Since the New Year’s Day ride on Sunday the weather has not cooperated for outdoor ride fun. Monday was a day of getting stuff done and sort of recovering from “doing stuff” for six days in a row. Tuesday brought a day of rain, freezing rain, wind and 38˚ (no thank you, I’ll workout inside), Then on Wednesday we got the flip side of that– 40+ MPH winds, blowing snow (that seemed to be falling upwards rather than down), and 18˚ temps. Again, no thank you. However don’t be fooled by the pic of Jake (The Dog) hunkered down in his blanket, I’ve actually done stuff.
It’s Not Bro Science for Runners, It’s Just What I Do (Poorly)
While riding hasn’t happened in a few days I did get some quality treadmill time in as I try to mold my non-running self into a part-time runner. I’ve mentioned before that I seem to attempt this every year, but this year it seems to be sticking a bit more and I’ve been feeling some subtle adaption by my body to make it more tolerable. As I’ve also previously mentioned, I have no problem with the cardio aspects of running, it’s the process of having my legs slowly adapt from 20+ years of cycling to the shock and movements that running requires. Because of this I split my treadmill workouts into two kind:
- A warmup, followed by longer 5 to 10 minute spells of
jogginglumbering, followed by 1 minute of walking, to help my legs adapt to running [3+ miles total]. - A warmup, followed by alternating 1 minute (or .10 mile) sprints at varying speeds of 6, 7, or 8 MPH depending on my spankyness [3+ miles total].
I know most of that really makes me sound like a capri pants wearing power walking mom rather than someone who used to do 12, 24 hour, and 100 mile mountain bike races, but give me a break, I’m carrying the weight of small toddler around my belt now, and I haven’t done an endurance race in years. Despite all that, I find myself enjoying the challenge, and the occasional limping, that these workouts have been offering. It will be interesting to see if by spring I can run a full 5K or more outside without stopping, or if I burn my running shoes in the backyard.
Here’s a look at today’s 40 minute intervals session:
As you can see I started walking for a few minutes before I moved to three .10 mile sets of the vague semblance of jogging that I call “lumbering” at 5 MPH. After that it was four .10 mile sets of running the same speed as when I know there’s pizza in the house. Often I feel like shit and don’t go beyond 6 MPH, but I was rested and feeling good today so I moved on to three .10 mile sets of 7 MPH sprints which coincided with Metallica’s Moth Into Flame. It was cool that my 7 MPH sprint goes nearly exactly to the beat of that song. God I hope I don’t have to listen to that song on repeat if I want to run a steady 7 MPH!! I mean the song is good, but still.
I took a few deep breaths, adjusted my manhood, and pressed the 8. Oh yeah!! HERE WE GOOOOOOO! I was sprinting, flailing, spitting, sweating, gasping, and pushing my pudgy self into territories that I thought would require the assistance of a sports bra, or a defibrillator. I happily sprinted along watching my heart rate climb up to 160 BPM. I was doing it, it felt great, but at the same time I felt like an out of control beer truck careening down a mountain road, praying not to crash, spilling its “crisp and refreshing” cargo on the tarmac.
I did three of the 8 MPH intervals and was shocked that I was doing it, especially at the end of a workout. Thankfully there was no crashing of any kind, nor was there a need for a defibrillator (at least not for resuscitation).
The forecast for mid-Michigan doesn’t look great for fat biking anytime soon, but I see that some other areas of the state are getting snow. Might have to take a road trip if I want to ride groomed anytime soon. If not, I guess I’ll just have to fire up the beer truck for another session.
Later.