Training Log Archive: slow-twitch

A little bit shattered/under the weather (and the wind is REALLY COLD!) so think I've earned a rest day or 2 (other than this nonsense, and even that I had to take slowly to get through it this morning)

or thereabouts. before and after

Regional x-country champs at Narrows. 4 x 2km laps, rain died off with perfect timing, but track conditions still very much at the heavy end of the scale. Was aiming for <40, so needed to average <10 minute laps. Did the first one in 9:40 something but suffered for it, so not surprising it didn't work out in the long run (last lap must have been below 10 as well though). Died on lap 3 and only managed to soldier on as there were a couple of guys just in front who I managed to reel in and overtake about midway through the last, and put in a big finish as I thought they were coming back... I think in better conditions I would have got the target time, but been even more out-classed by the serious runner-types.

other than that, a quiet day, must do a bit of stretching here and there though

That little plateau over the last couple of days was too good to last

Long bridge loop - was fully expecting to wimp out at Claudelands or Boundary road, but gradually got into it - and fairly early on started wondering if the sub-hour was on. Turns out it was, and having that target made it easier to get through the first half of the River Road stretch where I'd normally start to fade/walk. Though had to work pretty hard through the last km+, including sprinting the entire length of Opoia Road (which is not very long so not as impressive as it sounds) to make it. I hope the middle-aged gent who got to the park gate just before I did wasn't too alarmed!

After that finish, a bit of an extra slow warm-down circuit seemed a good idea.

Recovery run with last night's efforts in mind, but possibly less of a recovery pace than a get-this-over-and-done-with pace (didn't manage to beat the change in the weather like I'd hoped to). Also had in mind to be a bit more original than go to the lake, but by the time I'd delivered a flatmate to the Good George, I was basically there anyway. So a long lap of the lake and the Innes Park sportsfields.

little shag at the lake today (64)

C • Little shag? 2

before and after

First Hawks session in forever. 8 x somewhere between 600 and 700m depending on who you believed, with 1 minute recoveries. I was also pretty sure it was going to be 6 reps when we started, but that somehow morphed into 8. I was going to drop the last in protest, but when everyone else went, my subconscious took over and followed them. Went with the right group this time so probably lost no more than 10 seconds from any of the recoveries. Didn't feel like I was pushing really hard either most of the time, until any time I tried to pick the pace up and couldn't. The mid-lap fade did tend to hit a bit earlier on each rep though.

Mixed bag - got to exactly the same point as last week on two current 'projects', one of which is frustratingly one hold from the top, the other one is at the same point as the week before that... and the week before that... But got two grade 14's on first attempt, not always elegant but successful, and one of them has a teeny baby overhang right up the top, so I can now claim I've beaten an overhang (ooh look, some straws, I think I'll grasp at those for a little while), and on final climb had to eventually admit defeat on a 15 - there seems to be a bit of a jump from 14 to 15! Didn't help this was the first one the height got into my head in any serious way, I probably needed to take a fall when it first got in there to remind myself I was safe.