Thursday, June 25, 2009

Hot, nasty, sticky, brutal, awesome.

(5 words to describe 5 x 1000 intervals)

My personal pace bunny and I waited until 9PM to hit the park, but it was still 27C/81F with 51% humidity ("feels like" 32C/89F). I realize this is nothing compared to what some of you have to deal with, but for us Ontarians it's HOT.

I will easily admit that I am not a fan of running in the heat. I was not in the mood for it at all last night and almost called it quits before we even started. Finally I decided to just suck it up and fight the heat.

As we ran our warm-up, I was already sweating and choking on the thick air - not to mention COMPLAINING! I kept telling my husband pace bunny that this was not going to be pretty.

It was not fun and I had to work my way through every single interval. I promised myself during each 1000 that this one would be the last. I can quit after this one. I've had enough. I must be working twice as hard, so surely 2 repeats count as 4, which is almost 5...

Somehow I made it through all 5 and although they weren't quite as speedy as last week, they were still pretty fast and pretty much right on pace for my goal 5K.

4:39, 4:31, 4:28, 4:28, 4:30

[compared to last week's 4:27, 4:32, 4:26, 4:25, 4:22]

It was hot, nasty, sticky, brutal... and awesome.

I'll have one or two more opportunities for speed work before my July 11th 5K, but I'll be on my own because hubby starts his own training plan next week. I've done two weeks of 3x1600 at the track and two weeks of 5x1000 at the park. Any suggestions?

25 comments:

Lindsay said...

i hope you aren't too worried about the slightly slower paces - the heat and humidity definitely played a roll in that! nice job talking yourself into the next interval, and the next one after that... i know it felt amazing when you were done!

you could add on more 1000s or 1600s, or you could do 800s? (like maybe 6+ reps?)

I Run for Fun said...

Wow! Way to get through those intervals! You are getting some great training in the heat, so I'm sure you'll do great in the 5K.

Mel-2nd Chances said...

the pool was a lot cooler at 9p ;P Nice job getting the intervals done, enjoy the cottage!

B.o.B. said...

Congrats on awesomely brutal intervals. I feel your pain!

Denise said...

As much as it stinks running in the heat, when you're done it's so worth all the sweat...and tears!

Jess said...

Temperature is relative, so if it's hot for you, it's hot for you; it doesn't matter what's hot for others. But, great job on the intervals despite the heat!

chris mcpeake said...

Dont know how you made yourself do it. I wimped out of my tempo run and just did slow miles instead. Was still tough. Great pace times

Add a speed ladder there awesome.
400,800,1200,800,400 with recovery 400 between each interval. Add a 1600 and 1200 in the middle if you want to make it even harder.

J said...

Great job!! I would say that the interval length is more about personal preference. of course both are good for you, but since they are so close in length I think its ok to do either one or interchange them!

Its tough in the heat, yesterday I totally did not want to finish my 800m repeats but Brian was there keeping me honest!!

Runner Leana said...

Nice job on the intervals! To do that on such a hot and humid day? Tough, and you rocked it!

Good luck on the running commute tomorrow. Can't wait to hear how it goes!

Aron said...

awesome job on those intervals girl!!! i know that was NOT easy in the heat. and 80 IS hot! anything above 75 i think is hot and i would still rather not run in 75 :) haha. great job!!

Patrick said...

Those times are awesome!!! Great work!

It was just as hot here in Buffalo-- and it was a tough ten miles for me yesterday too!

Heather said...

Nice job on the intervals! I did some hot speed repeats at the track Monday after work and ended up cutting my workout in half, it was just so hot.

Christy said...

I grew up in South Eastern ONtario (along the St. Lawrence River near Kingston) and I totally understand what you mean about the heat there. THEN I experienced the HEAT in Oklahoma (where we are currently residing). ICK ICK ICK!

TNTcoach Ken said...

Ha, that sounds like a song from the 80's! We did 400s because of the heat.

littlesack said...

that is hot no matter where you are, and being from Baltimore, I know about heat and humidity...its HORRIBLE. (when i played college soccer and we had pre-season at noon in august on the turf---it literally felt like hell- 120 on the turf and humid as shit) Glad you pushed through it and got some good times.

teacherwoman said...

I think you did pretty damn good on those intervals given the fact that the heat was killin' ya!

Jamie said...

fantastic job on those intervals! the heat slows us all down but you fought through and kicked butt!

Erika said...

Great job running in the heat!

MCM Mama

Mark said...

Fantastic workout-try some 400's at 3000m pace, I like Chris's ladder, too.

Anonymous said...

Intervals are Always hard, no matter the distance! Yours look great, even if they're a little "off" from last week. you'll be More than ready for that 5K!

Katie said...

Hey! I just started running again and I love your blog. Keep up the great work.

Toni said...

Great job! Running in the heat is brutal.

No Longer Using said...

Do some Yasso 800s!!!!! that would be a great distance/repeat for you still endurance, but a little bit of a change up and it will be nice mentally too b/c it's a little bit shorter. GREAT JOB with this workout-- don't you feel so bad a$$?!?! way to get through it :) and yeah you're allowed to think it sucks and complain but then you emerge on the other side and you didn't quit :)

joyRuN said...

Great job on your speedwork - awesome, indeed!

EndorphinBuzz said...

Awesome job again, your hard work is paying off! Next week you will find out that you can do it by yourself!!!