13 Feb FIND OUT ABOUT OUR NEW BEGINNER’S COURSE

We are looking forward to the start of our new 8 week beginners course on Thursday 26th February, meeting outside Ludlow Library in Galdeford Car Park at 6.30pm. This is half an hour before the main club gather.

So what does the course involve?

We aim to get you running for around 40 minutes by week 8. You may be able to run continuously for much of this time or you may need some walk breaks. That doesn’t matter. By week 8 you will be much fitter than when you started and well on the way to running 5km non stop.

We will teach you to run at an enjoyable, conversational pace, one that you can carry on without tiring yourself out. This is called aerobic running and doesn’t involve getting out of breath. This might sound strange if you have always thought that you only get fitter with hard work. In actual fact, your body responds to being treated gently. Do a little more gentle excerise than you are used to and your body adapts so that you can do a bit more next time. Keep increasing this gentle excercsise and it becomes easier and you can keep running for longer. It will feel effortless!

Some people like to have a goal to work towards and we can help with that. If you fancy joining us for a very special parkrun event, we have one on Saturday 2nd May in Mortimer Forest. Alternatively, carry on running and you can work towards a Race for Life event in the summer. Having an event to look forward to is always motivating. However, if it’s not for you, no problem. Many people just like to run to keep fit and you can do this too.

So what do the individual sessions of the beginner’s course involve?

1. Each session starts with a good brisk walk to warm up and finishes with a walk to cool down.
3. In the main part of the session we concentrate on teaching you to run at a gentle pace at first, with short periods of running. You will key into how your body is feeling and take a walk break as soon as your breathing changes and you can’t talk. We have a mantra to guide us, “If you can’t talk easily, walk!” There is no pushing on until the run time is up. You let your body decide when it’s time to walk. We will encourage you and help you key into to what your body is telling you.
5. The total run time is about ten minutes in the first two weeks, which is similar to the C25K programme. Then we increase that by 5 minutes most weeks. This gives your body the bit extra it needs to adapt and make you fitter. As the weeks progress we gradually increase the duration of the run segments, but you will hardly notice it. All of a sudden you will realise that you have kept running for much longer than you did before.
7. After a few weeks we include some coaching on running form and you will learn to ‘sparkle’. These are 10 second strides that you can add into an aerobic run that help with co-ordination and flexibility. They are a good way to practice good running technique.
9. We always have fun too. Sessions are very sociable and there is always plenty of chatting going on. Afterall, that’s how we know everyone is running at a perfect pace.

The course costs only £20 for the 8 weeks, which is only £2.50 a session.

Get in touch if you would like to reserve a place or have any questions.