30 - 30

A 30-30 session planned for the club on Thursday evening. I arrived at the last moment as is my wont and was thrown the keys to the changing room. They were polite enough to wait for me before setting off which was great.

There was a good turnout with Thierry, Jean-Marc, Miguel, Nick and Anne, Régis, Fabrice, Philippe and Bertrand all out for the evening. The 30-30 session didn't look as though it was going to be easy. We headed off towards Poissy and Les Charmilles where we run around a park on the outskirts of the town. We started off easily enough and then began the hard work for the block of 20 x 30-30's. The first interval was easy (too easy and the heart hasn't had the opportunity to warm up to start with) before we started putting some effort in on the following.

Very quickly we created a small group at the front: Thierry and Jean-Marc followed by Bertrand and myself. Nick, Fabrice and Régis were slightly behind taking it a little easier before the start of the holidays. I was motivated in keeping the distance between Thierry and Jean Marc and our duo as small as possible. They would leave us slightly in the fast 30' and we would gain back on them over the recovery. Miguel was coaching and not taking part but he was a great encouragement. I felt good and all my recent training seems to be paying off.

13 km all up in 1:15. The intervals were run at 18km/h with the fastest maxing at 20 km/h. Good session on an evening where it wasn't too hot. We got back to the clubhouse just in time to avoid the thunderstorm.

Tuesday training

A small turnout at the club last night, with some notable absences such as Nick (where are you - still suffering from our run on Saturday ?). Bruno and Jean-Marc were there though, together with Nico and after the warm-up we decided to do a 30/30 session through the forest near Le Mesnil.

Jean-Marc and Nico were too fast for me over the short sprints and I lack the speed training at the moment. Bruno was tired from a 15km race at the weekend and after a couple of intervals, he dropped off and just jogged behind us.

After the first series of 10 intervals, I was already tiring and fed up of seeing both of them leave me over the 30 seconds. Nico lacks the endurance though and after the first intervals in the second series, he dropped off too, leaving me alone with Jean-Marc. I lost count of the intervals and just concentrated on pushing as hard as I could, chasing Jean-Marc down the forest tracks. It was a suprise when he announced that we had completed the second series and could rest now.

The Garmin showed a top speed of 18.5 km/h over the intervals and even with the rests, we were running each kilometre in 4:30 or thereabouts. This pleased me when I saw this at the end but I definitely found the going tough over the session.

More of these necessary over the Summer if I'm to achieve a PB in September at Conflans again.

11.7km all up in 1:06.

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!