Dear Blog-ary,
What is it people love most about Willows Beach? It could be the view of Mount Baker. Perhaps it’s the soft sandy beach. Maybe it’s the shaded grassy areas perfect for napping. How about the lamp posts? Ever noticed the continuous row of green lamp posts lining the board walk above the sand? I can honestly say that I have never given much notice to the lamp posts at Willows beach, until recently. If I have neglected them in the past I certainly payed homage to them in Thursday nights workout!
The session focused on cardio. As we ran along the water, I met each lamp post with a certain amount of victory and accomplishment. We paced our run between the lamp posts, using each of them as a marker to switch from a slower pace to a quicker pace, in intervals, as we continued along the beach.
I started off strong, looking forward to this training challenge. Having had no chance to train on my own this week, for my upcoming race, I pushed hard to make the most out of my workout. I made the mistake of pushing a little too hard in the beginning and got a cramp in my side under my ribs. It slowed me down and I wasn’t able to keep up my pace, which was our goal. As I stopped to stretch, the Trainers encouraged me to keep going.
Sarah helped me to focus more on my breathing and not to push as hard on my slower recovery speed. I took her advice, as well as her encouragement, and kept going. Breathing in deeply through my nose and out of my mouth really helped to reduce the stitch in my side. I set a new, more realistic, pace that I was able to maintain throughout the run.
By the end, I was absolutely exhausted! It was one of the most challenging workouts I have done in a while. I could feel by the heat in my face that I had worked hard, and I was proud to have done it! . . . Kirsten Wolf