Stroller-Running Intervals

Oh man... it's been a while.

Friday morning, Charlie and I headed out for some intervals along the river. He's too young to stay home alone (or with his bigger brother), so we loaded into the stroller.

My last stroller run was last August when I confirmed that I was injured. As time went on, I wondered if that was going to be my last stroller run ever. So I was happy to have reversed that thought last week after 15+ months. I've truly loved my stroller runs with my boys over the years.

Loaded up and under the weathershield. Note the frost
on the background plants: it was 26 degrees at the time.

I warmed up for just over a mile, and then it was time to get to work. I had planned my favorite non-track distance-oriented speed workout: 2x2 mile intervals with 3:00 of walking in between.

I really didn't have any goals (could I be CLOSE to 6:00 miles with the stroller?), so I was just planning to run hard. I ran them "out" for a mile and then "back" for a mile on the stretch just south of Franklin along River Road:

The red means fast, and the dark blue is slow (walking before, between, and after).


Close-up of the "interval" section.


Showing my start and finish for each (blue first, pink second).

I was happy with my first mile coming in at 6:06, and then I realized I turned back WITH the slight wind, so my second mile could be faster. My first interval was JUST under 12:00, and I was THRILLED with that. So I tried to keep it up on the 2nd interval. Here's what I ran (showing half-mile splits):

3:01.98, 3:04.44, 3:01.93, 2:51.35 = 11:59.70

3:01 walking rest: 0.19 mile

3:05.46, 3:02.01, 2:57.12, 2:44.87 = 11:49.46

That 2:44 closing half mile was killer!

The 2 intervals are easy to see. And both had a nice "build" within them!


My Garmin splits of the 2 intervals and the "rest" in blue.

I took it easy pushing the stroller back up the Marshall hill from the river. Charlie had a portable DVD player with him (seen in the first photo), but that skipped right away and didn't work, so we just chatted at times earlier in the run. He never complained. But he was quiet heading up the hill during my cool down. When we turned into our neighborhood a few minutes later, he let out a loud groan followed by: "Dad?... I think I had a little rest..."

Cute fella.

I'm not taking any workout for granted after being injury for so long!