A few outings to report since my last session on Tuesday.
On Thursday evening i decided to go along to my athletic clubs running interval session at Hove Park. I turned up with plenty of water in hand as it had been a very hot day and at 6:30pm it didn't seem much cooler. This would be my first running interval session since last summer when I was injured with a sore hip. The session set was 5 x 1.5 laps of the north end of the park, followed by a short uphill walk recovery on the grass back to the start again. I set off on the first inteval trailing at the back with another 2 runners - 6:00 minutes for the course. The second and third intervals were happily consistent 6:00 and 6:01 and I was gaining leading distance on the 2 back markers who had started to fade badly. Then the coach announced that the next interval would be my last. I was struggling at this point and had already made this decision myself. Set off on the last interval wanting to make it a good one. Finished in 5:58. After this we then had to do a few short sprint dashes across the park 100-150m to finish up. A good session completed, but I don't really feel very fit. Not sure if it is because I have been doing so much walking training lately, or because I have done no fast running or whether it is still the marathon in my legs.
Saturday morning I had agreed to take part in road relays for my running club. Once again it was a very hot day, made worse by my Friday afternoon/evening of alchohol consumption. I was feeling terribly dehydrated and sat sipping water in the shade waiting for the race to start. I was running the third leg so once the race started I was off warming up trying to stay in the shade as much as possible. Once racing I managed to catch up with a couple of runners and completed the 2.1 mile lap in 14:12. Not my fastest time ever but quicker than I had anticipated.
On Sunday morning I had arranged to meet up with Sweder, Moylebird and Judith for a steady Downland run from Washington, nr Steyning. I was much happier on this day. The weather was warm, I was not hungover, the distance and terrain suited me (long, steady and undulating) and I had some good company for chats too. Moylebird and Judith were feeling tired from yesterday's relays but I was feeling good and definately marathon recovered. We set off through the village of Washington and up a big hill, immediately recognised by Sweder and Moylebird as one of the Stingers. The tiredness of the girls meant that I was able to fast walking up the hill and another kilometer or two once I had got to the top before they caught me up. The majority of the run went on like this. I jogged and then each incline I fast walked. I like this type of training - I think it is probably my favourite
. At half way Sweder seemed to be struggling a bit with the distance, but for a few kilometers on our return he was pushing hard on the inclines and setting the pace. It won't be long until he will have his fitness back and will be ready to challenge his distance pb's again. 10.5 miles covered in approximately 1hr 48mins.
