BRR Blog – 26 February 2024
John Whan at the London winter 10K
Hi there, Road Runners!
With the Last race in the South Essex Cross Country League unable to go ahead on the reserve date (as we all expected), there weren’t any official Club races this weekend, but we had a few of our members flying the flag for BRR - see Greg’s race report, below. Otherwise, I think quite a few of you were getting on with your marathon training. or maybe just snuggling up indoors given the cold turn in the weather. At least the sunshine made it feel a bit more springlike!
February Committee Minutes
With thanks to Isabel, please find attached the minutes of the February Committee meeting: https://www.barkingroadrunners.org.uk/club-rules-and-admin-1. Please note, in particular, that Belinda, our Membership Secretary, will write out in March regarding membership renewal for 2024-25. We will be keeping our annual membership fee the same at £15, but England Athletics membership has increased to £19 for the year. For that you get £2 off EA-licensed races, so it is still worth it if you plan to enter quite a few races and it is also a requirement if you want to be in contention for one of the Club’s London marathon places.
Rain Stops Play
It seems the last race in the 2023/24 South Essex Cross Country League isn’t the only cross-country event to be cancelled due to parking problems.
The English National Cross Country Championships were due to take place in Weston Park, Shropshire, on Saturday but had to be postponed due to torrential rain on Thursday night. The rain left much of the Park, including parking areas, underwater. The English Cross Country Association released a statement 24-hours before the races should have taken place to say that ‘conditions were impossible for parking.’
The Weston Park venue is about nine miles away from Telford and not easy to get to via public transport. So, with the majority of competitors due to arrive in cars or mini buses, the lack of parking would have made it difficult for the event to go ahead.
The Association said “We will now explore all possible options to hold our Championships at a suitable future date. We sincerely apologise for all the logistical and financial problems that this will cause both clubs and individuals.”
I guess they’d better look at the weather forecast and pick a drier spell.
Couples who exercise together…exercise less!
Going out running with your partner would seem to be the dream way of maintaining your fitness regime. But a recent study published in the International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction’ suggests that the opposite is true. The 12-week study, carried out by the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, looked at the exercise habits of 240 people aged 54 to 72. The researchers had intended to look at the impact of using fitness trackers to monitor steps and calories burned, but their study also revealed that older couples who exercised together had lower daily step counts than their solo counterparts, often struggling to achieve 10,000 steps a day.
The researchers have attributed to lower activity rates to ‘deeply entrenched habits and routines.’ While solos would exercise when it was convenient for them, or might participate in a group activity, couples often had difficulty synchronising their schedules and changing daily habits that might have been ingrained for years. The researchers concluded, for more mature people at least, it might be easier for them to focus on changing their own exercise habits rather than trying to do it as a couple and imposing new habits on their partner.
The moral of the story: focus on your own fitness rather than trying to change other people’s behaviour!
The Crown…To Crown
Some of us at the Crown to Crown last year.
Pitsea Running Club has announced the 2024 dates of its popular Crown to Crown 5k race series. The race takes place in Westley Heights Country Park, 1 Dry St, Langdon Hills, Basildon SS16 5LT. It starts and finishes behind what used to be the Crown public house, hence the name. Dates are:·
11.00am, Friday 29 March (Good Friday)
· 7.30pm, Wednesday 8 May
· 7.30pm, Wednesday 12 June
· 7.30pm, Wednesday 10 July
· 7.30pm, Wednesday 14 August
· 7.00pm, Wednesday 4 September
· 11.00am, Thursday 26 December (Boxing Day)
Price: £2.50 (affiliated), £4.50 (unaffiliated). You can enter each race in advance at Pitsea RC 5k Crown to Crown - Good Friday - EntryCentral or just turn up and enter on the day.
Going too Far?
The conventional wisdom in marathon training is that you should never run marathon distance. But should the same rule apply to the half-marathon?
Marathon training plans tend to avoid running the full marathon distance and for good reasons. Running the marathon distance in training could result in injury and compromise recovery. Instead, training plans spread the mileage across the week, so you build endurance without putting your body under the full stresses and strains that it will be subjected to on race day.
The same principle applies to half-marathon training, although the risks are not so high. Most half marathon training plans will build up to a long run of 16 to 19 kilometres (10-12 miles-ish) two to four weeks before the race, especially for runners tackling their first or second HM race. And who wants to do their first HM running around the back streets of Barking and Dagenham rather than in the race you have paid good money to enter, especially if it risks getting injured?
