Last night's Kent AC training session wasn't on the track, but this is the location where I am best able to gauge improvements with any accuracy. A couple of years ago, when my daughter's illness caused me to withdraw from formal training with the club, I tried to maintain a grip on speedwork all on my own. The track was open, and free to use, from 6.30am until about 8am, as I remember. I was working in a school at the time, so I'd divert in here on the way, and run 6 400s (ie 1.5m) as fast as I could. Sam Murphy's Running book told me that this distance was the best test of running speed and endurance. She included a table for women to assess their progress. I forget most of the gradations and categories, but I remember that the fastest one was being able to run this distance in under 11mins. The comment in the book for women who achieved this was something like 'You're on fire....Paula Radcliffe, look out!' Most mornings I was finished in under 11mins, so I aimed for 10. The trouble is, I still feel self conscious on the track. It looks ridiculous for someone as old and slow as me to be toiling round it. I don't mind in the evenings, when there are so many people here, and so many Kent AC men whipping round in a blur of sweat and sinew. They make me try harder. All alone, in the mornings, though, feels hellish. The park paths around the track are marked up at 400m intervals, so I can still test myself that way, but I know that nothing makes me try harder than knowing there's another woman hot on my heels. Only running in a pack, on track, will bring my speed back.
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