Running Aimlessly Down Under - From 54 to 53 sec 400m

Chivito550

Monday: Gym

A: BB Back Squat w/ 2 sec pause (with very low depth): 3 x 6 @ 52.5kg, 55kg, 57.5kg
B: Snatch position exercise w/ lightest bar: 4 x 6
C1: Split Squats, both legs on ground: 2 x 8 on each side @ 12kg in each hand
C2: Romanian Deadlifts: 3 x 12 @ 35kg, 37.5kg, 40kg
D1: Flat DB Press: 7, 6, 5 @ 25kg in each hand
D2: DB Bent Over Row: 3 x 8 on each side @ 27.5kg
E: Glute Complex Series Hip Thrusts (Narrow, Wide, Single left, Single right): 3 x 12,12,12,12

Wednesday: Grass

Beautiful evening for this session. Like the last 2 weeks we did 2 x 3 laps of sprinting the lengths, and jogging the widths. So 12 x 140m. My hamstring was feeling tight and a bit sore from the gym session on Monday, so I opted to play it safe this evening. I only went at about 75-80% for the first set, and then about 85% on the second set. As a result I ran the recoveries faster to make up for not going as hard on the fast bits. Despite this, I was nowhere near as tired as previous weeks. Times:

Set 1: 6:01
Recovery: 5:00
Set 2: 6:10
Total: 17:11

So the overall time was over half a minute faster than last week. But because I didn't run as hard on the fast bits, but went quicker on the recoveries, means I don't think it is a fair comparison.

Chivito550

Thursday: Gym

With it being the last gym session of this current programme, and with being in a rush to meet up with family for my sister’s graduation that evening, I decided to cut this session in half, and just do the below, taking it as an easy day, before starting into the new programme.

A: Front Squat w/ 1 second pause (with very low depth): 2 x 6 @ 50kg, 52.5kg
D1: 30 degree incline DB Press: 7, 7 @ 22kg in each hand
D2: Chin-ups: 8, 8 @ bodyweight
E1: Bench Double Leg Glute Thrusts: 2 x 15
E2: Dynamic Clam: 2 x 12 on each side
E3: Heel Raises: 2 x 8 on each leg @ 16kg


Saturday: Track

Great weather all week, then when it comes to track time it disappears. Comfortable when it was sunny, but nippy when overcast. Strong wind, which we used as a tailwind. Speed session. 6 x 60m from blocks. Enjoyable session, and felt I was moving pretty well. Some great starts, and some poor ones. Consistency tends to be an issue when doing this type of session.

Sunday: Track

Started coming down with a sore throat on Saturday, and woke up a few times that night feeling pretty crap. Had decided to skip Sunday at that point, but then woke up feeling not as dreadful as I expected, so decided to go do the session, and then take a few days off after that. Slept really badly the night before, so didn’t feel great. It was very much a judgment call, and I decided I was well enough to do something on the track, albeit probably at a lesser intensity than hoped.

Weather was appalling. Cold, wet, windy, and raining. One of the most unpleasant days I’ve trained in. Session was 2 x (3 x 150), with jog back within sets, and 5 minutes plus walk back between sets. We were to go off pretty hard, but overall they weren’t to be run as quickly as last week due to the shorter recoveries. I timed the first set, but then realizing I was wasting my time doing so, given the weather (and a strong headwind), the nature of the session, and how I was feeling, I opted for three point starts instead for the second set.

Times for first set were:

21.9 – 22.7 – 22.9

Recoveries were: 1:48 – 1:48

The second set I’m sure was faster as I upped the effort levels on these and used three point starts. But overall I wasn’t too tired after so could have pushed harder, but probably best I didn’t given how I was feeling.

Skipped yesterday’s gym session, and have another day off today to shake this cold. Hopefully back running tomorrow. It hasn't been the smoothest week of training, full of interruptions (hamstring on Wednesday, shorter gym session on Thursday, sick on Sunday, skipped gym session yesterday).

Chivito550

A clip from the last rep of our block session last Saturday attached.

NetwerkErrer

Chivito550 wrote: »

A clip from the last rep of our block session last Saturday attached.

Where?!

Chivito550

NetwerkErrer wrote: »

Where?!

Arrghhh I tried to upload a video. It failed. Didn't realise it still posted the fecking message.

Chivito550

Some good stuff to update on:

Wednesday: Grass

We used a GAA pitch, measured at 120m, beside Irishtown. The session was 3 x (240-120-240) with 5 minute recoveries between sets, and 120m jog recoveries within sets. For the 240m reps we had to turn around at half way, which proved to be very difficult and I ended up having to run quite a wide line. Perhaps slowing down would be a better option. For the 120m reps we were always running into the headwind, which slowed the times down. Times were:

42.3 - 22.2 - 47.4
45.1 - 22.7 - 47.6
46.4 - 23.2 - 49.0

Jog recoveries:

1:08 - 1:02
1:09 - 1:04
1:00 - 0:58

Recoveries:

5:00
5:00

Total time: 22:11

Bright sunny weather but fairly cool and breezy. Very tough session, particularly towards the end. The turning around aspect made the 240s all the tougher.

Thursday: Gym

After taking Monday off to shake the cold, this was my first session on the new programme:

A1: BB Front Squats: 3 x 4 @ 50kg, 55kg, 60kg
A2: Snatch Grip Pulls (Hip Extension): 3 x 4 @ 20kg
B: Split Squats (No step) 2 x 6 on each leg @ 12kg, 14kg in each hand
C1: BB Bench Press: 3 x 4 @ 50kg, 55kg, 60kg
C2: Chin-ups: 3 x 4 @ 5kg
D1: Single leg Floor Hip Thrusts (w/ 2 sec pause): 3 x 6 on each leg
D2: Heel Raises: 3 x 8 on each leg @ 16kg

This is the first time I have done a BB Bench Press since last summer. It will be interesting to see how I progress with it after doing the DB Bench Press all winter to build up strength.

Saturday: Track

Glorious sunshine for one of the most enjoyable sessions there is. 6 x 60m from blocks. It was a very technical session. We could only get hold of one set of blocks and there were 5 of us, so we had to go one by one. It meant longer than normal recoveries, and the session stretched on very long. But it also meant more attention to each of us individually with regards technique. One of the guys from Spain who trained with us last summer has started coming back now. He ran 21.7 a few years back. A serious athlete, and having him there providing us with little tidbits of info was invaluable. We only ran 40m for the last rep because we were getting tired at that point.

