Tricky Track!

Hello blog readers.

Track day Thursday!  Even though it had been a miserable, wet day I still needed to go to track.  It is so easy to say "Nah, not today!"  Me and my running buddies all belong to a Whatsapp group, we chat about our run and we organise our running.  Today it seemed that I kind of volunteered Naggy into running track today, hmmm I don't recall that but it was all just perfect anyway,  Naggy and me arranged to pick up SnapperHannah on the way, it seems she loving track as well!  I think maybe loving could be a bit strong.....unless of course it's loving it once it's all done!

Actually I  love it, in a peculiar way.  I love trying to push myself just a little bit harder.  PhysioMiketheMod's session sound terrible hard on paper......I mean on the computer screen, 12 x 300m with a 100m walk recovery.  Of course the faster lot had the even harder session, 12 x 400 with a jog recovery.  We had our warm up drills with Jane first off though, you can't go out and do a session like that with cold limbs! Oh no, no, that would never do!  So while the faster runners were doing an 8 minute tempo run (I think that's what it's called, but basically it's a warm up jog) we were having fun doing our drills!  We do have a fun time, honest!  Jane kept an eye on us all, she's pretty good and spotting if we are not quite putting in the effort or if we are not quite doing it right! 

But then it was time to do the even harder work, 12 lots of 300m running!  And it is running, not jogging, not plodding out.  It's faster than parkrun, this is what is going to make me faster! As long as I stay focused and work hard!  I am hoping I will get faster but I am also hoping I will get lighter!  I am still struggling with the weight thing!  Comfort eating? Pig eating? Can't be arsed eating?  I have no idea what it is, but I just love eating.  I must really try and find time for more running or cycling!  Mind you, it's getting blimmin cold and dark now, that's not going to help me get back on my bike!

Me and the rest of Jane's group started the session a hundred meters away from the faster runners.  We were to run faster than our parkrun pace to the start line and then walk a hundred meters to where we started.  We had to do that 12 times!  No stopping, nor resting, the walk to the first hundred meters was our recovery!  Everybody on track today was totally focused.  Just running as best as we could.  Me and Auriol were running together, SnapperHannah was running by herself and Naggy was running with Janine.  The faster runners caught us up pretty quickly and then lapped us a good few times.  Even SnapperHannah lapped us as well, she is doing so well.  From doing our spring beginners course to now running at the track!  Just amazing!

I ran after Auriol, she was always just a tad in front of me, I tried to get just a ahead of her on the last 100 straight.  We were pretty much running at the same place.  I nagged myself in my head to to give up and go slower but to stay with Auriol.  A couple of times Auriol stopped running just before we got to the end of the 100, I really had to nag myself to keep going to the end!  It wasn't until after the session, in the whatsapp group that Auriol said she was trying to keep up with me!  Just shows us really, what we can do!

It had all finished, me and Auriol were not going to make our 12 reps, we just done as much as we could in the time.  But I was pretty impressed with what I managed. Nine laps with the last lap being a cool down lap.  I was surprised that I was still running at around 11:30 for my cool down lap, but when I got to the finish line and noticed that I actually only ran for 2.18 miles I was slightly disappointed in myself!  I mentioned it to PaulK, do you know what? He said "It don't matter, because you still ran further and faster than those on the couch"  TimHeadBand said more or less the same thing to me!  These guys are the faster guys!  These guys encourage and help me all the time!  That's the PWR way!  Of course my running usual running buddies help as well. 

It was a pretty tough session but I am so blimmin glad I did it!  More nagging please Hannah, make sure that I get there.......and volunteer NaggyNeighbour too!

Geeky stats, just check out those running bits!  Pretty impressive right!?