National Champs Weekend

Friday was the 3 km race. The warm-up area was the top field on the grass - not ideal but I preferred that to the road and carpark which was pretty busy. I have never understood the call-room procedure that has athletes sitting for 20 mins after warming up. It has to be the worst preparation for a race. I completed the first 200 m in 1:02, 10 sec too fast and the first km in 5:53 which I thought was okay. Warnings appeared on the 2nd lap and by the time I passed the board for the third time there were three penalties by my number. I hadn't even got to halfway. I got to continue to the 2 km mark but that was no consultation. I figured my mistake was a lack of concentration - too much concern about pace and little focus on technique.

In approaching today's 20 km it seemed a big ask to convince the judges for over 2 hours when I couldn't even make 10 mins in the 3 km race. Nevertheless I was determined to give it my best shot. I arrived early and had a good warm up and was well organised for the race. I made sure I stood as tall as I could and tucked my bum under. I started at the back of the field, letting myself settle in to a good rhythm. Despite that I  received two warnings on the return leg of the first lap and two cards by the end of the third lap. I was resigned to an early exit but actually felt I was walking as well as ever. Over the fourth lap I decided it was time to put my hands up and surrender. The judges clearly don't think I should be out there so I won't be in the future. Sure enough the third card had arrived by the end of that lap and I was pretty emotional about not just the end of my race but also my time in this sport. I have had a lot of benefit from my 5 - 6 years of racewalking and no regrets. I will still continue walking but in unjudged events.

20 km National Champs or not

20 min easy plus strides

5 km Training Walk

6 x 500 m with 2 min rest intervals

10 x 500 m with 2 min rests

I struggled to get to the track all week so I headed there around midday today. Alas, Day 2 of the Wellington Junior Champs was in full swing with events scheduled until 6 pm. There was nothing for it but to find a good spot to do 500 m sprints instead. I didn't do a proper warm up and that showed in my slow first sprint. After that all the sprints were between 2:53 and 2:57 which is not too bad. (I like to see 2:53 as the top end and maybe that's not too far away)

10 x 500 m with 2 min rests


Saturday 22 March - 7.5 km Walk

I swapped my Sunday walk to Saturday so I could walk with my daughter.  She is not a race walker so I couldn't quite describe it as a training walk but I did make an effort to use correct race walking technique rather than ambling along.

Walk down the Otaki River with Hannah

3 km Fartlek and 4 x 500 m

Not a brilliant result but I am getting faster.

3 km Fartlek (4 min rest) 4 x 500 m (2 min rests)

Wednesday 19 March - 10 km Training Walk

This started out very slowly as I was stiff from a training session the previous day. I was pleased with the improvement I made for an an average pace of 6:56 min/km. The fast efforts were during the 4th and 5th km legs. A toilet stop on the way back accounts for the drop in heart rate.

10 km Training Walk with 3 x 90 sec @ 5 km pace

This Weekend's Walks

15 km Training Walk - Sunday 16 March

I was keen to get this walk over as early as possible today since the weather is meant to deteriorate considerably later in the day. My aim on the longer walks is to average 7 - 7:30 per km but I knew that would be unlikely less than a day after the 1 hour race. I concentrated hard and was satisfied with my time of 1:56:20 for an average of 7:45 per km.

15 km Training Walk


1 Hour Track Race - Saturday 15 March

I found this event much harder than I expected. I have been doing a lot of longer walks but due to my cast they had been at a pedestrian pace. I would normally expect to comfortably complete over 9.6 km in an hour but only managed 9.097 despite the ideal weather conditions.  At just 2 months since breaking my wrist I have to think that's not a bad effort. It is a lesson not too expect too much in the 20 km in two week's time. I will aim to walk at 6:30 pace and resist the urge to go faster than that in the early laps.

1 Hour Track Race

Sprint Session at the Track

I have never done this workout before and I found it pretty hard - probably because I'm just getting back into speed work. I was a bit surprised to feel my quads fatiguing - I'm not usually aware of them.

5 x 800/200

Wellington Champs 3000m Track Walk

3000 m Track Walk - Wellington Champs - Sunday 9 March - First woman once again

15 km Training Walk - Sunday 9 March

2 x 2 km with 2 min rest - Friday 7 March

Back into Training Mode

I broke my wrist in January - 5 days before the Capital Classic which I had entered but could not compete in. After 6 weeks in a cast my arm was freed last Tuesday, enabling me to get back into some speed training. I kept walking all the way through but, apart from two 3 km races on the track, I only worked on distance and endurance.

I have got a lot of catching up to do to prepare for nationals in just over three weeks.

Thursday 6 March         8 x 400 m with 2 min rests Video clips to come.

Wednesday 5 March     10 km Training Walk

Monday 3 March           4 x 1 km with 2 min rests

Sunday 2 March            20 km Training Walk

Thursday 27 February    3 km Fartlek

Thursday 27 February    8 km Training Walk