Keep your head up (Mr Notajogger speaks)

By Dan Crane:

“Keep your head up. This is what I find myself repeating each time I have to do hill sessions on my current training plan. A good bit of advice given by Notajogger, it keeps good posture and other technical things like that, and means you can see where you’re going.

I’m training for a 10k race in 2 weeks’ time. I’m on week 5 of 8, each week having one hill session of either 10 x short hills (run fast up a hill for 1 minute, jog back down), 5 x  long hills (run fast up a hill for 2 minutes, jog back down), or 10 x tempo hills (run fast up a hill for a minute, run fast back down). As Notajogger has said before, this can look pretty strange to passers by. Like you keep remembering something really important and forgetting it again, or are rapidly indecisive.

Today was 5 x long hills and the session followed a typical pattern.

Despite the 5 minute warm up, the first rep is a bit of a blur as I’m still waking up. On the second I’m in my stride – awake, alert and capable of maintaining speed and composure all the way up. The third is like the second, with the added boost of it being nearer to the session’s end than the beginning, but I‘m beginning to feel tired. On the fourth I’m genuinely, officially tired and start to drag my feet a bit. On the way down my trainers squeak from scuffing the pavement.

The fifth is both great because it’s the last one, and messy because I’m a stumbling, sweaty, drooling mess. Not pleasant, but when I’m struggling to get enough air in to my lungs it’s easier to drool than not to.

But throughout I was keeping my head up. I didn’t run into anyone, hopefully I didn’t injure anything, and anyone out and about early enough really got to see me drool.”