Back To Lydiard Training!

I've decided to return to Lydiard base training for the next 3 months!
I will then move into Marius Bakkens Marathon plan at the start of next year with the aim of once and for all smashing the 2.45 barrier!
Why The Lydiard base?
Well I had very good results off his base training in 2007 when I ran an amazing sub 6 pace in a very hilly 8.5 mile race and followed that up with a 58.28 10 mile race in sub zero temps in the middle of Nov, I also remember doing a 10K trail race run on mostly dirt trails and sand at close to 6 min mile pace to finish 4th.
Marius Bakken's training programme has worked very well for me over the last two years with a Marathon P.B. last year and 1/2 Marathon P.B.s both last year and this year where I ran an amazing 77 mins for first M 50 at the Liverpool Half.
But I think starting his programme with a better base will lift my fitness to new heights, I will consult Marius first before going ahead with my plan, but I do think it's a good one!
The Lydiard programme I've used before is based on his original and I think best plan, I think later Lydiard programmes where watered down to much for the average Joe public!
I like his hard core early 1960's programme :0]
My modified version looks something like this;
Mon fartlek session. 1.30 hours
Tue easy 1 hour
wed alternating over 3 weeks- 3miles, 6 miles or 10 mile tempo run at up to MP pace.
Thur easy with 6 x strides at end. 1 hour
Sat 1.30-2 hours easy-steady
Sun 1-1.30 hours easy.
Every 4th week will be a reduced mileage week to make sure I stay fresh.
This worked very well for me before, so think it will again.
What do you think?
Interested to hear your answers, cheers Rick
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BLEEDING NIPPLES, THE PAIN OF A LONG DISTANCE RUNNER IN THE RAIN!

Sun 25th
Easy run with Sarah and Jon, total time = 1.30
Sat 24th
Location Parbold
4,097 ft of climbing in 3 hours New Record
Once again I headed for the hills to complete my Marius Bakken long run.
The plan was to keep to level one on the flat but not worry to much if my heart rate reached level two on the climbs.
I still felt a bit tired from my mega progressive run which I did on Wed and it took about an hour to get into a nice rhythm.
It started to drizzle from the off, and once more a got a good soaking.
As I finished my run I looked down to see my white running vest was heavily blood stained, Ouch runners nipple!
Fri 23rd
Easy run = 30 mins
Thur 22nd
easy 1 hour

KIND OF RUNNING FAST!

Today's session was a 5K tempo [ 1/2 M.P.] run and 10 x 1 min at 10k pace.
Legs still a bit heavy, but I manged 1/2 marathon pace o.k. finishing with 6.01 pace for my Hillside 5K loop.
After a short recovery I moved to Oxford Rd and ran 10 x one min efforts up the hill, first couple of efforts seemed hard, then I remembered a mental trick.
Looking up the road to a lamp post I imagined being pulled in by a gigantic elastic band, it really worked and I hurtled forward with a new speed!
I then finished with 6 x 20 sec Smart Strides, JOB DONE :]
5K at 6.01 pace, 3.12 miles = 18.45
10 x 1 min uphill
1/ 5.58 pace, 2/ 5.42 3/ 5.47 4/ 5.37 5/ 5.32 6/5.29 7/ 5.32 8/ ? 9/ 5.31 10/ 5.23
6 x S/S, Total time 1.07
Good running form tips; lean into the hill from your ankles, pull body up tall, keep hips tall, keep looking ahead and not down, feet straight ahead.
Let momentum pull you over your grounded foot, then let the stretch reflex mechanism in the hip flexors pull your knee forward automatically.
Marius says It is crucial to respect the first 2-3 weeks after a marathon. In that period the elastic elements of your muscular system is still down after the marathon effort. Preferably, you want to wait at least 4 weeks to race thereafter - and then at the most a 5-10k race. A half marathon should wait 6-7 weeks out.
Oops, maybe my 15k trail race [ after one weeks rec] and last weeks 4 mile hill race was not such a good idea!

