
On arriving at the track the planned 8 reps in my head shrank to 6, and then again to a diddly 5 as the warm up around the park found out the stiffness and sore spots in my quads still grumbling from Sunday. A warm up in the surprise company of Mr. Complete Runner followed by a few sprint strides set us up nicely for the session. I had the usual nervy tummy these sessions always seem to give me; I think its the anticipation of the basic hard physical work ahead. Anyway, M set off at a hare's pace and I sat back, looking a bit lazy but sticking to my planned pacing; trying to be steadfast and consistent at each 200m split. After rep #3 my quads started to tire but I stuck to my guns and by rep #5 I was beginning to reconsider things and return to my original plan of 8 intervals. M finished with an impressive sprint finish at #6 but I repressed the urge to finish with him and stuck to doing the extra 2, albeit a bit tougher battling the windy bends alone.
Anyway, I was chuffed to finish the full 8 all with pretty consistent times which is usually a sign of good pace judgement for me. I think Garmin kit is a great tool but has a risk of diminshing my awareness of pacing. Track work is one of the few training disciplines I think is essential to help me understand how pace feels as well as improving my form. It was a really good sesh today and a timely reminder of why I do this stuff. In a virtuous frame of mind then, we ambled home via a nice pub for lunch. We finally met the sun who came out to greet us - she must have been on her hols, somewhere nice I expect.
2 comments:
reading this really makes me want to go to the track but i know when i get there it's just a bit too daunting. and i end up doing something really easy. i guess i just need more practice
I always feel nervous about speedwork/reps/intervals.
I do a lot on my own and find them mentally tough with no - one to urge me on.
However , I always finish the sessions with a sense of satisfaction and feel it helps towards race performances.
Besides , if we took all our runs easy ( as I used to do! ) we'd never improve.
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