Thursday, August 5, 2010

My vVo2 was Maxed!

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......MUST...........FIND.........OXYGEN!!!!
Picture in honor of my hubby who is flying to Hawaii today for work.
You suck!--I mean, I love you.

Today it was a treadmill speed workout and it was a SOB Good One!

Tracks be damned are great for speed workouts but do you know how much effort it would take me to haul four littles to a track so I could run for 30 minutes than turn around and haul them all back? That's a workout in itself.

Anyway, I digress.

It was a vV02 Interval workout.  30 repeats of 15-15s.  It's a 1:1 Work/rest ratio.  Don't know what you V02max is or what you vV02max pace should be?  Click HERE for a super duper long explanation great crash course on vV02.

I warmed up for a mile (something I didn't use to ever do because I'm lazy I didn't realize the importance of warming up) then I started in with the repeats.  I set the treadmill @105% of  vV02 max pace and ran 15s, then I would jump off for 15s rest, then back on for 15s run then off for 15s rest.  Repeated 30 times.  The first few times you might think "this isn't going to be that bad" but just wait......repeat 6 your thinking okay this will be good, ......repeat 10 your thinking holy moley,.........repeat 15 your looking for an exit........20 your sucking too much wind to care........25 your trying not to puke and even at repeat 29 I was wondering if I was going to just let the treadmill carry me off and hope to land on the floor and get to a lower elevation for more oxygen.  A bit too dramatic?  Okay maybe a touch but it was a good speed workout on a treadmill. Who knew?


I kept track of my repeats using the latest running technology available.  Pink marker and paper taped to shutter next to treadmill-can't do that at a track. Every time I jumped off for my 15s rest I marked a tally.  (Yes that is my own writing not my 4 year olds because my hand wasn't so steady right after my sprint--QUIT JUDGING ME!)  I actually ran with the marker in my hand because a 15s rest wasn't long enough for the picking up, putting down.

If you try this workout and it isn't hard enough for you then your not running fast enough.  You have to run at at least 105% of vV02max to reap the benefits of this type of workout but you can run faster.  Once you can't hold the pace you should STOP-DON'T TAKE LONGER BREAKS in between.  It needs to be 1:1 work/rest ratio. Good luck!

**Credits to Coach Dean for introducing me to this workout.
*Total Mileage 3.5

4 comments:

  1. You're raising the bar! I'm scared to follow suit!

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  2. Nice. You're right on on how this workout feels. Even though I know better, the first few sets of these I'm always thinking "this isn't too bad" .......

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  3. After reading your blog and your running camp synopsis (plus that vvo2???) I've come to the conclusion that I don't know how to run at all. I do my best to put one foot in front of the other at a pace that doesn't kill me for 30 minutes or so. I like to think my hilly neighborhood (Anthem) adds to the workout but also keeps my pace slower. And what's up with a 5K pace? I read about it all the time. I've run 3 5Ks and the one 10K I ran was right in the middle pace wise. My speed never really changes and I don't think I can run a 5K faster. The first 3 miles of any run always kick my butt. I look forward to reading more about your journey and maybe I'll find a track or treadmill one of these days to work along side you...or not;)

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  4. Impressive workout. I don't know if I could have done that. And Rob is right..."this isn't too bad" quickly changes into something not appropriate for written word.

    I'm also impressed you remember Vv02max. I've forgotten it already.

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