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FOLLOW JOHNNY STICKY BUDDEN,S 1000 Mile Free Running challenge

Another good run and Synchronicity

Set out on a cool night to do another of Marios bakken's sessions, this time i had to run 20 mins at level 3 [ marathon-1/2 mp] followed by 10 x 1 min at level 4 [ 10k pace]The idea of the session is to train the body to handle a fast pace when already tired.
After a warm up i kicked into the tempo run, I was aiming at 6.04 pace as I was only running for 20 mins. the first couple of mins i got that aweful not warmed up feeling that I wouldn't be able to hold the pace, but then my legs warmed up and I settled into a fast but steady effort. my loop has a couple of short hills in the first half with the second half being faster. i was doing sub 6 pace on the way back, I wasn't breathing hard but I did have to concentrate to stop my pace dropping, onto my half mile finishing curcuit and I had 2 mins to go, i was feeling quite strong and finished right on target with 3.29 miles in 20 mins with an average 6.04 pace. Now i had a couple of easy mins jogging before I started 10 x 1 min at 10k pace.
I moved onto some quite back roads then off i charged again, i was looking for 5.44 pace and I found that no problem. I finished my 10th effort and decided to see what i could do if i really pushed it, 5.18 average was the answer for effort no 11, Awesome, I'm very happy with that :]
I did all this wearing my brand new Nike zoom red rock trail shoes!
Well, they only just came through the post, so I had to try them out! I was gutted when my last pair wore out in the summer because no one had them in stock any more, so i was made up when I saw Direct Sports had the mark 2 version [ £38 ] in stock last week, great, great shoe, light, flexible with loads of grip and so comfy too, I love em :]
I also really like the Marius Bakken 2.45 training plan, the sessions change each week and you have target paces to go for, so you feel you've really achieved something at the end of each workout,
Also i think the fact that you never go harder than 10k pace means you don't dig yourself into a hole you can't get out of, my normal way is to push to the limit on each effort, but it can take too long a time to recover from that sort of intensity!

Synchronicity
Also in the post; my internet friend David O'Meara [ The one mile runner] sent me a signed copy of his new book 'Creating Amazement'
cheers David :] I've been really getting into mind training in the last couple of weeks and David's book has lots of answers on how to change your mindset to achieve amazing things, wow! Cool!
I'll do a rewiew of his book once I've read through it.
Ok thats it for now, take care and happy running :]

X/C IN A WINTER WONDERLAND!

BURNLEY MID LANCS X/C
The last time I ran at Burnley was back in 2004, i finished in 31st place in a very competitive field of runners, i was not happy, i really wanted to make it into the 20 something placings!
looking back on the result now i can see i finished just behind a guy who could break 27 mins for 5 miles, the truth was i was flying, but i didn't appreciate it at the time!
Once again i had a very heavy night at work, but this time managed to get 3 hours in bed before getting up, i was in for a shock as I opened the curtains to see a thick covering of snow outside. Niz was made up, she has only seen snow a couple of times in her life [ you don't get much snow in the Philippines!].
Phil drove Joanne, Tracey, Niz and me to the race, the local roads were like an ice rink, that and all the Christmas shopping traffic meant it was a slow journey to the motorway, but once there we made good progress getting to the start with just 20 mins to spare before the womens start at 2pm.
It was -3 and bloody cold, I opted for a thermal cycle top and trackster bottoms, thermal hat and gloves, 'toastie' I would be, cold is not my thing you understand!
The plan was to use the race as a good tempo run, set off steady then make my way through the field and 'ENJOY' the event, the marathon is 4 months off and racing well now is not really my priority!
setting off from the start everyone sprinted off, it took me a couple of minutes to get warmed up and then I started to accelerate through the field of runners. the course was one small lap and 3 big un's, the fresh snow was good fun to run on much better than horrible mud!
i was starting to enjoy myself, i didn't really have the legs to kill myself but i was keeping a good tempo effort going and it felt good!
getting near the end of the race i thought we had a small half loop to go, but all of a sudden i saw the finish and didn't even have time to sprint, I wondered why a guy I'd been catching suddenly surged off!
I finished in 55th place feeling fairly fresh and happy :]
10k on snow in 40.03
It's been a good week of training, with 20 miles inc the club fartlek session on Monday and one hour and forty five mins over the big sandhills inc speed drill and plyometrics on Wednesday. I have also done 3 resistance training sessions during the week.
next week i plan to take it a bit easier before i start my Marathon training program.
photo; Tracey in action in the women's race, Burnley X/C

