Intervals 6x 300m at the track in Rolle

I don't use the track in Rolle often enough. It is only a 5 min jog from my flat and there is rarely anyone on it.

I was the only one there this morning. I thought it was 300m, but having programmed 6x 300m into the Garmin I overshot by 50m each time, I guess it is only 250m then!

Planned to do more, but by the 6th I knew the next one would be rubbish so I stopped at 6 and was pleased with the set. Nicely into zone 5 at then end of each one and good recovery between each on, a minute was just right.

Pace was well inside 4min kms which was pleasing too.

Garmin

3.5m reps 6x 2on 1off

Garmin

I did not have much time today, so I picked this short set to get me moving more quickly.

However, even the two minute reps are a struggle to keep faster than 4min km pace. The first two (coffee I am sure and lack of warm up causing the massive spikes) were not even 500m, but the rest were better and more like the pattern I was hoping for.

Missed the girls as they had left an hour before I was ready to go.

8m Reps at Bout du Monde Track

Aurelien and I made it to the track for the first time together today. Tenke was suffering from something she had picked up in darkest Africa, cursed by a witch doctor who did not want to buy her carbon efficient stove or she probably just ate something dodgy from a carbon inefficient stove.

Aurelien was completely unphased when I told him it would take us around 40 minutes to get to the running track as his next meeting was not until 4pm. I was secretly hoping his 10km and 5km hard in the last few days might have tired him out, but no such luck! He cruised out mocking my directional capabilities as I fluffed the route being dependent on hugging the river for my bearings. He chuckled when we arrived in 24 minutes!

Session I had programmed into the Garmin was all about distance.

100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 400m, 200m, 100m.

The idea being as a super sprinter Aurelien would set the pace on the 200 and 100 sets and I could lead through the 400 and 800 ones. Nearly worked.

On the 800m I was determined not to let Aurelien get away from me. So I pushed hard and felt the 2nd lap could be fast so I made my move at 400m with ratchet one. With 200m to go I hear footsteps closing and so I kick again and accelerate, but still they close in. I kick again with 100m to go and nothing left in the tank, the distance alert fires and I stop. To my amazement Aurelien is 100m ahead of me. A lady doing 200m reps launches into her next set. Aurelien had ducked out after 400m and simply waited for me to do the second lap. Cheeky monkey, but the 800m would nevery have been that fast had I not thought that the lady was Aurelien closing me down. 

The same lady shouted encouragement to us as we finished the set. The last 100m was fascinating as Aurelien turned on the class over the last 50m and put a good 10m between us.

Clip back was much faster than the warm up out.

 Garmin

5m 8min rep cycle

Great workout in lovely conditions, if a shade cold.

4x the 8min cycle, which is 5mins hard, 30s recovery 1 minute fast 90 seconds recovery

I decided to not get too hung up about the 5min cycles and focused on making the 1m sections count. In my head I had it that I needed to clear at least a 1km through the 4 one mins. Should be easy.

The last and the 2nd saved me, well under the 4min km pace required and others were on the mark, so that was good, finally going a little faster.

The 5mins were not that bad, coming in around the 7:20-30min mile pace which is significantly faster than my regular cruising speed.

Run highlight was the misty view of Geneva at the turn, outline of the old town with the water jet in front. What a great place to run.

Garmin

6m Geneva Track: 3x800m solid and 5x100m easy

From town out and back is 6m plus what we did at the track.

We did three 800m loops. Garmin data here (last 800m I pressed lap twice hence the wierd set).

We debated the pace long and hard, getting over the confusion of me talking in min kms and Tenke wondering why I wanted to do 800 in 4min - like what's the point dude?

Anyway, I asked for a bit 4min km pace and boy did I get it. After the first 400m, I get an opps sorry that's a shade fast from Tenke and she eases of a bit.

Rep 1: 2:51 or 3:27 min km pace
Rep 2: 2:53 or 3:32 min km pace

I thought we were doing two 800m, but somehow I knew there would be a third.

Rep 3: 3:01 or 3:42 min km pace: Tenke just eased through it and the class showed. I could just not hold the pace on the second 400m.

All three hit zone five after 400m.

We finished up with 5x 100 strides, which were fun. I had to try so hard to keep the pace down to 18s, but did let rip on the last 30m of the last rep to clear the 5th in 16s.

Was worth it for the look on Tenke's face and the comment "where did that come from?"

