A year or so back a few of us made the trip round the M25 for a Blackheath and Bromley open. The weather was crazy with a big rainstorm, but most of us posted good times – nothing to lose?
So we decided to return this year, in the end only Jack and I could make it. Quite a few people in this race but I’d failed to do any homework, so didn’t know what the competition would be like.
In the event it was a good, close race, I was very happy with my back straight, felt smooth and ran most people down. Holding on for the finish wasn’t easy, but a win is a win and a time of 61.78, my best since 2021 / catching Covid.
Feeling positive, but a way to go yet for sub-60 running.
Made my first foray into the world of international Masters Athletics competitions. Tampere in Finland were selected as hosts and I must say it’s an amazing city and great facilities for athletics. The main track was excellent and there seemed to be a couple of other good tracks very near by – one was a 300m track which was novel.
Luckily the timing meant we could make it a family holiday at the same time, renting a house in Tampere for the event days and then moving on to another place for the rest of the stay.
The organisation was excellent and it was so inspiring to see so many people competing at every age. The performances put in are incredible, a wake-up call for me now and something to aspire to in the years to come.
There is a great spirit of camaraderie amongst the athletes and so much work put in by officials and organisers.
By lucky chance I was drawn into the TaFMAC (Track and Field Master Athletic Category) study carried out by the DLR Institute of Space Medicine. A wonderful team and the closest I got to flying in the whole tournament. They carried out a wide range of tests and gave me some real insights into my physical condition.
You might have noticed that I’ve been avoiding the topic of running. Yes, procrastination. I crashed out in the first round of the 400m. This mirrored my worst fears as I’d contracted Covid some months before. My symptoms were quite mild but I found in training that when I “hit the wall” it was nothing like I’d ever experienced previously. In some early 400 races I would get to 200m in a good time and feel really strong. Then my performance would fall off a cliff. I know a 400 often feels a bit like that, you can be deceived at 200, but this was different.
On the day I drew an outside lane, not a big deal I’ve mentally put myself into the “all lanes have a positive” mode. As a taller runner I know I have gentler bends in the outside and hit the straight early. I was somewhat shocked by how quickly a couple of inside runners overtook me but I felt I could respond and was feeling good at 250, then it just fell apart. This had happened in previous races and whilst I don’t have the splits I reckon I was about 29 seconds for the first 200, and it went so badly in the home straight that my second 200 would have been about 38 seconds. That wasn’t me giving up, I fought my body to the line, but finished a convincing last.
It’s been a while since posting here. I won’t bother with why, just time to get organised and keep sharing.
Our first match post-lockdown for our Vets team with a trip up to Stevenage. The rain held off for a large part of the match. I haven’t run 100m for a while so took the chance for this. Had been put down into the 40-50 section, no doubt for good reason but with people dropping out and team manager isolating for Covid the reasons were lost. Great to catch up with a number of familiar faces on the Masters scene…..
I’ve been struggling with block starts recently and haven’t found time to diagnose, particularly with a focus on helping coach a number of our younger athletes in blocks has taken my mind off it.
Didn’t feel like the best start with two guys blasting away from me. Managed to get into 3rd place. I was totally surprised by a PB of 13.3 – it didn’t feel like a good race at all.
Half an hour break, this time in the 50-55 section. Suddenly 100m feels more draining than I’d anticipated – get in the excuses early as they say…….
Nothing feels quite right about this race, it’s cool, a bit breezy and starting to rain. I’m slow out of the blocks, back straight a bit more effort than it ought to be. 150m to go I was paying the price, felt a bit more like 400m hurdles than flat. Last 20 metres were through treacle. Happy to clock 60.3 on that.
A great wrap up in the 4x100m, in fact three of our middle distance guys stepped in to make the team and did a great job. We messed up the final handover so I pretty much had to stop and restart, but we did well for the scratch team.
Next up is a 400m hurdles at the London Inter Club Challenge.
Well technically it’s still Tier 2 training for me as both the track and my home are still in Tier 2 but many athletes now in Tier 3 can’t attend the training. I suppose it serves as a reminder to us all about keeping our 2 metres and wearing our masks (warm-up and warm-down).
We also collect our new club-themed masks. This also reminds me I have a fairly large head, but not too large. Some people find the mask is a bit big, though I find mine a bit small but entirely usable. More comfortable generally but without the wire nose clip it steams up my glasses faster. That’s not big deal as I generally warm up without my glasses when mask wearing to avoid steaming up. When I say “generally” I mean won’t wear a mask when warming up by myself or just with Marcus, but always in a club setting 🙂
Session tonight is a tough one. It’s weird how some sessions look that way, when they are really all tough as long as you get the intensity etc. right. 1x600m, 1x400m, 2x200m with 9, 7 and 4 minutes recover. Targets 600 – 1:36-54 (16-19s / 100), 400 – 60-72s (15-18s/100), 200 – 28-32s (14-16s/100). As usual Marcus aiming for lower end I’m aiming to keep inside the window.
We often run these in reverse, heading towards the long run or in a pyramid with the long run in the middle. Having it at the start is interesting – 600m goes well but saves up a lot of pain for the following runs. Still need a bit of work on the longer distances as miss the larget for first and last runs – 1:58 for 600m, 71 for the 400 and 31 & 34 for the 200s. For the last 200 I was on track at 100 (in fact slightly ahead of the whistle) then ran into 50 metres of treacle.
