Hogmanay Reps

8 rockets for Hogmanay (New Years Eve) reps.

I was the only JPM rocket and no sign of Paul or Martin at the freezing meeting point. Karen and Sarah were there with Richard somewhere between the girls and the four Elite, including messers Barnes and Weir.

Session was the classic 4 step inverted pyramid, so for the Aro Runners following the blog and looking for an explanation of the session to re-use it here goes.

Each effort is followed by a rest half as long as the rep you just did. Starting and ending in 4 mins. So we have 4 on then 2 recovery (2 being half of 4) then 3 on 1.5 off, then 2 on and 1 off then 1 on and 0.5 off. Now back up the other side of the Pyramid. 1 on 0.5 recovery, 2 on 1 off, 3 on 1.5 off, 4 on and finished. The second half is much harder as the reps are preceded by a shorter recovery.

I made a list of excuses before the session:
1) Jet lag
2) Change in weather from 30 to zero
3) No intervals for over a month (last reps on 24th Nov.)
4) Not sure the little running I did in the Dominican Republic was enough to count
5) Two weeks of all inclusive was showing on my waist as I failed to burn more calories than I consumed
6) Didn't eat enough for breakfast

However I amazed myself by keeping up with the girls until the 3 mins on the way back when they dropped me and the elite started to come through.

Karen dropped Sarah too. In the end the only slither of honour saved was that Richard didn't catch me on the last rep. That just kept me out of the C minus category!

From nowhere on the recovery back I suddenly have fast legs and bounced home chatting away to the elite on the recovery run. I remember when I could not hold the recovery pace let alone talk. It would seem all is not lost.