May 25th - Intervals

I woke up today, ready to tackle an easy six mile run today, when I realized it was Monday. I typically do interval running on Monday's, mainly because it gives me some rest during the week before I do a long run. While I do run throughout the week, its mainly easy runs and maybe shorter tempo runs. I don't especially care for interval running, but know its good for increasing your speed and how fast your body will adapt to faster speeds so I deal with it.

I went out to do 8 x 400 repeats @ a 7:30 pace, or around 1:50 lap time, then walk/jog for half the time in between. (so about 55 seconds) I quickly found out I was probably doing them too slow, and next time will try for a 7:00 pace to see how that goes. I ended up doing 10 x 400 repeats at the 7:30 pace. My heart rate did get up into the 170's but just barely. I recovered down into the high 140's by the start of the next repeat until the last few repeats, when it stayed in the 150's in recovery.

I should note that I like to do my intervals on a treadmill versus a track. To account for the difference, I set the incline on the treadmill to 2%. This is supposed to make up for the lack of wind resistance you have when running on a treadmill, although I still think its easier. My heart rate monitor has a footpod so I can track indoor distances too (outside is GPS). The treadmill is usually within 2.5 - 5%, and it can go either way.

Post race, no bodily problems other than a sore shin, which is expected as I had to get new shoes just before the race. My wife did run into her first issue with chafing, so I'm getting a kick out of that. (I went through it a few times in a couple different places and learned what BodyGlide was real quick) Also, I we did have pictures that were taken about 3/4 of the way through the race; so they should be choice! Ill see if I can get a hold of those and post those later on.