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
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| Body of a sea lion, Legs of a chicken |
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.
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| Seriously, what is she doing with me? |
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!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous -
ReplyDeleteI 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.
Great job Ben. Good luck this weekend. I hope your challenge goes great. Keep up the great training
ReplyDelete"Seriously what is she doing with me?". sigh. I wish you could see what we your readers do, an intelligent, funny, determined young man.
ReplyDeleteGreat 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:)
ReplyDeleteDerek - Thanks bud! I appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - 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.
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.
ReplyDeleteDerek
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