Sunday: Track

A really rough session this morning. Weather was overcast, but never a threat of rain, with the sun only slightly breaking out at that point. The session was a Split 400 session, something which really gives you the fear.

3 x (300 - 1 min - 100) with 5 minute recoveries. This is a session that Clyde Hart had Michael Johnson doing in the leadup to breaking the World Record (43.18) at the World Championships in Seville in 1999. Here's some info:

http://speedendurance.com/2011/01/25/clyde-hart-split-400-meter-workout/

The idea was to train the body to get used to running the last 100m fast with such lactic build up. This article says he ran the 300s in 37 or 38 (around 85%), which sounds slow for a 43 second runner, but there are 3 of them, with short 5 minute recoveries, and he'd run the last 100 then after in 11.2 - 11.3 seconds.

So take 37 seconds flat as his 300 time: (37.00/43.18) x 53.99 (my target time) = 46.2 seconds.

Taking 11.2 as his 100 time: (11.2/43.18) x 53.99 (my target time) = 14.0 seconds.

So the hope was to run the 300s in around 45 or so, and then run as fast as possible for the 100. I timed the 300s, but didn't time the 100s, starting from a three point start.

Times for the 300s were:

45.0* - 45.1 - 47.1

*For the first rep the watch wouldn't start for me. I got it started after a couple of seconds or so, but lost out on a bit of acceleration at that start trying to get the time started. I timed myself at 43.6, and I probably didn't start timing until 2 to 2.5 seconds after I started running, but I also wasn't running those first couple of seconds properly, so I reckon 1.5 seconds added on would be a reasonable estimate. Based on experience of the first 300 always feeling easier, and having my 1st and 2nd times usually close together, I think 45 flat is a very good estimate.

The first 300 felt good. Stayed nice and relaxed. Slightly tired after but recovered nicely, and got some good speed on the 100. The second 300 I ran well, again stayed relaxed, but the effort levels were significantly up and I was knackered after it. Still managed a good 100 after it though, despite the legs filling up more and more with lactic. For the last 300 I felt awful. Legs started feeling heavy with 150 to go. I was absolutely jaded, and the time was 2 seconds down on the first 2 reps. The last 100 was a real struggle, and it was hard to get the speed up with the legs feeling like lead. Average of the 300s was 45.7. Would have been nice to have known how fast I ran the 100s. I'm sure the first 2 wouldn't have been far off the 14 flat range. The third one much slower. Was in a heap after. It feels awful, but it's a great session. No race will ever be remotely as tough as that, so it is really good training.

Chivito550

Was hoping to run the 200 at the graded meet in Santry this evening. Unfortunately on one of my last strides before the race my right calf spasmed, so opted to pull out. These evening races having been up for over 12 hours and working all day simply do not suit me. 8pm is too late for me when I've been up since 7:30am.

It's disappointing but I'm not going to dwell on it. This is clearly down to being fatigued from a day in work. I'm not going to waste any more time with these graded meets. They don't seem to suit me. I'll take a day off work for any graded I wish to run that has a 400. Otherwise I will stick to weekend races. All my track work is in the mornings so the body is not prepared for sprinting in the evening.

I did a 15-20 min fartlek session in the park beside the track after (didn't bring a watch) and the calf was fine. So at least I salvaged something from the evening. I'll cut my losses with the gradeds now and just train on Wednesday evenings, unless I take a day off work.

Onwards and upwards to training this weekend and then IMC in Greystones for a 400m Sat week.

Chivito550

A small bit down in the aftermath of yesterday’s evenings failed attempt to race the 200m, so to cheer myself up I’m looking ahead to all the weekend opportunities there are to race 400m this summer:

May 2/3 – IMC Greystones (Sat May 2)
May 9/10 – AWAY
May 16/17 – AAI Games – Santry (Sun May 17)
May 23/24 – AWAY
May 30/31 – Leinster Championships – Tullamore (Sun May 31)
June 6/7 – IMC Tullamore (Sat June 6), Ulster/NI Championships – Belfast (Sat June 6)
June 13/14 – IMC Leixlip (Sat June 13), Connacht Championships (Sat June 13)
June 20/21 – Cork Championships (Sun June 21)
June 27/28 – Munster Championships – Templemore (Sun June 28), Galway Championships (Sun June 28)
July 4/5 – Nothing scheduled
July 11/12 – IMC GV Ryan – Dublin TBC (Sat July 11)
July 18/19 – National League Round 2 – Santry/ Athlone – As guest (Sun July 19)
July 25/26 – Nothing scheduled
August 1/2 – Nothing scheduled
August 8/9 – National Championships – Santry (Sat August 8)

Possible Graded Meet 400m if I take a day off work:

May 20 – Meet 3 (Santry)
July 1 – Meet 6 (Tallaght)
July 15 – Meet 7 (Santry)

The first of these is actually on my 30th birthday. I don’t think I want to spend my birthday filled with adrenaline thinking about a race that evening. But Meets 6 and 7 are genuine possibilities too.

Also, there’s a 3 week gap between races leading into Nationals, so I may look into finding a race in the UK closer to the time.

There's 2 weekends in May that I am away, so I haven't included races which are on those weekends, such as the IMC in Belfast.

Lots of racing opportunities.

Oiriallach

Looks like there's a senior 400m in the YDL meet at the Mary Peters Track on Saturday, 25th July. Scheduled for 1.35pm. See the Athletics NI website for more info - click on Fixtures, then on Track & Field in the box on the left hand side.

Chivito550

Oiriallach wrote: »

Looks like there's a senior 400m in the YDL meet at the Mary Peters Track on Saturday, 25th July. Scheduled for 1.35pm. See the Athletics NI website for more info - click on Fixtures, then on Track & Field in the box on the left hand side.

Thanks for that. Is that an elite meet or an open meet?

Oiriallach

As far as seniors are concerned, it's just an open meet. I've never been at any of them but, from any results I saw on the internet last year, I'd say it would be pretty low-key and that the standard wouldn't be too high overall.

The competition is primarily an Ulster inter-club league for the U13, U15 and U17 age groups, but it looks like they include a few senior open events in each meet. If you felt you wanted a race at that time, it should be worth the trip. Otherwise probably not worth bothering about.

Chivito550

Oiriallach wrote: »

As far as seniors are concerned, it's just an open meet. I've never been at any of them but, from any results I saw on the internet last year, I'd say it would be pretty low-key and that the standard wouldn't be too high overall.

