Putting on a Brave Face

Thursday Night Training with 100% Fitness

A rather ironic title for a running club when you turn up with a huge bruise on your arm.

My poor arm after falling over at last week's training session

I had to dig deep to find the confidence to start the session as I was petrified I would trip again and hurt my injuries further. I put on a brave face and concentrated on chatting with Becci my running buddy whilst we jogged to the sports field.

• Warm up
• Intervals
• Warm down
• Thoughts and plans

My new Garmin Connect page

Warm up

We had our session explained and then we had to jog slowly to a sports field where we would be doing the interval training. 

The slow jog found me a little sore and my joints a bit stiff. I also found myself more breathless than usual'

We had to run round the field and by the time we had done that I was ready to train.

Intervals

The plan was to run to the fourth cone and recover back to start, then repeat to the third, second and first. This had to be done over a timed period for each cone. 

Then we had to get into teams of slow, fast and 'tabbers' (those who were training with weighted back packs and combat gear for a special race) and we had a relay for recovering the cones. Then we were sent out for a final sweep of the field for any missed cones.

Warm down

We had a slow jog back to our starting/meeting point with the usual laughter and chatting.

On the way back I had a quick look at the spot where I fell over and it was clear that I must have tripped on some large slabs of concrete that were sticking up out of the ground. 

Thoughts and plans

I was glad that we had been training on the grass as it gave me more confidence. I felt the need to keep myself in check and not run too hard and I also had to pace myself as I felt sore and a little achy.

I felt the training had gone really well for me and was pleased to get back to running.

Next is the Braintree Skyline 120 five mile run on Sunday which I am looking forward to. 

My race plan will be:

• A slower than usual start building pace over time.
• Think confidence (remembering I managed to run sub 10 min miles at last week's training)
• Remember to look up (fall has made me want to stare at ground and holding your head down affects breathing)
• Be gentle on myself if I have to adjust my running because of my injuries
• Enjoy the run!

The weather forecast is not too good but it will be interesting to run a new race and learn a new route.

Fingers crossed for the rain to keep off
during tomorrow's race