i'm back!

after a long absence i have finally decided to get off my arse and do some thing about updating this blog. still training on the track and i feel a hell of a lot more comforatble about running on the track than i did at the start of the season. one thing has been decided though...this will be my last year of running 800m races unless i get a pb which by the looks of things isn't going to happen as there don't seem to be the races around. there are two race options that are open to me next week. i could do a mile or a 600 (as opposed to a 1500) at cheltenham, or i could make the long jaunt up to watford for the bmc 1500 meter graded races. that sounds more appealing, but i think most of the people who would be likely to do that are on holiday or some other excuse.

the most recent session we did was a 1500 meter session 4x500 then 4x400. i managed to hit 1:30 exactly for all the 500's, thats 72 second pace which translates to 4:30 and the 400's i managed 68 68 69 and 71. the problem i have had with doing sets of 400's at the end of a session is that i have been going reasonably well for the first three of them and then the last on is like i've just run in to a brick wall or something. it is not some thing that i have encountered in my winter training, so this leads me to two conclusions. firstly that this is a problem that is symptomatic of this thime of year and is therefore likely to be realted to hayfever. secondly to my uninitiated mind it is a problem that is specifically affecting my speed endurance but NOT my speed or my endurance. it may need blood tests to get to the route of the problem. i never realised until monday that it may be a medical problem until after mentioning it to several of the guys in conversation after the session that they were a) all having the same problem and b) were all hayfever sufferers (why do so many endurance athletes suffer from hayfever?)

since monday its just been a diet of steady paced 5 or 6 mile runs once a day although i might go out again in the evening tonight. we're doing some 1200 meter time trials tomorrow on the track so mike wants us completely fresh for them. if i don't race atwatford or cheltenham though the next race isn't until the 15th. i am getting very frustrated witgh the lack of track races being advertised....