The competition is primarily an Ulster inter-club league for the U13, U15 and U17 age groups, but it looks like they include a few senior open events in each meet. If you felt you wanted a race at that time, it should be worth the trip. Otherwise probably not worth bothering about.

Definitely something to keep in mind. Where did you find the schedule for that meet and race time? I can't find it anywhere on the site.

Oiriallach

Can't post the link here (as I'm a new user, or so it says). Go to the Athletics NI website, click on Fixtures, then Track and Field (in the box on the left), then on "More Info" on the 3rd one down (Northern Ireland Youth Development League), then on "click here" on the 3rd meet (25th July). I notice now it also has a 200m at 11.45am, but don't know if you like to run two races in the one day.

Chivito550

Monday: Gym

First day of my Monday routine on the new programme. Very squat dominated. Started off slightly conservatively. Will move them up by 5kg next week and then probably 2.5kg each week thereafter.

A: BB Back Squats (w/ very low depth): 7, 5, 3, 7, 5, 3 @ 50kg, 55kg, 60kg, 55kg, 60kg, 65kg
B: Snatch Position exercise: 2 x 6 w/ lightest bar (possibly increase weight from next week)
C1: BB Romanian Deadlift: 2 x 6 @ 35kg, 37.5kg
C2: DB Walking Lunges: 2 x 6 on each leg @ 12kg in each hand
D1: Bench Hip Thrusts (w/ pause): 3 x 6 on each leg
D2: Dynamic Clam (w/ pause) 3 x 6 on each side

Wednesday: Track and Grass

Documented in detail in above posts. Sprint warm up on the track including strides in flats and spikes, followed by a 15-20 minute fartlek run on grass. A mixture of speed and endurance is the best way to think about yesterday.

Thursday: Gym

A1: BB Front Squats (w/ very low depth): 3 x 4 @ 57.5kg, 60kg, 62.5kg
A2: Snatch Grip Pulls (Hip Extension): 3 x 4 @ 20kg, 25kg, 27.5kg
B: Split Squats (No step) 2 x 6 on each leg @ 14kg in each hand
C1: BB Bench Press: 3 x 4 @ 55kg, 60kg, 65kg
C2: Chin-ups: 3 x 4 @ 6.25kg, 6.25kg, 7.5kg
D1: Single leg Floor Hip Thrusts (w/ 2 sec pause): 3 x 6 on each leg
D2: Heel Raises: 3 x 8 on each leg @ 17.5kg

Chivito550

Some eventful stuff to update on:

Saturday: Track

The plan was to do short distance time trials using the timing gates. However 1) the weather was absolute muck. Cold, wet and pissing rain. And 2) when we arrived at Santry we discovered that the Wheelchair association had the whole place booked. I don't recall seeing this mentioned on the Morton Stadium website. Fortunately ALSAA is only down the road so we popped down there. It really is a dreadfully maintained track. Definitely the worst synthetic track I have ever set foot on, full of cracks and holes, and bits of grass or moss growing on it in places. I don't recall UCD being as bad. However, beggars can't be choosers, and a poor track is better than no track.

We did 100-80-60 5 mins 60-80-100. It was probably 5-10m short of 100, 80 and 60, as we were using the backstraight and the markings were put at rough estimates. Despite the crap weather, and the inconveniences, I actually felt good during this session, and felt I was moving well.

Sunday: Track

Beautiful morning at the Tallaght track. It was nippy at around 7 degrees, but there wasn't too much wind, just a light breeze, and there as glorious sunshine, which compensated for the cold temperatures.

Session was longer time trials. 3 x 300m with around 9-10 mins recovery between each. We each went on our own as we had only one set of timing gates. We used lane 7 for this, and I wore the sprint spikes. We started from a three point start. You push your hand down on a button at the start, and when you release it sets off the timer. There were timing gates set up at the 150m half way mark, and again at the finish line. The idea was to run each one flat out, so I expected the times to drop off terribly as a result, and could anticipate that this was going to be a painful half hour or so.

Rep 1: 20.41 + 20.74 = 41.15
Rep 2: 21.95 + 21.91 = 43.86
Rep 3: ??.?? + 23.05 = 46.0 approx

Rep 1 was an all our effort, completely fresh. There was a bit of a breeze into my face over the first half of the bend, but was grand besides that. I tried to run this like I would a 300m race (not that I have much experience with 300m races), so flat out for the first 50-60, then cruise for 40-50 and then go all out until the end. I'm happy with this time. I'd have liked to have been under 41, but this is one of my fastest ever 300m times. I ran 40.47 in an indoor race in December, but in terms of training I can only recall going faster once, running a 40.3 in Melbourne, but I'm not sure how accurate that was, as it was hand held, and the coach started the watch from 100m away from me.

Felt pretty tired after this, but the recovery was longer than the 7 minutes originally planned, and was close to 10 minutes, as the coach opted for more recovery so we could make the reps hard. The second rep I pushed hard, but I lacked that explosiveness I had in the first, and my legs started to fill with lactic towards the end. I was beyond shattered afterwards, and for about 5-6 minutes my legs were full of lactic, before thankfully it eased in time for my last rep.

I didn't feel good heading into the last rep and the stomach was feeling a small bit dodgey. I had no energy to start off quick, and felt laboured in the first 100m. One of the girls shouted out at me at the half way mark which gave me a boost, and I gave everything down the home straight, but the legs weren't responding very well. The timing didn't start for me for some reason, so I only got a split for the second 150m, but based on the first 2 reps, the splits were pretty even, so a very low 46 would be a good estimate.

So to summarise: 41.15 - 43.88 - 46 low. The type of drop off I was expecting given these were at 100% effort.

I felt dreadful for about 15 minutes after. Money in the bank though as they say.

Monday: Gym

A: BB Back Squats (w/ very low depth): 7, 5, 3, 7, 5, 3 @ 55kg, 60kg, 65kg, 60kg, 65kg, 70kg
B: Snatch Position exercise: 2 x 6 w/ 15kg bar
C1: BB Romanian Deadlift: 2 x 6 @ 35kg, 37.5kg
C2: DB Walking Lunges: 2 x 6 on each leg @ 14kg in each hand
D1: Bench Hip Thrusts (w/ pause): 3 x 6 on each leg
D2: Dynamic Clam (w/ pause) 3 x 6 on each side

The Back Squats set is a tough one. 30 squats averaging 61kg over the course of about 20 minutes or so.

Oregano_State

Good training. You're getting stronger and faster I think. I like the look of gym sessions you've been doing lately.

