Starting
on Friday, all the best Senior High School track and field athletes in Kyoto
Prefecture have been attending a special four day training camp in Kyotamba. I
got invited to join in one of the sessions yesterday. The middle distance
runners were divided into three groups. The session set was six 1000M
repetitions with a 400M jog recovery. The pace was 3 minutes 10 secs per rep
for group A, 3:20 for group B and 3:30 for group C. Ambitiously, I opted to run
with group A, consisting of eight 16-17 year old students.
The
group ran the whole session in single file, with students taking turns at the
front to lead and set the pace. I decided to run at the back of the group, not
wanting to get in the way or disrupt the session. The group stayed in close
contact for the first three reps. During the fourth and fifth rep, I and two
other runners drifted a little off the back of the pack. 300M into the last rep
I realised that these two other runners had dropped out of the session, so I
had to run it by myself. It was a good session, though the pace was just
slightly beyond the upper edge of what I am capable of at the moment. About one
hundred young athletes attended the training camp. It was incredibly well
organised and impressive to see.
Kyotamba Track and Field school |
On a different note, I received a welcome surprise in the post this week. I was the third fastest over-30 year old male finisher in the Uji River 10K race that I ran four weeks ago. Not realising this at the time, I didn’t stay around at the end of the race to claim my prize. Having tracked me down, the race organisers kindly posted out an impressive trophy, bronze medal and certificate.
Nice bounty! ;o)
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