Beginners Week 3

Hello Blog readers.

Week three already for our beginners!  Although a few have dropped out due to injuries and life getting in the way, we still have quite a number of very enthusiastic runners.  There were even a couple of people who decided to join us for the first time.  It's all exciting stuff anyway!  It was my turn for leading on Saturday, I don't know why, but I still feel like a wobbly jelly out there.  All I can think about is that I, this middle aged, slightly cuddly woman standing in front of these eager, excited, maybe anxious people,  "Oh my goodness, don't forget anything, don't forget walking, drills, and timing"  I have been on the leadership course, I know how to warm up, have some fun while we do it, but I still panic!  I know it shows in my voice! One session last year I am sure I did the drills first before even getting them to walk round the green first!

Nerves ignored I get straight down to business, asking about emails, and homework and stuff. Then it was the walk, the brisk walk to get the heart rate up slowly.  It's also a great opportunity to talk to people, for the beginners to talk to our PWR's about their homework they have done during the week, and above all to start forging running friendships!  We did the drills straight after and then we were ready for the session.

Three minutes of running and three minutes of walking. Equal amounts, and this is the last time that running will be less than the walking, from next week we will be running more than we are walking!  Already I was hearing positive remarks, "I didn't think I could ever run 1 minute and now I'm about to run for three minutes"  It just goes to show that if you build something up slowly it does work!  After we walked around the park we got straight into the drills, which were skipping, butt kicks, side steps and running backwards!

The start of the 3 minutes of running.  I told the group to take it easy, it's not a race, that comes later on, after graduation!  Hopefully by then everyone will want to be tracking down the bling!  Slowing down the pace will help you go faster later on, right now we are just building up the stamina, thinking about how to breathe properly while running technique as well.  The newbies who turned up on Saturday for the first time were doing really well indeed.  It's not easy coming into a course that has already started, joining in on the third week, but the ladies that did were doing brilliantly. 

We ran the rep 5 times, run/walk although I kept trying to pretend that we had done less than we had but everyone could remember exactly how many times we had ran!  It was all over in a flash!  It's amazing how quickly it goes and there it is, session no.3 done!  I know that all the ladies and gentlemen will be busy doing their homework  during the week because they all were so thrilled with what they have already achieved!

I am so looking forward to next week when they will be running for longer than they will be walking!  It's going to be great! Oh I do love helping out with the beginners, so rewarding!