the track season is a small window of opportunity and it never ceases to amaze me how quickly time comes and goes in any walk of life. it only seems like yesterday that i was walking on to the trak for the first time this year. now there is only one month of the season left and whilst i intend to make the most of it my legs are starting to feel just that little bit jaded. never mind though in a months time i'll be able to put my feet up for a couple of weeks or so and not have to worry about running until the cross country season starts again and the road relays at the end of september. and hopefully a 10k pb and a 5k pb but that will be an on going target for the whole of the winter period. in the intervening period between seasons i will look for a new job someone said today that the railfreight company ews pay good money for shunters down at portbury and avonmouth docks so i may have a gander at that.
down the track tonight and we're getting to the stage now when we're expecting to run fast. there aint long left so we really have to make it count now. nearly all the work will be 1500 meter specific, but i would hope for some thing a bit longer as i may well be doing a 5000 meter race on saturday week, where hopefully i will crack 17 minutes for the first time. aslo in august i will probably be paying a visit to scotland to meet a new addition to this world and i will report back my findings on this blog!
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
Wednesday, 18 June 2008
why do traffic police think they know everything?
i got caught going througha "red" light. i say "red because it was acually orange and it was too dangerous to stop because of my proximity to the light-i wouldn't of been able to stop in time and i had traffic right up my backside. still according to the traffic pig who stopped me i would have been able to stop if i had been driving at the correct speed, but i was already well within the speed limit, and any slower and i wouldn't of been driving with the flow of the traffic. so thats a £60 fine and three points on my licence. compare that to the numerous examples of drug addicts going out beating an old granny to a pulp and then getting a caution and told not to do it again. where's the fairness? well this is my theory...the police are in the pay of the top drug dealers, so it is in their interests to keep as many drug addicts on the streets as possible, as that obviously means more money for the dealers and more for the filth who take a cut...but they still have to justify their existence to the politicians so they make their statistics look good by nicking easy targets like motorists. so everybody's happy...apart from if you're a law abiding citizen of the united kingdom.
well apart from that everythings fine apart from i have an infection in my foot from a blister. we've just moved in to the phase of our training when we're really starting to concentrate on 1500 meter specific work. last nights session for example was in two bits. an 800 meter rep then a 700 meter rep. then we had a lap jog recovery then 600, 500, 400 all off a 1:30 recovery period. the idea was that we were supposed to run the second half of the session faster than the first half, which i managed to do quite comfortably, 4:34 for the firts bit and 4:24 for the second meaning that i should hopefully be able to run somewhat faster than my pb pace in my next 1500 meter race. i have a more specific idea than that but i'm not going to say what it is though. the next challenge for me is to produce that form when it counts as i'm not going to be racing again for a while, probably the end of the month.
well apart from that everythings fine apart from i have an infection in my foot from a blister. we've just moved in to the phase of our training when we're really starting to concentrate on 1500 meter specific work. last nights session for example was in two bits. an 800 meter rep then a 700 meter rep. then we had a lap jog recovery then 600, 500, 400 all off a 1:30 recovery period. the idea was that we were supposed to run the second half of the session faster than the first half, which i managed to do quite comfortably, 4:34 for the firts bit and 4:24 for the second meaning that i should hopefully be able to run somewhat faster than my pb pace in my next 1500 meter race. i have a more specific idea than that but i'm not going to say what it is though. the next challenge for me is to produce that form when it counts as i'm not going to be racing again for a while, probably the end of the month.
Monday, 9 June 2008
upwardly mobile
if you are wondering why i haven't posted for a while the answer is simple. i now own a car and i have succumbed to the temptation to drive everywhere. and why not? i've been waiting 28 years for this and i intend to make the most of it. i now means that i have more independence and more time to myself due to the shorter journey times. in theory this should mean that i have more recovery time between work and training and should hopefully train and work better. simple.
my first race as a car owner was at mansfield on saturday in a 3000m league race. no pace makers like there were in my previous 3000 down at millfield and the weather conditions were certainly not perfect like they were at millfield with a slight wind down the back straight but the cloud cover up north made sure that it wasn't too hot like it has been at so many league meetings in the past. running most of the race on my own, i managed to run 9:59.8, so a new lifetime best by just 1 10th of a second. not a big improvement like i would obviously have preferred but like that aincient chinese proverb says "every marathon starts with the first step".
