intervals and intensity


I did my intervals on Wednesday.  30 seconds at about 90% followed by 30 seconds at a slow jog.  Repeat 10 times.  It was not pleasant, though I think it will help with my overall speed and pain threshold.  But all in all I would rather be getting a root canal.  As I do this more I want to make the sprint time longer as I lessen the recovery time.

This morning I did 5 miles with the intention of taking it nice and slow.  Which is why its called an EASY run.  Instead I PR'd my 5 mile run at a 9:22 pace!  That was a pleasant surprise and I think that with some effort I could do my next Half in a sub 9 minute pace.  Which would be pretty sweet.

My goal is not to go out and kill myself every run, but, rather, make it slightly more difficult.  I don't want to get injured, but I want to get stronger and faster and for that ya kinda need to work a little.  The good news is I have a lot of time to figure this out.  Well, not so much time.  I have a Half in January so I kind to need to get cracking.

I'm starting to do a bit of an easy stretch routine before my runs and it really helps out with that first mile.  Generally I feel like my knees are wrapped with barbed wire for the first mile or so.  Getting some blood into my legs and keeping my feet "light" for the first mile or so is helpful.  I am also starting to make some discoveries when I consider my stride.  I keep my regular stride rather short and quick, a bit of a pitter-patter of a stride.  As I start to go down hill (depending on the grade) I let my stride get a little longer and though I felt that this would lead to discomfort when I first started experimenting the effect is quite the opposite.

Uphills I just charge and hope for the best.

I am off to Maine on Sunday so I might do a 5 or 6 miler before I take off.  I foresee my calorie count in Maine as being somewhat astronomical so I will be packing my running shoes!  LOBSTA for days.