The Importance of the Warm-up!

On Thursday it poured and poured very solidly from 5pm. Now, as track started at 6pm there were some doubts as to whether it would go ahead. I arrived there very close to the start of the 3km to spot some very soggy runners who had been "warming up" before their races started. It was also a "Come and Try It" night so there were a few hardy Bilbys triathletes on the track giving it a go. I competed in the 3000m at 6pm and the only warm-up was my jog to the start (about 200m). As a consequence I did not run a good time but at least I have something to improve upon.

Distance: 3000m
Time taken: 15:48
Average pace per km: 5:20

Goal to achieve: Under 14:58

I returned to cheer on those still running 5000m before piling on warmer clothes. Forgetting that my garmin was not on daylight saving time I thought there was too bigger gap for me to hang around and after chatting with various people (there were very few starters at track tonight) I was just deciding to leave when the 1500m start was announced. I decided to compete although again I was caught short without a warm-up as I had cooled down considerably since the 3000m at the start of the evening. However, I ran it anyway and the result gives me loads of room for improvement!

Distance: 1500m
Time taken: 7:33 (according to garmin)
Average pace per km: 5:03
Goal to achieve: under 7mins

This was not a particularly auspicious start to the track season but I do hope to improve in the weeks to come. In future weeks I will ensure that I warm up properly before the races start!

Total distance: 5km

Saturday

I met up with Ewen at the War Memorial at 9am for a pleasant mid-distance run. For once the sun was out and I could run in singlet and shorts - yay! We ran the Mt Ainslie track on through Duntroon, through the wetlands to Commonwealth Avenue and along Anzac Pde back to the War Memorial - a good little run but I was struggling. My legs felt heavy and I felt very sluggish. We only ran 16km which is a little short but that was definitely enough for me today.

Total distance: 16km

Time taken: 1:41:24

Average pace per km: 6:20

After the run and catching up on all the news we enjoyed a coffee and snack at Hudsons cafe sitting outside to try to soak up a little warmth from the sun's rays. Is Spring actually coming at last??