There were plenty of guys with 6 packs strutting their stuff around the track. Why do so many men here insist on runnig bare topped? or worse, with only a hrt strap on? Odd Odd Odd.

Went over on left ankle under a bridge on the way back, hurt a lot at the time but was ok to run back on.

6x 400m Reps

Very busy at the track today, got quieter as the workout went on.

Watched the guys and gals in orange numbered bibs with a coach working on the track when I arrived, but was reasured I could use the track when the coach shouted at orange bibs to get out of the road of a guy with a garmin crashing around on the inside lane.

Noticed a group of uber elite forming and thought about joining them. Glad I did not as they just ran the perimiter loop several times.

Rather than 8-10 poor reps I did 6x400 of 45s recovery and started reasonable and tried very hard to keep the pace even at around 80% of max.

Started at 85 and by the 2nd last rep was 82, falling off to 86 on the last one. That’s same fastest as July, BUT average is miles better, by the 4th rep in July I was in the 90s.

I was tired having been out with the stars of TVP the night before and not 100%.

Pleased with the session, thanks to Tenke's elite training tips I feel the progress is coming.

Garmin

8m including reps at the track 8x 400

Early today, hit the track just after 8am. It was packed. Main event was around 40 blokes in 2 teams racing with a baton - making lots of noise and all wearing red tops with black vertical stripes. Anyone know them?

There was a bear topped bloke doing 200m sprints, another guy jogging around the track and a lady going supper slow knocking out 100m shuttles.

I was unsure if my 400s were going to happen, but just as I was going to change the session Mr 200m crashed through the blokes doing the relay and then shouted at them to get out the road. The last two finished and then they vanished and the 400s were back on. Yippe.

I tried to ease into the first two at a pace I thought was sustainable. 83, 84, 82. Started to feel it on the 4th dropped to 87 then 89 and that was really a hard effort. 92, 91, 91 to finish and no point in doing any more.

45 sec recovery was perfect.



In my mind's eye I had Tenke pulling away from me in front and Ken closing in from behind. But looking at Ken's 400m reps from yesterday I'd have had nothing to worry about.

So that's the tack work done now. The length of reps required now means we can do them on the regular route and I'm looking forward to that.

9m including 8x 300m of 60s

Third week of track work and as we increased to 300m my ambitions to do ten were never likely to come to fruition due to the jump being too big and the weather being too hot.

After my error at the begining we ran away from the track which was pretty dumb and too over four miles at just under 8s.

Long route to the track (4.12m)



At the track there were some serious looking groups hanging around and after a quick water stop we were away.

During rep two I discovered shouting "Track!" in a French accent had the desired effect as the bloke on the inside lane jumped out the road and the ones on the outside drifted out to let us through.

First few were fine and Tenke creamed past in the first few seconds and pulled away, I could hold the gap at a few meters on the first 3 but by the fourth I could not keep the speed and my time had dropped from 56 to 59. Tenke was cross, what's the point of doing 10 if you cant even hold the pace on 4? 5th was a joke as was 6th at 66 and 67 respectively, but then we agreed to call it a day at 8 and by now I had recovered and cleared the 7th in 55. Head was swiming, heat was searing and I felt like I was going to die. 8th was 64 and I could do no more. Water then home, on the direct route!

Hrt was maxed out on the sub 60 reps and made zone 5 on all of them. Nice to see the instant drop to zone 3 as soon as I stop.

Short route back from the track (2.71m)



Stopped at every fountain for water. I was very tired after the track. At the last one I put my head right under, instant recovery.

Very pleased with the day's work.

10x 200m reps 6miles

Up to the stadium today. Felt like a long way there today, but perhaps that was more to do with the fact this was the third day on the trott of running with Tenke, I was tired!

By the time we got to the stadium, I had satellites finally locked on and my workout uploaded the night before we were ready to rock.

Plan was I'd push out on the first 100m of each rep, Tenke would draw level at this point and hold the pace for me through to the 200m point. I'd programmed 45s recovery which was enough time to jog to the next line and go again. Top tip, don't trust the garmin on the track, I found the lines on the ground are more accurate - but pressing lap does the trick when you hit the line.

After 3 reps my hrt was hitting 90% of max and I could not think straight. It felt like the track was the wrong length!

