Tonight's training session was only the 2nd one I've made this year (haven't been fit enough most of the time) and it was pretty brutal! We did 8 lots of 5 minutes fast, 3 minutes slow. Because it was built around time rather than distance, each person will have covered a different total distance within the time. I covered a little over 8 miles. The rain meant some of the ground was pretty boggy and there was one slightly uphill and very wet section that really sapped the legs each time. There's something quite exhilirating and cathartic about flogging your guts out like that in a hard session in the rain, and it's definitely one of the things I missed most while I was injured. (Club training, not the rain. No opportunity to miss the rain in Scotland...)
Anyway, here's a few things I've been reminded of since returning to running club training:
- It's amazing how much you can still do in terms of speedwork when your legs are already tired from the rest of your training.
- It's amazing how much sweat you can produce in a one-hour session. Basically right to the bottom hem of your t-shirt. Eeeuuggh.
- You can push yourself much harder in group training than you do on your own.
- It's *much* more enjoyable to do speedwork and long runs with other people.
- There's a huge amount of experience and knowledge to be shared between runners. You'll be surprised who else has been through similar injuries, or has similar aspirations or challenges.
- Club runners are warm and supportive people who will always tell you you look strong and are running well even when it's not true!
- It's nice to be congratulated by colleagues at the end of a tough session whether you were really doing well or not...
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