Ryan Hall, 'SPEED'@

TRAINING FOR THE WEEK
Wind and Rain, but hey lets look on the bright side at least it was warm :]
Sat 21st
Run with Paul around Parbold and Ashurst Beacon, lots of hills amd plenty of off rd running and mud -AWESOME!!! = 2.03
Fri 20th
Short run with Tess, felt 'good' = 24 min
Thur 19th
Long easy run with Tess over the big sandhills 'Lovin it' = 1.33
Wed 18th
MEGA SESSION
afternoon
run over sanddunes with tess plus Drills = 1.13
Evening
Club run, Hills plus finished off with 3 mile tempo run, hammered the last mile and 1/2 with wind behind me, 10-11 then 11.5 mph = 1.12
Tue 17th
Sandhills with Tess, easy = 1.04
Mon 16th
Club Session Fartlek, plus run down and back = 1.50

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18 mile, 1900 ft of climbing, Arthur Lydiard hill run, GETTING STRONGER

My home town is very flat apart from the many sand dunes along the coast, so to get a good long hill run in I have to travel a good 14 miles to Parbold out in the country and the first real hills, but I think its worth the weekly trip!
This was my 4th Arthur Lydiard type long hill run [ I'd already run 3 before starting Barry's training program this week], Barry was happy with this session and told me I could take it out to 2.30 if I wanted! It was quite warm and sunny as I set off, first Stoney lane [ very steep at the start and end but more steady in the middle, its exactly 1 mile long and my p.b. for this climb is 7.17], then back down the quarry path and then on to Hunters hill [ steady at the start but rises up like a volcano from half way] once over the top [there were some great scenic views to be seen today] I made my way over the fields following the Harrock hill course, next was Parbold and after a very long climb over the fields and dirt paths I made my way up and over Harrock hill and passed the ruins of the old windmill, a quick blast down through the cow fields and then over the Harrock hill race finish line, but I was not done yet, I took a left and climbed the notorious Hunters Hill for a second time, then carried on along the rd, I then looped round on the road [ this road is awesome, its a fantastic roller coaster ride where you can work on your leg speed as you come down the gentle descents] after a couple of miles I turned left and climbed Harrock hill up along a narrow picturesque lane and finally headed for home. I was pleased to find my average pace has improved by 7 secs per mile compared to a few weeks ago, I did start to feel tired towards the end, most probably due to dehydration, but I held my pace together much better, feeling more aerobically strong! 18 miles, 1900ft climbing, easy-steady pace, = 2.17
Sunday 14th
Easy run over sandhills with Tess on a beautiful summers early evening = 1.12
WEEK IN SUMMARY
First week of Barry's training has done very well.
Next week I am running a half marathon and my training includes a 5k tempo run and a hill session!

START OF A NEW ERA!

Today was my first run following the custom designed training program from Barry Magee.
Barry asked me a lot of questions as regards my past training, health, fitness and future objectives, once he was happy that he had all the info necessary he set about writing up my training for the next couple of weeks.
Todays session was a pyramid fartleck run over mixed terrain with the reminder to "keep the fast efforts relaxed as you have a race on Wednesday".
Found the session quite easy, if I'd set the training myself I'm sure I'd have pushed much harder and run more efforts [ and paid the price on Wednesday!] as bricey said in his comment on my last post " It's often good to get an external perspective."