Tenke had a massive bruise on her leg from trying to get into a swimming pool when the metal barrier sprang back and whacked her. The injury was deep and getting worse. Tenke switched from running buddy to coach, calling the times of my reps and how many left. She also cut across the track to wait for me at the correct line which was just as well as I had no idea what was going on.

Easy back on new route 2.6 miles makes this the nicer and shorter route.

I really needed a drink and Tenke was gutted when I stopped at a big ornate fountain that had a water spout a foot to far away for her to reach. Luckily a short jog took us to fountain stop two which was as Tenke put it "short people friendly".

6m Geneva Track and 8x 100m

London weather. Rain. More rain. Lets go to the track. Do we have to? enquires Tenke, yes is the answer.

3 miles later we are there and it is a lovely track. Great condition and fantastic value for money. One guy jogging around and another doing 400m reps or something.

I suggest a few 100m sprints and we settle on run up the track, turn jog back as the recovery and go for 8.

The shocking revelation is that due to my long stride, ability to accelerate quickly, and perhaps more to the point, Tenke's lack of race fitness means that my 16 or 17 seconds to clear the 100m is just faster than she can do it. Wow. I've never been in front of Tenke before, and it is a weird sensation to hear her footfalls behind me. All 8 reps were steady with first two no bother and the rest all well into the 95% range and the jog back just about right to get the hrt back to somewhere sensible for the next one.

7:45min miles out and 8 min miles back.

Tenke nearly jumped a pram, but decided against it, to show solidarity with my decision to abstain from dog jumping...

5m Reps, 8min cycle

After climbing the walls a bit yesterday, no running it's a rest day, I was raring to go today having also had a good deep sleep.

It was sunny, but windy and going for billy no mates reps suddenly became hard work. What session to do? Could I be bothered? Oh yes. I found another half to do in September and the guy who came 13th last year in my age group assures me it is flat. Only thing is they intend to run it in the dark! Click here for the video.

So after sorting out the motivation I needed to pick a session and there were three pre-loaded in the Garmin. Anything involving one km or four mins was out as too depressing to consider, but the 8 minute cycle seemed to fit the bill for a sunny windy day. 4x (5on 30off 1on 90off).

I decided to focus on making the one min reps really count. The out bound was wind against today, but the return was a joy. I actually enjoyed the 5on during rep 3. Felt fast, controlled and effortless as the wind pushed me back to Geneva. Indeed, that one I managed all 5mins at sub 4min per km pace (the others were all just over).

But the real story was the one minute reps. I've struggled to do them well in the past and today was much better. By doing the 5on at a sustainable pace, I could actually go faster on the 1ons today. 3:42, 3:51, 3:38 and the last one a belter at 3:24. I'm sure the naked lady statue smiled at me as I punched the air when I went past on the return, by getting back beyond where I started I'd scored a hit.

Plenty of runners of all standards out today, so made the reps fun as I could pick of targets during the on sessions.

So well chuffed with the day's efforts and treated my self to a lovely big slab of strawberry cake.

Reps 4x6 off 2 and no stopping!

These pictures should convey how cold this run was. No danger of water skiing today. Far too cold. The wind blew the spray from the lake and the water froze. Amazing stuff.
I love the simplicity of this set.

In theory it should be straight forwards, go at 10 km race pace, which for me is bang on or hopefully a shade under the all important 4 min per km mark to get me around 10km in under 40 minutes. One day, one day.

It was another ice wind day. La bise had stopped blowing at 160km per hour ripping various bits of buildings in Rolle, most notably part of the petrol station. That made the news! However, she was still blowing firmly in from the lake towards Geneva and it was bitterly cold.

Tenke said she'd run at my pace. Hmmm. What that translated to was, I'll run at your pace until there is any hint of you fading then I'll drift in front just enough to drag you through the rep at the target pace. Which, into that wind is a particularly kind thing to do.

We started at the naked lady, which Tenke claimed was not naked. I'll let you make your own mind up on that one.

The ice wind bit hard and I struggled to find my rhythm. The Garmin went into over drive screaming at me to speed up. I decided to ignore it. Tenke demanded to know why the Garmin did not know we were running into the wind.

The rep finished and Tenke circles like a vulture while I'm bent over double gulping frozen air in and trying to get some blood back into my head. We jog through the recovery.

