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Beach Running 2018: That's a wrap!

Hey guys, really sorry for the lack of posts recently, it's been a really hectic time for me with work and training but don't worry I have lots of posts planned for the next few weeks as the badminton season draws closer. 

For this post, I am just reflecting on a great pre-seasons training over the summer months as the badminton season kicks off again next week! I have some interesting posts planned for the coming weeks and I can't wait to share them with you all! As always, if you have any post suggestions or questions leave me a comment and I will try and answer it in an upcoming post! 

Well what a summer that was! And how quick has it gone? Finally, I can say I have had a full pre-season training without no major injuries and I am now prepared for what the new season holds! I am delighted with the effort I have put in over the summer months to get my fitness levels up so that I am ready to go for the new season. It's never easy keeping yourself fit and injury-free, but as athletes injuries are just part of the life and things we will have to deal with. Anyway, enough of the injury talk! 

Today, we had our last beach run of the summer and to finish off we had a really tough sprints session. As the season is less than a week away, we moved from a longer, slower run down to sprints to prepare us for the tough months ahead! Today's session comprised of 10 30-second sprints with 30 seconds rest after each one. This was really quite mentally tough as our energy levels dropped as the sprints went on. Although 30 seconds doesn't seem that long, it is a hell of a long time when you are sprinting to the max... and on sand!! We started out by taking two cones each of the same colour, leaving one where we started and taking one with us on the first sprint to mark the distance we had to try and make up in each sprint. This is so that you have your own target. You are only racing against yourself. I thought this was an excellent session as everybody really had to dig deep to push through each of the sprints, and even if you didn't make your cone each time you still jogged it out. By the end of the session there was a lot of burning, tired legs!! The previous weeks run was 1 minute sprints with 1 minute rest each time so this was interesting to see how everybody dealt with the different length sprints. Both equally tough! The previous 6 weeks of beach runs were all longer, slower runs where we were building up our fitness and getting stronger for the new season. 

As beach runs go, that's not it... There wouldn't be a beach run without the ever competitive soccer matches at the end. Seen as a fun activity but it is actually still part of our workout! The twisting and turning on the sand aids us badminton players to be able to do it on the court with ease. The uneven surface requires more attention and it is working different muscles in the body that we sometimes wouldn't use. Our games last anywhere between 20 and 30 minutes and it usually ends in a draw of some sort, but usually if you're on the coaches team you're on the winning team thanks to the control of the clock... A great workout and definitely lots of fun nonetheless!!

Finally, here's a few pictures from our final beach run today! A good group of hard-working kids and their parents all set for the new badminton season!


Picture 1: The before... All happy out

Picture 2: The During... A lot of tired bodies!!!

Picture 3: The Afters... Tea and Coffee (And hot chocolate for the kids)
So, That marks the end of pre-season for me with my first tournament next weekend and what a good summer it has been. Hopefully now all the hard work has paid off! Best of luck to all the kids who came out to the beach runs each week, I hope you all have a great season after the good summer's work that has been put in! Big thanks to Dan for taking the beach runs each week, to Sharon for the tea's and coffee's (definitely what gets the kids out!!), to the parents who bring their kids each week and finally to the players themselves who have put in a massive effort each week, pushing themselves to the max!! 

Good luck to everyone for the new season and I'm sure I'll see you all back out on the beach next year!!

Talk Soon,
Kate. 













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