Due to my work schedule, I had to shuffle around my runs once again so this meant another week of running on my own instead of with my group. I had a 17km tempo run to do on Wednesday night and a 12km interval session to do on Friday night. The tempo run was no problem. I like to run fast for as long as I can. Granted I didn't quite make 17km before my legs said eff you but I was close. And I enjoyed myself. My run last night was an entirely different story. For starters, I didn't really know what kind of interval workout I was going to do. I looked a the club calendar and the workout I had missed was the 15x1 min workout. Hmmmm....don't think I want to do that on my own. The previous week I had done a half hearted workout that had me running around the block a few streets away from home. I thought about doing that and then I figured I'd just do a run with pick ups and fartleks. I headed out west and as soon as I hit Lakefront Promenade, the wind hit me. Geez. For some reason when I left the house, I decided that I didn't need my gloves (!?!?). By the time I hit Samuel Smith Park (about 5 minutes from home) my hands were frozen. I ran out into a gust of wind coming off the spit that just about blew me over. To hell with this. I ran out to the end of the path and turned around. I'll just go do those around the block intervals again. I ran back through Stan Smith park and back east along Lakefront Promenade over the 7th Street. I did a few drills and decided that I was warmed up enough. Off I went. I think the loop is about 900m. The last time I did them, I did 3. I figured I could probably do 4, maybe 5. I did the first one, stopped to catch my breath with an easy jog. Dawdled a bit. Started the second one, rested a bit longer when I was done. Same with the 3rd and the 4th. I kinda felt like I cheated a bit. I knew I had enough in me for a 5th but I really didn't feel like doing it. So I didn't. I was only about 7.75km in. So I opted to just run out the rest of the distance and maybe throw in some pick ups and accelerations in there, which I did. A half assed workout for sure. But at least I got it done. When I made my way up the front porch, the realization hit me. I don't enjoy doing interval workouts on my own. I really don't. I don't push myself as hard as I could. I tend to slack off a lot more when I a) don't have anyone to chase or b) don't have anyone chasing me.
Who says that we never stop learning?
The second discovery was more of a re-discovery. I was slated to do an easy 6km run today so I headed west as I usually do and instead of sticking to the bike path, I veered off onto a gravel path that took me onto the small spit that juts out into Lake Ontario around Samuel Smith Park. I hadn't run out on this since last spring. It's a haven for birdwatchers in the summer so there are all sorts of foot paths that veer off into the brush off the main gravel track. I had forgotten how lovely it is. There isn't a whole lot of shelter around the outer rim so the wind was pretty epic at some points but I didn't care. By the time I finished weaving my way around the spit I had covered 4km. Granted it took me almost 35 minutes to cover that 4km because I kept stopping to take pictures but no matter. It was supposed to be an easy run. Needless to say, it was well worth the detour.
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