Route Sandhill 6
Pyramid fartlek -- 30-60 -120-180-120-60-30 - 15 secs with
recovery jogs between
Finished with some easy aerobic running to give a total of 1 hour 16 mins
Tue 9th
Nice easy aerobic run [ as instructed] with tess over the sandhills,
enjoyed the late afternoon sunshine as we meandered over the gentle dune paths, cool! = 1.04

EXCITING NEWS; I SIGN UP WITH BARRY MAGEE TO COACH ME UP TO NEXT YEARS LONDON MARATHON

After 16 years of self coaching I decided to get serious and get a really good coach, and who better than legendary runner and outstanding coach in his own right BARRY MAGEE, Barry was one of the original Arthur's boys from the 60's who went on to great success and knows more about LYDIARD'S training methods than anyone else! I'm very excited to train under him! Training starts monday!
BARRY'S TRAINING TIPS
Interview With Barry Magee
Wed 3rd
BIRKENHEAD PARK 5 MILE, 28.48, 19th place
Its been a long time since I raced here [2002], the new course is very fast, I was feeling tired after over doing my training on Monday night [ things should improve once I start to follow Barry's program, watch this space!]

The first thing I noticed was they have done a lot of work to restore the park to its former glory.

Birkenhead Park was designed by Sir Joseph Paxton. His concept was to create an idealised countryside landscape of open meadows and naturalistic woodland belts.

And it is said that Central park in New York was modeled from the Birkenhead design!

Anyway back to the racing, I travelled down with Jon, the race Didn't start on time due to cars parked on the course it was almost 8 pm by the time we got going [ start time should have been 7.45], one interesting concept is they put on races for the juniors before the main race.

Conditions were almost idea sunny and no wind but maybe a little to humid for Jon!

The race was over 3 laps of the lower park, it was really fast, just one short hill each lap, I went through one mile in 5.37 feeling ok, 3 miles 17.04, I was hoping for sub 29 mins maybe 28.30, I think I ran 28.18 some 7 years ago!

I was in a good group as we went into the final lap, I could now start to feel my energy draining away, up the hill for the last time and I started to fade, runners were starting to pass me by as I slipped back through the field helpless to do anything about it, finally I reached the last endless 200 m, It was like one of those dreams where your trying to run but feel like something is pulling you back, at last I cross the line and glance at the watch, 28.48 for 19th place! I didn't feel good!

I jog back and wait for Jon, he's having a bad time, the heat has got to him, after a long wait he comes into view, I shout "200 to go" and he puts on a sprint finishing in 43.27.

I was surprised no other SWAC member turned up, its a great course in nice surroundings.

MAD FOR IT JAPANESE MARATHON RUNNER,[Ewen's favorite!]
READ THE STORY HERE

RYAN HALL on Mental Training;
RH: I am still learning a lot about the mental side of training and racing. What I am focusing a lot of lately is just being in the moment. I, and I think all runners, have a tendency to think too much. Whether it is worrying about Heartbreak Hill, thinking about what a competitor is doing, or get flustered because the last mile split was too slow, we all have a tendency to have our mind cluttered with a lot of junk. I am learning to clean out the trash and just be where I am and poor myself into the step I am about to take. I find that I get more out of myself when my mind isn't cluttered with so much garbage.

WOW! I RAN 2.38 AT LONDON MARATHON!!!