Well we get a training session in tonight, but things are looking bleak. Some of the surrounding areas are moving into Tier 3. The track remains in Tier 2 and and it seems under 18s and coaches will be allowed to travel, but others won’t. All getting confusing and looking like things are likey to get worse rather than better.
That all kicks in tomorrow so back to training. Our session tonight is 2 x 150m, 2 x 200m, 2 x 300m. 4, 5 and 6 minutes recovery, Target times are 14-17 seconds per hundred. As usual I’ll be at the tail end of that.
I’m annoyed, I’ve forgotten to note down my times. Session went well and HRM feed out below.
Once more we are able to return from the track after lockdown. Back to the old drill. One-way system in and out. Masks to be worn on entry, exit, warm-up and warm-down and the rest to keep the 2-metre distance. Still great to be back!!
A bit of agility work to kick off (well after warm-up that is). Zig-zag run around 5 cones followed by 10 lateral jumps over mini-hurdles and running backwards back to partner. Should be in pairs but the numbers were odd so we made it work in a 3 and did 3 sets.
Then onto the serious stuff, fartlek to celebrate our return – 3 sets of 200m and 250m with 150m recovery (walk / jog). The 300m runners skipped the last 250.
Marcus, James and I do this together. Again it would usually be pairs but I can lane share with Marcus as we live together. Doing it together is probably stretching it as they are quicker and fitter and I’m soon running solo. However it’s my first track outing with the heart rate monitor so that gives me something to work with. Quit happy with the result. I do manage to jog 5 of the recoveries, but the last one proves too much and I do walk at least half of it.
I need to research a bit more about what the heart rate zones mean but this is the readout.
Well for the next few weeks at least. This is the last session at the track before the lockdown kicks in. Hopefully just the 4 weeks but nobody really expects it to be that short.
I forget to take any pictures until we are leaving, then get distracted so it turns out like a very arty shot.
However, back to the plot. We start with some agility runs – mini hurdles in a square to leap in and out of.
Then it’s onto fartlek – 9x200m with 150m in between. Marcus and I set off but he soon loses me as he jogs his 150s. I manage walk 75 jog 75 for 3 of the runs then revert to walking. My calf feels a little tight but nothing that really impedes me. I decide to see what happens and keep going as nothing changes neither better nor worse.
I manage to keep a good pace both walking and running. I’ve recently returned to the ASICs fold – I used to love them for volleyball. I’m now using my Sortie Japan Seiha 2 racing shoes. I’m loving them. Really light and flat to help feel the running form. I found other trainers a bit to chunky, particularly around the heel, for speed work.
I end up lapping all bar three of the other runners and feel completely dead at the end so hopefully got that about right.
Finish off with various medicine ball drills, the usual sanitising rituals of hands, balls and mats sets us up for the warm down jog and stretch. Finally a brief from coach Deb about keeping fit over the lockdown period. Life made easy for Marcus and I to work in a pair.
I start to remember what this winter work is all about……..
Start with hurdle jumps – 2-legged and zig-zags. Quite a few clattered over while we find our rythm.
Then off to the sand pit to play. Single leg hops, and bunny hops. 3 sets of each.
Then it’s onto the sleds. 4x40m at 25kg for me. I should possibly be working with a bit more weight at this stage but in a group we can’t easily change and I am a bigger unit than anybody else. It’s then just adapting to the weight. It’s actually quite good over that distance to mix the acceleration mechanics with a bit more speed at the end.
Then we wrap up with some continuous relays around the, somewhat muddy, inner field. 4x60m probably. I do my usual thing of fretting endlessly about optimising baton change though that’s really not part of the drill.
A good session, not as gut-wrenchingly exhausting as Tuesday but it will take a bigger toll on the muscles in the coming days!
I start to remember what this winter work is all about……..
Start with hurdle jumps – 2-legged and zig-zags. Quite a few clattered over while we find our rythm.
Then off to the sand pit to play. Single leg hops, and bunny hops. 3 sets of each.
Then it’s onto the sleds. 4x40m at 25kg for me. I should possibly be working with a bit more weight at this stage but in a group we can’t easily change and I am a bigger unit than anybody else. It’s then just adapting to the weight. It’s actually quite good over that distance to mix the acceleration mechanics with a bit more speed at the end.
Then we wrap up with some continuous relays around the, somewhat muddy, inner field. 4x60m probably. I do my usual thing of fretting endlessly about optimising baton change though that’s really not part of the drill.
A good session, not as gut-wrenchingly exhausting as Tuesday but it will take a bigger toll on the muscles in the coming days!
Back to the track, in theory it’s being renovated, in reality it’s all a bit of a mix up. Some patching has been carried out and it’s been cleaned. The new bits feel (and look) a bit odd but it’s hard to gauge. The long/triple jump runways have been replaced and feel slippery in trainers but the jumpers are happy, it feels fast and springy in spikes apparently.
However we were just working on the main track:
A bit of agility work to start – 3 sets of 20m run to mini-hurdles followed by 20 jumps and a backwards run to partner.
Then onto the serious stuff – 5 sets of run 150 – walk 100 – run 200 – walk 100. We seem to be striking lucky with the rain and once again it’s quite dry. I start running with James but he started with a niggle and decided, sensibly, to stop. So I pair up with Katy and we work well together pushing ourselves along.
I get to the end – well heading home and realise I’ve falied to take any pictures – ho-hum. Must get better at that. I’ll just use another for now.
