A few years ago I dusted off my squash racket and got back into the game – having not played it since school. A colleague and I would hit the court almost routinely on a Tuesday morning before work for a (mostly) friendly knockabout. We did this for some while and I think we got a little better and every so often I’d also head down with a school mate who would proceed to whip my arse as he was a in a whole different league to myself but he was also fairly happy to coach me in my ways. However, during my marathon training I put a stop to playing squash, as sports go it’s fairly intense on the ankles and also the body so thought it was probably best to put this alongside the other “high risk activities” and stop doing it!

Anyway Ad and I did get a sneaky game in early on in my training but today was a time for a rematch, he beat me last time (3 games to 2 I think) but we were both at a very similar level so thought it should be quite fun to play again, plus I have been promising it for months now!

Rocking up to London Bridge Fitness First at 830 I was already hot and bothered, the central line stopped at Stratford so had to change route and ultimately arrived late even though I had given myself a good 15/20 min extra time. Quick change and we were on the court…

I guess it should be fairly obvious that an enclosed room was going to be hot given the temperature outside but I don’t think either of us were totally prepared for the heat in there which was obvious from the start! I was already warmed up following a brisk walk from the station so let Ad hit about whilst I sorted out some fluid for during the game. Got back to the court and did a bit of racket / hand-eye calibration, I was shockingly bad and I am sure Ad must have been thinking that this morning was going to be a walkover (I was thinking the exact opposite)!

I won the racket-spin and elected to serve, lost the first game but I think it was a close one (I can’t believe I genuinely can’t remember – worrying!). However, after game one I managed to win 3 games in a row (again with very close scoring). At 3-1(best of 5) Adam suggested to play another game, not really sure why – I’m pretty sure he was as shattered and as hot as I was! He won this bringing the score to 3:2 to me and a reverse of last time. That brings the match score to 1:1 meaning a rematch is definitely on the cards!

Oddly whilst playing yesterday I felt a lot quicker around the court, managing to get to drop shots I don’t think I would have got to before. I can only put this down to my improved fitness. Also today was the first time I have ever really realised how little support squash shoes give. There were shots where I didn’t feel particularly comfortable when running to get the ball. I don’t really want to spend more money on a sport i barely do but I may have to look to see if they sell indoor shoes with feet that pronate in mind…?

Another cool thing about squash is as it’s high intensity my heart rate went through the roof reaching peaks of 184 (see graph below). To give some useful comparison when I go spinning even on the fastest sprints and biggest hills getting my heart rate above 170 is an almost impossible challenge, and during my runs I normally sit around a constant 175. I can’t really remember the last time I broke the 180 mark but apparently I was training in ‘zone 5′. Not really too sure what that means but all I do know was that the morning was tough and knackering so that must be good right??