Chivito550

Oregano_State wrote: »

Good training. You're getting stronger and faster I think. I like the look of gym sessions you've been doing lately.

Thanks. I'm pretty pleased with the 300m time trial. I've never done one before with timing gates so hard to compare. I ran 41.6 hand timed (probably 42.0 FAT, albeit in flats), just a week before I ran 56.28 which was a massive PB at the time. I ran 40.3 in flats also, hand timed, but I'd be skeptical of the timing, as the coach was 100m away from where I started (ran 2 bends), so no way it was accurate, although again I was in flats. I was consistently running 55.3 to 55.5 at that time. Both those times were done in hot Australian summer weather too.

Only other frame of reference really is a 40.47 for an indoor 300m race, the only proper 300m race I've ever done. I'm sure I'd be sub 40 outdoors in a race with the adrenaline and block starts.

Chivito550

Wednesday: Grass

Same session as below. Similar conditions. Sunny but cool and windy. The wind on this occasion was more of a cross wind though.

Chivito550 wrote: »

Wednesday: Grass

We used a GAA pitch, measured at 120m, beside Irishtown. The session was 3 x (240-120-240) with 5 minute recoveries between sets, and 120m jog recoveries within sets. For the 240m reps we had to turn around at half way, which proved to be very difficult and I ended up having to run quite a wide line. Perhaps slowing down would be a better option. For the 120m reps we were always running into the headwind, which slowed the times down. Times were:

42.3 - 22.2 - 47.4
45.1 - 22.7 - 47.6
46.4 - 23.2 - 49.0

Jog recoveries:

1:08 - 1:02
1:09 - 1:04
1:00 - 0:58

Recoveries:

5:00
5:00

Total time: 22:11

Bright sunny weather but fairly cool and breezy. Very tough session, particularly towards the end. The turning around aspect made the 240s all the tougher.

Times were:

44.7 - 21.6 - 46.5
44.1 - 20.6 - 45.6
45.0 - 21.9 - 48.0

Jog Recoveries:

1:00 - 0:57
1:04 - 1:04
1:10 - 1:00

Recoveries:

5:00
5:00

Total Times: 21:57

A noticeable improvement on last time. Quicker averages for both the 240s and the 120s, and I managed the turnarounds on the 240s better this time, deliberately slowing a bit in the last 5m so I could turn quickly and accelerate again. I also paced the session a lot better. Despite this I still struggled badly on the very last rep. This is a very tough session.

Thursday: Gym

I did a shorter gym session this evening because I'm running a race on Saturday, opting to do one less set on each of the leg exercises.

A1: BB Front Squats (w/ very low depth): 2 x 4 @ 60kg, 62.5kg
A2: Snatch Grip Pulls (Hip Extension): 2 x 4 @ 27.5kg, 30kg
B: Split Squats (No step) 1 x 6 on each leg @ 14kg in each hand
C1: BB Bench Press: 4, 4, 3 @ 60kg, 65kg, 67.5kg
C2: Chin-ups: 3 x 4 @ 7.5kg
D1: Single leg Floor Hip Thrusts (w/ 2 sec pause): 2 x 6 on each leg
D2: Heel Raises: 1 x 8, 1 x 6 on each leg @ 17.5kg

For the bench press I was hoping to attempt 70kg on the last set, but I didn't hit the 65kg as comfortably as hoped, so didn't feel confident enough to try it, so instead opted for 67.5kg. I only managed 3 reps on this. The chin-ups are part of the same superset as the bench press with just 2 minutes in between each, so you'd feel tired by the end, when attempting the heaviest weight.

Running the 400m on Saturday at the IMC meet in Greystones, my first race of the season. The weather forecast looks dreadful, and I've been given lane 1, as it seems like they have seeded the lanes based on times, and I'm the slowest of the 6 of us (6 lane track). Though after indoors, lane 1 outdoors won't feel that tight. Not expecting fireworks given the likely weather conditions (cold, strong winds, heavy rain), but it will be a good opportunity to get the race rustiness out of the way, in a high quality field at a great meet.

Chivito550

57.71 at the IMC in Greystones in absolutely deplorable conditions. Cold, persistent heavy rain, soaking track with puddles, and quite breezy aswell. Was in lane 1 and as a result was quite alienated from the rest of the field. I don't think I ran that great also, and found it hard to get up for it when getting completely soaked. Definitely not a reflection of the shape I am in. The only real positive is that I've got the first race out of the way now, as first races are usually rusty. Hopefully summer arrives soon. Experiences like today would make you miss the 25 degree dry conditions is consistently be getting in Melbourne. Only the deluge for the 400 at last year's Irish decathlon can rival today's conditions in my experience.

Onwards and upwards.

Chivito550

Chivito550 wrote: »

Sunday: Track

A really rough session this morning. Weather was overcast, but never a threat of rain, with the sun only slightly breaking out at that point. The session was a Split 400 session, something which really gives you the fear.

3 x (300 - 1 min - 100) with 5 minute recoveries. This is a session that Clyde Hart had Michael Johnson doing in the leadup to breaking the World Record (43.18) at the World Championships in Seville in 1999. Here's some info:

http://speedendurance.com/2011/01/25/clyde-hart-split-400-meter-workout/

The idea was to train the body to get used to running the last 100m fast with such lactic build up. This article says he ran the 300s in 37 or 38 (around 85%), which sounds slow for a 43 second runner, but there are 3 of them, with short 5 minute recoveries, and he'd run the last 100 then after in 11.2 - 11.3 seconds.

So take 37 seconds flat as his 300 time: (37.00/43.18) x 53.99 (my target time) = 46.2 seconds.

Taking 11.2 as his 100 time: (11.2/43.18) x 53.99 (my target time) = 14.0 seconds.

So the hope was to run the 300s in around 45 or so, and then run as fast as possible for the 100. I timed the 300s, but didn't time the 100s, starting from a three point start.

Times for the 300s were:

45.0* - 45.1 - 47.1

*For the first rep the watch wouldn't start for me. I got it started after a couple of seconds or so, but lost out on a bit of acceleration at that start trying to get the time started. I timed myself at 43.6, and I probably didn't start timing until 2 to 2.5 seconds after I started running, but I also wasn't running those first couple of seconds properly, so I reckon 1.5 seconds added on would be a reasonable estimate. Based on experience of the first 300 always feeling easier, and having my 1st and 2nd times usually close together, I think 45 flat is a very good estimate.

