Anti-Clocking The Tan

Picture it, Saturday morning. Hot,humid, just clearing from what seemed a perfect winter storm.. This is February mind you. Melbournes Tan Track, has the allure to thousands, and this day was no different. I was there meeting my training partner Michael. Meeting point, the pillars of Wisdom. Funny name, as i didnt see much wisdom in being at the tan at 8am on a Saturday, possibly being stood up and having to do the session on my own… My reservations were not founded, Michael arrived only 15 minutes late. And with some friendly banter, we set on our short but efficient warm up opposite the tan along the yarra. We followed our usual route, running Bridge to Bridge, a small but effortless 2km loop. Back onto the tan, we worked through a series of dynamic running drills, finishing with some short accelerations of 50m or so. As the sun started to peak through the morning sky, the air thickened with warmth, but had the feeling, rain could start to fall at any moment. We were as ready as we would get for this session. Time to start. The session was simple in design, but tough in execution. Starting from the Pillars, we would go against the conventional way to lap the tan track, heading gradually uphill until we reached the crest of the anderson street hill, a distance of 2.5km. Michael and i would then regroup at the top as planned, jogging down the hill and back to the Pillars for the next effort. The session required 3 or 4 efforts, and with beaming confidence and focused on the task at hand i was ready to tear into the run. Waiting for a break in the constant flow of human cattle that is the norm for the tan, we set off. A little too quick as usual, but i soon found myself settling into a smooth comfortable pace as i tackled the first rep. Soon i no longer heard Michaels footsteps, and i continued to surge forward, past the Shrine of Remembrance enroute to anderson street. With the tan track now shaded from the sun, there seems a sudden influx of walkers and slow joggers, making my finishing surge with 500m to go quite difficult, as im more now playing frogger than running, dodging and weaving as i go. Around the last corner, tough last little uphill to really test the body, reach the top of the hill, hit my watch. Bang, 8:11 for 2.5km uphill. Thats a good start, felt i started hard, but didnt feel that quick for most of it. Hope thats not a bad sign. Interesting, Michael stops at the corner, hope i didnt dob him in, but i later found out i was right to finish where i did, not him. Not only that, he ran 8:23 to that point, needed to lift. The jog back down was very comfortable and he talk a moment at the pillars for a drink before starting the next effort. Sucking in the deep breathes, so warm, sweating at an amazing rate. Lets get this done. Again i took off super quickly, opened up a gap even faster and felt much more relaxed in my quest to beat the previous time. Iknew all along this time would be faster, legs had come to the party now, fully heated, heart and lungs worked efficiently without being overworked, but the last 200m with a sharp turning uphill finish slowed me somewhat more than the previous effort. Perfect result though, 8:09, faster than effort #1. Unfortunately Michael wasnt able to do the same, running 8:46 to the corner. My fitness has come on leaps and bounds of late, which was shown in that 2nd effort. Running myself into the ground, and still able to push and push and push until the end. Also speaks volumes of how my mental strength is improving too, from my solo effort in the 1500m to this tan session, theres just a hunger to improve and win (mostly against myself) at all costs. There is no giving in to that. Jog back down was a little slower than previous, but there wasnt any enfaces on that. Was feeling the session in my legs now though, this 3rd effort was going to be tough, but i had a burning desire to match my previous efforts, which id have to do in my races to come. The 3rd effort started all the previous 2, but this time the wind had picked up, forcing me to work much harder than i had earlier through the first 1km. This didnt discourage me at all, just another challenge to tackle, i did however feel i was going much slower than the first 2 efforts, my legs were starting to tire, and it felt my speed was slowing. One last push, one last effort around the final bend, gave everything to the top of the hill, and amazingly ran 8:14, yes my slowest, but not by much at all. Michael finished in 8:46, being as fast as his 2nd effort, another good sign. Jogging back to the Pillars, i decided i was happy with 3 efforts, knowing that another attempt may result in a below par time. Michael had to rush off, so i preceded to run a ‘normal’ lap of the tan as my cool down. 16.4km total, a solid mornings work. My coach trained separate with the younger side of the group who did a series of 900m efforts, but he was more than pleased with my session when we spoke upon completion. Everything is on track for a great 3000m in just under 2 weeks time at the state championships… Cant wait for that.

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