Fog, Sweat and Mince and Potatoes!

Track session last night at Linwood with the Club.  Hard session.  5 x 1600 metres (4 times round the track).  The session is decided by our Coach, Derek Parker who is a very well respected coach in the running world and coaches some real talented athletes like Haley Haining and Claire Gibson. I'm lucky to have a little bit of his time and he has helped me immensely since joining the club last year. I'm one of his older runners (wouldn't really call myself an athlete like the others), but what's great is that despite Derek having top class runners to coach, he always has time for people like me who are just trying to achieve some personal goals and we get access to his wisdom to help improve our performance. That's the benefit of running with a club.

So, last night's session.  In a word - murder.  But again a step closer to my 41 minute goal.  Ran the session with another club runner Kat.  We run similar times and its good to share the pain.  Kat ran really well and gave me a good run for my money.  On the cooldown laps we venture out of the track and run round Linwood just for a change and that's when we talk about getting home and what we're all having for dinner. We're usually beat and tired after our run and thinking about dinner always puts a smile on our faces.  So last night we talked about corn beef hash, pasta and mince and potatoes! 

One of the really important things about training is trying to get your diet right as well and one thing I''m not great at is eating qucikly enough after I finish a run.  The first hour is really important to refuel and I don't always manage that. Derek has again been good for me in this respect introducing me to more isotonic drinks and gels etc which I really need to use more this year especially when I move up to half marathon.

Talking of which, in a moment of madness last night I committed to running a half marathon before the Women's 10K which I haven't done this early in the season before.  I usually run 10K's for the first half of the year and move onto halfs for the Great Scottish Run in September.  So, looks like I'm doing the Alloa Half in March which means a long run of 15 miles in about 3 weeks.  Can't wait.  Long plods are not my speciality but again, if it helps my 10K time, I'll do just about anything!

Anyway, back to food.  Last night's dinner which consisted of mince, potatoes and beans, shared with my partner Keith was a lovely end to the day!  And of course a few squares of my favourite chocolate and a cuppa.  I'm easily pleased!!!