as possible. Thinking ahead, this would be great for e.g marathon as it will help conserve that energy that you need from mile 20 - when the race really starts!

Gymboss set to 3 minutes walk and 1 minute run. The B means it sounds a beep and V means it also vibrates. These happen to alert you to change between interval so you can have this in your pocket. You can choose either B or V or have both.
 
With Ray at the start of The Big Half

Amazon - Gymboss Charge Interval Timer and Stopwatch : Amazon.co.uk: Sports & Outdoors

·       Compact interval timer times one or two intervals between two seconds and 99 minutes. Built-in Stopwatch and Clock feature. Secure and Removable Belt-clip included.

·       Auto mode keeps repeating through intervals, up to 99 repeats. Chime and vibration interval notification; alarm duration can be set for one, two, five, or nine seconds.

·       Backlit LCD makes it easy to see in any light exposure.

·       Weatherproof allowing for use in heavy continuous rain as well as extreme sweat and humid conditions.

·       Size of a small pager. Built in rechargeable battery that will last for months on a single charge. Charging cable included. Fits all Gymboss Accessories, including the Gymboss Watchstrap.

Photo from Amazon

Benefits:

-          Helps to reduce injury

-          Stops aches and pains

-          Good if you are starting out from scratch either as a beginner runner or coming back from an injury

-          It helps your body to prepare for the stresses and helps your bones and joint to re-adapt.

-          Controls your effort

-          You can run further or for longer

-          Keeps you motivated and the target can seem more manageable

I have really enjoyed using this method to restart this running journey again. I would highly recommend that you start using the interval from the beginning of your run rather than when you start to fatigue as it will be more difficult to get into rhythm. The set intervals also trains your body and mind and let's it know what you are doing. You can also change the interval setting during your run if you feel you can run for longer and want shorter walk breaks. Just make sure to practice this in your training runs and not on race day.

Please note that I am not in anyway suggesting you can only do interval running using the gymboss. This is what I used but there are apps out there that can do the same thing or some smart watches. I just didn't want another app to use 😄.
 

If you have tried interval running how did it go? Let me know in the comments. If you haven’t and would like to after reading this, do let me know how you get on.

 

Goodluck x



Kielder Marathon Training

Hey there,! As I kick off my journey toward the  Kielder Marathon  in October, I thought I’d share my weekly training plan here....