Speedwork Shocker.

There was quite a turn out for last nights session on the track. A group of us mainly veteran runners(again) opted for a 5 x 300 meters + 4 x 600 meters + 5 x 300 meters session. With Longwoods Andy Pearson in attendence coach Dransfield decided on short recoveries. After a long absence from the track the watch was ignored and the rule of a fast even pace to the end was also ignored. After trying for years to disprove the theory of natural talent, I am begining to accept that the hard training route loses. To make sure Andy had a useful session, a plan of a suicidal pace to 200 meters and then agony for 100 meters hopefully helped him. I was surprised how I could outpace him for 200 meters, although I wasn't sure how hard he was trying. Keith Magee saved all the effort for the last 300 meter rep and beat Andy to the line. Kevin Ogden showed some good control of speed and endurance and gave me some idea of what will be needed to get a 34 minute 10k again.

Thanks to all who took part.

A Dash To The Abbey 2009

After 3 months off racing and training I couldn't even begin to predict a time for today. The Abbey Dash has developed into a monster race(8000 entries) and well done to the organisers who really did a good job of making sure this event went smoothly. Also the advances in technology means you can get your results sent by text message or virtually live from the internet. Remember those days waiting for the post to arrive so you could check your paper results!

The race itself was a bit crowded at the start, but as soon as the race started and with the roads closed there was plenty of room for the race to thin out. My race plan was set off at a steady pace and increase it if I felt comfortable. The legs felt good, though the absence of any speed work meant that steady 5-30 miling was unachievable. I tried to get close to Kevin Ogden but he seems to have got that bit extra after doing some usefull track training. I do like races where you get to look at the front runners comeing the other way. The leader looked to have at least a 30 second gap at the turnround point. I finished the race in 35-55 and seventh V45, but only 46 seconds off second V45.