as is the way with league meetings you often get coaxed in to doing other events but i always set a strict rule with the team managers that i don't do anything else for the team until i have competed in the event that i train for. 40 minutes after the 3000 had fininshed and with my legs feeling pretty much wrecked i ran a leg of the 4x400 and managed to run the anchor leg in 65 seconds. i feel as though i could have gon quicker but i just did enough to hold on to the place that i started in with a little burst at the end.
got home at about nine o'clock and it was out for a bit of a spin in the old (new) motor, a honda concerto 1.6 hatch backfor an hour or so just exploring places that i've never been before locally around portbury clapton in gordano and all the other local villages. i love the countryside especially in the summer as it is just so peaceful and quiet
my first race as a car owner was at mansfield on saturday in a 3000m league race. no pace makers like there were in my previous 3000 down at millfield and the weather conditions were certainly not perfect like they were at millfield with a slight wind down the back straight but the cloud cover up north made sure that it wasn't too hot like it has been at so many league meetings in the past. running most of the race on my own, i managed to run 9:59.8, so a new lifetime best by just 1 10th of a second. not a big improvement like i would obviously have preferred but like that aincient chinese proverb says "every marathon starts with the first step".
as is the way with league meetings you often get coaxed in to doing other events but i always set a strict rule with the team managers that i don't do anything else for the team until i have competed in the event that i train for. 40 minutes after the 3000 had fininshed and with my legs feeling pretty much wrecked i ran a leg of the 4x400 and managed to run the anchor leg in 65 seconds. i feel as though i could have gon quicker but i just did enough to hold on to the place that i started in with a little burst at the end.
got home at about nine o'clock and it was out for a bit of a spin in the old (new) motor, a honda concerto 1.6 hatch backfor an hour or so just exploring places that i've never been before locally around portbury clapton in gordano and all the other local villages. i love the countryside especially in the summer as it is just so peaceful and quiet
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
long sessions
tonight is the only track session of the week. i have a race on sunday hopefully at tipton, but more likely to be at mansfield in the midland league. to be honest i'm really not that keen to travel so far but but if thats what i have to do then i will do it because with the track and field situation as it is in the west country there aren't that many meetings that cater for athletes of my sort of standard and unfortunately beggars can't be choosers. even if i had the qualifying times for the british milers club grand prixs the mileage involved i travelling would still be rather large due to the lack of suitable facilities in the area. they're at places like watford, or crystal palace or manchester. the kenyan olympic team is due to hold it's pre olympic camp in bristol in 2012 and with both tracks filton and whitchurch up for redevelopment we could have a rather embarrassing situation on our hands where some of the worlds top distance runners come to train in bristol but have no where to train. i think most bristolians could find some sort of grudge against our citys leaders but the lack of an adequate sports stadium and the facilities that go with it are a concern for every body within the sporting fraternity.
i have already done a 4 miler this morning decided to do it today due to the fact that i finished quite late at work yesterday. on a round i didn't know in an area i didn't know i ended up getting lost. when asked people for help apparently no one knewhow to do the round and when i asked the management for a map, they told me 'there's a shop accross the road go you'll have to go and buy one'. fucking brilliant. it was half past two by the time i got back to the office at pill, swearing i will never do that round again or if i do i will cut off
the race on saturday is a 3000 in the midland league my third 3000 of the year. thats more this season than i have done in the previous 3 years and hopefully i will be able to extend my unbeaten run to two races!
i have already done a 4 miler this morning decided to do it today due to the fact that i finished quite late at work yesterday. on a round i didn't know in an area i didn't know i ended up getting lost. when asked people for help apparently no one knewhow to do the round and when i asked the management for a map, they told me 'there's a shop accross the road go you'll have to go and buy one'. fucking brilliant. it was half past two by the time i got back to the office at pill, swearing i will never do that round again or if i do i will cut off
the race on saturday is a 3000 in the midland league my third 3000 of the year. thats more this season than i have done in the previous 3 years and hopefully i will be able to extend my unbeaten run to two races!
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