Introduction
The majority of club training sessions are during the evenings.
The success of the daytime beginners’ programme led us to review the options available for club members during the day. 10k runs are regularly advertised in the Facebook group but it is quite a big jump from 5k to 10k. An Improvers’ programme was started in 2017 for people able to run 5k with a mix of longer runs and sessions introducing people to hills and speedwork. This has proved popular with people targeting their first 10k races (and led to the offer of Starter sessions for people in the evenings). Other fixed length coached programmes (speedwork and hills) have also been offered with some success, even attracting more experienced runners who happen to be around at the time.
An offer of weekly coached track sessions attracted a few people at the beginning of 2017 but did not seem to be an option of interest to many people and so was not taken further. However, people have again asked about this option.
Proposal for 2018
A proposal for 2018 is to set up a Thursday schedule along the lines of the Wednesday evening schedule with beginners (when offered) at 10am followed by a fixed route club run through the parks at around 11am and possibly a social afterwards. This schedule would give beginners’ volunteers more running on Thursdays. In addition, those people targeting their first 10k would have the option to put together a weekly training schedule with a Thursday daytime run, a session in the Improvers course and parkrun.
A route for a 5.5k has been devised (the “short daytime run" https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/16932880 ) which follows the first part of the existing daytime 10k run starting from Ealing Green and goes around Walpole, Lammas and Blondin Parks. As the route is primarily within the parks, it will be straightforward to add sections to lengthen the distance until people are ready to run around 7k. A route for a run closer to 7k includes an extension into Boston Manor Park (the “long daytime run” https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/16932872 ). From there, runners will be able to progress to running the existing 10k route.
As the runs will finish close to 12noon, it is envisaged that some runners will meet up for lunch afterwards and this may happen more than once a month. As with the evening club runs, faster and more experienced runners are welcome to come along and do a longer run (including the daytime 10k) while beginner graduates are doing a shorter run. In view of the numbers and the trial nature of this proposal, faster runners may want to check that either you know the route or that someone else will be coming along who knows the route.
Alternatively, you could simply take the approach of the Caucus race in Alice in Wonderland and simply run around the parks for a fixed time and then join us for a social:
“..they began running when they liked, and left off when they liked, so that it was not easy to know when the race was over. However, when they had been running half an hour or so, and were quite dry again, the Dodo suddenly called out `The race is over!’ and they all crowded round it, panting, and asking, `But who has won?’ This question the Dodo could not answer without a great deal of thought, and it sat for a long time…., while the rest waited in silence. At last the Dodo said, `EVERYBODY has won, …”