Sparkie's rundiary

Although I had taken Thursday and Friday off from running, I had did weights on Wednesday and Friday mornings, and a tough hurdles session (details below) on Wednesday afternoon, so my legs were very sore and sorry. However, with no real injury worries (apart from the thingy just below my left knee which has been tender), it was time to get back into competition. A movie booking for Saturday night ruled out Homebush, so I headed to the Northern Zone competition at Lane Cove, chasing a few more benchmarks and form indicators.

The weather was funny - at one stage I was regretting not bringing sun-screen, then two minutes later I was being soaked in a downpour. The wind shifted around a bit, but stayed away from the home straight for a change. Rotary Field has just been remarked, but not remown, so the running surface was less than ideal.

First event was the shot-put. After my 50cm PB on Tuesday, I was feeling confident, and so my first two throws of 7.54 and 7.75m were a let-down. The third throw felt better, but I actually had to double check when they called out 8.64m as the distance - a 40cm PB - nearly a metre for the week. Seeing the big guys only just clearing 9m (OK, a lot of the bigness was not necessarily muscle) made this quite encouraging. Over 400 points, and my first January goal ticked off (was aiming for 8.50m).

The 1500m was up next, but I wasn't planning to go all out as I was more interested in benchmarking the 400m. Had planned to run with another guy that looked quick, but as he was halfway down the straight behind me at the 300m mark, realised I'd by running solo. First 300m in 55, second lap in 73, third lap in 74 - all feeling very easy. Upped the pace a little over the last lap (68 seconds), but no kick, and a very quick recovery (I was feeling fine by the time second place came in). Definitely think I can go sub 4:20 at the moment, and will aim to do this by the end of the month. A season PB, and a better run than the State Relays.

Javelin next, and Jim gave me some feedback on my practice throws, which I tried to incorporate. Something must have worked, as the first throw went 30.10m, nearly 2 metres further than my previous best. My third throw was nearly as far, and I have nearly doubled my javelin score in the last 2 months. More importantly, I am feeling more optimistic about the event, and see lots of scope for further improvement. This was the 4th longest throw of the day, and once again saw me beating a January goal (30m).

I was debating about whether to enter the 100m, as my quad is still a bit niggly from time to time, but after Wednesday's hurdles session, felt it was up to the task. A slight tailwind clinched the deal. An ordinary start, and the guy next to me pulled ahead with his standing start. However, I caught him at about 40m, and gradually pulled away to win in 12.3 - 0.5 second faster than Homebush on a fairly crappy surface. Suddenly sub-12 is not looking that unrealistic. Need some serious work on my starts, though.

Long jump is an event I haven't touched since 1995, but given my good triple jump last time out, I thought I might go close to my 5.56 PB. Alas, a combination of a head wind and some very ordinary jumping saw me only jump 5.10m - enough to win, but a long way short of 6m. On the plus side, my run-up was good, and it was as though I was so relieved to have hit the board that I forgot to put any effort into my jump. Once again Jim was encouraging, and thinks I have the raw ingredients to go 6m.

Final event (I decided to skip the hammer as a public service) was the 400m. I haven't run one since 2001 (55 something), and was hoping to go sub-56. However, grass, wind, 5 previous events and a total lack of recent experience saw this tougher going than I would have liked, and I came in in 56.3. Historically, it has taken me a few races to get my 400m together (getting the body used to dealing with the lungs starting to protest at about 230m), so I am not too disappointed, but think that some 200-250m intervals in my program will help here.

So all-in-all, not a bad day. Two lifetime PBs and four season PBs. More importantly, the body held together well, and I don't envisage the days of agony following my last racing session. As always, a long way to go, but the momentum is definitely forward.