TaDa!

Finally finished a track workout on Wednesday…and if you couldn’t guess, I’m a little excited. This makes my fourth GTC practice, and in the other three I wasn’t able to complete the entire workout. It began as a policy of “easing into” track workouts. After all, lazy Megan says to herself, I haven’t been on the track in a long, long time. I wouldn’t want to get injured.

Although lazy Megan had a point, it’s a little alarming when a “I just won’t do the last one” trend began to develop. Skip a 1000 here, a 1200 there…before long, I run the risk of not getting out of my comfort zone at all. Problematic.

Fortunately for me, a 400m workout came up in the training schedule to send lazy Megan back where she came from. Hooray! I love 400s. I think they’re psychologically the easiest interval workout. For one thing, it’s only one lap around the track. That’s less time to have to focus on pace, less time to have to fight the wind, just less time generally. I think the one-lap rep is also the epitome of my “just one more” game from a previous post. By utilizing “just one more,” nearly every rep is an important milestone:

1. The first rep. As the first, it’s usually the easiest and over before you know it. The workout has begun!
2. Halfway to halfway…or as I told Running Buddy, “we’re a quarter of the way done with our quarters!”
3. The discomfort may be building, but we’re almost halfway.
4. Halfway! Yeehaw! It’s all downhill from here…which is an encouraging thought, because lactic acid is definitely starting to accumulate.
5. The first rep of the second half. It probably feels the farthest away from finishing, but there’s hope in being past halfway.
6. We’ve made it past the dreaded “middle half.” Reps 3-6 are the hardest to get through, and we’re there. Such a nice feeling.
7. Ah, gorgeous. A little extra effort has left only one rep to go.
8. THE LAST ONE…and…DONE!

As long as you don’t get caught up in the overall goal (”How many? 8? In a row? Geez!”), 400s can be your friend. They’re certainly mine.