COACH CLAYTON (week 9)

TEAM REPORT (week 9)

The Easter feasting is over and I think it’s finally getting to them – as I met with my fellow team members at this weeks training session I was greeted with mainly glum looking faces; was everyone just missing Adam who is on holiday this week, or was it just the thought of yet another run in the COLD that was doing it? After the usual warm up with partial comic value, we set off reluctantly. With Adam away, Cara led the field with 3 of the 8 runners on show taking on ‘route 2’. Andy showed a touch of the Dunkirk spirit, who after running ‘route 2’ with a heavily strapped knee injury, was lavished was applause from the rest of the team for his efforts. There was a no show from guest runner ‘Penn’ this week who having fallen off her horse, re-mounted and injured her ankle in the process. With motivation in mind perhaps we can all turn to the charity we are running for and this weeks topical Chinese proverb for inspiration.

THIS WEEKS TOP TIP:
Visualize Your Success: One of the secrets of top athletes is that they constantly visualize themselves achieving success, winning races, etc. The mind then directs your behavior towards achieving those goals. The secret is to picture yourself the way you want to be - how will you look when you've lost ten pounds, how will it feel to win the race, etc. Visualize this first thing in the morning, throughout the day, and as you go to sleep at night. You'll soon be on your way to realizing that vision.

INFO STORE:
Be strong: Runners work hard on training their legs, but you also need to workout your upper body and core stomach muscles to really improve your running. Start a simple daily strengthening routine - press-ups, arm curls, pull-ups, sit-ups. Do as many as you can and do them when you come back warm from your run. You should try to increase the number of repetitions of each exercise on a weekly basis.

CHINESE PROVERB:
“A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark.”