The Test (A Practice) II

Maybe it was the rest (no training since last Wednesday and that was a recovery session), maybe it was the careful planning, i.e. cutting back on the booze this weekend or maybe it was the fact that we've worked hard over the last three weeks but this time neither the Fat Lad nor I fell short of expectations.

Arrival at the track saw Mr H, J-C, CE, Zico and new guest star, Farma Dave, running the FIFA test, 150m run, 50m walk, repeated 20 times - hard work especially in this heat. That said all seemed to have completed the test and Mr H seemed to be much more comfortable than last time I saw him training.

So the big event kicked off and Fat Lad, CE, Zico and I all struck off at a reasonable pace but I started losing touch around 450m and let them disappear off into the distance. On the last run I dropped my pace and gasped for air. This time I tried to maintain my pace and kept my breathing under control. I watched as they crept around the track, getting further away until I was hitting the straights on my own.

Now before we started running a junior athletics team were running what looked like a 800m training run and as we walked to our start point we encouraged all the young runners to push all the way to the end. It was a favour that was returned when we started running and I'm sure I heard shouts coming from the children as I made my way past them for the 4th time with my feet just lifting and slapping down on the track.

Before I started running I had set myself two goals. The first was to ensure that the Fat Lad did not lap me as he had so easily the first time we tried this test. I had completed around 1700m when he steamed past me on his way to just over 2400m in the 12 minutes allowed. This time I was passing the 2000m mark as he passed me, tore down the home straight and he completed the 2500m with 2 seconds to go according to CE. Personally I did around 2030m which is an improvement of 150m in just 3 weeks.

I was so pleased for the Fat Lad and myself and we both looked absolutely shattered. So with 6 weeks and 4 days to go, the Fat Lad knows he can do the distance. With the benefit of a few more training sessions he'll be getting near 2600m and hopefully I'll get closer to my own goal which is to be in the home straight when the time runs out. I'm not taking the test this season but if I can be that fit it will make my games so much easier.

As the Fat Lad said when we started our training we would laugh about not being able to run for 700m without stopping. Tonight we both smashed our previous personal bests. Not bad for a couple of eggs in a tray!