The first 300 felt good. Stayed nice and relaxed. Slightly tired after but recovered nicely, and got some good speed on the 100. The second 300 I ran well, again stayed relaxed, but the effort levels were significantly up and I was knackered after it. Still managed a good 100 after it though, despite the legs filling up more and more with lactic. For the last 300 I felt awful. Legs started feeling heavy with 150 to go. I was absolutely jaded, and the time was 2 seconds down on the first 2 reps. The last 100 was a real struggle, and it was hard to get the speed up with the legs feeling like lead. Average of the 300s was 45.7. Would have been nice to have known how fast I ran the 100s. I'm sure the first 2 wouldn't have been far off the 14 flat range. The third one much slower. Was in a heap after. It feels awful, but it's a great session. No race will ever be remotely as tough as that, so it is really good training.

Sunday: Track

I'll do up a report of yesterday's wash out at Greystones tomorrow hopefully, but first an update on this morning session. Because of the road race out in Tallaght finishing on the track, it meant it was unavailable to us, so we got access to Greystones instead. The weather was the complete opposite of yesterday. It was ideal sprinting conditions, with the exception of the track still being very damp after yesterday's rain. But it was warm, humid and no breeze. There was steam rising from the track, as all yesterday's moisture was getting burned away.

The session was the same split 400 one as quoted above, from 2 weeks ago, except for a shorter recovery within sets. So it was 3 x (300 - 45 secs - 100) with 5 mins recovery between sets. One of my training partners didn't make it this morning, and 2 of the girls were doing high jump practice, so opted for a slightly easier session after, so I unfortunately ended up doing the session on my own, which is never the easiest. I timed the 300s like last time, but on this occasion I opted to time the 100s aswell, having a slight rolling start, rather than three-point starts, so I could start the watch. I probably won't bother timing the 100s in future as its hard to get them that accurate over such a short distance, and I'm probably better off doing three-point starts for them, but I wanted to get an idea of how fast I was running them, so soon after the 300s. My times were:

45.2 - 14.2 = 59.4
45.0 - 14.6 = 59.6
45.6 - 14.6 = 60.2

Very happy with the consistency of these times. This is a really tough session, with very short recoveries, particularly on your own. 2 weeks ago, my last rep was 2 seconds slower than my first 2. On this occasion it was just half a second down. I was in absolute agony after the last 300, groaning very audibly, so much so that the middle distance coach in the club had a good chuckle at my discomfort. My legs filled badly with lactic for the last 100m of that 300m, and I tied up very badly. The 100m after that was a real "just get to end" type of thing, with form going out the window.

What a pity we didn't get these conditions for yesterday's race, and I could have managed a strong time. Hopefully I'll get reward for the hard work sooner rather than later.

Chivito550

After a long winter, incorporating a good debut indoor season, the time has come to start racing outdoors again. Greystones would provide the setting for my first outdoor 400m race in almost 9 months.

The weather forecast looked grim all week, but I had mentally committed to doing this race, and getting that first race of the season, and its inevitable rustiness, over and done with. However, I didn't anticipate it being quite this bad, and as I began my LUAS and DART journey out, enthusiasm was already lower than it should have been. It was the type of day where you wanted to sit in the living room, watching some sport, and drinking a few alcoholic beverages.

Obviously the bus strikes caused a bit of chaos, and when I arrived at Greystones DART station, without a bus available, and no taxis anywhere to be seen, I was faced with a 3km walk in the pissing rain. Fortunately one lad overheard me calling a taxi company and offered to drop me down.

Conditions were as bad as you could hope for. The track was full of puddles, the rain was heavy and relentless, it was cold, and while not as strong as feared, there was still a breeze, and a nippy one at that. I ended up staying in the changing rooms longer than I should have, delaying my warm up, so I could spend as little time outside as possible. I went for my warm up jog with 7 layers on, then back to the changing rooms to do my stretches. I was behind schedule with my warm up, but fortunately they were running a bit late with the programme so I ended up having plenty of time.

I brought a complete change of clothes, resigned to the fact that everything I was wearing was going to get saturated. I went through my warm up, gradually taking a layer off as it went on. But I didn't think to bring a big back bag to put my clothes in, so I just dumped my stuff on the track and they inevitably got buried in rain water.

For the race itself, for the first time ever, I wore running tights and a t-shirt underneath my singlet. Never before in a race have I ever worn either of these. But it was so cold. 8 degrees, by far the coldest temperatures I have done a sprint race in, and with a real feel of much much lower.

400m:

Despite trying my best to warm up, it did not work. I was fairly cold as I got into my starting blocks. It's a 6 lane track, and with myself being the slowest of the entries by a considerable margin I got landed with lane 1. One of the 6 didn't show up, so lane 3 was left empty.

Gun went off, and I tried to drive as hard as possible. After about 40m I hear one of my training partners shout out to me. I dont know whether it was the tightness of the lane, or the conditions, but I got completely forced out towards lane 2, and I'm pretty certain my right foot was inside that lane for a fair bit of that bend. This first bend went on for what felt an age, and by the time I finally hit the back straight, many of the others looked like they were half way down the straight, and off into the sun set. I was now completely alienated from the field and was pretty much running on my own. I cruised the backstraight before kicking at 200m to go. But I wasn't getting as much of a spring off the track as I would have hoped, and it felt like very hard work. With about 100m to go, my right calf spasmed very very slightly. It was sort of like a quarter spasm, and that was it, it didn't come back. It affected my concentration momentarily, but I was fine after that. I reckon it happened due to the fact I was not completely warmed up for this race (despite my efforts to do so), due to the conditions. I was about 25m down on the second last guy, and I knew it wasn't going to be a quick time, and it didn't feel like a great run. But when I saw the winning time of 51.7, then I knew I was in for a truly awful time, as I would have expected a much faster winning time than that.

Commentator announced the results very soon after, and indeed my time was painfully slow at 57.71 seconds, which outside of my 400m at the Irish Decathlon last August, in equally appalling conditions, is my slowest 400m time since March 2013 when I ran a race at the end of the season with a horrible chest infection. This was not a day to run fast times. I was 2.83 seconds slower than my PB. I can't attribute all that to the weather, but certainly a sizeable chunk. I know I am in good shape, so 57.7 is absolutely no reflection of where I am at. 'm pretty sure I'd have been close to 2 seconds faster in fairer conditions. One other lad in the race was about the same down on what he ran at Nationals last year. Though funny enough the top 2 guys ran PBs, or very close. But they are 18 year olds who are improving at an alarming rate, so that really means nothing either. Times across all events were way down, so I think it's best to just scratch this race from memory, move on, and hopefully get a proper idea of what shape I am in at the next race.

