Scary Trackwork.

For a while earlier on in the year I took a young friend to the club trackwork session. The first night I went in my running gear, thinking I could sort of join in around the edges or maybe do a couple of laps round the track while he did the group session. Epic fail, got there saw that the youth athletics club also use the track, and completely wimped out. I thought that they would fall about laughing at a wee fat and old (I am aware that to youngsters even twenty five is ancient) me wobbling along, and anyway it's mainly a lot of the fast racing snakes from club who attend track sessions. So what did I do, I lent a hand with timing for a few weeks, getting an insight into what was going on and what the coach was doing with each group of runners.

I continued to take J along and then he had a break, preferring for a while to join in with the speedplay sessions instead. Now I can't actually remember at what point I finally gave in to this strangely masochistic desire to at least try a session, but anyway I dragged J back to track for moral support. The first night passed in a blur of fright and fear but as I lumbered around the track for the warm up, puffed my way through the drills and then heaved my poor body through the actual session I learned something. Those youngsters I'd been so scared of were so busy doing their own thing to even appear to notice me, or that they are just too polite to make it obvious. No, I really think they are just focused on their own training to bother what anyone else is doing. Oh Lord and some of them are really fast.

It's been a couple of months now and I've been attending regularly. It's still scary and tonight I honestly thought I was going to be sick, but the sessions are getting, well not easier, but they feel more fluid if that makes sense. I can feel improvement and I feel I can understand the point of each session and I feel I've achieved something at the end of it. The coach takes the normal session and then tailors my session to be almost the same, but with perhaps shorter distance, or time intervals. Sometimes one or two of the not so fast members of club turn up and I have company, which is nice, but mostly it's my friend M who times me and "encourages" me to keep going. She is going to be doing her coach qualification soon and I suppose I'm good practice for her LOL.

I do still have to have that talk with myself on Thursday nights, you know the one, the one that goes "I could just stay at home" "no you will not you wimp, you'll go and get on with it" blah blah, but I am really pleased that I overcame my initial fear as feel gained so much by doing so.

Roll on next session.

Bye for now.