Rep two feels better and I ignore the Garmin and am delighted to hear the final beep as the rep ends. I assume the post rep bent over double position and suddenly Tenke is not circling anymore but standing over me with her hands on her hips and a stern look on her face. She barks "NO STOPPING!" at me in a thick Dutch accent which is quite scary. It has the desired effect though, as I jog through the rest of the recovery and dare not ever stop again during reps!

By now I realise that the 3rd and final outbound rep will take us further than I've ever been. I enquire about the route beyond the crane. Yeah it's fine, just run up the hill - that's how I run home....

So, the last half of rep three is both into the ice wind and uphill. Only the thought of coming back down keeps me going to the end of the four minutes. Tenke is disappointed that we don't make it to the top of the hill during the recovery - yes she made us run UP the hill on the recovery!

Rep 4 was a joy. Downhill and the ice wind behind. 5 and 6 were solid too and we nearly made it all the way back to the naked lady by the end of the set.

Easy warm down and some rough calculations cheer me as I am sure that was around 4 min kms on all the reps.


Did not get a chance to look at the stats until now and am pleasantly surprised. Shade slower than 4min kms on the outbound 3 into the wind, but just a shade faster than 4min kms on the way back so net-net all six were at an ave of 03:56
pace. Now all I need to do for sub 40 10km is add 4 more reps and remove the 2min recoveries!

Heart rate was also spot on. Hit max on last rep and spent 14mins in zone 5 which is the most I've spent in the intensive zone for a long time.

Honours at Last Ever Lockett's Rockets

Martin had kindly forwarded on my Geneva news to the guys at Lockett's Rockets so I got a fair few questions on the move.

On the way up a mad squirrel got under the Rockets and darted through the group in random directions before scurrying off towards the school. It nearly knocked over about three rockets and had the rest in stitches.

The lovely Sarah was there. I started to mention Simon-without-showers, but she cut me off. I don't work there anymore, there are no communal showers, each company has their own showers and if his doesn't there is a fitness first on the other side of the road. Actually, she summed it up nicely with "Tell him to join the f(censored)ing gym." So, sorry Simon looks there is no such thing as a free shower in the city.

Today was to be my last ever Lockett's Rockets and I was very touched to be closely consulted on calling the session (6 by 4 off 1, with 2 at the turn) and being ceremonially shoved to the front and made to lead the first rep.

Ok guys, the elite nod, fingers on stopwatches, and I shout AWAY! What an honour. All 15 or so Rockets are behind me and I set the pace, but within second Alan Barnes and the guy with the special shoes for reps go past, but Andy Weir calls a halt to that and gives me a minute at what feels like 100m pace before letting the rest of the elite go through. By the end of rep one it is B runners behind and I jog backwards through the recovery to find my C friends. Luckily Paul had brought some newbies along and I'd dragged Andrew along to see how it works. He even managed the first rep and then ran along behind.

I had Karen and Steve around me on rep two, but they pushed away and I eased through the third. During the 2 mins at half way we all kinnda regrouped and I decided to try to hold Sarah rather than Steve. Paul was cunningly only using 80 percent power saving himself for Sunday's Fred Hughes 10 miles and monitoring incoming bikes, checking for heelstrikes and generally enjoying the view from the back.

Rep five was a cracker. Steve and Sarah and I were all level and Steve made a break for it. He was looking around to see if I'd gone with him, but I just stayed tucked behind Sarah. He'd pushed too hard to get by and so as Sarah cranked the pace up slowly in response he could do nothing about it when Sarah and I overtook him. He was clearly gutted by that. By now I'd had enough and rep six was hardly a rep as it was so slow Paul was actually talking to me during it.

The clip back was predictably fast given the high number of elite out today, but it fine.

So that's it. I'm swapping the Regents Canal for the Rhone, the muddy puddles for Lac Leman, Green Park hill for the Alps. But the Rocket inside is there for ever. The times at the canal have been a mixture of agony, joy, laughs and the surreal. I've learnt much about myself here and will surely miss that noon calling to pain.

And I've found an ex-rocket who works in Geneva and has invited me to join her for some lunch time running. Could this be the start of Les Fusées Genevois?

800m reps

I was slightly surprised to get a text suggesting reps this morning from Kenny, but I did not fancy another 120 minutes in the freezing cold so in spite of having done my first set of intervals in over a month only two days ago I decided to go for it. As Kenny pointed out, we have never actually done intervals together so it would be an interesting session.

I'm more of a do your reps on a route kinna guy while Kenny is in the backwards and forwards school of reps. I decided to go with his backwards forwards method, so if something bad happened we'd not be too far from home.