I wouldn't call it a complete waste of time, as I did get to blow the cobwebs off, and get that rusty first race of the season over with, but for the most part it was a very frustrating day out. When you are already thinking about the nice warm shower after the race, before you have even warmed up, then it is clear it will not be a good day at the office.

Chivito550

Monday: Gym

A: BB Back Squats (w/ very low depth): 7, 5, 3, 7, 5, 3 @ 57.5kg, 62.5kg, 67.5kg, 62.5kg, 67.5kg, 72.5kg
B: Snatch Position exercise: 2 x 6 w/ 15kg, 17.5kg
C1: BB Romanian Deadlift: 2 x 6 @ 37.5kg, 40kg
C2: DB Walking Lunges: 2 x 6 on each leg @ 16kg in each hand
D1: Bench Hip Thrusts (w/ pause): 3 x 6 on each leg
D2: Dynamic Clam (w/ pause) 3 x 6 on each side

Squats were tough going, and technique got a bit sloppy on the last set at 72.5kg, due to fatigue. Found the walking lunges tough after as a result.

Wednesday: Grass

Back out to the GAA pitch beside Irishtown. Session was the 500-400-300-200 session, which would usually be done on the track. But without its availability we did it on grass, so it worked out to be about 520-400-360-240 with 5 mins, 4 mins and about 3 mins recovery between each. The 520 was a full lap of the pitch, plus another 120m length. The 400 was a full lap of the pitch. The 360 was 3 lengths of the pitch, including 2 turnarounds, and the 240 was 2 lengths with 1 turnaround. The 240 wasn't originally planned, but was thrown on at the end as a little surprise. Times were:

99.9 - 72.5 - 74.8 - 44.2

There's no point comparing these times to what would be done on a track. Running with runners on grass will slow you down significantly, and turning the sharp corners is a lot harder and slows you down much more than running a bend on a track, and of course, the turnarounds on the last 2 reps are a killer.

The lactic in the last 100 of both the 520 and 400 were a real struggle. Legs felt lacking in energy for the 360, but I somehow mustered up enough energy for the comparatively short 240 at the end. Tough session. Would be nice to do it on a track though, but looking at Irishtown this evening, it doesn't seem to look any different than it did last week.

Chivito550

I went down to South Kerry on Saturday morning, and have only arrived back this evening. As a result I had to rejig my training slightly. I had a day off work on Friday so I used that day for a track session by myself, too Saturday off, did a hill session down in Kerry on Sunday (no track remotely near where I was), then Gym in a local GAA club down there. So training wasn't disrupted too much.

Thursday: Gym

I did a shorter gym session because of the fact I was doing a session the next day.

A1: BB Front Squats (w/ very low depth): 2 x 4 @ 60kg, 62.5kg
A2: Snatch Grip Pulls (Hip Extension): 2 x 4 @ 32.5kg, 35kg
B: Split Squats (No step) 1 x 6 on each leg @ 14kg in each hand
C1: BB Bench Press: 3 x 4 @ 62.5kg, 65kg, 67.5kg
C2: Chin-ups: 3 x 4 @ 8.75kg
D1: Single leg Floor Hip Thrusts (w/ 2 sec pause): 3 x 6 on each leg
D2: Heel Raises: 2 x 8 on each leg @ 17.5kg

Friday: Track

What a real pity that, only 6 days after the dreadful weather in Greystones, I was landed with an almost carbon copy for this session. It wasn't quite as bad, but not far off. Extremely cold, windy, and pissing rain. To make matters worse, Santry was being used for a schools meet, which meant I had to use ALSAA, surely one of the worst tracks in Ireland (which incredibly costs more to use than Santry - 10 euro v 8 euro), which meant I couldn't warm up inside, so instead of only having to deal with 15-20 minutes outside exposed to the miserable elements, it was more like 45-50 minutes. A female sprinter from Clonliffe was out there too (good to know I'm not the only one insane enough to attempt a track session in such conditions), and we regularly exchanged frustrations about the weather and the state of the track.

Session was 6 x 150m with walk back break. I wore 4 layers to try keep my upper body warm, but my hands were absolutely freezing. It was very hard to warm up. Despite this I felt I ran these pretty well. Perhaps 5-10% less intense over the first 50m than usual due to the weather, but I ran with the wind, so felt I was moving well down the straight. Recoveries were approximately 2:30 to 2:45, with a 4 minute recovery at half way. I made the recoveries quicker than planned as I wanted the session done, so I could get back inside.

I stupidly didn't bring a complete change of clothes, so had to deal with the long bus journey home wearing damp clothes. Misery. A character building session.

Sunday: Hills

Saturday was spent with a pretty bad hangover after celebrating my 30th the night before, and with the long trip down to Kerry that day, it would be an ideal rest day, rather than the usual Friday rest day.

Sunday the weather was fairly dreadful for much of the morning and early afternoon. Rain and strong winds. I held off doing my session for awhile until there was improvement, but at about 3:30 I just bit the bullet and went out. I actually got lucky. The rain had just stopped, the wind died down, and while still gusty, was not as frequent as earlier, and the temperature was a humid 13 degrees, so it was comfortable weather for my hill session.

I used a narrow paved country road near my house which is a very tough hill. It rises the whole way, but gets quite steep in the last 50m, just when you are tiring, so the legs fill with lactic badly. Session was 6 x 200m with a walk back recovery: Times were:

33.0 - 35.1 - 35.7 - 36.1 - 36.4 - 36.6

Recoveries: 3:10 - 3:13 - 3:34 - 3:29 - 3:35

This was a very tough session. I went out way too fast in the first rep, and I got slower each rep as a result. But I hung on well. The hill was probably about 5-10m longer than 200, as I think I measured it out long. The steepness of the hill has given me some DOMS in my glutes, something which I recall happening when I was down last June too.

Monday: Gym

I got access to the Waterville GAA gym which was very handy. It was a well equipped gym which had everything I needed. The only awkward things were: 1) There was no mirror in front of the squat rack, and 2) all the barbell weights were measured in lbs rather than kg. For these reasons, I dropped the weight slightly for my BB squats, by an average of 1.5 to 2kg per squat.

