The Romsey 5 normally marks my transition to fast work, so I was a bit concerned when Tony's track session involved several 800ms. However, Tony had cunningly combined 800s and 200s to give the sense of speed after the grind of the 800.
So the session was:
5x (800 + 200), with a slow 200m jog between each run (about 2 1/2 mins recovery)
We did all the 800s in 2.50 (aiming for 80 sec laps, but degrading on the second) and all the 200s in under 40 sec (the last in 35!).
The key to this session is the ability to feel a bit sharper on the 2s and simulate either a sprint finish or perhaps a change of pace during a race.
Wednesday evening I did a strength session in Jon's gym (my garage).
Warm up with lunges, 3x5 chin ups with legs raised at right angles, 5x5 squats raising weights from zero, 20kg to 40kg. With some swiss ball balancing during the recovery periods. Session took about 40 mins. Ideally would have done an hour, but had to squeeze the session in before ferrying the girls from swimming to guides to brownies to home.....
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Back to grafting
Romsey 5 Recovery
This is part three in the Romsey 5 series. You have had the tapering, the race it self, now here's the recovery.
Three halves of Guinness on Sunday as a reward followed by an afternoon of footie on the box.
Monday lunchtime, spent an hour in the gym at work doing stretching, some balance work on the swiss ball and some light squats.
Tuesday morning did 30 mins of yoga with Liz. The legs are now back in shape so should be OK for track session in the evening
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The Romsey 5
Fantastic morning, about 10 degrees, clear blue sky and no wind.
For the first time I can remember they stopped taking entrants on the day so the Kaputins missed out. Fortunately the other 20 Harriers got in and performed admirably.
PBs from Ian, DaveA and DaveK and great first runs from Thelma, Jean and Frances.
I was aiming for sub 31 and got pretty close with 31.04.
First mile 6.00, bit slower than planned, but fairly comfortable
Second in 6.21, feeling OK, but about 10 secs off pace
Third, 6.29, mostly uphill, again a bit off the pace
Fourth, 6.06, downhill, put please to keep the pace up
Final mile, 6.08 on the flat - pleased to keep going!
Overall I'm pretty pleased with that, well outside my PB or 30.09, but better than last year.
Now I can move on to some speed work in preparation for the British indoor at the end of February.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Tapering for the Romsey 5
The Romsey 5 is one of my favourite road races of the season, not just because it's local. It marks the transition for me from mainly endurance training to more speed based work. I use it as a marker for what sort of shape I'm in and then adjust the training accordingly for the next phase. All my endurance work is designed to give me a strong base ready for the more explosive work in the next few months.
Because it's one of my key runs I treat it like a proper race. Building up to it with specific training for 5 miles, then tapering down in the last week.
This week has been deliberately light. I skipped the heavy gym session on Wednesday and then did a couple of slow 4 to 5 mile runs on Thursday and Friday evening.
This morning I swapped the usual club run for 40 minutes of yoga. My heart rate has dropped down below 50 so it's just a matter of loading up on pasta tonight, then getting a good nights sleep in preparation.
Ian and I cranked out sub 33 last week in a trial run. My goal is to go sub 31 tomorrow. This will mean averaging about 6.10 each mile. The key will be the first two miles. I'll aim to be dragged along to the first mile marker in under 6 mins, then get to 2 miles on 12. Mile 3 is tough, so target is over 18, but then aim to make it up in the last 2 which are either down hill or flat miles.
Burn's night tribute
Having spent a brilliant week in the Highlands last year I can't understand why so many Scots leave there?
When we lived in North Carolina we found half the population had Scottish blood somewhere in them (Now its about 75% Mexican as well). Each summer we visited the Grand Father mountain Highland games for the gathering of the clans.
The picture shows me with the leader of the Gunns. He wouldn't lend me his socks :(
Its only now that I've noticed the gun pointing at my head.
The first year I took part in the sprints, picking up a couple of silvers and a bronze in the 100, 220 and 440 yds races on a cinder track. The seond year sadly the sprints were rained off so I entered the Famous Kilted mile. I went round the clans and borrowed a kilt from the 'Gu
nn clan' (Their moto I think is 'The right to bear bums').
With my high knee lift I opted not to run as a true Scotsman. Even so the kilt was a little restricting. Fortunately the competition wasn't too strong, I had a conversation with a guy most of the way round about how much beer he'd drunk the night before. Kicked for home with 200 to go and ran off with the trophy.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Culture of amateurism
Steve Cram, commentator and former 1500m World record holder, says from his luxury mansion,
There are too many white, middle-class volunteer coaches in athletics.
Read some more in today Times, and in one of the BBC's blogs.
Apparently there are only 21 paid performance coaches in the UK.
I'm assuming the cheque is in the post?
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
More recovery
Early morning run with the Mountbatten ladies. Interesting pace judgement by some of the athletes.
Sprint, get stitch or cramp, walk, sprint, get stitch or cramp, walk....repeat for two miles.
Apparently there is no logical explanation for either the stitch or the cramp and obviously no connection with the running pace....
I've decided to skip the usual gym session tonight - two reasons. Firstly, my heart rate is about 55 at rest (more than 10% over normal) which says I should rest, secondly, with the Romsey 5 this Sunday I don't need a tough session. I plan to taper down from now, so just a couple of short light runs between now and Sunday.
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