Getting into the club mentality
Tuesday 22nd June 2010, 7:00AM BST.
The second running club session went as predicted – I was virtually last again. And this was not because I was meandering around not putting much effort in, writes Hannah Webster.
I was told that it would be the “long, slow session”, but given the kind of training I have been doing, it was neither.
A long and slow run to me is one in excess of eight miles, plodding along to conserve energy (I have got very good at this over the weeks of training). This one was a 6.1-miler, and the group of girls I was with shot off like bullets from the start line.
I managed to stay with them for the first mile and a half, but after that it was impossible and they hurtled off while I paced myself, albeit running faster than I would normally in order to save face.
Thus I have discovered why everyone says joining a club will take your running up a notch – you always want to do better when you are with a group of people than you do by yourself. It’s much easier to make excuses when you are alone and ease off on speed sessions or perhaps not go as far as you intended on longer runs.
When you have a group of 30 people doing the same thing, you can’t very well wimp out.
Having been away for a week in France (the reason for the brief break in posts), I have come back to find the Birmingham Half Marathon has opened for entries.
I have run it for the last two years and both times it has been a brilliant event to take part in. I would definitely recommend it to any runner who wants to run a decent half-marathon with a fantastic atmosphere. You can have a look at the course and enter the race here.
There could be another four people from my office running it as well, which means competitive natures are likely to come into play and make things a bit more interesting . . .
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