The last three days have been just over 2 hours each. Tomorrow the plan is to do the same as most are off work. Then on this coming Saturday participate in a 50k. It is a trail event and it would be a good time to test out the .35 jog and the .15 walk strategy. This will be a good marker for Ice Age, as 6 weeks ago it felt as though this Spartan was finito.
Yes a Spartan. The Laurel Spartans is the diminutive rural high school attended by your blogging friend. At least that's how Wikipedia used to describe it. That a XC program for boys was started in 1976 was a real stretch looking back. After my 3 years there it disappeared again for a long number of years. We were the only school who did not have a program. It did make it challenging for the T&F team to have any distance savvy. Looking back to those days it was so much fun, though we were definitely a doormat. The best part of XC was when the little starter pistol cracked we ran like banshee's the first half mile. Sometimes hooting and hollering and generally having a blast doing it.
Notes from the beginning:
- When the coach wheeled off the course I demonstrated how his math was wrong and the 2 loops equaled 5 miles and not 3 miles. Of course I was a kid and when we ran the course they randomly stopped us around 4 miles.
- Coach broke out a box of sugar cubes before the race for us to use. I explained basic blood download characteristics of this exercise, but again I was the rube.
- There was a popular product like Bengay we used called Mint Glo to limber up and feel the burn. Some guys put it around their nose because it would open up the breathing channel. I strongly advised against this. Just read the data on the label. These guys were Seniors. Again, I was a kid, but the results nevertheless created hilarity.
- We somehow won our first meet ever, but as I have written before, did not find out until almost back home and I pointed out the low score wins.
- Philosophical differences in traning and remember I knew nothing. Two loops around the pond and back (maybe a mile) and 6 x 100 on grass most days. Probably better if we jogged 3-4 miles, but coach wanted to keep us sharp because we were in season. Remember we all showed up for the season having done zero running (though the general condition of kids in the '70s was pretty good).
It was a lot of fun. You just figured stuff out. No fancy race shoes, just the sprinter spikes from the track team. One thing which sticks out when you suck was how the other teams top guys were beasts. They had the experience, the cool running threads, and the nice varsity letter jackets. We had Hickory Speedway, Steeler, and First Presbyterian t-shirts.
No matter, twern't no grizz left anyway.
"One thing which sticks out when you suck was how the other teams top guys were beasts."
ReplyDeleteThis is so true.