Celebrating Runners, Walkers, and Everyone in between
When I wrote my post last week, I said that I was feeling off with my training and that I had to switch something up this week to help jump start things. I started the week by going for a run with a running buddy on Monday night, which was a nice change from my normal lunchtime treadmill run. I then decided to continue with my Tuesday night track sessions. For the remainder of the week, I rested. I didn't go to the gym, didn't do any yoga, and didn't run. It was nice to have 5 days off, and I definitely feel rejuvenated and ready to start my full training program tomorrow.
Part of that rejuvenation came from volunteering at a fun run that our club hosted on Saturday morning. I always enjoy getting out and helping with our races when I can, and in particular I love to see runners and walkers of varying ability levels doing their best and enjoying the sport. Yesterday morning there were families and friends running together, new runners and veterans, and even a mother pushing her child in a stroller for 5k! I felt honoured to be able to help out and give them the opportunity to do something they enjoyed, and to make it even better the event raised $600 for the local food banks.
There was a post going around Facebook today regarding a situation at a race in Mount Pearl this morning where an individual who was volunteering made a negative comment towards walkers who were competing in the race. It was an unfortunate comment to see, and I really hope that the individual involved was just having a bad day. My experience in the running community has been almost universally supportive towards runners of all abilities, and this incident seemed out of place.
I consider myself lucky to be someone who has always been active, and that has made my transition into running a fairly easy one. When I see people who come from different backgrounds than mine, I am always inspired by their effort level and commitment. Taking the first steps to try a new activity can be intimidating at the best of times, and I'm sure that can be doubly so for someone who may be worried about their ability level. It is imperative that all of us in the running community, or really any fitness community, are welcoming at all times to new members. Our goal should be for as many people as possible to take steps to improve their fitness, and the way to do that is by being supportive and offering advice and words of encouragement at every opportunity.
It's also a bit ironic to put someone down for taking a little longer to finish. When you stop and think about it, the longer it takes someone to complete a race, the more time they are required to dedicate to that activity. I think about this often, as someone who is fortunate to run a little on the faster side. Whenever I finish a race in the cold, or the rain, or really any uncomfortable conditions, I try to quickly shift my focus to supporting those still on the course. Because if I found it uncomfortable to spend 20 minutes running a 5k in the rain, it's twice as hard for the person running it in 40 minutes! They are willing to endure those conditions for twice as long in order to say they finished the race, and to me that is something to be very proud of.
So, if you are a runner/walker who takes a little longer to finish, do so with your head held high. And know that while you may at times look at some of the faster runners and marvel at their training paces and race times, many of us are looking right back at you with admiration at the effort and enthusiasm that you bring to our wonderful sport.
Weekly Summary (February 13-19)
Mon. (Evening): 8.04 km, 42:00, 5:13/km pace
Tue. (Evening): 2 km warmup, 4 x [2x200m+1x400m] (40s avg. on 200m, 79s avg. on 400m) w/ 290m/400m jog, 2 km cooldown (Workout total: 11.12 km, 48:14, 4:20/km pace)
Wed.-Sun: Off
Total: 19.16 km
As I said above, very little activity for me this week. Starting tomorrow, I will be getting back to running 6 days a week in preparation for the Flat Out 5k in mid-April. I ran that race in around 22:40 last year, and I'm hoping to be close to 20 minutes this year. I don't have a complete training plan mocked up yet, but to start I will be following Hal Higdon's Advanced 5km training plan, shown here:
http://www.halhigdon.com/training/50935/5K-Advanced-Training-Program
The basic outline of the plan for me will be as follows:
Mon. - Easy run (6k)
Tue. - Intervals (either 200m or 400m)
Wed. - Easy run (6k)
Thu. - Tempo run
Fri. - Off
Sat. - Long run
Sun. - Recovery run (8-10k)
That is very similar to the plan I followed through most of last year, and it served me very well. Depending on the distance of my workouts/long run each week, I should end up with about 40-50km per week, which is where I want to be right now. I've yet to figure out if I will continue to incorporate strength training and/or yoga during this training block, and it will likely be determined by how my body is feeling on a day to day basis.
