Punishment

Hill Session - 1 hour
Primrose Hill

Punishment. Yes, for that is what this is. Punishment on many, many levels.

I am in fact punishing myself for some decidedly non-marathon-training-like-behavior on Thursday night. I had planned to come home from work and go out for a second fartlek session - catching me up on my training schedule. Instead, I got home, decided it was too cold and, not only didn't go out training, I ordered a take away curry (delivery!!) and sat and scoffed it in front of Big Brother!

Now then, let's be realistic. There are times when I am going to want to ditch my training plan and have a night off - that is allowed. What is not allowed, however, is to eat a massive curry (and, ok, half a Vienetta as well) in place of that. Behavior like that has to have consequences. it is for my own good if I want to get around the course on 22 April!

So I booked myself on to a Saturday morning hill training session with the Serpentine Club. And here I am. The session is ideal for me: it doesn't take too much time (I would otherwise be in bed on a Saturday morning), it is easy to get to (Primrose Hill is about a 15 minute bus ride away) and it is intensive yet not too stressful for my knee. Also, the surroundings are lovely. To give you and idea of what I'm talking about, here is a pic of Primrose Hill I snapped this morning:

I joined my fellow Serpies at the bottom of the hill and was alarmed to see that they all looked seriously slim and toned. Bastards.

We started with a quick warm up - much to the amusement of the local Primrose Hillers - which involved high-knee running, leg flicks, side stepping, fast steps and skipping. We then ran twice up and down the hill at a slow pace (which was hard enough in itself!) After that, we started proper.

The first session was on a path that ran straight up the side of the hill - quite steep. It probably took 30-45 seconds to do one 'climb' and then you could jog back down. The coaches running the session stayed at the bottom to give instructions, offer guidance on technique and generally tell us we were doing well. We did 3 repeats at marathon pace (i.e. effort 2), 5 repeats at 10k pace (i.e. effort 3) and 3 repeats at 5k pace (effort 4). It was very hard work. The best technique (i was told) is to stay on your toes and 'spring' up the hill using your arms to pull yourself up. It seemed to work well, but was obviously very tiring.

After the first session, we had a 4 or 5 minute break then went to a second path up the hill, about twice as long, with a more gradual climb but a very steep section at the end. On this path, we did 2 repeats at marathon pace, 3 at 10k pace and 2 at 5k pace. Again, it was very tiring, but there was a really good sense of camaraderie amongst the group - we were all in this together!

Looking back, I suppose we must have looked quite ridiculous to everyone else in the park, but I didn't really notice anyone. You just completely shut everything out and concentrate on what you are doing. There's no time (indeed, there is no energy) and very little point in wondering what people are thinking of you. I did hear one chap say "That looks like hard work!" which, I felt, was already apparent to me, but I suppose he was just being nice.

At the end of the session, we stretched and I hopped on the 274 back to Cally Road. I suppose a real marathon man would have run home, but I wanted to save a bit in the tank for tomorrow.

Knee update - it coped ok with the hill session, but I could feel it a bit at the end. Will see how I get on doing a long run tomorrow. Saw the osteopath again this week. She thinks I am doing well (awww!) and congratulated me by stretching my leg back over my shoulder and assigning me two more daily exercises:

1. A strengthening exercise for your quads: place a pencil in front of the second toe on your left foot, take the right foot off the ground, close one eye and then bend your knee down towards a squat then back up to the point just before your knee locks, keeping your knee cap in line with the pencil. Repeat 6 times, do a set of 3 on each leg.

2. A srengthening exercise for your hamstrings: lying on your back, put your legs up onto a chair so that your thighs are at right angles with the floor. Press down with your heels onto the chair until you feel your hamstring tense up, hold and then release. Repeat 6 times, do a set of 3 on each leg.

All in all it's been a very good week of training. I am happy with my performance today and will give it another go next weekend or the one after. Long run tomorrow, threshold run Monday night and then spinning on Tuesday!! If I can do all of those I will have earned another curry...

The lovely Primrose Hill - at the top!