A (Slightly) Botched Interval Run
Let me set the stage for you here... A crisp fall morning in mid-October. The sun has yet to rise over the beautiful Manhattan skyline. The night is dark, the streets gently lit by the slight orange tinge of street lamps and the odd passing taxi cab. One of the few moments the city that never sleeps quiets to a dull roar. Cut to my apartment, where I am swearing profusely at my alarm clock (in my head of course) while my dog and fiancée pretend to still be asleep. This morning is another round of the dreaded interval sprints before I head off to work. My fiancée has opted for a more reasonable later morning workout that she will likely curse between meetings.
A small part of me was wishing that I was headed onto that cruise ship.
It must have been one of those nights with a consistent light rain because the ground looks wet from our window and the glass feels cool. I throw on some shorts, a long sleeved shirt, my hat, and my shoes as quietly as possible in an attempt to not ruin the morning of everyone else, only my own. Can you tell I'm not always a morning person? The morning is nice, there is something to be said about NYC in the hour before sunrise. I make a quick stop for a "selfie" in front of a cruise ship that will be likely be taking people far away from their worries later that day. Relax, I am allowed to take "selfies" now that I have a blog and need to keep them visually appealing. Anyways, game on. You may know the drill but here is the quick breakdown of my interval run this morning.
15 min warm-up run (~8-8:30 min/mile)
4x30s all out sprint with 3 min jogging recovery
2x45s all out sprint with 3 min jogging recovery
2x60s all out sprint with 3 min jogging recovery
10-15 min cool down
Warm-up felt great, I no longer am cursing the morning and the sky is starting to lighten. The 4x30's feel good. I am hitting a fast pace in my sprints, my knees feel high and form feels good. Gasping for breath during every recovery phase, a very good sign. 2x45s feel a little more difficult, as they should. If you haven't run a 45s all out sprint, it is much more difficult than it sounds. Now come the dreaded 60's... This is a battle of mind over matter if there ever was one. I hit the first and although feeling the acute fatigue, I know that I have one left and at this point, you can do anything one more time. My timer counts down... 3, 2, 1.. and I hit the gas.
Don't sleep and run children. The Trials and Tribulations of training...
However, at this point in my course, the terrain is a little more twisty and turn-y and pretty uneven compared to the rest of the course. I come haulin' around a corner and I must still have been asleep. Not paying attention, I plant my foot briefly on a wet sewer cap. Before I know it, I am sideways, gliding through the air with my legs tangled worse than my headphone cords. I hit the ground pretty hard but pop back up quick enough to try and save face if anyone were looking. Thankfully there was nobody in sight and I proceeded to hop around like I was in some sort of interpretive dance class, hoping the pain would dissipate. Needless to say, my 10-15 min cool down turned out to be 20 mins of hobbling back to my apartment with a bruised elbow, leg and ego. The trials and tribulations of triathlon training...