Athletics - Week 2

Today was quite different conditions to last week, with cooler temperatures and the wind starting out as almost a cross wind and turning into a headwind as the day progressed, but the draw was the same, so I entered the 100m and 400m events.

The 100m went well, felt like my best ever, and I had plenty of power right up to the finish.  However, the clock told a different story.  14.00 seconds, just short of my PB.  However, this is the first time since starting training that I've run with a headwind (1.7 m/S officially).  A quick analysis of the results shows that the headwind affected me much less than most of the others, which I did expect.  My time was slightly faster than last week, though last week I was being a bit cautious.  It is also only 0.13 seconds slower than my PB, which was set with a tail wind.

Again, 400m was next.  Conditions were tough, with the wind having now changed from more of a cross wind to a near headwind in the final straight.  For the first half of the race, I took full advantage of the tail wind on the back straight, before taking on the headwind for the last 150m or so.  Finished with a time of 66.65, 1.22 seconds better than last week's PB.  This run also took everything I had, which made it double as an excellent training run to build fitness.

My last event was the medley relay.  This involves 2x200m legs, then a 400m leg and finishing with an 800m leg.  I ran the first 200m leg, starting into the wind (where I had a power advantage), before turning towards the back straight with a tail wind.  This went well.  I had recovered from my previous all out 400m run.  Overall, we did OK, except one of the guys had some soreness, and a rough changeover later in the race (long after my stage finished).

Overall, I was pleased with the day.  My 400m performances continue to improve, far beyond anything I had anticipated when I started.  However, 100m improvements remains a challenge, and I am taking extra steps to try and improve my form in this event.

Next week is the alternate program, which means I will be entering the 60m and 200m sprints.  It will be interesting to see how I go in these events.