This evening the running club had a competition night. The runners were split in to two teams and set the challenge of an “Out and Back!” run! The teams ran a route in opposing directions with the lead runners meeting in the middle (supposedly). Once the lead runners met they turned around and sprinted back to the start. On their return journey they “Tag” the rest of their team as they meet them, they also turn around and return to the start as quick as possible. The team to get all their runners back to the start first wins. It did take some explaining but once started the runners picked it up quickly. The purpose of this training was to improve peoples Anaerobic threshold, this will aid their running endurance and speed, check out Training lactate threshold and OBLA for more information. It certainly worked as the runners all put their effort in to the first run. In team 1 Mike captained Juliette, Sandy, Alistair and Jo, whilst Mark led Greg, Sue, Pete and Maggie.
The first run saw Mike and Mark meet on Peters Road and sprint back bringing their teams with them. It was a close finish with Mikes team completing their run as Marks team turned in to Osborne Road from Church Road, a win of about 80 meters – Close finish!! The runners needed a quick recovery as they had all work extrememly hard, with many working anaerobically – perfect for developing their fitness levels. The second run was not quite so quick, but it was Marks team who won this time with just 50 meters in it!!
Well done to all the runners. In total the teams ran for 46 minutes at a high intensity. The furthest runners covered 5.6miles in this time with the rest covering between 4 and 5.2 miles. It was agreed it was a good workout with many of them not realising they had run so far.
Next week we are planning a beginners route – 2.5miles and a 5mile route. See you then