Year Age Actual Time Age Adjusted
1999 38 2:49:53 2:49:25
2000 39 2:56:15 2:54:33
2002 41 2:54:53 2:50:47
2003 42 2:48:52 2:43:43
2004 43 2:52:34 2:46:06
2009 48 2:51:15 2:38:48

Thanks to Brian Grice for compiling my age adjusted Marathon times
http://www.pinebeltpacers.org/AgeGrade/newwava.html

20 MILES, THE TOUGHEST RUN!

ILLUSIONS IN THE RAIN!
The weather deteriorated throughout the day, by the time I got out the wind had picked up to a cruel gusting frenzy, and the rain was being driven horizontal, Oh what joy! The plan was for a 20 miler inc the club fartleck session! After one hour of steady running [ 7.08 pace] I met up with the club, the wind and rain had already taken it toll upon me , I was feeling dizzy with dropping blood sugar levels and my exposed legs were feeling the cold! A couple of jelly babies crammed down my throat and we were away! We had a good group considering the dreadful weather, once again Rob was going strong and it took all my efforts to hold him! The final effort was up shore rd, up the hill and back to the village, by now my eyes were irritated by the cold gusting wind and my contact lens was blurring up, that along with the street lights reflecting up off the rain sodden roads, giving me limited vision, there was only one option but to follow the white line at the edge of the road, WE let the slower runners get a lead then Rob and me charged off! I gave it everything, sprinting off then trying to hold pace over the hill, I quick glance at the garmin and I was doing almost 12 mph uphill, as I reached the top I could sense Robs shadow pulling along side as we crested the hill, one final downhill effort and we finish exhausted, side by side! 13.2 miles completed just 7 to go! By now my cycle thermal jacket was weighing heavy on my shoulders as it absorbed every last drop of rain, I ran back with Rob then headed off again in search of the final miles, running up Trafalgar rd hill my energy sapped away, feeling dizzy and light headed!
I felt dazed and confused by the reflecting light off the wet roads, I was feeling bad, really bad now! More jelly babies and within a mile I was slowly coming around and my speed and strength picked up again, 1 mile to go and the road seemed to be going uphill into the heavens, yet I knew this road was flat, it was just an illusion of my glucose starved mind! On to a final half mile loop, I was running through a dark tunnel, my eyes just focused on the distant light at the end of the road, a final all out effort, up to 10 mph and holding, now the final straight, foot on the gas peddle and I accelerate to 11 mph, finishing a spent, dizzy force! This had been one dam tough night at the office!!! 20.05 miles, max speed 13.1 mph, 7.30 pace, = 2 hours 31 mins

THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS

Sat 7 th
My marathon training continues in earnest, today mad dog [ she was kicking sand in my face as usual] and me blasted the big sand dunes for an impressively whopping 2 hours 46 mins
Fri 6th
There was a freezing wind blowing which turned my feet into solid blocks of ice after only a couple of mins running, gradually increasing the pace throughout my run, the 6.13 av pace doesn't really tell the whole story as I was really hammering the last mile redlining at over 11 mph at the end!
3 miles at 6.13 pace
Thur 5th
10 x 150 m leg speed session plus steady run = 1.16
Wed 4th sandhills easy = 1.25
Tue 4th
Fartleck session, 9 x hard efforts, 300 - 800m
Ran down to Ainsdale at 9.2 mph av with a nagging freezing easterly wind on my side, No Brian to take the session so they nominated me to take charge and crack the whip! [ RIGHT YOU SLACKARDS , ITS TIME FOR SOME 'SERIOUS' STREET ACTION!!!].
The fast boys were out tonight, Rob, Mark and Paul so the pace was pretty hot, ran back with Rob then added some extra loops at marathon pace! = 2.06
Mon 3rd
Ran to college and back for a grand total of 19.46

QUESTION; IN X/C RACES SHOULD ONE USE THE HIP FLEXORS OR THE HAMSTRINGS TO PULL YOUR FOOT OUT OF THE MUD!

