Bourton Roadrunners’ Club Members’ Area

Lockdown 2 Activities

Now that Lockdown number 2 is with us, Margaret has been thinking of ways of keeping us all motivated and ‘together’ albeit in pairs or virtually. Many have said how much they enjoyed the team virtual challenges we held earlier in the year. They provided motivation, chat and competition. Over 2/3rd of club members took part which was fantastic.

So, we are hoping that you will all participate again and encourage those who didn’t last time to do so this time…. YOUR TEAM NEEDS YOU.

Before we explain the BRR Lockdown Series, there is a challenge for you which will run concurrently and is not part of the competition.

A History Run

All you have to do is run to a place with historical interest, take a photo and post it on Messenger with a couple of sentences of explanation. Here is an example which Margaret included in her long run recently morning.

Autumn Olympiks

Now for an explaination of the 2-team BRR Lockdown-Fun – a.k.a Autumn Olympiks. Basically, we are proposing we have a series of virtual events with 2 teams competing in each. Membership Secretary Alan has gone through the membership list and shown that we have equal numbers of men and women in the club. Very convenient! So the 2 teams will be: GIRLS and BOYS.

We thought, the speediest people in the club tend to be male, the potential for enthusiasm and participation could sway in favour of the ladies. So we are hoping; however, that it will be a fair split over the whole series. But, it is not all about ‘Who wins’. The main purpose is to motivate, have some friendly virtual chat as well as maintaining (or improving) fitness.

There will be a winning team for each event and an overall winner of the Series, depending on how long we keep the competition going. Its a bit like having Stage wins within ‘Le Tour’. Some of the events are based on a weekly efforts session but not all. Most events will tend to be over a period of a few days, but there is also one longer event in planning. If anyone has an idea for an event, then please do let Margaret know.

People will input their own results onto a shared document. Margaret has set one up, and has shared this with all members - You should have a notification email from Google.

Event 6 - 1k Efforts - to be completed Sun. 29th Nov. - Wed. 2nd Dec. inclusive

This is based on Efforts again, this time 1km efforts or something approx. 1km. Please read carefully.......

Basically you have to do a minimum of three one kilometre efforts, at a fast, sustainable pace. This should be a bit faster than your 5k pace, if you remember doing Park run. The aim is to do each ‘Km’ in the same(ish) time. This is very much an exercise in judging pace and perceived effort, knowing what you can sustain.

Record on the Competition Spreadsheet your fastest kilometre, your slowest kilometre and the difference between them.

Points will be scored as follows:
1 point per participant
Bonuses of 10, 9, 8......1 point for the 10 people (Boys or Girls) whose time difference is the smallest, next smallest and so on.

e.g. If X does 4:50, 4:56 and 4:55 then they record slowest as 4:56 and fastest as 4:50. The difference between fastest and slowest is 6 secs which is good!

The winning team is the team with the highest score. The more runners your team gets out, the better your chances are of a Stage win.

Possible locations, with useful 1km stretches are:
Rye close (from near Rissington Rd, around Lamberts field loop and back to where you started);
Industrial estate loop is just less than 900m, but you can add a bit, starting before the mini roundabout.

Event 5 - 2 laps of Hilly 100 - to be completed Thu. 26th until completion!

Both teams are challenged to run 2 full laps of the Hilly 100 which, for those of you who know nothing about this, is a relay organised by Stratford AC every summer . BRR usually has a team participating. There is a link to their website below for those who wish to know more about the real event.

Basically, each team has to complete 200 miles of distance and 3134 metres of elevation. Any run you do counts towards Distance or Elevation, but not both. It may be useful to decide as a team, who will mainly do ‘distance runs’ and who will do more ‘hill climbing’. No guessing what Derek and Alex will opt for.

Points will be scored for your team as follows:
1 point for each person participating
3 bonus points for the team who covers the distance first
3 bonus points for the team who completes the elevation first
5 bonus points for the team who completes the whole challenge first.

Walking or scootering is allowed for anyone who has been told by a Medic they are not allowed to run. I am only aware of 2 people at the moment in this category ie. Chris D walking and Lynn on her scooter. Dave has said that he is now allowed to run a little, so you can expect a few miles from him for the BOYS.

Stratford AC’s Hilly 100 pages.

Event 4 - to be completed Sun. 22nd – Wed. 25th Nov (inclusive)

Efforts session - 400m rep’s. This session needs you to find a stretch of footpath or quiet road that is about 400m long and flattish. Rye Close in Bourton or Marshmouth Lane (for daylight runners) are both good options for Bourton people.

