It was about 35 degrees when I woke this morning. I know many of you up north probably think that’s warm, but it’s an awfully rare occurence here in St. Petersburg, FL. With speed intervals scheduled, I decided to don the tights and head to the park instead of trying to do them on the treadmill.
The plan was as follows: 4x(200m R pace + 200m jog+ 200 m R pace + 400 m jog + 800m R pace + 400 m jog). R pace currently translates to 45 second 200 m and 3:05 800 m. Here’s how it went:
1.15 mile warmup at 8:31 pace
200 m in 44 s + 200m jog
200 m in 42 s + 400 m jog
800 m in 3:04 + 400 m jog
200 m in 44 s + 200 m jog
200 m in 48 s + 400 m jog
800 m in 3:16 + 400 m jog
200 m in 50 s + 200 m jog
200 m in 44 s + 400 m jog
800 m in 3:04 + 400 m jog
200 m in 48 s + 200 m jog
200 m in 50s + 400 m jog
failed attempt at 800 m (stitch)
walk for 5:26
Cool down of 1.23 miles at 8:26 pace.
The total run was 7.5 miles (including the walk). The whole thing was inconsistent. Nothing felt like it was working to its fullest potential. Maybe it was the cold. Maybe it was the cold gear and maybe I’m just tired. In particular, I was feeling a little stitch during the final recovery before the last 800 m interval. When I started the intervals intself, the stitch flared up to “not able to breathe” levels and I had to stop and walk it off.
I’m just glad to have finished most of the workout. It wasn’t great, but it’s done and I’m sure it helped me at least a little.
Make sure you are upping your vitamins or eating more fruits and stuff. The up and down freaky weather is worse for you then constant cold or constant hot. Probably was the cold, it is as much a mental barrier to feeling right as well as a physical barrier. I once read that the transfer of oxygen in your lungs is actually less efficient in the cold, which causes a little hyperventalation which leads to a cooling of your core via the lungs. Slowing the exchange further creating a spiral.
i can’t get scientific for you, but i would lean towards the unusually cold temp myself. did you run the afternoon/night before these morning intervals? or maybe got less sleep than normal? those could have affected the run too.
you did fall off the horse a bit (should’ve used carmen electra’s workout tip!) but you hung on and got your 3rd 800 back to where it should be. not the best speed day, but better than nothing. i hate those side stiches. they come at random times and i can never find a common thread to figure out why.
I refuse to run in weather colder than 40 degrees. Us Florida folk are so spoiled. 😉