A: BB Back Squats (w/ very low depth): 7, 5, 3, 7, 5, 3 @ 56.36kg, 60.91kg, 65.45kg, 60.91kg, 65.45kg, 70kg
B: Snatch Position exercise: 2 x 6 w/ 20kg
C1: BB Romanian Deadlift: 2 x 6 @ 38.18kg, 40.45kg
C2: DB Walking Lunges: 2 x 6 on each leg @ 15kg in each hand
D1: Bench Hip Thrusts (w/ pause): 3 x 6 on each leg
D2: Dynamic Clam (w/ pause) 3 x 6 on each side

Tuesday: Not a session, but may aswell log it here. Went for a 45 minute cycle this morning around the country roads. I'm a crap cyclist, and Tuesday is supposed to be a day off, but I always love going for a cycle when down in Kerry, so I went for a fairly easy one, stopping a few times, and also with there being a bit of free-wheeling in there too. Heading back to the house was tough as the wind was in my face, so even the downhills required pedaling.

martyboy48

Belated happy birthday young man

While I don't fully understand all the specific training you do, I'm impressed with quality and consistency of it. You seem to put the work in , week in, week out

Chivito550

martyboy48 wrote: »

Belated happy birthday young man

While I don't fully understand all the specific training you do, I'm impressed with quality and consistency of it. You seem to put the work in , week in, week out

Thanks, though I'm still hanging onto my 20s. Birthday is not until next week, but with racing, exams and other commitments this month, I had to celebrate it a bit early. Sunday at AAI Games will be my last race of my 20s.

Hopefully I can get some good sprinting conditions so I can find out exactly what shape I am in now, compared to when I set my PB at Nationals last July, but I won't be holding my breath for 18 degrees with no wind.

dna_leri

Sure you're almost a master

Chivito550

Wednesday: Grass

Chivito550 wrote: »

Wednesday: Grass

Back out to the GAA pitch beside Irishtown. Session was the 500-400-300-200 session, which would usually be done on the track. But without its availability we did it on grass, so it worked out to be about 520-400-360-240 with 5 mins, 4 mins and about 3 mins recovery between each. The 520 was a full lap of the pitch, plus another 120m length. The 400 was a full lap of the pitch. The 360 was 3 lengths of the pitch, including 2 turnarounds, and the 240 was 2 lengths with 1 turnaround. The 240 wasn't originally planned, but was thrown on at the end as a little surprise. Times were:

99.9 - 72.5 - 74.8 - 44.2

There's no point comparing these times to what would be done on a track. Running with runners on grass will slow you down significantly, and turning the sharp corners is a lot harder and slows you down much more than running a bend on a track, and of course, the turnarounds on the last 2 reps are a killer.

The lactic in the last 100 of both the 520 and 400 were a real struggle. Legs felt lacking in energy for the 360, but I somehow mustered up enough energy for the comparatively short 240 at the end. Tough session. Would be nice to do it on a track though, but looking at Irishtown this evening, it doesn't seem to look any different than it did last week.

Same session as above, except due to a football match taking place on the pitch, we had to do our last 2 reps (the up-and-downs) at a different point. The length of this stretch was 110m rather than 120m, so overall our session worked out at 520-400-330-220, with 5 mins, 4 mins and 3 mins recovery. Nice sunny weather for this, albeit cool, at about 12 degrees. Times were:

95.8 - 70.5 - 61.2 - 37.2

A 4.1 second improvement for the 520, and a 2 second improvement for the 400, although I think we cut off a metre or two at each corner this week (we may have run too much last week, rather than running too little this time), but the difference wouldn't equal the improvements. Can't really compare the last 2 reps as they weren't the same distance, but they felt better than last week.

Thursday: Gym & Massage

Racing this weekend so another shorter session. Massage after.

A1: BB Front Squats (w/ very low depth): 2 x 4 @ 60kg, 62.5kg
A2: Snatch Grip Pulls (Hip Extension): 2 x 4 @ 35kg, 37.5kg
B: Split Squats (No step) 1 x 6 on each leg @ 15kg in each hand
C1: BB Bench Press: 4, 4, 1 @ 65kg, 67.5kg, 70kg
C2: Chin-ups: 3 x 4 @ 10kg
D1: Single leg Floor Hip Thrusts (w/ 2 sec pause): 3 x 6 on each leg
D2: Heel Raises: 2 x 8 on each leg @ 17.5kg

Could only manage the 1 rep on 70kg for the bench press.

Saturday: Track

Santry booked up with the Leinster Schools today so we trained at Greystones instead. It's a nice track and location to train at to be honest, and much less crowded. The wind was pretty strong but temperatures were nice at around 13-14 degrees, with the sun and clouds interchanging regularly. Because I'm racing tomorrow, the session for me was 2 x 200m from blocks, @ first 200m of a 400m race pace, with 7-8 minutes full recovery. No times from this session, but I was happy with how I ran, and in each rep was only 4m, maybe 5m, down on a training partner who beat me by 2.5 seconds in the Leinster 400m indoors in February, the only time we've ever raced.

Enjoyable session, and good preparation for the 400m at AAI Games tomorrow

dna_leri wrote: »

Sure you're almost a master

If I was still in Australia I would actually be a master now. Masters down there starts at 30, which is mad. There'd be a lot of soft medals there for the taking, as I don't think many 30-34 year olds who run, would even consider doing masters.

Chivito550

4th in my heat of the 400m at the AAI Games today in 56.42. Happy with how I ran and it felt much faster, but most people's times were slow due to very windy conditions in the last 100m, and nippy enough temperatures. It was a good competitive race with not that much between 2nd and 5th. Hopefully much faster to come in more sprinter friendly conditions.

Report later, and I've a video also which I'll throw up when I figure out how to do so.

Chivito550

After my first race of the season being a complete wash out, and a slow 57.71 as a result, this would hopefully give me a better idea of what sort of shape I am in. Unfortunately the weather again didn't play ball. While not miserable like Greystones 2 weeks ago, it was nonetheless not good sprinting conditions. It wasn't warm, being no more than 12 degrees. It was overcast, and worst of all the wind was throwing up 4m/s headwind readings for the 100m races. But after the last day, this seemed like the Bahamas in comparison, so I didn't consider beforehand how much my time might be impacted.

I was very nervous before this race. In the days leading up to it, and then on the day itself. Waiting until Sunday is tough mentally. I prefer to race Saturday so the whole weekend is not taken up thinking about it. And then the 400m, like is so often the case, was at the end of the programme, so again a long day waiting around. I've run dozens of 400m races at this stage, but the first race of any season (and this felt like my first real race) is always an extra nervous occasion.