I was asking myself this question as I was slip sliding away in the Leyland X/C race on Saturday!
The Gravity running has been working really well on the road, letting me hold higher speeds than before, but running on mud I think a slightly different technique is required!
Maybe you can answer this question, is it better to use the hip flexors to drive the knee forward and up to pull your foot out of the mud and stop it sinking in, or should one use the hamstrings to quickly pull the foot off the ground before it sinks deep into the sticky stuff! Or maybe one should use a combination of hip flexor and hams, do you have the answer to fast mud running, if so let me know!
NEWS FLASH!
Jack Nirenstein of GRAVITY RUNNING answered my question posted on Youtube;

Secular101

Reply
You need to pull the foot out from the mud first by using the hamstrings to flex the leg at the knee. Then don't concern yourself with driving the knee it happens automatically when you lift the foot to clear the ground and drive the foot forward at the right speed to match the speed of the body going forward. When you work on the knee you lift too high and lose time in bringing the foot forward. The knee science is flawed. Jack Nirenstein

Secular101

Reply | Spam

Another to rick. You need the reactive force from the ground for you to get the full exerted force from gravity. That is why running in mud and sand is slow. There is give in the force return from the ground and friction isn't the same as the road to keep the foot in place for the vault. The vault is when the foot stays in place while the top of the leg carries the body from behind the foot to in front of the foot. When you run faster the feet flip farther back and high. Jack Nirenstein

Sat 17th
This was the end of my 3rd hard week and once the race got under way I realized I didn't have much left in my legs, my intention was simply to use the race as a tempo run but running over the mud felt like very hard work and man was I happy to finish, it felt like the last 6 miles of a marathon ! 6 miles = 44 mins
Sun 18th
Run with Jon on the sandhill 6 then I set off on a progression run, slowly building me speed up, finishing with 3 X 1/2 mile loops at close to 10 mph av. total = 1.30
LOOKING FORWARD TO AN EASIER WEEK NEXT WEEK!

RUNNING PERFORMANCE AND AGING

Thanks Mike for your question on yesterdays post, i thought it was worth replying here as its a pretty interesting subject;
Mike said...

Wow Rick, that's really impressive. Do you find that you're putting in more miles nowadays than say 8-9 years ago or is it about the same?

15 October 2008 22:55

RICK'S RUNNING said...

Hi MIke, I've tried many different types of training over the years,i can see that from looking at my training logs that the years when i put in a high mileage base are the years i ran best.

After 15 years running and before that 10 years cycle racing I'm happy to say that a high mileage type program works best for me and the times when my running has gone downhill are when i have moved into intense interval training and low mileage.
On aging and performance; at 30 i thought I had peaked out and started to lose interest in the sport of cycle racing, at 33 i took up running, at 39 i had a great year but then had 2 indifferent years, I thought I had gone passed my best, but then I increased my mileage and then went on to set new p.b.s over all distances from 5k to marathon at age 42-43.
I did not really know about lydiards methods until last year.
i started training his way last summer 2007 and went on to have an awesome winter and spring, getting close to my best! but I blew it this summer by over doing the anaerobic stuff! I found Lydiard was right to say you only need 5 weeks of intense intervals.
I now intend to follow Lydiards program for masters starting in November as I want to run a great London marathon.

Thanks for your comment Mike , taking into account that you are only just getting back into running you should have many years of improvement ahead of you, enjoy!

16 October 2008 00:51

TEMPO, TEMPO

After starting training as a gym instructor i was advised to join a gym to get experience of using all the weight training equipment etc, so I did my first session last night. Today i found my legs felt pretty sore after using the leg press machine . Arthur Lydiard's programme called for a 2k and 3 k tempo effort, but seeing that I've still not gone metric yet I changed this to a mile and 2 miles. The first mile [ 5.41] felt like a real effort , I ran the second effort inside the Kings gardens, [the scene of many a short distance club race in the past] maybe the thought of my 3 club victories in the 3k inspired me as I felt much better and in control during the 2 mile interval and cruised round at 5.49 pace . 1 mile 5.41, 2 miles 11.40
I guess the important thing is I ran the 2 mile effort over 30 secs faster than last week, even if i feel i should be capable of 5.30 pace!
= 1hour 14 mins

Enjoyed my run!

