coach

Every week we in the "magical Milers" sub-5-minute group get a schedule from our esteemed leader, Bobby McGee. Having written thousands of these things, Bobby has developed a system of abbreviations for specific workouts. He also has a policy of "continual improvements" -- yes, which means he keeps generating new ones. This is sometimes hard for us to follow. It makes it impossible for anyone else to know what the heck we are doing.

On the occasion of his anniversary of 25 years of coaching, I realised that in years to come, Bobby will be one of those coaches whose methods are analysed to death. You’ll find all sorts of runners and triathletes coming out of the woodwork claiming to have trained with him. There’ll be talk of 100-mile weeks and sessions of 40 x 400m in 60secs. So, for the record, I thought I ought to record an actual schedule Bobby gave me -- in this case the one I used when I first started with him. Don’t let anyone tell you different – this is what we really do.

A mighty 25 miles this week!

Is that pathetic, or what?

In my defence, I would have clocked more, but for the snow. I've put the hours in, but today, for instance, I was ploughing through snow at 11 minutes a mile or even slower.

We're just starting the third week of Bobby McGee's 45-week sub-5 minutes miling program. Are we havung fun yet? Oh yes! This training is very different from anything I've done before. And speaking to Kyle, it seems I'm not the only one whose body is enjoying the slower pace.

We've been given a heart rate max which we're not to exceed during some of our runs. And it feels slow. Now, this will also sound a hit pathetic, but dude, running more slowly makes me feel good! I'm actually coming back from runs invigorated rather than exhausted. I'm recovering well between runs and there is no struggle to get out the door because I know I can do the speed I'm "supposed" to be do. Duh! I know, I know, it's blindingly obvious. But I've never done it this way before.