Intervals

[ksmith]

Still running, off and on. At least, the feet continue to hit the treadmill track at irregular intervals in a way that approximates running in the same way that the drinks machine on the Heart of Gold manufactured a drink that approximated tea.

I still suck, but not as much as I did back in january. A couple of times, hit 4.2 mi/hr for 20 minutes. Usually, I stick with 4.2 for 15 minutes, which equals a mile plus a little bit. This is bracketed by about 20 minutes walking for warm-up and cool-down.

But, you know, you get bored. So I talked with my co-worker Sharon today about how to build endurance and vary things. Sharon is a marathoner, so she knows from running. She suggested interval training at whatever pace I felt like. 5 min walk/5 min run. Throw in a minute of real fast, which for me is about 5 mph, a pace that actually feels like running, not jogging. I even threw in about 30 seconds of 6 mph tonight, which was a mistake. That's edging into 'we need adrenaline to make this work'. Oz in full lycan mode nipping at my heels, I could probably maintain 6 for more than a minute.

When Sharon trains on a treadmill, her bottom speed is 6.5 mph. She will vary between 6.5 and 8.5 mph. For someone who dreams of someday breaking a ten minute mile, this is wings-of-eagles territory. I can only dream.

Sharon ran in the Chicago Marathon last October, and did well enough to qualify for Boston, which runs on Monday. She told me that there are 20,000 entrants. The numbers they wear are their ranks, and hers is 15,000 and change, which means that 3/4 of the field is faster than she is. Wings-of-Stealth-bombers category. I can't imagine.

There are a lot of fast people out there.

Comments

[trolleypup.livejournal.com]

Bottom line is time spent doing it. Whatever you have to do to keep that time up! No recs for treadmills work, I'd go straight bonkers. I've managed to convince myself that walking to do errands around the city is generally faster than waiting for the bus, and certainly more dependable timewise.

I don't jog or run, but I can push my walking[1] pace over 4 mph if I'm willing to deal with knee pain after 20 miles. 4.5 is about max though (and not any fun either).

[1] Technically it isn't a walk, since my heels don't always touch the ground.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I plug in my iPod, and I Think. I try to spend at least 45 minutes every other day, which plays out to 3-4 days a week. I should try for 5-6 days a week for weight loss, but I'd need about 28 hours in a day.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Trying to walk at 4 mph was what kicked me over into jogging. The impact on my ankles/knees was so jarring that I kicked over into a jog, which immediately took the pressure off. It actually felt more comfortable, joint-wise. Lung-wise was another story.

[trolleypup.livejournal.com]

If I actually went down on my heels, that pace would kill my knees pretty fast. If I enjoyed jogging more, I might do it.

[daveamongus.livejournal.com]

I personally dream of getting back to my boot camp time of 21 minutes for 3 miles. 18 minutes (the "points max." for the running portion of the test) would be some strange kind of heaven.

What I need to do is get out on the trail of the linear state park that runs right by my house. We even have "mile roads" hereabouts, so I could get a pretty decent idea of distances run.

I'd like to get to the point where I'm running a PFT (all three events) every Saturday morning.

But first I need to get to the basics which means, at the very least, walking three miles most days.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I was pretty sure that Boot Camp times were 'never in a million years, honey' times for me, but I wasn't sure. You just confirmed it.

Do you guys have to maintain those times throughout your enlistment, or is that just to get you in the door?

My dream is 3 miles/30 minutes. If I can reach that, I will have come a very long way in terms of endurance.

[daveamongus.livejournal.com]

Well... you're strongly encouraged to maintain your times, but in reality, you just need to stay under 27:30. (Of course, doing exactly the minimum in all three events will still mean you fail, you points-wise.)

Many times I wish I had gone active duty right from boot camp, instead of opting for the Reserves. At least on active duty you get paid to PT and maintaining your time is not difficult at all.

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

This is probably not useful at all, but I couldn't stand running on treadmills (or even indoors or on tracks, really). Getting outside on the trails was the best boredom-buster I ever found (and better for my particular leg issues).

(Er. Assuming you have trails handy and that there aren't compelling reasons to stick with the treadmill, etc.)

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I have trails handy. This may sound nutty, but I would like to be a better runner before I expose my stride to the outside world. I'd like that 5 mph stride that makes it look like I'm running, not jogging/dying.

You may all laugh now.

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

The nice thing about trails is, there are trees, and no cars going by. *g*

But no laughing here.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah--I used to walk King along the trails we have. They're hard paved, tree-lined, and pretty nice.

Maybe this summer...

[trolleypup.livejournal.com]

Not laughing...it would be jerks like me walking past you...but I don't laugh. Exercise is better than not-exercise, however it comes.

And when you keep it up, you WILL get better.

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

No laughing here. I don't have the endurance right now to make it through an hour dance class, much less the 4 hours a week plus a Saturday night dance I used to do. I'm really not supposed to do anything aerobic right now. but she said if I could enjoy it without crashing afterward, I could do it.

I'm sitting here eating an apple slice with almond butter to have the energy to finish potting the last two tomatoes. Extra nut butter on the finger, of course. Body says "give me protein, fat and carbs now!" Yes 'um.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Must listen to the body.