Waiter! There's a hare in my Tortoise stew

Sprinting. It's a concept I've heard about but not something I've ever entered in to. In my childhood, my little sisters could out sprint me both in the pool and on land (Ed's note - probably because they knew if they got caught, they were in trouble). In my teen years and throughout my 20s, I played defensive positions in Underwater Hockey - long breath hold, what you lacked in speed, you made up in persistence and the occasional surreptitious foul. I'm also a road cyclist, so I work well in a pack and can cover long distances but I tend to change down gears to go faster, rather than increase my cadence (that's hard work!)

Never having done anything where I had successfully relied on speed, it could explain why I am relatively comfortably getting through my longer distances but not going to break any land speed records.

It's also a Catch 22 - am I fitter because it takes me longer to do the distance (e.g 11hrs) or are the people who run it in 9hrs on a whole other planet of fitness from me? I think it's also a slow response thing - my other 1/2 runs down flights of steps faster than me, because he can move his feet faster.

With just over 2 weeks to go, I decided to put some sprint work in and see how the tortoise would survive trying to pretend it was the hare. Short version of the story: Tortoise stew for dinner tonight.

I thought I'd go out and do a flat 5km sprint, so dusted off my road running shoes (!!), made my way 500m up the road and off I went. I was wearing my Garmin 405 (which really deserves a whole other post) so could tell the distance covered, but it seemed to increase in very slow increments. Waddaya mean I've only covered 250m? I'm slugging my guts out here!

What I lacked in style, grace and coordination, I made up for in laboured breathing, sports induced asthma, aching rib cage, sore shoulders and sweat. And I only managed 3.07kms in 15mins. Mutter, mutter, mutter.

Friday. Round 2. Right, it can't be that hard. I'll relax and that'll help. I set off again, focusing on relaxing my shoulders, maintaining speed and doing everything I could to cover as much ground as comfortably and as quickly as possible. 3.14km in 14mins. Gah.

I also can't believe how knackering it is. I came home, showered and basically wanted to go to bed.

Feeling decidedly fat and blobby having not put in any 1hr + runs in over a week (that's scary just to type!) I went out and 'free ran' (i.e no distance, route or time planned) around Karori Cemetery yesterday. I found a brand new path that I'd run past numerous times (where did that come from?) and headed along it, finding bridges, stream-side tracks, a small chapel, a shipwreck graves walk, and really peaceful areas. I didn't realise how large it was and it was just nice to potter along, seeing what I saw and and exploring as I went - my favourite type of running.

Knowing it was going to be a comparatively short run, I pushed the speed on the last leg, returning home after 45mins. There will be a couple of my longer, more usual runs during the week, but I'm just trying to put on the speed and enjoy my running. Better late than never!