I was highly impressed to read of the p.b.s set by THOMAS, GRELLAN AND MIKE, its a great feeling when every thing starts coming together and all the hard work and dedication pays off!
As for me, well at last i started to feel better, the virus and the marathon took its toll upon my body and I had a dreadful feeling that i might never enjoy running again.
Thankfully I started to feel stronger today, finding myself hitting Marathon Pace even into a strong head/cross wind and it felt comfortable , Ah yes, this was more like it.
I headed for the rugby ground and did Arthur Lydiards leg speed session, 10x 150m at faster than mile pace. I then headed back with the wind reaching 10 then 11mph for a while!
Deciding to extend my run, I took an excursion into the sand dunes. I guess you could say I enjoyed my run today, which at the end of the day is what its all about! = 1.07

DOWNFALL OF A DISTANCE RUNNER

Sun 14th
Easy run with Jon on the infamous sandhill 6! = 1.01
Sat 13th
My wife Niz has had a virus for the last week so I knew sooner or later I'd go down with it, after having a great run on Friday I started to notice a sore throat and cold sores on my mouth, dam this was not good! Saturday called for a 2 mile tempo run, setting off I really didn't feel great, but I kind of convinced myself that I might come around once I got warmed up.
Setting off on my 2 mile tempo run inside the local park my legs felt kind of empty, holding just over 10mph felt much harder than iT should have and bY the time I finished my effort my legs were shot! I jogged home feeling very sorry for myself and had to go and have a lie down for a couple of hours to recover. Things are not looking good one week before the marathon!
2 mile Tempo run = 11.59
= 55 mins
Fri 12th
SHORT AND SWEET!
Arthur Lydiards programme called for an easy fartlek session so I did my short loop into the sandhills and back, I put some short fast surges in up and down the hills and on the road home, I felt better and better as the session went on and my legs were really wizzing round!
Man I love days like these! =32 mins
Thur 11th
LEG SPEED SESSION
10 x 160 m with Rob and super vet Steve James = 45 mins

ROAD RELAY WIN!

I ran a 7.5 mile loop before meeting up with the club for Robs session.
Rob told us that we would be running an unofficial club relay, he split us up into teams of two .
ROB and super vet STEVE JAMES, TRACEY AND PAUL and me and STEADY EDDIE.
We were to run a half mile loop round the Fisherman's rest pub, taking it in turns, each of us would run a total of 6 laps, so each team would cover 6 mile in total.
We set off, rob shooting off like a scolded cat! I dug deep and just about managed to hold him, with a 100m to go i was a few strides behind him, but gave it every thing to sprint up to him at the change over point, now STEVE JAMES and STEADY EDDIE sprinted off with TRACEY just a few yards behind!
We jogged around nervously waiting for our team to come into view, Eddie had put in a fantastic effort and pulled about 5 secs out of Steve, as Eddie came along side me I sprinted off on my second lap, Eddie had got us the psychological advantage, this time I felt the pressure of not wanting to let Eddie down. i tried to relax and felt much better hitting 12 mph on the slight downhill sections, with a 100m to go i sprinted all out, keeping Rob in second place!
At last I got ready for my last lap, Eddie came into view with a good lead, as soon as he came along side I sprinted off, I knew Rob was still a danger and as I reached the last corner I could hear rob's foot steps closing in on me, one final all out sprint and I held our lead over the finish line!
1st team Eddie and me, 2nd rob and steve, 3rd tracey and paul.
i reckon we covered the 6 miles in about 33 mins, It was a great idea of Rob's to hold the relay and turned the interval session into really good fun!
Maybe next time , seeing that we are running the loops starting and finishing at a pub we could have a beer and road running relay, drinking a pint each time we finished a lap, now that really would be interesting! hic!!!
6x 1/2 mile
= 1 hour 45 mins