roy benson workout -part one i hope

thought i would get this in while waiting for the washing machine to finish and listening to some old ABBA in the background.

up and out this morning past cars covered in frost and temps now at 36 degrees. morning heart rate was 45 so that was good. legs not springy but not dead like the past several days. wonder what they would feel like with 3 days off. haven't not run two days in a row since northern ireland golf trip.

but plan now is to cut down weekly mileage and get some more sprint work in and maybe some faster hill work repeats. maybe even go to the track some more. problem with the track stuff is that i have a choice of running 3 miles to get there and then do the workout or work until after 9am and take the bus. never know what you will find there when you get there with only one public track for the oxford university teams to use as well as anyone else and running clubs.

speedwork presents opportunities for getting faster at the risk of breaking something down - and it always seems to highlight the problem body parts. in my case the right quad and left hamstring, a definite body imbalance plus now the added bonus of a bad right piriformis and right hip, things i can control to some degree with an eye on pace.

the track can wait for another day and i ran up to my measured road sections. past the new hear of cows and the sheep and the deer and the pheasants running around in the field. don't get this view at ft hunt or tc williams track.

stopped to stretch at the white rail bridge and started with an eye on controlling pace, getting back my old breathing rhythm, and working the right leg again. did the old workout of coach roy benson for jock geezers i think he called it, 36 sprint intervals.
(abba now replaced by sinead o'connor)
about 46 minutes into run/workout my lungs finally opened up and i could actually get some oxygen to my legs and smell the air. wouldn't wish my asthma on anyone else though i usually don't complain about it anymore. but i can tell when the lungs kick in more by my ability to smell the air than to breathe, strange....

the workout went ok. i stayed under control rather than go all out and watched everything somewhat. the right leg had good and bad moments, but there is small progress there i think. the breathing (chieftains and the corrs now )pattern is easier to get back in place. simple-every two left foot steps you breathe. breath two three four breathe two three four-you get the idea. this really helps avoid side stitches and can be done at any pace. and late in a race when you are sprinting for the line it gives something to focus on.

ran six sets of six and each set i tried to focus on something different. not sure everyone would do the workout this way and maybe when i was younger i would have just run them and not worried about stuff, but it is more fun this way and i think it will also help me work a little easier. 36 of anything is not an easy workout and about number 24 you start telling yourself that 24 is a good workout... like trying to hit 200 putts and wanting to stop about 120. but 36 gives speed and strength and also helps the brain keep going when you want to stop. as they say the hardest lap in a mile race is the third lap. everyone can do the last one.

(emmy lou harris, dolly parton and linda ronstadt now)

stretched after a little warm-down and headed over and through port meadow to the river. still cold but the sun was out with very little wind. back past the sheep and cows and down the thames i went. water very green today and several boats out as well as dog walkers. cut over to the canal and did the small loop around templeton college, but was turned back by the police a a bike rider had been hit by a car and they were working on her. seemed ok from where i was but was holding her ankle and grimacing. hope she is ok. with 10,000 people riding their bikes everyday here accidents are always possible.

went back around and over past the train station and did a quick little jog past the old st thomas the martyr church and then back towards home. will see how it all feels later. i like to say you can tell how a workout went by how you feel the next day. i already know that gail and i will start out together tomorrow as she skipped today to work on the paper she is giving later today.

(amy whitehouse on now-i must be the only person who has never heard her sing, but her personality disgusts me so i never listened to her, but the sound is ok; in this song she is singing a duet with linda ronstadt so that helps)

and the washing machine stops so i will also and come back again later. it is still really early in the morning here. btw- i started the lovely bones book last night. strange so far. will see why everyone likes this book so much as i go along.

will post this so people know i am still alive and come back later and finish it.