No Hard Slog
Being in the middle of my key races, there is no hard training. Two days of very easy to easy running, an ice bath, and some mobility work has seen me pull up very well from Sunday's cross country. This morning I hit the track to remind my legs about the type of speeds I was expecting from them this weekend. The session was short. The main set was 800m at half-marathon pace, then 4x400m at 5000m pace all with a 400m float recovery in between. The running felt easy and natural. At the end I felt like I was warmed up and ready to race.
Two more days of very easy running and then it's a weekend of racing. My plans are still the same. Race to win the 5000m, and then see what I have left for the half marathon the next day. I have a good fitness base so recovery between the two races is likely to be mainly a matter of hydration and glycogen replenishment. Hopefully the little quirk in human physiology of enhancement of neuromuscular facilitation the day or two after a high intensity effort works in my favour by overriding any fatigue and improving leg speed for the half marathon. Only one way to find out.
I'm looking forward to the 5000m with a little bit of trepidation. While I have put in plenty of kilometres in training on various athletics tracks, I haven't raced on one for a complete race since high school. Plus I haven't really raced anything shorter than 8km for a long time either. Adding to this, the race is in the afternoon, something that is definitely out of my usual routine. I have my ways deeply ingrained for a morning start. I know what sits in my stomach. I know when to eat, drink and wake up. I know what types of warm up I need in the morning. The afternoon is new territory. Should be fun.
Two more days of very easy running and then it's a weekend of racing. My plans are still the same. Race to win the 5000m, and then see what I have left for the half marathon the next day. I have a good fitness base so recovery between the two races is likely to be mainly a matter of hydration and glycogen replenishment. Hopefully the little quirk in human physiology of enhancement of neuromuscular facilitation the day or two after a high intensity effort works in my favour by overriding any fatigue and improving leg speed for the half marathon. Only one way to find out.
I'm looking forward to the 5000m with a little bit of trepidation. While I have put in plenty of kilometres in training on various athletics tracks, I haven't raced on one for a complete race since high school. Plus I haven't really raced anything shorter than 8km for a long time either. Adding to this, the race is in the afternoon, something that is definitely out of my usual routine. I have my ways deeply ingrained for a morning start. I know what sits in my stomach. I know when to eat, drink and wake up. I know what types of warm up I need in the morning. The afternoon is new territory. Should be fun.
After a couple of AV seasons I have grown accustomed to racing in the afternoon, maybe try to get out in the arvo before then and turn your legs over and get used to it.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a good 'un
In the days when I used to compete fairly regularly I used to find that the exta adrenaline of of the race smoothed out any tendency towards variation with how I energetic felt at different times of the day.
ReplyDeleteGood luck.
Having a good feel for goal pace will help. Time yourself for some 50m strides on the back straight during the warm-up. I know your goal is to win, but sitting on someone who runs 16 minutes obviously won't work.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to start too fast on the track. Run a 75s first lap (easy to do) and you'll die big time. Try not to fall in a hole in the 4th kilometre. Good luck!