WEEK five is possibly the most important week that you will do in the six weeks of preparation for the Brambles 10k and 5k races on Sunday, September 21.

By now you should be running or jogging for all the planned sessions. Your confidence should be at an all-time high and you should be believing in your own ability. This is the last week we will increase the time that you spend out.

This week we will be extending the time spent out on Sunday again by 10 minutes and leaving all the others at the same level. The reason for increasing the Sunday run by this amount is to get you tuned in to the right time for the day of the race.

Do try to run at the race time. This will help you mentally as well.

The route of the 10km race goes from the Stourport Sports Club along the Kidderminster Road to Oldington. It then turns at the traffic lights and goes past Brintons towards the Kingsway. It goes up Kingsway and left down Windermere Way. It then follows part of the first route to finish at the sports club.

I believe that it would a great idea to use part of your running time to go over the course and get used to where you are going to go.

I am sure that you do not need to be reminded about warm-ups, drinking and resting again this week. They should now be part of your daily life.

One thing which may not seem so obvious is not to wear new kit on the day of the race. Make sure that all the kit you wear on the day has been worn before and is comfortable.

I hope that you are managing to keep up you other activities in the gym, swimming and circuits. You should start to notice an improvement here as well soon.

If you want more information or advice please come to Kidderminster and Stourport Athletic Club. We meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6.30 pm

Please phone Richard Warder 01299 822297 or Dave Stock 01299 878679 fro details.

Week 5: Sunday- run for 45 minutes. Monday - rest. Tuesday - run for 20 minutes. Wednesday - rest. Thursday - run for 20 minutes. Friday - run for 15 minutes. Saturday - rest.

l Entry forms for the race can be obtained from the race secretary, 91 The Birches, Hartlebury Park, Stourport DY13 9NR. A large stamped addressed envelope should be included and further details are available on 01299 826727.

Richard Warder

Coach, Kidderminster and Stourport AC