Cookie says no!

I didn't have a good night at running club tonight. We were doing sprint sessions - basically sprint 400m, jog 400m in 20mph winds, sprint 200m, jog 200m (again in 20mph winds) - and repeat 6 times. Followed by a tempo run.

It was explained and this is how my body responded:

Brain: what the hell?
Leggies: (In a small and weak voice) excuse me...I can't do that...erm...excuse me..

So off we went. And it went something like this:

Brain: come on leggies, let's give it a go
Leggies: ok I'll try
Brain: ok so first 400m done, holy shit where the hell did that wind one from? When am I supposed to recover from the sprint?
Leggies: I'm beaten, I simply can't sprint
Brain: let's keep on trying

It went on like this for a while, until Brain and Leggies reached a consensus that they didn't want to anymore. Enter Chris.

Susan: I think I'm going to cry, I just can't do this. My legs can't sprint for that long
Chris: Ok well let's do 200m sprints, I'll do it with you and we'll build the speed as we go
Susan: Ok let's try it!

Brain & Leggies: this is still tough, but now this is manageable. Chris is so supportive, I don't know what I'd do without him.

I left the session early, no way could Brain & Leggies cope with a tempo run after that. On the way back, I was beating myself up over it. But actually, let's look at it, I did 5 miles of semi sprinting, along a ridiculously windy promenade. There is nothing to be ashamed of.

I read recently that the type of sport you do can depend on your genetic make up. Sprinters generally have lots of Fast Twitch (type 2) muscles, and long distance runners have more Slow Twitch (type 1) muscles. Slow twitch muscles fire more slowly that fast twitch ones, generating less force, but keep going for longer. I clearly am made of ONLY slow twitch muscles.

And you know what, that's ok, I enjoy what I do. I can run marathons for gods sake. I don't need to be the fastest or the best. I run because I love the feeling that I get when I run, that's enough for me.

I'm now home in my PJs and slippers!

Today's run: 5 miles
November running mileage: 52 miles
2013 running mileage: 966 miles