The thought of doing anything involving a track also filled me with dread - reminding me of my failure to suceed at anything vaguely athletic while at school and hiding in the changing rooms in the hope that no one would notice my absence from the 800m. My favourite event at school was the 2000m walk, which was 7 and a half laps around the tennis courts. No seemed to mind if I spent the entire 80 minute double PE lesson strolling round at my own pace. However, when it came to sports day, this backfired somewhat, as I was the only person in my house to have recorded a time in the event, which meant I was forced to perform it in public. I actually came second and have a little certificate somewhere - it turned out that all the other "competitors" were as lazy as me.
I arrived at the track in the pouring rain, wondering what the hell I was thinking. Although within five minutes I was glad I made the effort. Everyone at the club was wonderfully welcoming, and off we went for a little jog to the start - fortunately much shorter than last week. The track is 400m, around the outside of the Newport County football pitch, and the warm up was 2 laps for beginners (I do like it that they use this word rather than lazy people) and 3 or 4 laps for everyone else. There was then a couple of slower paced laps all together and then a pyramid - where I had to do 400m, 600m, 800m, 800m, 600m, and 400m with a little rest in between. Like last week the session was organised so that everyone can take part - the advanced runners had an extra 2000m in the middle of all that as well.
Surprisingly, I found myself quite enjoying it. I found it easier to pace myself on the track as I could see how far I had to go until the next rest and could slow down or speed up as needed. It is also nice that the coach and other club members are encouraging me to keep going as they sprint past, even though I am barely moving.
So all going well so far. Have found another motivational quote for this week. Might make this a regular feature:
3 comments:
Half Marathon you mental? words of wisdom for running in the winter, beware of yellow snow! this was always a hazard at myold school sports days! someone always fell in!
Good luck... you know you can do it ;)
Well done my friend. Running is ace, makes everything feel better, I love it rain, hail or shine. You will be banging out 9 minute miles in no time. Stick with it. F£$* the doubters.
I remember the 2000m walk at school - the only sport(!!) I was mildly any good at and would always opt for that over anything else - the teachers weren't interested and left you to it from what I can remember and focused on those who had far more athletic ability than myself! Anyway, from one couch potato to another - good luck.
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