400m:

The 400m was scheduled for 3:45, so my race was expected to be around 3:55, so I started warming up at 3pm. However due to the extra 100m races they put on, the end of the programme ran late, and the 400s were about 30 minutes late kicking off. You expect this kind of thing from the Leinsters but not from National sanctioned competition. No choice but to deal with it as best I could and to stay warm without over exerting myself, a tricky balance.

I was in heat 3, the slowest of the 3 heats. I was drawn in lane 5, and there were 6 of us in the race. In lane 4 was a guy from Menapians who I beat by about 0.75 seconds in my heat at the National Indoors in February, and in lane 7 was a guy from Letterkenny who I had a great battle with in the Indoor AAI Games in February, where I pipped him on the line by 0.05. There was a guy in Donore in lane 8 who I knew from recent results would be near enough to me in standard.

Gun went off and I drove off hard for the first 60m, and then settled. The wind was blowing hard at the start but then I didn't feel it once I rounded the bend as it started to become a tailwind for the next portion of the race. The Menapians guy ate up the stagger on me after 100m, and surged forward. I didn't take much notice of this and kept focused, with Letterkenny in lane 7 proving to be a good rabbit. I wasn't eating up any ground on him, and at half way he's stolen a couple of metres on me. As I past half way I up the effort levels, and with about 160m to go I can start to feel the lactic building. I had committed in the first 200m, which is what you want to be doing, and then trust in all the fitness work to keep you going to the end.

I entered the home straight in a position I wanted to be in. I'm only about 5m down on both Menapians and Letterkenny. I tend to back myself to finish stronger than my competitors around my level when it comes to the closing stages. And I did finish stronger, but not by enough. At this point my legs are completely full with lactic, I''m conciously trying to stay relaxed, but the high knee lift is just not happening. Add to this the fact that we are now running into a very powerful headwind, and it really begins to feel like I am running in slow motion, in a small way, what it is like when you try to run in a dream, pushing hard, but the metres are not flying by as quickly as hoped. Despite this, I am gaining on the 2 ahead of me. The Letterkenny guy was a lot stronger than I thought he'd be, and he held me off by 2-3 metres, but I got right up to the Menapians guy on theh very last stride and we both crossed the line together. I thought he got it, but as it turned out I got him on the dip by 0.02. Overall I finished 4th of 6 in a very competitive race. The winner was well ahead in 51.3, but there was not much between 2nd, who was about 8m ahead of me, and 5th. Even the lad in 6th was well in it at half way, before falling off badly in the last 100.

I felt I ran a great race. I was delighted with my efforts. But I didn''t consider how the wind would impact my time, and based on how I felt I ran, convinced myself I may have run a PB. The Letterkenny guy ran 53.3 last year after all, and regularly would run 54, so to be only 2-3m down on his was a good sign as far as I was concerned.

When I saw the result I was shocked and initially disappointed. A clocking of 56.42 seconds, with the Letterkenny guy in 55.95. I'm at the stage of my running where I do not like seeing 56 seconds on the clock anymore. However, when I thought about it, this was most definitely a good 56. I would have lost at least a second due to the conditions. I'm certain that was a low 55 run, and I'm not all that far off PB shape truth be told. The result was not a fair reflection on the performance. But looking at the results across the board in the 400m, and pretty much every runner in all 3 races was well down on their best. This was not a day to run fast. So I will take the result on its merits and mark it down as a good day at the office. I just have to remain positive that eventually we are going to start getting sprinter friendly weather so I can start challenging that PB.

Next up is the Leinsters in 2 weeks time.

Chivito550

Update on the last few days since Sunday's race:

Monday: Gym

A: BB Back Squats (w/ very low depth): 7, 5, 3, 7, 5, 3 @ 60g, 65kg, 70kg, 62.5kg, 67.5kg, 72.5kg
B: Snatch Position exercise: 2 x 6 w/ 20kg, 22.5kg
C1: BB Romanian Deadlift: 2 x 6 @ 40kg, 42.5kg
C2: DB Walking Lunges: 2 x 6 on each leg @ 16kg in each hand
D1: Bench Hip Thrusts (w/ pause): 3 x 6 on each leg
D2: Dynamic Clam (w/ pause): 3 x 6 on each side
D3: Chin-ups: 3 x 4 @ 11.25kg

Because Thursday I will be going through the next programme with my S&C coach, and therefore it's not a full gym session, I opted to throw on the chin-ups onto this programme to make up for the lack of upper body on Thursday.

The Back Squats were very tough. 30 squats averaging 64.9kg in the space of 20 minutes.

Tuesday: Grass

I'm down the country at a wedding this weekend, so Sunday will be a complete write off, so to make up for losing a session this weekend, I moved my endurance session to Tuesday, and did speed endurance on Wednesday, as I had today off work.

Was supposed to do 500-400-300-200 but the pitch I used in Marlay Park was a soccer pitch which was a bit smaller than the ones I've been using near Irishtown, so it ended up being 450-350-300-200, with the 300 and 200 being up and downs with turnarounds every 100m. This was a hard session to do on my own. Times were:

79.0 - 59.0 - 56.3 - 35.8

Wednesday: Track

Went out to Leixlip today to do a split 400 session on their fantastic new track, although it is very windy. Second time I've been there and both times there's been a very strong headwind in the homestraight. Once I left the track there didn't seem to be any wind anymore. Coincidence perhaps.

Session was 3 x (200 - 45 secs - 200) with 7 mins recovery between sets. I wore the distance spikes for this. First reps on each set were to be run at around 90%, then whatever you have left for the second 200m. Times for the first few sets were:

Set 1 - 28.2 - 30.7
Set 2 - 28.7 - 31.8

The wind on the second reps of each set was extremely tough.

Unfortunately about 120m into the first rep of the final set both my calves spasmed simultaneosly. Frustrating to not finish this session. It wasn't overly warm, at about 11 degrees and was overcast (today has warmed up since), but while wearing shorts, I put on my tracksuit bottoms to stay warm during the 7 minute recoveries. I wasn't dehydrated either. It was probably a case of fatigue from doing a session I have not done before, so the body is adjusting to a different kind of fatigue. Doing two 200s in such a short space of time is tough.

Bit disappointed with the session. Times were a bit slow due to being on my own and because of the weather, and I only got two thirds of the session done, but on the bright side, I got 4 good hard 200s done. It's the first session since March where I have had to stop due to calf spasms, so with the extra track work since then, it is becoming much less frequent that I have to drop out of sessions. Hopefully the next time I do this session, I'll get through it all.