Lonely Hearts

Today was the first day since my drilling on hills that I've felt remotely normal. The legs have been howling at me for days, especially after my attempt at the long run Sunday so thankfully I had permission to skive yesterday, what with college and all. We learnt the last bit of the massage routine last night. The back. Its a lot to remember but M will be in heaven with all the practising over the coming weeks.

Anyway, I was back to the tough stuff with a visit to the track tonight. Another quality session on my lonesome which will no doubt toughen me up for the marathon distance but it doesn't half make for slow times on these intervals. The odd sprinter was on the track tonight running with a tyre attached to their waist. We occasionally coincided to give me something to chase, which made up to 5 seconds difference to my rep times; a stark reminder of the value of a well matched training partner on these sessions. Anyway, 8 x 1k it was with 2 mins of jog recovery. A total of 11 miles all in. I had a nice chat with a local Clayton runner who was expounding the benefits of drill work for leg speed. I'm gonna have to Google this stuff and add it to my arsenal when I'm gunnin' for those PBs in the New Year. Another good sesh in the bank before the XC race in Birmingham on Saturday. No more hard stuff for the rest of the week.

Buns Of Steel

Well readers. I think I'm in danger of having to eat my words. After Thursday night's session I was feeling pretty complacent about this drills thing. The session wasn't remotely lung bursting and though I knew my legs were working, I was feeling pretty happy with myself. Little old self satisfied me. Ha. Then on Friday I noticed a bit of fatigue in the quads climbing the stairs and as the day wore on a slight achiness in the derriere. Well OMG. I can now hardly move. I feel like I've been put through a mincer, reformed into a person shape and then pounded with a granite rolling pin from my glutes down. I can barely sit without extreme a**e ache. I haven't suffered so much since the proper mashing of my quads during my last mountain marathon 2 years ago (and that was following several miles of bone rattling descents where I had to walk downstairs backwards for a week). I'm well and truly experiencing the effects of a tough workout, however much I thought I was taking it easy.

The extreme DOMS made for a difficult session at the track today. I'd planned some 400m intervals but I just couldn't do it. I was beaten. Instead I stuck with M and ran 8 easy laps with some 100m strides on the straights. I've sort of loosened up some patches but I can still hardly sit and I'm running long tomorrow. This drills business is not to be underestimated. Do not try this at home kids.

Hilly Drills

I'm embarrassed to confess that I've been a bit of a narcissist, and revisited my recent TV appearance from the Great South Run. Apart from the initial horror of my thigh girth for all to see (though they do say telly adds the lbs) and the general unpleasantness of seeing yourself on TV, I was reminded again of my rather inefficient running style. I have a rather long and bouncy stride for someone so vertically challenged. In fact my cadence and stride often mirror M's (who is a foot taller than me with legs that look double the length of mine). I'm really not likely to make huge progress in race times without some attention to my cadence. A point also put to me recently by one or two other polite observers of my recent races.

Anyway, the time has come for action. Apart from trying to build in a return to intervals work in the last few weeks I thought I'd try something a bit different tonight. After some inspiring chat with Bingley superstar Vic W on Saturday I thought I'd give some short hill work a go tonight. The different bit was a focus on form and cadence rather than propulsion. My usual hill efforts involve shifting as quick as I can and covering as much ground as possible within a set time. Tonight was a very different experience, 12 x 90 seconds on a very steep hill, working to pump my arms and increase leg turn-over to the point that it was more of a drill exercise than a hill effort. I covered much less ground that usual and felt a different kind of tiredness; one of working specific muscles rather than the lung burning, oxygen gasping, near coronary experience I usually have during hill work.

However, since uploading my Garmin data my heart rate barely rises above zone 4 leaving me wondering whether the session was effective at all. I've never tried the drills thing before and understand its the done thing for improving leg turn over and holding form. Most of all I need to find an effective way of shifting quicker. Are drills the answer? Or should I just focus on shorter track intervals? Any training experts out there? Answers on a postcard please...