A Positive Place To Be
I began my quest for a sub 38 minute 10k with last night’s track session and it actually felt REALLY BLOODY GOOD! Going down to your local athletics track really is a positive experience. On different sections of the track you have groups of various ages doing sprinting or other speed work. In the middle of the park there are kids throwing the javelin and the hammer and on the other side of the fence, the local hockey team (who I used to play for!) doing their practice session. A hive of activity and certainly beats pounding the dark streets for me!
The Track Speed Session
Arriving at 7:30pm I warmed up with 3×400 slowly, throwing in some dynamic stretches along the way. It’s important to warm up at any time, but especially so before a speed session on a cold winter’s night!
Coach Tim announced the session for that night which consisted of 800 x 1200 x 800 x 1200 x 800 x 1200. I was initially disappointed as I love to throw myself into a few all out 400 meter sprints but as the session progressed, I felt really strong and managed to (nearly) keep up with the guys at the front! It occurred to me that the reason I felt so good was that I wasn’t just tiring myself out on a 400, then taking it easy on the longer circuits.
The most important thing in these sessions is to maintain a constantly pace throughout. so you’re running the 1200 at the same pace as your 800. The 2 minute breaks in between each round gave just enough time to get my breath back but I could certainly feel the burn in my legs on the final 1200 as the lactic acid started to make its presence known! I ignored it.
Next Training
Club night tonight with Purbeck Runners. Hoping to get in either intervals or ideally a hill session. Will report back on this tomorrow!
Nice! Can you elaborate on why it’s important to keep the same pace, and not do the shorter intervals at a higher speed? Thanks.