A total of seventeen people this week, including two men. It really feels that we are getting somewhere now. I believe that the large the group the more I can help individuals by being able to set graded exercises.
After the warm up jog, stretching and drills, the exercise was what I call Diagonals. Basically it is to walk or jog the short ‘ends’ along the side lines of the football pitch. The run across to the diagonally opposite corner. Jog the short end and then back across to the start corner. I set this to be done twice then rest for five minutes and repeat.
I have to impress upon the runners that the walk / jog sections are recovery periods and they must not try to catch up with those in front. Everyone should concentrate on their own training not someone else’s.
This exercise saw the faster, fitter people stringing out the group. This is one of the reasons why I am keeping the efforts fairly short in duration. It stops people from believing they are not good enough.
There was talk about wanting a group tee shirt proclaiming their membership of the Plodders. I must research suppliers.
Team Running
At last. A man joined us this week. I didn’t particularly want the class to turn into a female only session. The only criteria I have is that everyone is over 18 years of age and seeking fitness through exercise.
The total attendees was twelve. That felt great. The class seems to be taking off well. However, so far the weather has been good. It may be different when the cold, dark evenings are with us. We’ll see. I think if we achieve good membership before October then that should see us through.
I set a course across the football field as follows: Centre line – side line – front of penalty area – side line. However, the “Start” is halfway across the field. The people got together in pairs. One started on the “Start” line. The other of each pair walked directly across to the corresponding marker. The first of the pair runs around half the course to reach their partner. Touch hands. Number two runs second half of course whilst number one walks across centre to “Start” line. Number two hands over to number one and repeats.
They were asked to make two circuits then rest and repeat.
Gosh. They may be beginners. They may think they can’t run. But boy are they competitive!
Mind the Racing Car
The class was attended by seven people this week - the best so far.
Everyone went for a warm up walk / jog around the perimeter of the field which is about half a mile in distance. This was followed by the usual stretching. I emphasise that the whole body needs to be worked on, not just the legs. I advise working from the head down in order to remember a sequence. This can then be worked through as part of the warm up for all exercise sessions.
For this week’s exercise I had plotted out an area which used the centre line and front of the penalty area line across the football field. So they were presented with an effort as follows: Walk / jog along the side line – run across the centre line – walk / jog along the side line – run across front of penalty box – twice. Then a five minute rest and repeat.
To liven this session up was the remote controlled model racing car which was speeding around part of the field!
Another New Runner
I walked on down with the three I met at the entrance on the park road. This week we had to use the far side of the field because other groups of people had staked out territories!
I had just sent the group on a warm up run when I saw a woman approaching. She turned out to be someone I had been told might be attending. So after four weeks with three people we now had a class of four which meant that we had a total of seven who had attended at various times.
Each week I told everyone to try to bring one person the following week in order to expand. I find that larger groups work better than small groups.
The exercise was to run fairly hard (within the individual’s capabilities) for about 80 metres and walk back recovery. The newcomer, CD, although claiming not to have done any running, is obviously quite fit.
A great, chatty little group. MO is proving to be quite a fun person and CD will be easy to get along with.
I find that it is quite difficult to know whether the people in the group feel that they are getting what they need. I guess time will tell. If they keep coming then the answer must be yes.
Features that Beginners Appreciate
I think that people really appreciate the idea of having a class for those who as yet have no running ability.
There are several aspects to this:
- The meeting place is “hidden” away at the far end of the
- They do not need to reach any standards set by others. It is their own expectations that they need to reach.
- Every session I state that they can walk, jog or run. All I ask is that they remain focused on moving in the direction set in a purposeful manner. This removes any pressure on the individual.
- I keep the session light-hearted and fun even though the exercise is serious. There is a lot of laughter and banter from within the group as they all get to know one another.
A New Fitness Group
I’ve decided to set up a class for people who are new to running. It has always been obvious to me that there are those out there who do not see themselves as “good enough” to join an athletics club. This means that as a coach I very rarely have the chance to help absolute beginners.
So my idea was to have this new class as a stand alone group. Somewhere that people could come and not feel foolish. Somewhere that people could get their running underway. They will then be able to choose whether to stay in the new group or “graduate” to the athletic club.
The new group, which is called Plodders, actually started on 9th June when three people arrived and took me by surprise. Why was it a surprise? Well I hadn’t started to advertise. It was just word of mouth that brought them.
I hope that this will become a regular, well attended session. This is mainly because I believe that there is a gap to be filled here and also I feel that I am able to help the beginner.
Hopefully I shall be able to find the time to keep a record here of what happens week by week.
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