Today's run was 16km & I did it all on the track at Chev., just to see what it would be like going round & round for 40 laps! It's not that easy, but the worst was the heat & humidity even though I started at 8:15 a.m. & finished 2.5 hours later. It was so terribly hot & humid & without any shade, I don't think I could have done many more laps; however, I did 4 more laps as a warm down, making 17.6 km all together.
This was entirely my own idea & I think it was a harder run than if I'd been on the road; it certainly felt that way towards the finish! I had a drink & changed directions after every 4 laps; even did my own lap scoring! I did the first 20 laps slowly; the next 20 laps @ 2:48min/400m (7min/km); and finally 4 laps jog/walk as a warm-down. Luckily I had a tap to refill the bottle dozens of times; I drank gallons!
An interesting first time experiment & I can see how difficult it could become doing 6 or 12 hours in this way! I only did 2.5 hours & little aches showed up - back & knees - that I normally don't have on the roads. I think it was a good disciplinary lesson, not just for the body, but more so for the mind & so becomes good training for Canberra's 50km in April...that's the way I'm looking at it anyhow!
Completely exhausted by the heat which was over 30 degrees by 11:30a.m.; sat for about 10 minutes on the grass in the shade & did some stretches while cooling down so that I didn't go home looking like a lobster!
I'll probably do some more shorter runs this way; positives : soft grass & access to water every 400m; negative : it's boring! Must remember to take CD player next time.
Was a bit warm out there today LL - well done in the heat ;-)
ReplyDeleteAt an actual event it isn't boring as there are lots of other runners to chat to and you them again and agian and agian - something that would never happen in a point to point race. You also see your scoring/support crew each lap too as well as any other spectators that you might know. I actually found it quite enjoyable.
But yes - doing it on your own might get a tad tedius.
2P...it was just so damned hot!! I'm still feeling the effects of the heat 7 hours later! But yes, I know it would be much different with others going round & round & round!! I will try it some day, I hope.
ReplyDeleteThat's a hot time of the day LL. Anything after about 6 o'clock is too hot for me these days. You did really well to keep going in that temp and humidity.
ReplyDeleteoooh how exciting I just saw the chickeybabes name on the list of entrants for Canberra....got goosepimples. This is really happening again.
ReplyDeleteBe great to see you there.
Save some leg damage for the after party dancing :)
As 2p says, it is a lot different doing laps with hundreds of people around sharing in the fun. You should come up to Gosford next year and give the W75 record a crack.
ReplyDeleteYeh, I'm with you LL. I'd be screaming and grunting like Maria Sharapova if I did laps of an oval. Good experiment though, and running on grass is beautiful on the legs.
ReplyDeleteWow! That is great training for the mental toughnes side of things! Good on yo LL!! I can't wait to catch up in ooooh about 10 weeks!
ReplyDeleteWow, LL, you never cease to amaze me! Doing all those laps on your own with nobody to wave to ever time. It really does make a huuuuuge difference.
ReplyDeleteWe missed you on Thursday at the Aus Day run in Sydney. If I had a dollar for every time somebody said (disappointedly) "I though Luckylegs was gonna be here" I would be one very rich CR :-)