As previously mentioned, our Managing Director Gary Powers is participating in Run Norwich on July 21^st. Gary along with his good friend, Darren Robinson from Evolve Electrical are raising funds for the Community Sports Foundation. If you would like to help them in raising some money you can donate directly on their Run Norwich Fundraising Page.

With Run Norwich creeping up, running coaches Rob Sears and Loren Taylor from Focus 4 Fitness, based in Norwich, have come up with their top tips for getting prepared for a 10km race and a few pearls of wisdom specifically for Run Norwich.

Rob and Loren are both England Athletics Coaches in Running Fitness, Running Coaches at Norwich Road Runners and Coaches at Wikiwiki Triathlon.

Get Ready for Run Norwich 10KM

A 10km running race or 6.25 miles, is a popular distance for runners of all ages because the training and recovery times are much shorter than those for a half or full marathon.

Rob’s Top Tips:

• Make sure you do cross training 2 days per week. Cycling, Pilates, yoga, swimming, lifting weights or core work will increase your peripheral fitness levels, develop strength in key areas and most importantly it will increase your resistance to injury.
• Rest 2 days per week. Rest days give your body time to recover and adapt from the training stimulus you’ve exposed it to. Rest can be active as long as the activity is light such as stretching, yoga, gentle swimming or walking.
• Sleep tight. As well as rest days a good amount of deep, uninterrupted sleep is also key for repair and adaptation. Power naps can be very useful on training days, just keep them short and sweet 20-30 minutes maximum!
• Don’t slack on your flexibility & mobility work. The 2 most common mistakes I see in runners is neglect of strength & conditioning training and neglect of flexibility & mobility work. In the run up to race day you should be aiming to do 10-20 minutes of this every-day. This can be made up of stretching, foam rolling, massage ball work.
• Ensure you warm-up and cool-down after every run. Make sure your warm-up, does exactly that, warm you up. A gentle walk or easy first mile before hitting your training pace is not a good enough warm up. Search online for dynamic running warm-ups and make sure that you embrace these movement-based stretches. The warm-up should last 10-15 minutes.

Cool down is for cooling you down! Static based stretches where you hold each stretch for 15-20 seconds is perfect for calming your system down and returning you to a normal state. Spend 5-10 minutes doing this.

Loren’s Top Tips:

• Invest in a good pair of running shoes. Get yourself to a specialist running shoe shop such as Sportlink, get your running gait analysed and try a few pairs of shoes to see which ones suit you best.
• Make sure you pace yourself. It’s very easy to go out too hard at the start of a race and run the risk of emptying the fuel tank for the end part of the race. Make sure you know what pace you can sustain over the distance and stick to it!
• Fuel appropriately for the task at hand. Everyone gets nervous on race day, but don’t let that be an excuse for not eating breakfast. Use your long training runs to practise your race day breakfast so you’re not trying anything new on the big day.
• Factor in the weather! Be sure to keep an eye on the race day conditions in the week running up to your race. Make sure you have plans in place for extreme heat, cold or rain etc – we all know how temperamental British weather can be!! If it’s going to be hot, take your own water provisions. If it’s going to be cold, take a running jacket.
• Be consistent. A good performance on race day is underpinned by steady, sensible and consistent training. Consistency in running is achieved by setting a plan that is appropriate to your ability, factors in your previous running experience and doesn’t demand too much of you too quickly. Don’t take on Mo Farrah’s 10km training plan of this is your first race!

Top Tips for a Good Run Norwich:

• Learn the course. Knowledge is key. Learn about the profile of the course (all of the hills, come in the second half!). If you can reccy some or all of the route, this will give you confidence on race day.
• Don’t neglect hills in training. Whoever said Norfolk is flat has never participated in Run Norwich! The course is hilly and demanding so make sure you spend a little bit of your training time perfecting a technique for running up hills efficiently. This might mean getting up on your toes for the quick runners and walking up hills but running as soon as you get over the top for slower runners. Ultimately the decisions is yours, but there is always plenty of support to get you up and over as quickly as possible.
• Arrive early. Run Norwich is a very busy event so give yourself plenty of time to place your bag in the bag drop, go to the toilet and find your place in the race queue.
• Don’t let the crowds carry you away. Run Norwich is one of the best supported races in the country. However, make sure you stick to your pacing plan and don’t get pulled along by faster runners and encouragement from onlookers. It is very easy to get distracted and pumped up by everyone cheering you on but remember, 10 kilometres is a long way so save some energy for a sprint finish.
• Smile! All your hard work in training has led to this moment, so take in the atmosphere, high-five some supporters but above all else, make the most of your Run Norwich experience.

Found this useful? Please donate a little to Gary’s and Darren’s Run Norwich Fundraising Page.

Focus 4 Fitness – Norwich offers sports therapy, personal training and running & triathlon coaching. For more information, head to www.focus4fitness.co.uk.