I ran in the SEAA 4 stage Road Relays today - a fairly exclusive event open to UKA affiliated running clubs only, and [with a couple of exceptions] has been held on the same course for decades.
I approached today, adamant that I was going to concentrate on style, and hold it for as long as I could.
This is the fastest session that I have run since starting the programme 4 weeks ago. So there are some interesting observations.
The first lap (3km) felt easy, and I had another athlete giving me a good pull (as you can see). I was able to keep the hips up and forward without much trouble. see picture: I think this is looking MUCH better, although far from "there" yet. I can also see where I am almost "pulling" my head back, as alluded to in previous blog.
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| I'm in the stripes... |
The second lap, I noticed some things (sorry, no pic):
- As fatigue started to set in, I could consciously lift my hips and maintain style, but it was hard to maintain this.
- As fatigue advanced yet further, this became much more difficult
Right, so the BIGGEST lesson today was about time in the air. I've noticed how, as Keith points out, to go faster, you don't "walk forwards" with the feet, and you don't (can't) increase cadence. But it's all in the take off. Really pushing off with the toes, and getting more time in the air, makes a huge difference to speed.
And the result?
My preparation for the event was fairly typical, and I wore the same racing shoes as the last 2 years (Saucony Fastwitch - light, flat)
But this time made my eyes pop out:
But this time made my eyes pop out:
| year | time |
| 2007 | 20:38 |
| 2008 | 20:46 |
| 2009 | 21:03 |
| 2010 | 21:20 |
| 2011 | 21:36 |
| 2012 | 21:45 |
| 2013 | 22:27 |
| 2014 | 22:29 |
| 2015 | 21:52 |
