Ego

e-go Pronunciation [ee-goh, eg-oh]: the part of the psychic apparatus that experiences and reacts to the outside world and thus mediates between the primitive drives of the id and the demands of the social and physical environment.

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My recent recovery week couldn’t have arrived at a more opportune time. With my left achilles still causing me grief, the last seven days allowed me some guilt free recuperation. With hindsight, perhaps I should’ve opted for 3-4 days off but instead enjoyed Monday for what it was, and kept Tuesday through Friday nothing but effortless jaunts.

Saturday’s session called for a return to Oak Bay Track (5x800m), but with family plans stacking up (see photo) I decided to run 4x1k on the Lochside Trail. The bane of my existence hadn’t completely settled down but I was hoping the softer/slower terrain would be more accommodating than a fast polyurethane oval.

After a gentle warm-up under some balmy spring sunshine, I started into the first interval. Without the constant feedback of the track I miss judged my effort, subsequently stopping the watch much sooner than expected. I gauged my pacing perfectly over the second kilometre, but was disappointed with the accompanying discomfort; at that pace I was hoping for something a little more effortless. I blame my overaggressive third piece on the fact that after approximately 600m I passed Simon Whitfield and Jon Brown coming the other way. With their encouragement and my ego, I need little else to shave a few unintended seconds off the clock. I believe I paid for my indiscretion on my last repeat: 3:09, 3:20, 3:14, 3:22

On Tuesday, I’m scheduled to run the second of three summertime 5k races. Whereas the last race was well organized and held on the track, this event is run on a mixture of asphalt and gravel road and if history serves correct will be far from organized. The race has suffered through constant course changes (once even mid-race), 1” countdowns and disastrous staffing (last year they had two unfortunate volunteers handling 1,000+ entrants). All that said, now boasting the designation of Provincial 5k Championships, I’m holding out for some improvement (however small).

Training:

Wednesday: easy 43:50

Thursday: easy 37:55

Friday: easy 23:23

Saturday: 1:11:24 with 4x1k (3’) 5kP

Sunday: easy 1:19:50

Weekly mileage: 5h03’22”, +/- 71k or 44 miles