Track Training

Note to self: don’t eat a big plate of pasta two and a half hours before my track session. 

It had been a while since I’d done any track work, so I’d forgotten that there is a big difference in the stomach, between pootling along and pumping my arms and legs. Next time, I’ll try eating at four o’clock and maybe reduce my portion a tad.

We were on a running track in Ellesmere Port, with coach Matt Strange, this evening, as the Oval is over-subscribed. Much as I enjoyed going down there, with its history and the fact that it was local, the track here is amazing.

I’m no expert, but I do have a sensitivity to inclines, and I can feel a slight uphill on part of that track, whereas at Ellesmere Port I couldn’t feel a thing. Plus, the surface here felt bouncier, which was probably why I started each interval stupidly fast and had to rein it in quickly. And, we had the entire track all to ourselves and I wasn’t constantly being lapped by ten-year-olds from Wirral AC, which is slightly better for the ego. 

It was the first time we’d had a session with Matt, as he has been brought in to make sure the monthly Track session happen, because we don’t have enough in-house certified coaches who are always free to lead the session. He was layered up and topped with a bobble hat and still looked like he needed thawing out by a fire, but he seemed happy to stand and watch us run past on a very chilly night. 

I was a little nervous because I have been injured before, because I’ve been too exuberant and my hamstring hadn’t got the memo, so I tried to get warmed up really well, although just the high knees walk nearly finished me off.

My speed sessions have been all on the treadmill so far this year, so this felt a bit hard trying to work out a pace that I could sustain for the full duration. We were given the following work out:

2 x 5 mins       with 120 second recovery
3 x 3 mins       with 90 second recovery
4 x 1.5 mins    with 70 second recovery.

My Garmin shows me getting slower for each section of the run, I can’t maintain the pace that I start off with. However, on the plus side, as the sessions get shorter, I do run faster overall, so I am increasing my effort, I think.

I wasn’t getting lapped by children, but I was getting frequently lapped by Ben, one of our best runners, which I didn’t mind so much. Each time he went past, I tried to copy his form: holding my body tall, lifting my knees up a bit more and throwing my leg back behind me, and most importantly, not collapsing in the core.

My efforts feel rewarded today by slightly sore quads, which I will take as an evening’s work well done. I don’t know if I’ve activated any more (or any at all) fast twitch muscle fibres but I can at least tick off, for the first time in three weeks, an interval session.