That about covers it for this week. Thanks for reading, and hopefully I'll be back next week to talk about a great first week of training. Cheers!
Part of that rejuvenation came from volunteering at a fun run that our club hosted on Saturday morning. I always enjoy getting out and helping with our races when I can, and in particular I love to see runners and walkers of varying ability levels doing their best and enjoying the sport. Yesterday morning there were families and friends running together, new runners and veterans, and even a mother pushing her child in a stroller for 5k! I felt honoured to be able to help out and give them the opportunity to do something they enjoyed, and to make it even better the event raised $600 for the local food banks.
There was a post going around Facebook today regarding a situation at a race in Mount Pearl this morning where an individual who was volunteering made a negative comment towards walkers who were competing in the race. It was an unfortunate comment to see, and I really hope that the individual involved was just having a bad day. My experience in the running community has been almost universally supportive towards runners of all abilities, and this incident seemed out of place.
I consider myself lucky to be someone who has always been active, and that has made my transition into running a fairly easy one. When I see people who come from different backgrounds than mine, I am always inspired by their effort level and commitment. Taking the first steps to try a new activity can be intimidating at the best of times, and I'm sure that can be doubly so for someone who may be worried about their ability level. It is imperative that all of us in the running community, or really any fitness community, are welcoming at all times to new members. Our goal should be for as many people as possible to take steps to improve their fitness, and the way to do that is by being supportive and offering advice and words of encouragement at every opportunity.
It's also a bit ironic to put someone down for taking a little longer to finish. When you stop and think about it, the longer it takes someone to complete a race, the more time they are required to dedicate to that activity. I think about this often, as someone who is fortunate to run a little on the faster side. Whenever I finish a race in the cold, or the rain, or really any uncomfortable conditions, I try to quickly shift my focus to supporting those still on the course. Because if I found it uncomfortable to spend 20 minutes running a 5k in the rain, it's twice as hard for the person running it in 40 minutes! They are willing to endure those conditions for twice as long in order to say they finished the race, and to me that is something to be very proud of.
So, if you are a runner/walker who takes a little longer to finish, do so with your head held high. And know that while you may at times look at some of the faster runners and marvel at their training paces and race times, many of us are looking right back at you with admiration at the effort and enthusiasm that you bring to our wonderful sport.
Weekly Summary (February 13-19)
Mon. (Evening): 8.04 km, 42:00, 5:13/km pace
Tue. (Evening): 2 km warmup, 4 x [2x200m+1x400m] (40s avg. on 200m, 79s avg. on 400m) w/ 290m/400m jog, 2 km cooldown (Workout total: 11.12 km, 48:14, 4:20/km pace)
Wed.-Sun: Off
Total: 19.16 km
As I said above, very little activity for me this week. Starting tomorrow, I will be getting back to running 6 days a week in preparation for the Flat Out 5k in mid-April. I ran that race in around 22:40 last year, and I'm hoping to be close to 20 minutes this year. I don't have a complete training plan mocked up yet, but to start I will be following Hal Higdon's Advanced 5km training plan, shown here:
http://www.halhigdon.com/training/50935/5K-Advanced-Training-Program
The basic outline of the plan for me will be as follows:
Mon. - Easy run (6k)
Tue. - Intervals (either 200m or 400m)
Wed. - Easy run (6k)
Thu. - Tempo run
Fri. - Off
Sat. - Long run
Sun. - Recovery run (8-10k)
That is very similar to the plan I followed through most of last year, and it served me very well. Depending on the distance of my workouts/long run each week, I should end up with about 40-50km per week, which is where I want to be right now. I've yet to figure out if I will continue to incorporate strength training and/or yoga during this training block, and it will likely be determined by how my body is feeling on a day to day basis.
That about covers it for this week. Thanks for reading, and hopefully I'll be back next week to talk about a great first week of training. Cheers!
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