WEEK 1
Firstly, I know that there have been a few teething troubles with the sign-up form on our web
site. Sorry about that – ideally there would be no problems but we’ve fixed any issues as soon as
they became apparent.
You probably know that Get Fit Falkland is a new, community based, initiative by Falkland Trail
Runners. FTR has well over 100 members, and has been really active in organising races, with
money from these being donated to local organisations. Not only will you be in good hands, but
you’re joining an organisation that cares.
We’ve been total astounded by the response to Get Fit Falkland. We expected maybe half a dozen
people to come along. But, so far, almost 30 have been in touch! It’s a fantastic response that
makes us feel our efforts have been worthwhile. To each of you, I personally would say a big “Thank
you”.
Right – preliminaries over, let’s see what we’re going to do tomorrow.
IT’S ABOUT BUILDING CONFIDENCE!
Tomorrow morning is the first of ten sessions in a programme that’s aimed at getting you fitter,
healthier more self-confident, and probably a little bit lighter too. You’re probably thinking right
now that this is a major challenge Our main objective is to ease any worries that you might have, and
give you a bit of confidence that you can actually do it. Let’s start that right now.
When I undertook this programme early in 2012, I was an unfit, overweight, middle-aged bloke on
the maximum dosage of blood pressure pills – just waiting for the inevitable heart attack to hit me. I
wanted to do something about it but didn’t want to embarrass myself or my family. I just didn’t
want to make a fool of myself. I found the NHS ‘Couch to 5K’ plan but I didn’t tell anyone what I was
up to, I did it in the dark, in a town well away from where anyone knew me. I’ll show you a photo of
the ‘before’ and leave it to you to decide whether it worked. I certainly got fitter, lost weight, was
able to stop taking the BP pills – and have been able to keep it up for two years now.
By the way, not telling anyone was just silly, and didn’t last long – work colleagues soon saw a
difference in me, they started to ask me what I was up to, and they supported me all the way!
Jim Close, your other regular jog leader, has been running most of his life, has been active in Fife
Athletic club and has done all sorts of interesting things. Basically, what he doesn’t know about
running isn’t worth knowing! You’ll love his friendly manner and encouraging approach.
Because of the high response, we’ve brought in an extra jog leader for week 1. Gordon Donnachie is
a fantastic photographer of running events and sunsets. He was an active runner for many years but
I know he won’t mind me saying that he’s struggled with his weight. He’s been getting to grips with
that, however, gone back running and his weight is coming back down. In fact, I think he is doing
fantastic things! I hope you’ll find him as much an inspiration as I do.
All of the leaders have completed the jogscotland Jog Leaders course, and Malcolm has just done an
Outdoor First Aid course … just in case.
WHAT WE WILL ACTUALLY DO TOMORROW?
Tomorrow will be a gentle introduction and the jogging element is really a side issue. The main thing
I‘d like to achieve is to explain what you can expect. To go through typical questions such as
whether you will feel sore afterwards? How do you tell if you need to stop? What about jogging in
the winter time? And, of course, to answer your own questions, either in the group or privately
after the session.
Before going into the woods we’ll do some warm up exercises. Nothing strenuous or too
energetic. Just enough to get you warmed up, getting a bit of a glow in your cheeks as you blood
starts flowing. Then we’ll head down the “Red Squirrel Trail” with a 5 minute brisk walk before
doing some light jogging. We’ll jog for just 30 seconds at a time, with 90 seconds walking in between
jogs. The pace won’t be fast and will be set by the group. Like the SAS (!), nobody will be left
behind.
After the jog, we’ll do some stretches to help prevent muscle aches, and cool back down as we walk
back to the cricket club.
WE’LL DO THIS TOGETHER
The NHS scheme is set up for individuals to follow as their own commitments permit. But that lets
all sorts of uncertainties to creep in. A major part of Get fit Falkland is that we come together each
week. We’ll support each other, help each other, and drag each other over that darned finishing
line! The programme asks you to put your trainers on three times each week. We’ll do it once as a
group, and let you fit the other two sessions around your commitments. Ideally, you’ll find others
that you might want to meet up with and do these in twos or threes. But that’s entirely up to you.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
Nothing – zippo – zilch. We do have some costs, though – e.g. rent for the cricket club, and post-jog
refreshments. So we’ll put out a saucer and if you want to make a donation of £1, that would be
appreciated. But nobody will be ticking off your name, or shaking a collection box.
THE PRACTICALITIES
You probably already know that we meet at 9:30 am on Saturday mornings. It does mean missing
that long lie in bed, but it also means you can do the session and be back home in time to get on
with whatever you would normally do on a Saturday!
We meet at Falkland Cricket Club. The club house is a couple of minutes’ walk into Falkland Estate,
and the web site has directions. Just head for Falkland, then use the car park at the entrance to the
Estate. If you’re using a Sat-Nav, the postcode to enter is KY15 7AF. The club house is only a couple
of minutes’ walk up the drive from there.
The cricket club has changing rooms that you can use if necessary. It also has a kitchen and we’ll
have the urn on while we’re out. When we get back, you can have a nice cup of tea or coffee as you
chat about your experience.
The weather forecast for tomorrow says it will be dry. You probably want to be wearing a TShirt under a sweat shirt (or similar – whatever you feel comfortable in). You’ll probably feel quite
warm during the jog, so it will be good to be able to take off a layer and put it back on at the end.
I see that ALDI have running gear in stock this week. Believe me, this is perfectly good stuff – a lot of
our club members (myself included) use it. You don’t need anything fancy, so don’t feel that you
need to rush out and buy up the store. But, with the colder weather in mind, it would be a good
idea to get either a ‘base layer’ set and/or a running top. A fluorescent top would be good if you’re
going to be jogging after dark. But my “top tip” is their “Ergonomic Running Socks”. They’re only
£2.99 but have lots of support mechanisms built into them. I have three pairs and rotate between
them.
As I say, none of this is essential – you can “run in what you brung”!
JUST GO FOR IT
I think that’s all I need to tell you. In fact I’ve probably gone into too much detail. I’m really excited
about this new group, and you can be sure that Jim and myself (and Gordon) will do everything we
can to get you started, keep you going, and get to the finish line. A fitter lighter, confident you. It’s
there waiting for you. You just need to want to do it!