Yep - now THAT was hard work!
Morning all, Aussie here typing from the recovery lounge in SW London with some Chocolate Recovery Milk and about 16 litres of water... The paramedics have been stood down and I can report now on my interval fun today...
As you probably know, today was an interval training run "at pace" to see how fast I could run a mile... The plan (and the workout plugged into the Garmin) was 5 minute warm up, 1.61k run, 5 minute recovery... then do it 2 more times for a total of 3 miles running...
I'd read that at my age it wasn't that common for blokes to be able to run a sub 8 minute mile but that people that could do so were statistically much less likely to have cardiac issues later in life... Now, I don't know if that's true or not (there was a study done though - great book "The First 20 Minutes" BTW) but I thought that sounded like a good challenge anyway... and in line with my current training efforts...
So - I'd mapped out a mile long piece of towpath last night and today I was all set... this was going to be tough but I was ready for it... I did an extended warm up walk to the river and then did a light jog for a few minutes to warm up - up and down a section of towpath.. people must have thought I was mad!
20 seconds of warm up to go and I start heading down the towpath.. light jog, into a faster jog and then "buzz" from Garmin - we are OFF like a rocket... running as fast as I think I can handle and soon realise that I've perhaps taken off a little bit too quick... oh well, let's see how hard I can push it... Quick glance at the Garmin shows me coming up quickly to 1.6km and I think "wow... awesome..."... but something isn't right... I'm not where I should be on the towpath.. a mile is further than this... I slow to a walk then realise that the Garmin is showing TOTAL distance (including warm up walk) so I have quite a bit still to cover... oh cr@p! Right - better get the skates on then... off running as fast as I can again... sorted out Garmin and she buzzes politely at 1.61km as instructed... I collapse into a heap of jelly! Well, not really, but I am shattered... that really took it out of me...
Slow walk for another 5 minutes (2.5 further down the path, then 2.5 back to the paved section - my measured start/finish line)... and we're off AGAIN... this time I don't go out quite as fast and at the halfway mark (800m) start to push a bit quicker... this is really hard work and I know it's not as fast as the first one (even with the walk) but it's no idle walk in the park either... There are no "good mornings" to runners today (sorry, not being rude, can't talk) and sweat is pouring off me... thankfully this is over pretty quick and as expected Garmin buzzes right where the paved section ends (also showing me the 620 is pretty accurate!)... phew... still no idea of times yet...
Now I'm REALLY tired... legs feel okay but the muscles feel tired... they've just gone super fast over 2 miles and they are complaining... they think their owner is an idiot... I'm starting to agree by now...
Right - another walk up and down for 5 minutes (heavy breathing compulsory)... manage a quick chat with some walkers who ask if I'm okay... "yep, fine, just one more mile at pace and I'm done"... they think about calling a van to take me away but carry on shaking their heads... 
Final recovery period over and we're OFF... this time I know I'm slower again, but I'm pacing this time... in time with the music for now... at 800m I pull the headphones out and push hard... grunting, groaning, struggling for breath but the end is in sight... just past the Teddington Lock... DONE!
5 minutes cool down now and I have no idea how I've done... I've done what I can... I think I've pushed hard... All I know is my total time is about 45 minutes... with 20 minutes of that being warm up/cool down and recovery periods I figure that's 3 miles in 25 minutes then... a tad over 8 minutes on average... and a sub 26 minute 5K pace (not that I ran 3.1 miles at that speed, but still)... I get a bit excited now...
The Garmin buzzes to tell me I've completed my workout, then when I click save I get the magical "2 New Records" pop up... Here we go:
1) Fastest Mile : 7 minutes and 57 seconds
2) Fastest KM : 4 minutes and 46 seconds
My first mile was my fastest with the following two about 30 seconds slower each repeat (8:24 for the second and 8:51 for the third)... so, even with the Garmin mess up and the quick walk in the first interval it was the fastest out of the traps and sub 8... if I hadn't have walked I suspect another 4-5 seconds off that time... but at the moment I can't keep that pace up over the session yet.... To be honest, I didn't expect to!
To think I couldn't even run for the bus 6 months ago and now I know I can run a sub 8 minute mile is amazing... Today was hard work but super rewarding... I was SOOOO happy to have met my objective today... it has made my weekend!!!
Thanks to all of you for your support on my journey and happy running! Have a GREAT weekend!
Oh - and 50.13% age graded... goodrunguide.co.uk/AgeGrade... (when you consider 100% is the world record time I don't feel bad about that result!)...
Hehe
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