Tuesday session

I arrived at the club all psyched up to do my 10 x 600m VO2 max session tonight. On the club training calendar, nothing special had been planned, just a simple 45 minute endurance session. However, all of the other marathon runners were following the club's marathon training plan which involved 2x 2000m + 3x 1000m. I decided to switch sessions and run with the others, putting off the VO2 max session until Thursday.

25 minutes warm-up and we were back at the track. 5 of us were going to do the session at my pace (around 4:00 / km) while Nick and Philippe were going to do it just a little slower. The 5 of us were: Régis, Fabrice, José, Me and another guy that I didn't recognise.

96 second 400's were called and they asked me to set the pace. I set off, glad to be in front as this is where I'm happiest. I like the sound of the others just behind me and being able to push the pace slightly just when they get too close. We did the first lap in 94 and this set the tone for the evening.

The intervals went as follows:

7:39, 7:42, 3:47, 3:49, 3:46

So very regular and I was feeling great. Oh yeah, and the others dropped off after the first 1000m interval saying that they'd had enough for the night. So much for running with others.

The other factor that made the performance more impressive was that the track began to freeze after the first 2000m interval and so the bends on the track were as slippery as hell after that. This made you expend even more energy than was necessary on a dry surface.

14km all up for the evening. An early night now to recover.