Week 2 Newsletter

Consistency

Make it easy to get to the sessions

We are underway now with the programme. How can you make it as easy as possible for yourself to get to the sessions?

Great panning, warm gear and the attitude to "just turn up" are all things that will help you with your consistency and therefore improve your running.

This week's Facebook question

Week 2 Sessions

Monday 3 August, 6.10am
Meeting Point: Waitangi Park Playground
Map of Meeting Point: Click here

Wednesday 5 August 6.10am
Meeting Point: Waitangi Park Playground
Map of Meeting Point: Click here
Saturday 8 August, 7.30am
Meeting Point: Cog Park, Evans Bay Parade, click here
Map of Run: Click here
This map is for all of our running groups, you will be doing a portion of this course.

Course Description:
Please run on the path at all times and keep left. Please don't run any more than 2 abreast and be responsible for your own safety.

Start on the footpath outside Cog Park.
Turn right and follow Evans Bay Parade towards Oriental Parade.
Please keep left on the footpath and be mindful of other users using the pathway.
At your turnaround point, turnaround and come back in exactly the same direction.
For our runners doing the Return programme, there will be a 3.5km marker out for you. All of our other levels are running to time.
Out and back course.

Saturday's Course: Click on image to enlarge

This weeks quick tip:

'My tip is to join with your partner, It was really good doing something together with Joe and we spurred each other on to go out walking on Mon, Wed and Sundays and treat ourselves to coffee and cake afterwards.' - Jenni McLaughlin

Education

Cadence

Cadence, or your turnover rate is how many steps you take when you run. Cadence has a massive effect on your efficiency and is something we want you to focus on in the coming weeks.

The shorter your stride length and the quicker your stride rate, the faster and better you run. If you have a low cadence, you likely also have a long stride. Runners who overstride tend to lock their knees and slam their heels to the ground on every step. This slows you down, creates a choppy, bouncy gait, and puts extra pressure on muscles and bones, making you more susceptible to injury.

By increasing your cadence, you’re doing more than moving your feet faster; you’re changing the positioning of where your foot lands. Rather than having your foot land in front of your hips, with a higher cadence, it lands underneath you – in your centre of gravity. This naturally decreases your stride length and increases your turnover, which means you’re wasting less energy moving up and down (from the ground to the air and vice versa). Rather, your body is focused on moving forward, making you faster.

The optimum cadence is 180 steps per minute. This is quite quick! Have a listen to this metronome that is set at 180 beats per minute:

Your Task:
This week, time yourself running for 1 minute and count the number of steps you take (or count for 30secs and then double it!). You then have your current cadence.

If you are sitting around the 140-160 steps per minute range you want to start to focus on take more steps and shortening your stride length. A good way to practice this is to download a playlist that has a beat per minute rate of around +10 above your current cadence (ie: if you are sitting ant 150, download a playlist with a 160bpm) and try running in time to that beat.

Runners of all abilities, from beginner to advanced, can benefit from working on their cadence. While adjusting your stride might feel a little awkward and unnatural at first, if you stick with it, you’ll be on your way to becoming a faster runner with a reduced risk of injury.

Inspiration

This is an interesting video about how a monastery in Tibet use running instead of meditation to train the mind.

Other News

Remember it's time to stay focused and keep turning up!
Please be at the sessions on time, if you miss the roll call before the briefing starts please let us know you were there after the session.