Thursday, June 01, 2006
Slowly going downhill
Another early rise, and off to SWEAT. Got through the warm-up feeling fine, although held back a bit.
Today was my first attempt at "Big Bertha", a supposedly 500m (but closer to 400) loop which is almost entirely uphill or downhill (there is about a 2m flat section). Went out with the leaders for oh, 100m, and then we started our first downhill. Part inexperience, part cautiousness (weak ankles), but I am a crap downhill runner, and the other guys highlighted that fact very quickly. With the exception of Fats, who was having a blinder, I felt like I held my own on the uphills, but lost ground on the downhills. This didn't particularly bother me, however, and churned out 8 of my 10 assigned laps before pulling out to give my legs a break - specifically my right soleus, which was starting to niggle, indicating it was compensating for my Gen-X slacker calf.
Splits were 1:35/1:39/1:41/1:42/1:44/1:46/1:47/1:49, for a total time of 13:47. In absolute terms, not a great session (and until they install an escalator on the downhill, it never will be), but good to be back into the speedwork.
Have the Striders' 10km scheduled for Saturday, but thinking it might be a bit soon to jump into a full 10km race. Unfortunately, prior commitments make the next two weeks impossible for racing, so it might be a while before I have a proper hit out. Given my shape at the moment (see the geometic progression of my splits), this is probably not a bad thing, and replacing the races with an 8km tempo run won't hurt.
Oh, and for those that weren't aware FATS HAD AMANDA'S SHORTS ON THIS MORNING!
Today was my first attempt at "Big Bertha", a supposedly 500m (but closer to 400) loop which is almost entirely uphill or downhill (there is about a 2m flat section). Went out with the leaders for oh, 100m, and then we started our first downhill. Part inexperience, part cautiousness (weak ankles), but I am a crap downhill runner, and the other guys highlighted that fact very quickly. With the exception of Fats, who was having a blinder, I felt like I held my own on the uphills, but lost ground on the downhills. This didn't particularly bother me, however, and churned out 8 of my 10 assigned laps before pulling out to give my legs a break - specifically my right soleus, which was starting to niggle, indicating it was compensating for my Gen-X slacker calf.
Splits were 1:35/1:39/1:41/1:42/1:44/1:46/1:47/1:49, for a total time of 13:47. In absolute terms, not a great session (and until they install an escalator on the downhill, it never will be), but good to be back into the speedwork.
Have the Striders' 10km scheduled for Saturday, but thinking it might be a bit soon to jump into a full 10km race. Unfortunately, prior commitments make the next two weeks impossible for racing, so it might be a while before I have a proper hit out. Given my shape at the moment (see the geometic progression of my splits), this is probably not a bad thing, and replacing the races with an 8km tempo run won't hurt.
Oh, and for those that weren't aware FATS HAD AMANDA'S SHORTS ON THIS MORNING!
