Beckwith Park (session #1)

The door gently closed and I reluctantly paced out onto the street, my legs already heavy and any motivation left lacking. After countless sun-drenched days the clouds had returned together with an uncommon towering humidity. At this point I couldn’t help but remember a quote from an ultra t-shirt, “pain is inevitable, suffering is optional”. I was to run my first scheduled workout since completing the Ottawa Marathon in late May and I was already being tested.

The session was to be a combination of 200s and 400s but as we’re now a one-car family, and with no reasonably close track I was left with little alternative. In hindsight, I think this worked out for the best as I’m flirting with the idea of jumping into what may be my first cross country season later this fall.

Nobody could ever say I wasn’t a creature of habit, and so I trudged along to Beckwith Park and traced a 200m section out on the grass. My plan was to run an out-and-back on this portion and then use an undulating pathway around a small pond (approximately 500m) for my next piece.

30.3, 32.3, 1:48.8
29.9, 29.7, 1:44.3
33.3, 33.7, 1:46.8
34.3, 33.5, 1:42.2
34.8, 34.9, 1:40.8

The workout unfolded a good deal better than I had anticipated. My turnover definitely fell off on the latter 200s but I managed to maintain my momentum and worked the rollers on the 500s. After posting a 1:46.8 for my third 500 I was worried that I’d opened too fast and made sure to push the remaining two, the last one leaving me gasping for air.

A good session, felt content afterwards.

Training:
Tuesday: 1:00:07 with 5x (2x200 (1’) + 500) (3’)
Wednesday: easy 30:31