Another good week at the track. This week’s Athletics Victoria Shield round (round 9) was a twilight meet locally, due to state and national multi event championships being on all weekend, which I wasn’t able to enter, due to a conflict with fire brigade competitions, where I am the hardest person to replace, due to my specialist skills on the ladder.
Anyway, with the evening timeslot, I decided not to enter any field events. I also entered the 400m hurdles, because I saw this event as an opportunity to score good points for the club at the upcoming country championships. Other events entered were a couple of old favourites, the 100 and 200 metres..
In preparation for the long hurdles, I did some training on Tuesday with 3 flights setup along 150 metres of the track, to get used to the longer hurdle running. However, leading up to the event, preparation wasn’t ideal. Thursday night’s track session was followed by a hard fire brigade session, which saw the team run 3 hose and ladder 5s in quick succession, some of them saw me getting up in among the best times I’ve ever run. That was followed with a couple of hose and reel sixes, where I had to fill in as pole and assist. Again, thee were good runs. Today started a bit better, with a relatively light yoga session, which freed a few things up. So by the time I got to the track, I was well and truly in “Day 2 mode”.
Anyway, warmed up for the hurdles and did a few practice runs over the first 2 flights to prepare. And it was time to race. My plan was to go around steady, with a view to finishing the race. Time was secondary. Started steady, but not too hard, as I knew I wasn’t going to use a lot of speed. First couple of hurdles went well. Had some issues getting my stride pattern right for the 3 hurdles along the back straight, where there was a stiff headwind at the time, but things improved into the bend. Despite feeling some fatigue, the last few hurdles went smoothly, and I finished strong. Time was 1:21.05, which I’m sure will be faster, next time I run the 400m hurdles.
As the 200 metres followed within 30 minutes, there was no need for further warmups. Instead, recovery was needed. I rested while waiting for the 200m to start. Still felt a bit fatigued from the hurdles when the 200m started, but got out steady. Found myself in another tight contest in the home straight, which I won, finishing strong in a time of 27.91. With a -1.8m/S headwind and still recovering from the 400m hurdles, I was happy with that time.
My final event was the 100 metres. I was probably a bit over cautious because of my recent hamstring strain, resulting in a slow start and less than optimal acceleration. Once up to top speed, I opened up and finished the race well. Time was 13.67 with practically no wind (-0.2). Next time, I know I will be able to go all out. My hamstring showed no sign at all of trouble.
So overall, a good day, breaking some new ground with the long hurdles, and again good fitness showing through. Looking forward to the country championships in 2 weeks time.
- Tony via Tumblr http://bit.ly/2RltThH
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