It had snowed overnight, just a light dusting, and while very cold the dusting of snow had neither frozen nor melted so was ok to run on. Kenny strategically placed the bottle of water 100m way from our start point so we had to wait until all six reps were cleared before we could get a glug, still it was a nice touch.

Having spent most of the previous evening trying to coax my Garmin in to metric then set up the "Advanced" workout I failed to press the start button (I was pressing lap) so captured no data until the 5th rep.

The first one was back to Harpenden from the Water station on the Harpenden to Luton cycle way, which has a slight incline on it. Barely noticeable on a normal run but as part of the 800m rep it made its presence felt.

We crashed through the first rep, I made a conscious effort to not bolt and hold the pace back at 10km. I think that worked, 2nd rep was hard. I felt good on the third and fourth. Kenny's footfalls just behind me were enough motivation to hold the pace on the last third. Tried to focus on form, staying light and upright with the speed coming from spinning the legs wide with the same cadence. Seemed to work ok as held of the big man. Finally, I worked out my Garmin issues and that gave me more confidence to let the gap between us grow (I was worried I'd do more if I could not hear Kenny's Garmin beep the end of the 800m) and push a shade harder. 5th was 3:45 with 156 max hrt and 6th was 3:48 with a max of 155. Took a minute to get back down to 120 which is pretty good for me.

Biggest issue today was gulping the freezing cold air at the end of each rep. Lungs could not cope with that. The two minute recovery felt just not enough which is exactly what we want.

As Kenny so aptly put it, that feels like the end of the Herts 10km. Yes. That's exactly the point. Job done.

Very solid reps

I made it super early out today. Went through the meeting point far too soon to wait, so decided to use the extra time to JOG up to the canal and focus of form and recovery from Sunday's long muddy run that had racked up a fair old set of aches and pains. I was in half a mind to turn it into an easy run, but after a few mins my legs were moving more freely and I felt it would be fun to see the look on Paul, Steve and Martin's faces when they came over the bridge to see little old me already at the canal fully recovered and all set for the session.

Bumped into a top guy on his way up so moved up to chatting pace and had a blether with him as we streched off and waited for the guys to arrive. And in terms of performance potential we had the whole alphabet on show if you want to use Paul's grading system. Lots from pure newbie to top gun.

I tried to drift to the back and got a ton of comments about tactical positioning from Martin and Paul.

Session was called as yet another 24 mins on - this time split in 8 sets of 3 on with 1 recovery followed by a well needed two at the turn.

Aisha predictably set of, well, like a Rocket- but I knew she would fade and so the abuse about "Oi you blogged you were faster than her" was like water off a duck's back. And anyway someone who is actually behind you is in no position to make comments like that.

By rep three I was begining to get into it and was "steady" shall we say. Using just enough effort to clear the three mins with close to nothing left and the one minute was just enough recovery to be able to repeat the process. Martin offered to run ahead if I was to take the lead on the return, I made the trade.

We overtook Aisha during rep 3 and at the end of the rep I could see Paul and Aisha waving a bag of excuses, but I could not be bothered to try and comprehend the sign language and figured that after getting dispensation from the race organiser to take part in a Women's only race in Luton, Paul(a) had once again gone for the "girl's" option and headed back.

I'd have thrown and easy rep for the 4th, but Martin powered through it and we were on Scrutton's tail and had I not had another 4 sets of 3 to do I might have caught him. At the turn a small group formed and Martin gave us a serious pep talk. "Right guys, Karen overtaking us is ok, I can deal with that, but there is NO WAY we are letting Steve Scrutton catch us. Right boys, GOT IT?"

After that dead serious silience fell during and after the reps as Martin kicked of each one to set the pace and he huffed and puffed along. He didn't keep to the deal, stepping out and setting the pace himself at the start of the runs. By rep 6 I was feeling dizzy but just recovered enough to get back to the same pace in rep 7. And once again as form came to mind just before the metal humped bridge over the side canal I could feel the speed increase for free. I noticed Martin making even more noise than usual and after he looked at his watch for the 3rd time in 10 seconds I knew I had no choice other than to look at the top of the bridge, drive the knees high and push hard with the toes. The result was the desired gap which I managed to keep all the way to the end of rep 7 and by the end of rep 8 the gap was still there and I was seriously close to seeing breakfast again.

