Hot intervals

I woke up yesterday and realized I was in a circle of hell not yet discovered. It was strangely hot for early June. Just the night before, a small tornado missed my neighborhood by about 10 miles. Today, Richmond is under a heat advisory, with temperatures expected to hit 94. The 10-day forecast is for temperatures to hit 97 tomorrow, then 100 for the few days after that, then cooling off to 91 by June 14. The normal high for this time of the year is the low 80s, so with temperatures almost 20 degrees above average, it's not exactly comfortable out there. Just last week, it was so cool in the morning that I ran in a long-sleeve shirt.

I'm not really complaining - I like running when it's hot vs. running in the middle of winter. It's just that it's been kind of cool all spring and we went from April to mid-July temperatures in a few days. Fortunately I'll be headed to the Outer Banks in a few days where temperatures are forecast to be about 10 degrees cooler.

So all this leads me to one of the sweatiest runs I've had in quite some time. Today I had the simple goal of four quarter-mile intervals with quarter-mile breaks in between. My goal was similar to the other day -- probably about 80 percent of the effort that I would put into a race with a goal time of less than 2 minutes per interval. I've realized that it's good to start simple with my goals, then beat them and then set the bar higher.

I was very happy when I hit my first quarter mile in 1:49. I didn't wear myself out and I was feeling great. My next quarter mile was also in 1:49. Consistency ... it's what all runners want. The next quarter mile was a bit slower in 1:55. I'm not really sure what happened, but it just felt sluggish. I think my recovery quarter was probably a bit too fast. I was a little worried about my last quarter, but I hit it in ... wait for it ... 1:49.

I'm very happy that be that consistent. I'm also happy to be under 1:50 at my first attempt at quarter mile intervals. My interval distances will vary all summer, but this is a good first test. I'll certainly revisit the same workout at some point in the next couple of months.


Workout since last post
June 5: Walk - 1; Run - 3 total (explanation above); Plank - 1:00; 50 set ups with Bosu ball