Thursday, June 3, 2010

Testing the limits

Sometimes I feel like the title of my posts would make excellent 80's made-for-TV move of the week titles.

Last night, Rach introduced me to the distance runners idea of wind sprints: run .5 miles, rest for a minute and repeat. I played 2 years of football in my high school career, so I am not totally unfamiliar with wind sprints, but I never good at them in high school, and those were only 40 yards. This is 850 yards, so just a little bit farther. Plus, 3 miles is currently my maximum distance even in a run/walk interval.

I've just recently gotten to the point where I can run half a mile consecutively at something above a trot, so doing this 6 times in a row was a bit of a stretch for me, but it was a good one. I got progressively slower with each half mile, and it's clear that Runkeeper's use of my Nexus One's GPS isn't 100% accurate. It would be off as little as 10 feet or as much as 10 yards, but it makes at least a  few seconds difference. It's really noticeable if you're running the same path over and over again.

Here were my times for the 6 half-mile "sprints":
5:50
6:20
6:19
6:30
6:44
6:49

Not exactly blazing, but the first sprint would put me under a 12 minute mile if I could sustain it. Definitely an interesting test, and something I'll do from time to time to chart my progress.

After I tested the limits of my legs, I went inside and tested the limits of spandex. Our team uniforms arrived yesterday, and for your viewing pleasure horror, I tried mine on.

Body of a sea lion, Legs of a chicken
The uniform almost fits. The top is a bit too snug to run in currently, as it rides up a bit. The shorts fit pretty well, and I actually wore them to do my running, prior to trying the top on. I'm excited to be part of such a good team and while I'm probably the anchor (in the literal, not the leadership senses) of the club, I'm going to enjoy this season more because of being part of it.

Notes:

- We're getting back on the bike today with any luck. Thunderstorms are expected for the afternoon, but should dissipate by the time I get home from work. Hopefully we can get in at least a few miles as we won't be riding at all this weekend in Wisconsin.

- The "Team Tyler" page is up, and has links to all of the key information.

- Since you had to deal with seeing me in my tri uniform, I'm attaching a pic of Rach in hers. Try not to drool too much, fellas.

Seriously, what is she doing with me?

11 comments:

  1. I must say that a picture of you in your gear while you are smiling does wonders! In other jersey/gear photos you've shown us, you have an unflattering scowl on your face...smile more! :) Oh, and nice job on the wind sprints!

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  2. Anonymous -

    I rarely scowl, and I'm not a very serious person for the most part. Being a bigger person I'm not always fond of the picture taking process, even though I'm a huge natural ham. I was terribly uncomfortable during this picture, but I'm glad I took it. I've got my mom looking for some pictures of me at my biggest so I can build a comparison photo set.

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  3. Great job Ben. Good luck this weekend. I hope your challenge goes great. Keep up the great training

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  4. "Seriously what is she doing with me?". sigh. I wish you could see what we your readers do, an intelligent, funny, determined young man.

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  5. Great job on the sprints! I really should be doing some of those to increase speed. Got the resistance training down though. Trying to run up a hill with a 73lb dog wanting to go the other way to play with dogs is definitely a workout:)

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  6. Derek - Thanks bud! I appreciate it.

    Anonymous - Thank you so much for the kind words. I know I tend to be a little hard on myself sometimes, and I try to keep it in line. I wasn't being harsh on myself that time though. Rach is an amazing woman, and much like any man who has landed a woman of her immense abilities, I sometimes wonder if I have "outkicked my coverage" so to speak. I was merely putting her on a pedestal a bit, because she deserves it.

    Barb - LOL. I can't imagine dealing with a giant dog while running. Especially because you're not a big person, thats gotta be a serious workout. I definitely recommend mixing the sprints in. For me, I was just trying to survive them, but I'm sure they're beneficial from a speed perspective.

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  7. Ben the sprints are a good idea, however I would start a bit less distance. Do 1/4 mile fast 1/4 mile walk/wal-jog/jog. Even for me the 800 sprints are a bit tough. Just my opinion.

    Derek

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