Warm up including some ‘get your heart rate up’ short sprints and some dynamic stretching (eg. heel flicks, high knees etc ). Then, do 4 and 6 x 400m intervals at a fast pace, with say a minute walk/jog recovery between. Jog for say 2-3 min’s then repeat the interval. So, in all, you will have done between 8 and 12 x 400m (ish) efforts. The aim is to run each 400m interval in the same time plus/minus a few seconds.

Don’t forget a cool down run afterwards and STRETCH. The winning team will be the team who has the most people who complete the session. Perhaps take a look at one of Joe Wickes’ sessions for some ideas, perhaps try this stretching session of his.

Event 3 - to be completed Sun. 22nd – Wed. 25th Nov (inclusive)

BRR I Spy while running (not in your garden though!). This is based on an idea provided by Gill .... read on.

Basically there is a list of 30 ‘things’ for your team to spot while out running. When you spot one of the items, record your name against it on the spreadsheet. Also, please take a photo and post it on Messenger (or send to Margaret). An item only has to be seen by a minimum 1 person in the team. It is not a case of ‘find all the things on the list yourself’. Hope that is clear.😃

The winning team is the team who finds the most. The list of things you have to find/see is attached and I will put them on the shared spreadsheet shortly

Event 2 - to be completed Sun. 15th – Wed. 18th Nov (inclusive)

Stage 2 of the Series is another ‘Efforts’ session, though how hard you make it is very much up to you. It is to be completed between Sunday 15th to Wednesday 18th inclusive. That will enable more people to get out in the light if they wish.

Basically, choose a hill and do hill repeats. (i.e. run up and down the hill several times). The hill can be as short or long as you wish and you can do as many rep’s as you want, but at least 2 repeats and all in 1 session please. It is suggested you run down at an easy pace to maximise your recovery before repeating the hill. Anyone injured and advised not to run at the moment can walk (or scooter!).

You will need to record the number of rep’s you do and the total altitude gained over the session excluding any warm up run to your hill location and your cool down. So, if you are measuring your session via Strava, Garmin or…. please start your session at the start of the first hill and stop it after your last rep.

If you don’t wear a measuring device then you could work out the elevation by using a web based run route plotter or even an OS map.

Please record details of your session on the spreadsheet: the hill you used (or location); the number of rep’s completed; total altitude gained. The winning team for Stage 2 will be the team that gains the most altitude.

Event 1 - to be completed Mon. 9th – Wed. 11th Nov

A fartlek session, of at least 30mins including warm up and cool down. All you have to do is get out and do it then say so on the shared document. A good session to do with a friend. The winning team for this stage is the team who has the most people who complete the session.

If you are not sure about what a fartlek run is, read on.

Fartlek workouts entail fast or intense running interspersed with periods of active recovery (jogging). Your periods of fast running shouldn’t be all-out sprints, but something more like your 5K pace, or an eight out of 10 effort. During your slower periods, you should be running at a pace where you’re able to hold a conversation, so you can fully recover. Fartlek runs will help boost endurance while also building speed, because they tax both the anaerobic and aerobic systems. You are training multiple energy systems in your body, which can improve your performance on race day and make you fitter overall.

You could do a session on the lines of the ones you may have taken part in on a Tuesday evening. This is another idea:

Everyone can take part in this…. :)

Remember that you can run in pairs and I encourage you to do so. If you want me to put you in contact with a particular member you feel it would be good to run with, I can get in touch and ask if they are happy to share a phone number. Messenger is also a good way of finding someone to run with. If you are not already signed up to BRR messenger and would like to be, let me know.

When you have completed your fartlek run, do remember to record it on the shared document. Details of the 2nd event, after the 11th.

Highlights

Lockdown 2 Activities:

A History Run - capture a photo of historical place on your run;

Autumn Olympiks
Event 1 - fartlek session - 9th-11th Nov. The GIRLS took the ‘Yellow Jersey’
Event 2 - hill rep’s session - 15th-18th Nov.
Event 3 - BRR I Spy while running - 19th-25th Nov.
Event 4 - Efforts session - 400m rep’s session - 22nd-25th Nov.
Event 5 - 2 virtual laps of Hilly 100 course - 26th Nov. until completion!
Event 6 - 1k Efforts - 29th Nov. - 2nd Dec. incl.