Track Session

Last Updated on Monday, 23 February 2009 08:30 Written by The Virtual Runner Thursday, 22 January 2009 10:10

Two posts in about a week?! Something must be wrong.

I went to my local running club again last night with my good friend Tony and we were all ready for a cold wet night of running around the track.

We did 800m warm-up before it all started at 6:30pm and after the announcements were done everyone starting breaking off in to the different training groups.

We decided to join the same group that I was in the previous week because the training seemed just right, however the group leader then announced that we/they were going to do something different this week. We were all to run in to town to a place called Kendrick hill and do some hill work and then run back. This didn’t appeal to me at all, and it didn’t appeal to my friend Tony either. I mean, we paid a whole £1.00 for the night to use the track.

We decided to do our own thing on the track in our own little group of two. We repeated the drills I did last week: 600m at 10k pace, 200m slightly slower than 10k pace follwed by 400m recovery (1200m). This was one set.

We did one lap (400m) to warm up followed by 6 sets. I think it was a good workout and it was nice to have someone there to help set the pace and make you push yourself that little bit harder. Because running is such a solitary sport it is sometimes hard to motivate yourself to do that little bit more.

By the time we were done the evening (8.4km in total) I could certainly feel that I had put in the effort.

Running Clubbed

Last Updated on Monday, 23 February 2009 08:30 Written by The Virtual Runner Tuesday, 20 January 2009 04:48

I went back to my local running club last week on Wednesday night for the first time in a long time (since early last year). A good friend of mine went with me to see what it was like and he joined the “special” group for the 1st timers to learn the track rules and etiquette. They did a bit of running but nothing too strenuous he said.

Normally when you go to my running club they start the evening (6:30pm) with some announcements and then everyone splits off in to various groups with different coaches. You can pick any coach you want, however there are a couple of groups which are clearly more “elite” than others.

I chose my group and the fun began. After dynamic warmups and a quick run around the track we were told to do 600m at 10k pace followed by 200m slightly slower than 10k pace and then a 400m recovery jog (no walking). We had to do 3 or 4 sets of these and each set is 1200m in total.
It was a good workout and I was really sweating, however if you stopped running for too long the cold really set in.

I’ll be back tomorrow night for more fun and I believe my friend is coming along again. It should be good!

My running week has changed a bit with the re-introduction of the Wed evening sessions because I used to run every morning but Mon and Sat. Now my week consists of the following:-

Monday – Rest
Tuesday – 1 hour easy run
Wednesday – Track Session (speed training, hill training, fartleks etc)
Thursday – 30 mins non-impact cardio exercise (cross trainer, rowing, cycling)
Friday – 1 hour easy run at 10k pace (with gradual speed increase for last 20 mins)
Saturday – Rest
Sunday – Long Run (I’ve been increasing this run by about 10% each week)

Aside from the running and cardio exercises I do other exercises in the evenings whilst I’m at home (which my son finds odd – he’s two).

Having looked at a few training plans I don’t think this is far off at the moment. Over the coming weeks I’ll incorporate some training sessions from a training plan I’ve got from Runners World.

On a non-running note, my oldest friend is currently in northern Quebec preparing for an adventure which will take him and a team of dogs (with dogsled) across northern Canada all the way to Alaska. He’s assisting a man that has done the journey before and they’ve been training the dogs for the past couple of months.

Within the next two weeks he will be uncontactable and his journey begins!

All the best Rob!