Track training for speed

I have procrastinated about proper track speed sessions for months...errr... years actually. Sure, I've been doing cadence sessions quite regularly and once a week or so I do intervals or speed pyramids on the treadmill. But I really haven't put in enough time for the sessions to make a big difference. On Tuesday evening at gym I bumped into a running friend who told me about a local spot for track training on Thursdays. I did my first session tonight... and I survived!

Track sessions are speed workouts geared to improve your running speed. You're required to put in hard, fast efforts over defined distances - anything from 200m to 1000m - with rest periods inbetween repeats. The length of the repeats or rest periods depends on the purpose of the session. And these repeats are run around, or slightly faster than your goal 5km race pace. The idea is that you want to become used to running at this pace so that you can duplicate it in a race. Yes, it takes a few weeks to start seeing improvements.

If you're keen to give the session we did tonight a try...

Warm up by running around the track two or three times at an easy pace. Then, do 4 x 100m strides to stretch out those legs. Now the fun starts... Run 300m, rest 1-min, run 200m, rest 1-min, run 300m, rest 1-min and run 200m. Then rest 2:30 before starting another set. Do 4 sets. You need to run at a pace you can maintain; it will be faster than your normal, comfortable pace that you'd run for 5km. You will be breathing heavily and you will feel those 300m intervals. Then run twice around the track at an easy pace to cool down. Total session takes about 45-minutes.

The good news is that I have some new running buddies; and, more importantly, a fixed weekly speed session at a local school field (it takes me 10-minutes to get there). I hope to see some [much needed] improvements in my running pace over the next few months.

Clean your slate

I've never been big into New Year and overambitious resolutions; I make small resolutions (I think of them as tweaks) throughout the year as and when I think of things I need to, want to and should do. No need to wait for 1 Jan to do things that are good for you.

The one thing about New Year... it is almost like completing a project or the last episode in a tv series season. It is good to get to the end of something, even though you know another season of the series awaits.

We tend to live too much in the past (memories, good times, hording sentimental items) and the future (always planning for weeks, months and years ahead) and not enough in the present. New Year helps to cut part of a tie with the past; to clean the slate and start again.

That's good because it focuses you a bit more on being positive, full of expectation for the months ahead and open to [creating] opportunities now and in the future.

Abu Dhabi wrap-up

We've been back for a week - thrown into the festive season. Mid-December is a great time to race because the slippery slope joy-ride continues to the end of the year.

Abu Dhabi was an incredible experience. The race is exceptionally well organised - no horses are spared; and the staged nature of the race gives is a vibe like no other. I remember speaking to adventure racing legend Ian Adamson after the Outdoor Quest 5-day staged AR in Borneo in late-2004 (he was course director). It was there that he said staged adventure races would be the way of the future.

Expedition races appeal to the adventure racing and multiday purists; staged races offer a "softer" alternative. The latter also offers more of an experience of a country and gives sponsors and media more opportunity for exposure and involvement. And when I say soft, it is a perceived softness because you have the nights (well, most of them anyway) to sleep, eat and recover. The back teams can take it easy without much time pressure, while the front teams have an all-out high-intensity sprint through each stage.

Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge probably won't be disappearing any time soon and I anticipate that participation numbers will continue to grow with each event.

Taking part in this race was an awesome experience for our team and I was fortunate to race with Lauren, Garth and Christiaan - they really were a dream team.

Reports that we posted during the race are on our team blog at teamwwwarcoza.blogspot.com

A collection of photos from the race are available on Flickr. The photos won't be online indefinitely, but they'll be there at least for the next few months. If you click through each of the images, you'll get the captions. If you put them on slideshow view you'll see the photos without the captions.

The event website is www.abudhabi-adventure.com - if you're keen on attending next year.

My thank go to Lotta - for inviting us; to Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority - for hosting us; and to Lauren, Garth and Christiaan for so eagerly jumping in to do this race and for making it an unforgettable experience filled with fun, laughter and racing.

Going to race in Abu Dhabi

After months of preparation for the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge, our departure date is almost here. We leave on Monday!

Around mid-year I was very kindly offered flights and entry for a South African team from race organisation. This is part of an initiative by Adbu Dhabi Tourism to encourage participants who have never competed in an adventure race overseas to attend an international event. I ran an application process through www.ar.co.za and after much deliberation selected a team. Lauren Greeff, Christiaan Greyling and Garth Peinke will be my team mates for this exciting event. We're a good match and I have little doubt that this will be an awesome experience for us all.

Since late-September we've been paddling and planning gear, flights, clothing and logistics. We all got together for the first, and only, time at the annual rogaine events in Belfast over the first weekend in November. The rest of the time we're in daily phone and email contact. Goodness, the weeks have flown!

We do indeed have a team blog at teamwwwarcoza.blogspot.com. I'm very lucky to have a fabulous C902 Sony Ericsson handset through work - this the same handset as used by Bond, James Bond in the new Quantum of Solace movie. And, if I can get all the roaming things activated and working, I'll be updating photos and content from the race, directly from my handset. Aren't these things fun!

Many of our friends ask whether we're excited about the race yet. For me personally, the past few weeks have been hectic with house break-in, starting new job, finishing my last Runner's World gear column, battling bronchitis and dealing with race stuff. I have been so fortunate to have a lot of administrative and organisational help from Lauren; I just wouldn't have been able to handle this without her. So, I'm not that excited yet because it doesn't just feel real. And I'm so looking forward to getting on the plane - this is the moment when everything that can be done is done. I think the butterflies will kick in when we're all together on Monday afternoon and we're packing our race crates.

We've also been so kindly assisted by many people, who - with their excellent service and experience advice - have helped us to get our stuff together. Simon from Ram Mountaineering; Christo's gang at Adventure Inc (drybags), John from Eiger Equipment; Morne and his team at First Ascent; Russell, our paddling coach; and Cheryl and Steve who have been our essential 4th's for paddle sessions.

And of course there are not enough words of thanks for the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge organisation and the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, who have given us the opportunity to participate in this exciting event in Abu Dhabi.

Knowing the event organisation, I'm sure the online coverage should be very good. Check the event website for options like reports and tracking. I'm not sure what will be online. www.sleepmonsters.com and www.checkpointzero.com will be running coverage too. And, of course, there's our team blog - teamwwwarcoza.blogspot.com. I've updated it with the course information already.

Thank you for your wishes and thoughts. We're going out there to have a good race, which I'm sure we'll get.