30/30 club session

I got out of work with plenty of time to get to the training session tonight. Jumped in the car, drove 200m down the road and ended up in one of the worst traffic jams I've seen in ages. Practically gridlock, so I turned around and found the most convoluted route to get to the club possible. All of this to say that I arrived with 2 minutes to spare and the last to change as usual!

My mood soon changed as I got my running kit on and went outside into the evening sunshine. The temperature has improved and the weather has been lovely recently. There was quite a large turnout tonight and it was most relaxing to jog into the forest to begin a 30/30 session.

The 30/30 session is the staple diet of the club runner. Whether you're training for the track, 10k races, semis or marathons, every runner should be doing these intervals. They involve running at top speed for 30 seconds and then jogging for a 30 second receovery before starting again. The first intervals are easy as the heart takes a little time to adjust and to get up to speed. After 2 or 3, time begins to warp and the 30 seconds of hard running feels a lot longer than that whereas the 30 seconds recovery just zips by.

We were half-way through the first series of 10 when the black clouds began to appear. The lightning started next and loud rumbles of thunder filled the forest. Large raindrops fell on the little duckpond as we sprinted by. We were recovering from the first series when the hail began to fall: light at first and then larger and larger hailstones. My lack of hair meant that they resounded through my skull, stinging my ears and cracking the pate of my head. The ground that had been dry and firm underfoot, turned into a mudbath and huge puddles appeared on the forest paths. The fast sections were made harder by slides in the bends and slippery surfaces everywhere.

I was at the front of the group with Thierry, Bruno, Adrien, José and Franck. I tried to keep up with Adrien but his 10 years age advantage meant that he could accelerate faster over the short distances as endurance isn't a major factor in these workouts. I gave everything however and my legs struggled to find the extra pace at the end. The Garmin showed that my max speed in the fast sections was 19.3km/h and this was pretty regular in the second series.

Nice session as the 30/30's aren't as hard on the body as longer intervals. 10.6km all up in 1:02.

Sun came back out as we warmed down afterwards. Perfect timing!