Rugby 101 and sprint training

Last saturday, my rugby club held their Rugby 101 recruiting event. This is a way for new folks to learn the basics of rugby in a fun no pressure atmosphere. This is how I got my first intro to rugby 4 months ago. The difference this time from versus last time was slight, but definite. For the first time since I started playing, rugby started to feel like home.

Now, considering how much I dislike distance running, it's fairly remarkable that I fell in love with a sport where even the refs run on average 5 miles during games. This is good. It's pushing me out of my comfort zone. Without having regular specific events to prepare for, my training has tended to be fairly randomized and experimental. Now I have this plus a tri, possibly another stair climb, the tough mudder, and CK-FMS in what I just realized today, are all within the next three months. When I was training hard core for forest service, it'd take a good 2 months for my cardio to get into shape, doing the traditional 3-5 mile runs alternated with 1-3 hour hikes 5 days per week. 15 years later, I want to spend less time working out, and achieve better results.

To start working toward one of the goals, Saturday after the clinic I performed 10 sprints of approximately 15 yards, with 5 seconds for the sprint and 15 seconds for the jog back. I completed 10 no problem. Next time the sprints will be from the try line (front of "end zone") to the 22 meter line. Each time I complete 10 sprints at a certain distance I'll progress to the next line on the rugby pitch, until I can complete all 10 sprints at 100 meters.