Now that is the sign of rock hard of reps.

At the end Strutton was on about "Where were you two? etc etc", but we were fine. Martin and I were evens stevens the whole way and ran a perfectly paced set of reps. Steve had gone out too fast with Aisha. The real class showed with only two elite catching me from the large field and I nearly crashed with Andy Wier as I missed the guy coming down through the last rep as he tried to overtake me on the uplock. My grovelling appology was accepted.

Right, so that's my high intensity work done for the week. I'm officially in taper until Friday's Hare and Hound, which will probably be my last ever.

Post race recovery reps - I'm a B minus!

No Paul today. Martin was busy, but might have been coaxed out if there was some savage hunting to be done.
I was at the meeting point well early and next to arrive was Aisha leading a group of asset managers towards the meeting point. I waved at her and she waved back, changing direction to cut over to my side of the road. Unfortunately, her three buddies kept going in a straight on and the first guy bumped into her and nearly went over, followed by a pure keystone cops moment as the other two went into the first guy. They survived unscathed, but it was very funny.
Then the Scrutton arrived dribbling at the mouth before he'd even got to the meeting point. He cleaned himself up and then set off on a barrage of comments around how great it was to see such a mass of rubbish runners. On the way up I explained how in Paul's grading system he'd recently moved from a C to a B- trending B. The grin on his face said it all.
Alan Barnes (first man at the cross country in 30:mins) was at the canal resplendent in his long white compression socks! I gave a cheer for those. Nick was there too (sixth at the cross country).
My view was then respected by the elite as we needed some recovery reps for those who had raced and those who are going to race on the weekend at some elite bash. Ian Lockett himself set the session as :
12x 1min on 30seconds recovery, as hard as you like or stride it through.
Wind impact high, so 7 out 5 back.
Suddenly I panicked as me and some of the slow boys were in amongst the elite. Quick track back and we're off and I'm sort of in with Paul's B group. I decide to tuck in behind the girls and sure enough it is too fast and I'm dropped at the 4th rep. But there is still a ton of people behind me. Including the scrutton.
John Clarke (3rd at the cross country) goes by at full speed going the other way, he nods in response to my cheerful encouragement.
Battle through to the turn trading places with Steve and Aisha a few times. Easy one to the turn sets up the back five battle.
Ease through to catch Aisha on the first return leg. Karen's group go through on the 9th rep and I risk tucking in. Sarah is not holding Karen's pace and by the final rep I sneak past her.
As we finish the final rep I hear the voice of an out of breath Steve Scrutton "Guess who did not run hard enough yesterday?". He always has a come back this guy!
Great run back (chatting at elite recovery pace) to Alan who was pleased I'd had a good cross country after the bad half marathon race. It's great to be running again while not sick!
Nice to catch these guys thoughts and very nice not to be at the back on my own.
Now, where was Paul?
Possible Limehouse loop with Martin tomorrow. Looking forward to that.

Neither struggling nor straggling

Got to the meeting point and while there were plenty of elite there was also Steve Scrutton grinning inanely at me and nodding his head at Aisha and a portly gentleman and make noises like company at the back for us then.

On the way up Steve was bemoaning how he felt like he had moved back from a straggler to become a struggler.

It was a big group and so big the elite had to come back to repeat the session to the back markers. It was a classic 8 times 3 on with 1 recovery and two at the turn.

Straight away I formulated a plan to not overtake Aisha, but seemed like four other guys had the same idea as we all slotted in behind her. If I am honest the first two reps were probably a shade easy. But Aisha made me work in rep 3 to say with her and Sutton was running through the recoveries to catch us, while not challenging during the on sections. I talked Aisha into rep 4 as she was thinking about going back after 3 and in return she talked me in to not waiting for her. Got miles past Vicky Park entrance so that's the farthest along the canal we've been for ages. Felt good to ponder that point and enjoy the extra minute at the turn.

The portly chap crashed through the end of the fourth rep and wanted to know what the shortest route back was. That depends where back is I guess, but we were all of the view he needed to go back to the start to avoid getting lost.

Came back solid, controlled and strong.

Why did today feel so good?
Correct sleep: went to bed early and slept like a log and was not on earlies at work
Good fuel: big breakfast followed by banana one hour before
And because I knew the session: I was controlled and did not blow it after two reps by going too fast at the beginning.

