Thursday, December 01, 2005
Back on track
With my last two speed sessions resulting in two torn hamstrings, I was hoping to see my batting average drop below 1000 today. With some trepidation I headed out to Narabeen, with a backdrop of very black clouds following me.
An easy 2km warm-up in about 8:52, then the big test - some run-throughs! The first one went fine, although I felt a bit sluggish. The 2nd and 3rd felt fantastic, and an easy 4th saw my warm-up complete without incident (yes - I had remembered to stretch this time).
The planned session was 8x300m in 48 seconds. Normally, the recoveries would be 300m jogs, but as this was my first session back on the track, I decided that walk recoveries would ease the transition.
The first one came and went in 48.1, which was spot on. The second as a bit quicker in 47.1. Eased back the third in 48.6, and started to feel a bit flat. Now here's the interesting thing. On the third I had concsiouly held back the pace. On the fourth and subsequent intervals I just ran how I felt. These were all much more comfortable, but at 47.1/46.9/47.1/46.7 and 46.1, also much quicker. Not 100% sure why (possibly I was running the first 200 quicker - they were coming up in about 30 seconds - and then easing back the last 100m). Needless to say, it was good to be running quickly and easily again.
The scheduled session called for 8x100m sprints after a 20 minute break, but as I had pushed my luck with both my hamstrings and Mrs Sparkie (Louis's dinner time was rapidly approaching), I wrapped things up with a 2km warm-down in about 9:30. Missed dinner-time, but managed to fit in half-an-hour of playing 'shops' - which essentially involves stacking tins on the slippery dip, and then pushing them down it.
All-in-all I was very happy with the session, although I know it will be much harder next week with the reduced recoveries. This was illustrated by the fact that the aim of the session was to get my heart-rate to around 180, but it never got over 168. Several of the first 100m efforts were sub-15 seconds, so the base speed for a good 800m (though not necessarily a good 400m) is still there. Most importantly, the legs held up well, with not the slightest niggle. I have the option of taking a rest-day tomorrow, which I think I will be exercising.
An easy 2km warm-up in about 8:52, then the big test - some run-throughs! The first one went fine, although I felt a bit sluggish. The 2nd and 3rd felt fantastic, and an easy 4th saw my warm-up complete without incident (yes - I had remembered to stretch this time).
The planned session was 8x300m in 48 seconds. Normally, the recoveries would be 300m jogs, but as this was my first session back on the track, I decided that walk recoveries would ease the transition.
The first one came and went in 48.1, which was spot on. The second as a bit quicker in 47.1. Eased back the third in 48.6, and started to feel a bit flat. Now here's the interesting thing. On the third I had concsiouly held back the pace. On the fourth and subsequent intervals I just ran how I felt. These were all much more comfortable, but at 47.1/46.9/47.1/46.7 and 46.1, also much quicker. Not 100% sure why (possibly I was running the first 200 quicker - they were coming up in about 30 seconds - and then easing back the last 100m). Needless to say, it was good to be running quickly and easily again.
The scheduled session called for 8x100m sprints after a 20 minute break, but as I had pushed my luck with both my hamstrings and Mrs Sparkie (Louis's dinner time was rapidly approaching), I wrapped things up with a 2km warm-down in about 9:30. Missed dinner-time, but managed to fit in half-an-hour of playing 'shops' - which essentially involves stacking tins on the slippery dip, and then pushing them down it.
All-in-all I was very happy with the session, although I know it will be much harder next week with the reduced recoveries. This was illustrated by the fact that the aim of the session was to get my heart-rate to around 180, but it never got over 168. Several of the first 100m efforts were sub-15 seconds, so the base speed for a good 800m (though not necessarily a good 400m) is still there. Most importantly, the legs held up well, with not the slightest niggle. I have the option of taking a rest-day tomorrow, which I think I will be exercising.
