1:1 Intervals

Decided to try some interval training again tonight in the hope that having cracked that “first attempt” barrier, tonight would be easier.

It was. This seems to be something of a pattern with new exercises: the first time you try something, it is ludicrously difficult, possibly because you don’t know your own limits and try to overexert yourself. This was certainly the case with the first “fast” interval I ran in the previous session. This time, I knew what a sensible pace was and didn’t set off at rocket speed only to find myself exhausted within approximately thirty seconds.

I was out in the dark, so it was difficult to judge how fast I was going, but fortunately RunKeeper on the iPhone keeps track of your average speed for different types of intervals. My Fast intervals tonight (a minute at a time, followed by a minute of steady jogging) were clocking in at an average of 9km/h. I have no idea how respectable that is, but I’m pretty sure it’s considerably faster than my usual “cruising speed” on endurance runs.

With a bit of training, these will help bump my speed up a bit, I think. And they’ll probably help with stamina too.