Portly chap sprinted to the end some 3 mins after we had all finished, much to our amusement. On the way back he did the same thing, could not keep up on the recovery home then sprinted past us half way back. Either no one told him it was only 8 reps or he was late for a meeting.

On the recovery clip home I have discovered that not only can I keep up but I can hold a conversation.

Turns out this is the perfect session for 10km training - how cool is that?

So I chatted with the elite about the session we'd done on Sunday and they all thought that race day adrenaline and the fact you have a number pinned to your chest makes all the difference and they all though that a couple of mins off Sunday's time for race day on a 10km was a distinct possibility.

Wet Rockets

It was oh so wet. I was the first at the meeting point and enjoyed watching the guys come in. There are some very young and very blond and very very fast new Rockets making the front guys work hard to avoid the elite group being surpassed by the new uber elite.

Meanwhile I was delighted to see Steve Scrutton appear and at least one mid range Rocket decided he was taking it easy as he had a race tomorrow and locked on to me as his dead weight.

Soaked to the skin and cold by the time we got to the start there was no messing about and the 4 times 7 mins session was called. This is a particularly nasty one. You get 4mins running hard, 30 seconds recovery then 1 minute running very hard and 90 seconds recovery in each 7 min cycle.

I had no interest in racing anyone today. Suddenly it had been a tough few days with Sat reps, Sunday long, Monday circuits and back to reps today. As the water came down by the bucket load I was focusing on avoiding the deepest bits of the puddles and not letting Steve drift to far in front of me. He kept looking back and I figured he was checking he was just doing enough to keep me from catching up.

Some of the mid range rockets came back to collect us on the recovery which was a nice touch and much appreciated.

Uber elite came through at the end of the third rep and the elite followed by the rest during the last one.

And my wee moment of glory was on the fourth rep on the last one minute on I pegged Scrutton back waited for my moment and went past as we overtook a jogger and powered up the incline to the last lock. I let him jog through to catch me and got some abuse about going longer than the minute to ensure I got past him and how come it was only the last rep you could do that on etc etc. Ha Ha I love it. The last one is the one everyone sees!

Got plenty of dirty looks going into the office as I had to wring out my top it was so wet before I went in dripping through reception.

Short sharp shock

Having slept a massive 11 hours and rested on Friday I was full of energy and just felt the need for speed, especially as tomorrow will be long and painfully slow.

So I headed down to the newly tarmac-ed Luton cycle way with the Garmin set up for 4 sets of 4mins on 2mins off. My ambition as ever is to get one km cleared in each on set.

And for the first time since April this year I managed it. Reps one and two were 1.02 and 1.01 km each. Felt fast and hard, but yet again it was the lungs holding me back. Felt a shade wheezy and realised I had forgotten to take my asthma medication in the morning. Decided to focus on form for the return legs and breath steady. Felt like I'd eased off massively, but had found a rhythm and held it for home last two reps we 980m each - the last one I had to stop for a car on Westfield road.

Delighted with that little test as hrt on the on was zone five for the second half in each one and recovery was swift, two mins may be generous as the drop off to zone one is around 90 seconds. I think I'll clear 8km at sub 4min km before dropping the recovery to 1m.

Reverse Pyramid in Egyptian weather

I was out and at the meeting point ahead of time and enjoyed watching the late comers busting their guts to get there before we left. I was delighted to be joined by Steve Scrutton at the back, he actually physically lifted my shades to check it was me under them. He decided to do the session and I decided to try and go steady with him.

Mr Lockett himself, resplendent in a canary yellow surrey vest, called the session: classic reverse pyramid: 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4 mins on with half the on time recovery in between.

Many Lockets removed their tops at the start as it was so hot, inculding Karen who took off her t-shirt to a few gasps and raised eyebrows, but she was wearing a skimpy top underneath.

Rep one was fine and although hot I had no interest in pegging back Karen's group and settled into a decent pace next to Steve. After a couple of mins I drifted ahead and pushed on. Rep two was a disaster. I set off to fast and realised after 2 of the 3 minutes and stopped after 2 and a half. Got a few seconds recovory before Steve turned the corner and screamed at me to get going as there were still 20 seconds left to do. That got me going again.

Managed the rest of them better, resisting the temptation to challenge as the elite went through at the homeward 3 and 4 mins. Certainly felt fast in the heat. Made it all the way to the park.

Could feel the Tibialis Posterier on the last rep, possible that the form fell away on that one.