Run x3

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Run 1: VO2 Max Treadmill Workout:

Two weeks ago, I had a little time between classes, so I tried a new workout. I’d been hearing about this VO2 max treadmill workout, and thought I’d give it a whirl. Click the link in the last sentence for the workout details, but it’s basically a warm-up followed by adding speed every minute until you can’t add speed anymore. I was able to max out the treadmill at 12.0 mph for 62 seconds before I had to jump off and try not to die! (My heart rate was around 220!)

The “nice” thing about that workout is as I was building my speed, I’d think “OK, I’m at 10.0 mph - this hurts. I don’t know if I can go any faster.” But then I’d still have some speed left in my legs to bump it up to 10.5 mph a minute later. It was a good feeling to know that there’s always a LITTLE more speed left in those scrawny legs of mine!

Run 2: Long Run and CVA Triathlon Club Workout:

Sunday was a beautiful day, so I wanted to do a longer run. It was also Valentine’s Day, so Pharmie had made me 2 delicious rolls in the morning. I devoured 1 just before running, and I hoped I wouldn’t barf if up during my workout:

I headed out for a 10 mile loop along the river. I took the same route as my 12-miler a few weeks ago, but I took off that last 2 mile loop at the end:

And just like in that 12-miler, I taped mile markers to my sleeve:

Don’t mock my “GPS”

The mile markers weren't super accurate, so sometimes I’d run a “slow” mile followed by a “fast” mile. I warmed up for the first 3 miles, picked it up and really pushed for the next 6 miles, and then cooled down for the last mile. Here’s what my splits looked like:

7:04 (downhill) - warm up
7:35 (longish) - warm up
7:02 (shortish) - warm up
7:10 (longish)
6:15 (shortish)
7:15 (longish)
6:31 (shortish)
6:40
6:40
7:28

10.05 miles in 1:09:46
6:56 / mile average
6:45 / mile over the hard 6 miles in the middle

Because I ran the last few miles into the wind, when I took off my shirt at home, I saw that my belly was pretty red. There was a LINE where my pants were:

SpongeBob boxers? Don’t act so surprised. ;)
And don't let my cold, pointy nipples scare you.

Then, for my cool-down, I headed to the College of Visual Arts for a workout with the “CVA Tri Club.” (For those who don’t know, I teach at a small art college in St. Paul. Last May, some students convinced me to start and “coach” the CVA Triathlon Club. Since then, I’ve had 5 students do 2 different indoor triathlons, 4 students finish a sprint tri, and 2 students compete in their first duathlon. One of my favorite posts on my blog over this last year was just after 4 of them did their first sprint tri, and they all wrote a mini race report.)

I knew it’d be a small showing (because it’s winter and all), but Hannah really wanted to go for a run. She’s actually been putting in a number of 3-4 mile runs throughout the winter! Good for her! So it was just Hannah, Erik, and I. Here we are on a little warm-up jog:

Pink sunglasses are scientifically proven to make you run faster

We stretched for a bit and then took off on about a 2.5 mile run. We had plenty of ice to avoid:

Erik pointed out that he thought this message was appropriate to us:

So after a solid run, we headed back to school:

Hopefully, we’ll have a gang of about 3-6 students doing another indoor triathlon in a few weeks! Those are a lot of fun for people newer to the sport. (Heck, they’re a lot of fun for me!)

Run 3: Ladder at the Metrodome:

Tuesday I headed to the Dome after class for some speed work. I waved and said hi to Jen who was doing intervals, and I warmed up with GreenKing as he was cooling down. We all chatted and stretched for a bit as they were wrapping up their workouts and I was getting ready to tackle mine. The Dome is about 600 meters around, and I WANTED to do 600, 1200, 1800, 1800, 1200, 600. But I couldn’t convince myself to do that second 1800. So here were my times:

600m: 2:01
1200m: 1:59, 2:05 = 4:04
1800m: 2:08, 2:10, 2:06 = 6:24
1200m: 2:06, 2:03 = 4:09
600m: 1:59

So my 1800 was at 5:41 / mile pace. Not too shabby.

During my first interval (and the reason why it wasn’t sub-2), I passed a guy who smiled and said “Hey Steve!” I smiled and said “Hey - who are you?” His name was Peter, and he was the one who shouted “STENZEL!” just after the turn-around in the video I took while running the winter carnival half marathon! I never knew who that was! Mystery solved! He’s a local runner who sometimes follows my blog. We chatted longer after we both finished up our workouts. Peter, I’m glad you said hi! I hope to see you at the MudBall in 2 months!

Oh, and here are some Examiner articles I wrote recently:

• VO2 Max Treadmill Workout. It’s not a long workout, but it still hurts! (It's the one I mentioned above.)

• Winter BeGone Duathlon Cancelled Indefinitely.

• And DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS? I was watching this unfold on Twitter yesterday and the day before. Lance Armstrong met 3-time Ironman Champ Triathlete Chris Lieto on a ride and challenged him to what Armstrong dubbed as the first ever “Twitter Time Trial”. I would have loved to have been in Hawaii to see this play out!

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