This is going to be a really quick post, as I’m in the office, but I have a couple of speculative articles to write this morning so this is to get me in the mood.
Tuesday was once again training night with Haywards Heath Harriers and I duly turned up despite the pouring rain and the fact that I had to change in the office to get there on time.
We warmed up with an 800m jog as per normal… normal, that is, except for the rain.
David had laid out some flags as markers and after stretching out a bit, we hopped on one leg to the first flag, the other leg to the next, jogged to the last flag, did ten squat thrusts and sprinted back to the start. Sounds easy doesn’t it, but it is surprising how quickly you run out of puff. By the end of fifteen minutes, the hops were slower, the squat thusts more laboured and the sprints a mild jog!
At one point I was stunned when the whole ensemble raced inside because of a heavy downpour… having run through last winter (oh, and with the protection offered by my Gore jacket, which I had judiciously chosen to wear!) I hardly noticed it. To be fair though, there were very few other jackets present and many cotton t-shirts, so I can’t say I blame them!
Next up were 200m tag sprints. One of a team of two sprinted 200m around the end of the track, where the other carried the metaphoric batten for the second 200m and the first walked back across the middle to the start to keep it going. My partner Mike was quick enough to ensure that I always had to jog back to meet him, but not as quick as two of the others as I was always chasing the same two people down the back straight. This was a really great target and it made me stretch out far more than I otherwise would have done.
On one lap I found myself behind a young lad who consistently has too much energy, demonstrated rather well by the fact that in addition to being faster than anyone else, he also kicks his heels right up as if he’s still only playing! I chased him hard down the straight and round the corner, but on on the exit he just stretched ahead while my energy failed!
Having run us out of energy, we then had a gentle 400m jog, followed by a mass start for a 400m sprint. I started slow (or was that I HAD to start slow, on account of still being puffed out?) but managed to reel a few people in down the finishing straight.
The final 400m jog then started out as a walk for me, as that was all I could manage, but I must be getting used to the training as my legs weren’t quite so troubled later in the week as they had been in previous weeks.
This weekend is another garden special, but I shall hopefully get a long run in at some point to see whether the training is starting to make a difference there. Have a GREAT l o n g weekend all!