Tuesday 10th Jan
Tuesday night was my regular "speedwork session" at Slough
Power League. I found myself playing for the "A" team, although I’m much more suited to the "B" team. The ankle twinged a few times but generally held up well, and I put in a pleasing performance, with a rare couple of goals and less than my usual quota of defensive mistakes. I came off at 7-5 up, but annoyingly we conceded three late goals to lose 8-7. Despite my frustration, I can hardly claim that things would have been different if I’d stayed on.
After 8 months or so, my body has finally adjusted to the new and interesting tweaks that football subjects it to. In fact my Saturday run (see below) was the first time I can remember not having some kind of groin strain. I can’t believe that 5-a-side football is really much good for my running. I typically play about half an hour, which consists of really high-intensity anaerobic sprints and high-end aerobic runs. Who knows the total distance covered – but I’d guess about a mile. As you might expect, the running doesn’t seem to help the time I can maintain anaerobic sprinting, but does seem to improve my recovery before the next sprint.
Warning: next entry may contain actual running.
Saturday 14th Jan
As I came to terms with the first week of 5.00 am starts, I had got to Friday night without any real chance of getting out for a run. I resolved that I would run Saturday and Sunday – not ideal after a couple of months off, but needs must.
Before tea-time presented itself as the ideal time on Saturday, so with the dinner in the oven (a team effort, I should point out) I slipped out for my familiar 4.5 miler around Maidenhead. This is the route I’ve been using for the last six months or so, and it was OK – a little sluggish, but I’ve had several weeks off. However, it’s slightly sobering to think that less than a year ago, I was doing four laps of the same circuit.
I returned to a hearty family meal of cottage pie, served with a garnish of elevated endorphin levels, and all was right with the world for a while.
Sunday 15th Jan
The prospects didn’t look good for Sunday evening - by the time evening rolled around it had been a typically non-stop day in toddler-land. It got to 9.15, the chores were as done as they were going to be, and I was veering towards a nice warm early night with the Sunday supplements. However, my wife persuaded me to go out, so I threw on some medium-weight gear and went for a fast lap of my old 2.5 mile circuit.
Does anyone else vary their breathing pattern to control effort? Most people naturally fall into a 2/2 pattern (breathe in every two steps, breathe out the same) but for medium or slow runs (i.e. most training runs) I go down to 3/3. It acts like a rev limiter – if I go too fast then I just run out of breath and have to back off. For hills, or race pace, I go to 2/2; sometimes on a steep downhill I go to 4/4. Apologies if everyone on the planet has tried this, rendering my comment as insightful as "Has anyone tried putting one foot in front of the other?"
Anyway, as it was a fast run I gave myself a quarter mile or so of 3/3 and then went up to 2/2. Too early, couldn’t sustain it. Even in 10K races I take the first 5 minutes at 3/3. So back down to 3/3 until about the last quarter. I probably haven’t run that circuit for 8-9 months, and it was nice to see some of the unlikely suburban landmarks from back when I used to do multiple laps – the ever-inviting Golden Harp, the houses that we were thinking of buying, the tight corner that requires swinging out into the road to maintain pace, the lamppost that marks the switch to 2/2 breathing before the last hill. Anyway, it all went jolly well, and I managed to finish with a flourish. I still took the Sunday supplements to bed, and tried to ignore the impending 5.00 start.
Shortly before sleep, my wife mentioned that she’d seen a local triathlon advertised for the summer and that maybe I should try it – I have talked of such things before. I dismissed the suggestion with a few comments about the cost of equipment and the high training demands – not ideal with a new baby around.
Week 1 summary:
Planned: 10.5 miles + football
Actual: 7 miles + football
