WFC Runners - 27th September Session

Running Session – 27^th Sept

It was another beautiful late summer’s evening and one that was perfect for running.  22 Fit Clubbers met Coach James at Abbey Gardens for another fun packed session.  We welcomed Emmeline and Marie-Helene into the group and we celebrated the success of our runners at the Winchester Half and definitely didn’t forget about Sarah’s Disney half! ;-)  After the standard warm-up in Abbey Gardens we headed off for the main section of the session.

This week saw us return to Barfield close for more interval sprints.  The intention of this session was to start with a short sprint and increase the time run before dropping it back down and building up again.  The short sprints tire the legs out and slowly increasing the distance helps make the legs weary.  This therefore benefits both your speed and endurance.  If done correctly the last set of reps should be really tough, but ultimately extremely beneficial. 

 

The session was as follows:  

- 30 sec sprint with 15 sec recovery

- 60 sprint with 45 sec recovery

- 90s sprint with 2 min recovery

All of this was repeated 4 times.  

Afterwards we headed back to Abbey Gardens for out cool down!

Here is a little history of Abbey Gardens….

Abbey Gardens

The Abbey Gardens and Mill are part of the site of St Mary’s Abbey, once  one of the largest religious houses in England. In November 1539 the Abbey was surrendered to Henry VIII as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries and most of the monastic buildings were demolished. The site was subsequently gifted to the City by Queen Mary Tudor to celebrate her marriage to Philip of  Spain in the Cathedral in July 1554. The land was later divided into two, the eastern part was occupied by a fine town house and formal gardens that survive today as the Mayor of Winchester's official residence and public gardens. The western part of the site was cleared for the City's Guildhall in 1873. Remains of St Mary’s Abbey can be seen at the back of the Guildhall.