Wednesday 24 September 2008

Monday 15th September - Sunday 21st September

Having been so tired last week it was a great relief to me that as each day passed since then I've felt fresher and more like the bouncy Will of old, and to have felt better without reducing my training load fills me with confidence. As the week drew to a close I was able to get back to the high levels of intensity in my key sessions I've now become accustomed to.

I won't deny I wasn't concerned last week. Was the training load becoming too much, had I reached the maximum level my body could take before breaking down, had I picked up a virus that was taking the edge off my performance, thus needing to back off or take a break? Questions that it's hard to know the answer to before it's too late.

Even though I've been running since I was eleven, with the bank of knowledge and experience I've gained over the years, it is all very much a gamble as to the limits my body can take. I'm breaking into new territory every day. Never before have I trained so hard, never before have I had such a long spell of unbroken training. So I really didn't know what the signals of tiredness, that my body was sending me, actually indicated. Every runner must have a limit as to what levels their body can endure, even the greatest runners in the world, or else we would be training every hour of the day, every day of the week. It's a balancing act, and at the moment I've the biggest weights I've ever experienced at either end of the scales, making that balancing point, between staying fit and breaking down, much harder to maintain.

Mondays two runs of forty and thirty minutes left me still concerned. I was tired and struggled a little. Tuesday's track session was the key sign that I was turning the corner, completing ten six-hundred metre reps. My legs still felt a little flat, and I lacked any real zip. This meant I was off the back of the group. However, my lap times were unbelievably consistent, and I finished the session with some gas left in the tank. I was no longer physically exhausted from my exertions and my legs just wouldn't go round any faster! Two steady runs on Wednesday totalling an hour and a half went by with little fuss, and by Thursday I was able to turn my legs over at a much faster rate during a fifteen-minute tempo run. A rest on Friday was followed by the confirmation that I had come through my rough patch unscathed.
Saturdays session of a ten minute tempo run, five two minute hill reps and a final ten minutes of thirty second sprints followed by thirty second jog recovery was great. I had speed for the sprints, strength for the hill reps and endurance for the tempo run. I gained great confidence as well from how I performed against my training group. I always try hard not to race during training, it's important to concentrate on what your doing, not what your mates are up to. I always make sure I have a little bit left in reserve. But if you weren't supposed to use those you train with to push you on to faster times I guess you'd just train alone. I didn't manage to finish first in a single element of the entire session. I was second throughout, which was a little frustrating, but I took great heart that the guy finishing ahead of me was a different member of the group each time. I guess I was “jack of all trades” but master of none, though I was delighted to be. It proved to me that I was right to keep plugging away with my training and that stopping wasn't the right choice to make this time. I just hope that I continue to make the right choices and keep my momentum going.

Monday 22 September 2008

Training Mon 8th September - Sun 14th September

My body has ached nearly the entire week. For seven days I've had to roll myself out of bed and into my trainers, my legs have felt like they'd buckle under my weight at any moment, and I worry that if I close my eyes for any longer than a the merest blink of an eye I'll fall into a deep sleep. It's been great! You get a perverse pleasure from the fact your body's tired. It reminds you that training must be going well, that you're working hard and making gains. It helps test your motivation and dedication. It would have been so easy to miss a run here and there, or to miss out of few repetitions on the track. But I fought through it, and as long as I come through this period of tiredness and get the bounce back into my legs soon, without my body breaking down, be it illness or injury, it will all have been worth-while and extremely encouraging.

I actually feel stronger than ever before, which is strange given how tired I've felt. But from my training this week I know I'm in good shape. On Tuesday, even though I didn't fancy lapping the track one bit, I got it done. (2 x 1K, 5 x 400 metres, and another 2 x 1K.) I was still able to lap faster than I did just three short months ago. My legs wouldn't let me do the lap times I know I can do, but my fitness shone through as I finished the session feeling that I had more to give, my breathing was under control and I wasn't doubled up, as I often am.

