Failed Treadmill 3x1 Intervals

Two out of my last 3 speed workouts ended earlier than they should have.

Damn it.

I headed to one of the colleges where I teach to use a treadmill in their lobby early in the morning last week. (They put a few weights and other equipment in a former lounge at the start of Covid in a way to help "spread out" and social distance athletes while working out.) Here was the view of part of the workout area with a single treadmill parked in the corner:

I went there for this workout for 3 reasons: first, because any sort of interval workout is pretty aggressive for our not-professional-grade treadmill; second, because it has hundredths and not just tenths on the display like ours; and third, because it speeds up and slows down faster than ours which is SLOW to get to speed (which sucks when doing interval work).

It was HOT from the start, and that set the tone for this workout. My treadmill is in our unheated basement, and it has a small built-in fan and we also have a larger fan set up in front of it. This treadmill at college was in a warm lounge area with no fans.

After a 1.5 mile warm-up, I kicked off at 10.7 mph for 0.3 miles or so, then up to 10.8 mph, and then finally up to 10.9 mph for the last 0.3 or so. My first interval was 2:47.5 + 2:45.8 = 5:33.3.

I was feeling a bit rough already. After about 3:00 of walking, I sped up again. This time, I started at 10.9 mph for 0.4, then 11.0 for 0.4, and finally 11.1 to close: 2:44.2 + 2:41.8 = 5:26.0.

When I started the 3rd interval, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be able to finish it. This was all about how long I could last. I started at 11.2 mph for about a half mile, and then bumped it up to 11.3 mph. But once I bumped it up, I only held on for about another 1/10 of a mile. So my last "mile" interval was only 0.6 miles: 2:40.4 + 0:32.1 (0.1 mile) = 3:12.5 (0.6 mile).

I cooled down for just over a mile to hit 6 total miles on the treadmill as the sky was just starting to get light:

Street light illuminated snowbanks in the background out the window.

I just didn't feel great for this workout, and at least some of it was due to being HOTTER with no air movement. Check out how the "temp" reading on my Garmin varied from running 3x1 at home in Dec vs last week in this warm college room:

72-81 degrees in our basement in Dec
(with 2/3s of the time under 74 degrees)...


... vs 77-86 degrees last week (with 2/3s of the time at 80 degrees or higher!)

It stinks feeling like I've failed 2 out of my last 3 hard runs, but at least I'm pushing myself. Right?... RIGHT?...