Thursday, May 8, 2008

Mixing it up: A breath of fresh air.

80 Days to go!

The clock is ticking - fast. I haven't run more than 3.6 miles in my training for the NYC half yet. I'm not too worried though. I've been getting back to the gym 2 or 3 times a week and running has been going very well.

Last night I ran the lake, but decided to do something a little different this time. I ran the first 5 minutes at a very fast pace - actually at a pace that I know I couldn't maintain for a full mile. I got around the 3/4 mile mark and walked for a minute and drank some Gatorade. I did this around the whole lake: 5 minutes running hard, 2 minutes jogging, 5 minutes running, 2 minutes jogging. When I got toward the end, I ran the rest of the mileage out as hard as I could to finish in 32 minutes (about an 8:50 mile average, but that included 7 minutes of slow recovery jogging mixed in).



The intent? I wanted to be out of breath at the end of every 5 minute interval. I've been noticing that my training this year is surprisingly injury free (no blisters, no shin splints, no cramps). The only thing I've noticed is muscle tightness (see previous post) and loss of breath when I run full out (of course). I've started reading more and more about how to train my breathing. This includes Max VO2 workouts (similar to what I explained above).

As you run, your muscles require more and more oxygen to operate. The harder you train, the more efficient your body uses oxygen. If you max out, the amount of oxygen you intake is being used up by your muscles. If you can train your muscles to be more efficient, there's more oxygen to be used elsewhere. Runner's World article.

Also, two days ago I worked out hard and then ran a treadmill mile at 7:30. Again, the plan was to be out of breath at the end of the run and holy crap. . . I was. I could never run a whole marathon at that pace, but it's fun to think about. That pace would let me finish at 3:16:30. People do it. I'm not close to it, but hey: life's a journey. I might get there someday.

So. . . I'm trying that. I plan to try this workout about once a week. Hopefully it will help my breathing. On the other running days, I'll keep working on endurance and distance. Maybe this Sunday is the first 7.2 miles.

I NEED MONEY!!!! I still only have $70 on my quest for $1000. Visit http://www.firstgiving.com/timmclain to help out OAR!!

Run, RUn, RUN!!

-Tim

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