On Saturday my club were participating in the county road relays. I obviously didn't wanted to run badly, but in the grand scheme of things the race would count for very little. With this in mind my coach dropped my Thursday tempo run and replaced it with an easy run, but the rest of my schedule was kept as normal. With just Thursday to ease back, my legs were still very weary by Saturday.
The race was run from Wimbledon Park, running up Wimbledon Hill, past the tennis, down the other side and back into the park. I flew off at the start like a mad man, hoping to blow the cobwebs well and truly away. I love hill running so that was easy, but I was a little over exuberant coming down the other side. My legs were going round ten to the dozen, I doubt Usain Bolt could have kept pace! But as soon as I hit the Park at the bottom of the hill, with a mile still to go I knew I had over cooked it. My legs went dead, my bounce was well and truly deflated, everything was burning and I could feel the pack eating into my lead. I managed to maintain some sort of rhythm to the finish and was fairly pleased with my time given that I'm in a hard phase of my training. I was a little disappointed to be only three seconds quicker than last year as I know I'm in much better shape, but you cant have it all. I have to expect to be slightly slower in races when I train into them. I just can't wait till next month and some bigger races when I can really show my form and actually have a bit of a rest pre-race.

Wednesday 10 September 2008

Training Mon 1st Sept - Sun 7th Sept

It’s hard for me to contain my excitement at how well my running seems to be going at the moment. Having followed my coaches' training schedule religiously, the slow and steady build up of distance and intensity of each session is now reaping the rewards. My body is stronger than ever thanks to gently increasing the workload, enabling me to cope with the stresses of each session better and leaving me ready for more.
For me a sure sign of this, is in my gym workouts. I've only really flirted with the gym in the past. I'd put a consistent weeks work together, then the stain of trying to do everything would get too much, and the gym would fall by the wayside to allow me to complete the more important run sessions. But now I complete my workouts regularly and to a higher standard. Now that I have my body into the routine of incorporating regular gym sessions into my training plan I don't think they'll be cast aside so easily again.

I was a little surprised to find that this week’s track session was to focus on our speed. With the track season over for me I was expecting to see a gradual increase in the distance covered, and so a slight reduction in the lap speed of each rep, rather than the reverse. But my coach is keen for me to keep my speed, after all getting faster is the name of the game. The rest of my week saw a marginal increase in total mileage as I had expected, the track session kept us all on our toes and I actually had a great run. Seven sets of 400, 300 and 200 metres. I was knocking out good times even though there was a reasonably strong head wind into the home straight. Psychologically I was dealing with the session well too. I would lead both the 400 and 200 reps and take a rest from pace making duties during the 300 without compromising the times. Once each 400 was out of the way I knew the rest of the set would be a breeze, and so it proved. My consistency hit an all time high. Each rep was covered in an identical time. Never before have I set myself time targets and hit them 21 out of 21 times. That sort of pacing bodes well for racing.

For my lonely speed session this week I took myself of to Box Hill. (The scene of one of my all time hardest workouts that had left me dazed and confused. So tired was I by the end that I had no recollection of how many times I had run up the dam hill.)
Thankfully, this time I was more in control. My body was more than capable of handling five hill reps, each lasting three minutes, up the steepest, lung-burning, leg-buckling hill in the South. I felt great and was spurred on by the strange looks given to me by ramblers and school kids on their field studies. Why would anyone run up that hill once, let alone five times? Because if there's no pain, there's no gain!

For the rest of the week my legs were very tired, but it was a good kind of tired. I was not so tired that I couldn't complete my training schedule. I was even able to put in a good session on Saturday, which for the first time I was not looking forward to because of its length. But once I was into my running I completed the ten-minute tempo well, ran the 30-second sprints strongly and hauled my body up a minute long hill ten times without losing the will to live! I was just tired enough to let me know I was working hard. It was a satisfying tiredness. I was tired enough that as soon as my head hit the pillow each night I was snoring in double quick time, but when I did, I had a big smile on my face!