If you are a more experienced runner used to longer distances and aiming for a Personal Best, you may decide to run longer in training. But it is important to listen to your body and avoid injury and burnout. An alternative to increasing the length of your long run is to add extra time or distance to your recovery/easy runs – you will still get the benefit of extra time on your feet but without the risk factor.
Greg’s Race Report
No team events for Barking Road Runners but a couple of members found races to take part in.
Dawn Curtis ran in the Brighton Half Marathon which was celebrating its 34th event. The route, which starts and finishes on the seafront, was one of the first major half marathons in the UK. Dawn finished the race in a Personal Best time of 2:29:39.
Dawn at the Brighton HM - the best I could do with the photo!
John Whan competed in the Cancer Research UK London Winter Run 10k on closed roads in the city centre, taking in many iconic landmarks on the route. John finished in a time of 53:20
Barking parkrunners
Barking - Mark Odeku 20:25, Joshua Ezissi 22:25, Rosie Fforde 26:23, Stephen Colloff 26:53, James Sheridan 27:22, John Lang 28:09, Isabel Pinedo Borobio 28:41, Rob Courtier 28:42, Sian Mansley 28:43, Andrew Hiller 29:01, Emma Paisley 29:02, Rabea Begum 30:21, Martin Mason 32:04, Nikki Cranmer 33:20, Lizzie-Beth Garraghan 33:22, Les Jay 34:58, Belinda Riches 38:20, Cristina Cooper 39:36 and Alan Murphy 52:10.
Some likely looking lads
Chalkwell Beach - Ron Vialls 29:56.
Fælledparken - Richard Joisce 17:21.
Hadleigh - Antony Leckerman 26:14.
Harrow Lodge - Rory Burr 27:12.
Northala Fields - Mark New 23.10.
Climb every mountain…with Mark New
Raphaels - Doug King 26:07 and Gary Harford 32:02.
Southampton - Jason Li 29.24
Jason with a rather grubby Southampton parkrun pop-up
Valentines - Kevin Wotton 30:35 and Andrew Gwilliam 51:38.
BRR’s highest age gradings this week were Rosie Fforde 56.66% for the women and Mark Odeku 67.35% for the men.
The Final Squat…Or Is It?
Last week of the Squat challenge. Well done to everyone who has made it this far. This week we have 140/rest/145/150 (or 135/140/rest/145/150 if you started on 1 February). I think I am not alone in finding my legs getting stronger as the challenge goes on; I’m not sure if I have buns of steel, but I certainly have stronger thighs. A few of us have discussed what to do next. My plan is to maintain the fitness that I have gained by starting again on 1 March with 15 squats.
Here’s a reminder of the training plan, if you want to give it a go in March.
BRR Diary – February/March
7.00pm, Tuesday 27 February - Speed development. Jim Peters Stadium, Mayesbrook Park. This week Greg will be taking the session:
6 x 4 minutes with 2 minutes recovery jog or walk. The run should be just above 5k race pace.
7.00pm, Thursday 29 February – Road Run. From the Castle Green Centre/Jo Richardson School, Gale Street, Dagenham. A run of 5-6 miles, all abilities welcome.
w/c 2 March - Virtual Handicap 05. Remember to post your result by close on Friday 8 March.
11.00am, Saturday 9 March – Chingford League relays. Wanstead Flats. The last Chingford League race of the season, on trails/grass. 4 x 2 miles relays, male and female teams. We can enter as many teams as we like, but will try and group people by ability. More details nearer the time.
10.00am, Sunday 24 March –Brentwood Half (GP01). Beckett Keys Church of England Secondary School, off Sawyers Hall Lane, Brentwood, Essex. CM15 9DA. First race in this year’s Club Grand Prix competition. Entries close 18 March if places are still available. Enter at https://www.brentwoodhalf.org/
Cracker Corner
I was training to be a magician but failed the final exam. It was full of trick questions.
I tripped over a box of Kleenex this morning and thought I’d broken my ankle. Luckily it was just soft tissue damage.
Yesterday Chris told me to stop behaving like a flamingo. Well, I had to put my foot down.
Boom! Boom!
Quote of the week
‘If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.’
Emil Zatopek
And finally…
Running watch envy! One moment you are perfectly happy with the watch that you have, then you get an email from Garmin about their new watch and – suddenly – your old watch looks old, battered, and tired (wait a minute, is that a description of me after my fall last week?).
I am desperately trying to resist the temptation to purchase the Forerunner 165 but I’m not sure I can carry on for much longer without daily suggested workouts, Garmin Coach, Race Adaptive Training, Morning Report, Training Effect, 11 days battery life, and – most of all – an AMOLED display. I definitely need an AMOLED display. Now, I just have to find out what an AMOLED display is…
