So after the week of Bex Best, I had to take a short haitus. I woke up one morning with a really sore throat and was immediatly convinced I had strep throat. Turned out to just be bad allergies but I took a few days off anyway. So over the weekend I did not do a long run....took the week off. Bex, on the other hand, is a badass and of course did 8 miles by her lonesome on Friday. Good for Bex, Bad for Laura. I really don't feel that guilty for taking off because if you think you're sick, you might be sick. No sense in encouraging the sickness by killing yourself on your runs. If you don't feel good, take a day or two. You'll get back in the groove eventually.
So yesterday I was back in the action. Did the usual Monday 4 miler. Piece a cake. Then I met Bex at the gym this morning. I had agreed to try this Sprint Interval Run she had made up. Pause for dramatic effect. Yes, you heard me. Sprinting. Now as you know I am a self-proclaimed 13 Minute Mile Girl. Not Sprinter Girl. But I have heard from numerous people that this is the best way to really drop some weight. Work in some intense sprint intervals during your weekly workouts. So here's what we did:
Walk: 5 minutes at 3mph
Jog: 2 minutes at 6mph
Walk: 2 minutes at 3mph
Jog: 2 minutes at 6.5 mph
Walk: 2 minutes at 3 mph
Sprint: 2 minutes at 7 mph
And so on and so forth. We did these intervals, increasing our sprint speed by .5 mph with each interval until we reached our fastest speed of 8.5 miles per hour. At this point I was wishing I had given Tom and Reba extra hugs before I left that morning because I was pretty sure I was going to die on that tredmill. But good news....I have lived to tell the story! So anyway, once we reach the 8.5 sprint interval, you decrease your speed at the same rate as before (.5 mph) in each interval. The whole thing should take a total of about 50 minutes, and your distance will be around 4.5 miles. Bex likes to just go ahead and run at a comfortable pace for a few minutes at the end to complete a whole 5 miles. But I couldn't finish it. I got a crazy cramp around interval number...oh, I dunno ONE MILLION and had to bow out gracefully. But I tell you what I was sweat. ing. when I quit. It is intense and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to quickly burn some calories and increase endurance.
In closing I want to give a shout out to my dear friend and former roomie, Kathleen who is a dedicated reader of this blog. She also let me know that she is up to running four miles these days! This makes me so happy because when we were living together she could run....oh, about 1/2 mile? Maybe? I don't know what lit a fire under her butt, but I am so proud of her that she has increased her fitness level in the recent months. Not that she needed to, she is a beautiful size zero but still....it's the principal. And how much do you love this picture of her and Flipper. Love. It.
Hey maybe you and Caitlin could run together sometime? That would be nice. And then you could force her to post to the blog.
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