Interval Tuesday!!!
Marni Sumbal, MS, RD
Alarm went off at 5:45am but I couldn't get out of bed. Just 10 more minutes...ok, I was ready to get up. Karel...again, fast asleep. Oh the life of a cyclist to only have to do one sport a day :) Made my coffee, checked my email and I was out the door around 6am. It was really cold this morning for a Florida day in March but I toughed it up in the 46 degrees by turning on the heat in the car. I got to the Y a little later than planned but the treadmill was ready for me. A quick bathroom stop, filled up the water bottle and I jumped on the treadmill. I think after last weekend, I really recovered well from my two long workouts and I really feel a lot stronger by resting my legs on Mon. I feel I was starting from scratch back in December when I was almost running at 6.4 mph and I just impress myself with the slow changes that my body has made along the way. Again, I love the training aspect of what my body can do. Of course I love racing and the competition but there is something about slow changes over time and really being aware of what your body can and can't tolerate. It is so important to uderstand how to place positive training stress on the body, eat the the right foods to recover and then get stronger. Of course I have plenty of bad days but I really take note of the good days...like today! Here's the workout:
Warm-up 7.1 mph for 5 minutes, 7.5 mph for 5 minutes. Easy..I couldn't believe how good I felt. Big Set: 10 x 50 sec. at 8.5 mph, 10 sec. straddle the treadmill. This set was just to get the heart rate up and get my legs warmed-up for speed. I felt good foreach set. Then, 5 x 1 min at 9 mph, 1 min at 7.5 mph. I probably should have stepped that up. I felt the burn after around 40 sec. but it wasn't intense. I knew I had more sets to go but I either gave myself too much recovery or I did those intervals too slow. When the whole workout was over, I probably should have bumped up the speed. I'll go faster next time.Next set, 4 x 1:30 at 8.8 mph, 30 sec at 7.5 This set was great. I was feeling super good through the whole run but I could tell I was getting stronger with every set. I decreased the speed since the intervals were increasing in time but again, I think I should have started out faster in the first set. It is alway easy to start with the long intervals first and then get faster but I wanted to do the whole set with some type of lactic acid buildup. Next set, 3 x 2 minutes at 8.6 mph, 30 sec. recovery at 7.5 mph. Now I was feeling a bit of a burn. Around 90 sec. I was checking my time to see how much longer I needed to suffer. I probably could have ran faster for the 2 minute set but I was focusing on my leg stride and steady breathing. I felt good and solid as I was running. Last set, 3 min at 8.5 mph. By this point I had been running for over 45 minutes and 35 minutes of my run was intervals. The 3 minutes was a solid tempo and running under 7 minute miles for all my intervals was a great boost for me. I finished the workout with a few minutes of easy running and walked it out for a total of 7.2 miles in 52 minutes. Sweaty, out of water and ready to get in the pool. I did a few plyometric leg exercise (step ups on a bench, quick lunges and abs) before I changed out of my sweaty clothes. I am surprised I stayed in the water for a 2000 but I wasn't feeling any speed in the pool. I stretched it out and did everything on a 1:30-1:40 100, base. Nice and smooth for the following: 3 x 200, 5 x 150 (50 fast, 100 long/50 long, 50 fast, 50 long/100 long, 50 fast..and repeat for 2 more), 3 x 100 pace and 4 x 50 kick. Then a 100 cool-down and I was finished.
Another great Interval Tuesday completed! I have biology lab at 2 until 4:40. If I get out early I'd love to get on my bike. If not, no worries..I'd enjoy the evening to recover and get ready to teach my spin class tomorrow.
Warm-up 7.1 mph for 5 minutes, 7.5 mph for 5 minutes. Easy..I couldn't believe how good I felt. Big Set: 10 x 50 sec. at 8.5 mph, 10 sec. straddle the treadmill. This set was just to get the heart rate up and get my legs warmed-up for speed. I felt good foreach set. Then, 5 x 1 min at 9 mph, 1 min at 7.5 mph. I probably should have stepped that up. I felt the burn after around 40 sec. but it wasn't intense. I knew I had more sets to go but I either gave myself too much recovery or I did those intervals too slow. When the whole workout was over, I probably should have bumped up the speed. I'll go faster next time.Next set, 4 x 1:30 at 8.8 mph, 30 sec at 7.5 This set was great. I was feeling super good through the whole run but I could tell I was getting stronger with every set. I decreased the speed since the intervals were increasing in time but again, I think I should have started out faster in the first set. It is alway easy to start with the long intervals first and then get faster but I wanted to do the whole set with some type of lactic acid buildup. Next set, 3 x 2 minutes at 8.6 mph, 30 sec. recovery at 7.5 mph. Now I was feeling a bit of a burn. Around 90 sec. I was checking my time to see how much longer I needed to suffer. I probably could have ran faster for the 2 minute set but I was focusing on my leg stride and steady breathing. I felt good and solid as I was running. Last set, 3 min at 8.5 mph. By this point I had been running for over 45 minutes and 35 minutes of my run was intervals. The 3 minutes was a solid tempo and running under 7 minute miles for all my intervals was a great boost for me. I finished the workout with a few minutes of easy running and walked it out for a total of 7.2 miles in 52 minutes. Sweaty, out of water and ready to get in the pool. I did a few plyometric leg exercise (step ups on a bench, quick lunges and abs) before I changed out of my sweaty clothes. I am surprised I stayed in the water for a 2000 but I wasn't feeling any speed in the pool. I stretched it out and did everything on a 1:30-1:40 100, base. Nice and smooth for the following: 3 x 200, 5 x 150 (50 fast, 100 long/50 long, 50 fast, 50 long/100 long, 50 fast..and repeat for 2 more), 3 x 100 pace and 4 x 50 kick. Then a 100 cool-down and I was finished.
Another great Interval Tuesday completed! I have biology lab at 2 until 4:40. If I get out early I'd love to get on my bike. If not, no worries..I'd enjoy the evening to recover and get ready to teach my spin class tomorrow.