Training Mon 25th August - Sunday 31st August

Training seemingly goes from strength to strength. My body seems to finally be getting used to doing three speed sessions a week. No longer am I unable to walk down stairs unaided the morning after a hard work out - now I just shuffle down on my backside!
With each training run I feel stronger, due to the fact that I'm in the middle of my longest spell of unbroken quality training for a long while.
I know I'm also enjoying my running a lot more. I'm now more enthusiastic than ever to run round the track, something I never really enjoyed (more tolerated), and with that comes an improvement in the times I'm knocking out during my track sessions.

This week was a mixture of 1200's and 800's totalling 6 kilometres worth of running. Not only am I running the reps faster, I'm also now back into my old 'Mr Consistent' ways, with less than two seconds difference between the end time of each rep.
Doing fast sessions with a group twice a week has enabled me to improve greatly the quality of the tempo session I complete on my own. It no longer seems like an impossible chore. I'm more motivated as to what lies ahead when warming up on my own, which had been a problem in the past. It's difficult to prepare yourself to run hard and to push through that pain barrier every week when it's only “me, myself, I” completing the run. It's all up to you, which was hard when two thirds of your quality work was done on your own. But now it's just a third of my speed work it's so much easier. I also feel it's actually a chance to do that little bit more to gain some kind of advantage over the rest of my training group, so the next time we're together I can work them that little bit harder.
My favourite session now is easily my Saturday morning run in Richmond Park. I love the length of each session. We start before ten in the morning and finish well after twelve. I also now really appreciate the way my coach will mix the session up with tempo runs followed by sprints or hills. This week was a fast ten-minute tempo, followed by five, two minute hill runs, and a final eight-minute tempo run to finish. I enjoyed every single minute, until we came to the warm down. My group are all ready well and truly sick of hearing me moan at how I detest this final act. Having given my all (mentally and physically) to complete the session I just can't be bothered with any more running. I know it's vitally important to do it, so begrudgingly I will always do one. I tell myself of how it will aid my recovery, flush out all the toxins from my aching legs, enabling me to recover faster, and be it some sort of fit state for the next run. But it does make me wish I'd parked that little bit closer every time!
The puzzle is really starting to come together now, and I'm enjoying every minute, apart from the warm downs! I feel confident that things are on plan for some great races; all I need to do now is run one.

Tuesday 9 September 2008

Interim Report

Sometimes things happen that make you take a close look at what your doing from a different perspective. A sudden shock, a bolt from the blue that makes you stop, and take stock of where your going and what you’re doing. In a moment every thing you've achieved can seem meaningless, I've questioned what I'm doing many times in the past, and I've always felt I'm doing the right thing, that I'm on the right path to achieving what I want from life, be it my personal life or my running career.
However I've often felt with my running that I've just been going through the motions. I've been told to run from A to B, and I've done it. I've not done anything less, but sadly I've not done anything more. I've known what I wanted to do, and I know how to do it, but sometimes I've fell short from crossing those T's and dotting them I’s. It's taken so much effort to get the basics done and done well, that putting that cherry on the top has seemed one step to far.
When you face a tragedy in your life, it knocks you back and drags you down. But often good can come form the worst of times. It makes you look deep inside and evaluate every thing you do with your day, your week, and your life. I know now all too well that the next moment may be my last so use it must be used wisely, I have to make the most of it. I wish it didn't have to take such a terrible, tragic moment to enable me to start dotting my I's and crossing the T's. It goes without saying that I would go back to bumbling along, without making the absolute most of every opportunity as I was before it all in a heart beat, but I guess things happen that you can't control.
I know I need to make the most of every opportunity I have, and this is definitely a big one, as Will would without doubt have done. I will make the most of every thing I do, and make the most of every one I do it with. I'm going to put the biggest cherry on the top of every session every day. No stone will go unturned, so I can get the very best out of what I've got. To give my all is surly the least I can do.