I seriously burst out laughing in the OR...they now all think I am crazy!  I guess I can just claim sleep deprivation induced delirium!

 

Sprinkles - they are probably the same ones showing their asses (literally) on the B&B threads.

Sprinkles - Lol.  What's your beef with these sparkle skirt folks?  Doesn't seem like they're doing any harm.

Cbus - Glad to hear you're feeling better.  Hope it was just a little training fatigue instead of overtraining.

Roll - Congrats on the HM pr!

Flinders - Congrats on the 5K pr!

Good running to everyone else!

I always find the first interval is the hardest.  And the last one (because by that point I am beat).  I find it hard initially to get my legs moving that fast so by the second one I feel like my legs are ready to turn over and my stride is more open.  I do think 30 seconds for 800 meters is a HUGE difference and it's better to try to be more consistent amongst them.  (but I don't go by heartrate, so I don't know how that all works)

 

Anybody else find that later intervals are actually easier?  I did a 2.5 mi warmup and then 6 x 800.  #5 and #6 were ~30 sec faster at same HR.  I guess it could be that it just takes me 6 miles to truly warm up?  I signed up for a smaller half in early May, thinking about just repeating my Pfitz marathon schedule.  As long as I taper, I figure the extra miles will help more than hurt.

BagoPux- +2 on Duke.  Both the wife and I are alumns.

 

 

Anybody else find that later intervals are actually easier?  I did a 2.5 mi warmup and then 6 x 800.  #5 and #6 were ~30 sec faster at same HR.  I guess it could be that it just takes me 6 miles to truly warm up?  I signed up for a smaller half in early May, thinking about just repeating my Pfitz marathon schedule.  As long as I taper, I figure the extra miles will help more than hurt.

Just this morning, while I was doing hill repeats (8 x 75 seconds @ 10k-HM effort) I was thinking how hard the first couple were compared to the last few.  On shorter intervals, it really takes a couple of turns to get the body ready for the work and to get the mind adapted to how your body feels on that particular run.  What it also means is that you may not be warming up enough, or with enough specificity.  These days, when I do speed work  or LTs, I'll do some really short sprinting during the warm up period to get my heart rate going.  I think it helps.  Did not do that this morning though.  There's really no way to prepare your body for hills except by running hills, so you might as well just jump right in.

and on the other point ... Class of '89 ....

Thanks RV....good advice!  I will try that this weekend!!  I  finally home from work but have been up for 36 hours now so I am not even going to attempt a run...I am having a hard time walking to tell the truth!  Anyway, I will take today as SRD, speed tomorrow, and easy miles Thursday and Friday.  I hope I will be recovered by Sat for the 10K but as stated earlier, it's not my goal race so sticking to the Hanson plan is more important!

Your heart rate isn't high enough for the first interval.  It makes it seem a lot harder.  For subsequent intervals it is much easier to get the heart rate up faster and additionally, it is not increasing from as low a starting point as it was for the first interval.

 

That is why when I'm going to race a fast race, i.e. 5k, or 10k or so, I not only go for a warmup, but throw in some strides until I can get my heart rate up to where I expect it to be in the race.  It makes it a lot easier to start fast without feeling like I am going to die in the first couple of minutes.  It is a lot easier to get the heart rate back up to a high level if it has already been up to that level in the short while beforehand.

 

Without the higher heart rate you're not getting the oxygen your body needs.

Interesting you say this.  I notice it always takes me about 5 miles to warm up and once my HR has leveled out, even if its high like in my tempo today, the pace "feels" easier

Josh and Jedi, great runs, wow!

I find there is a psychological factor at work on intervals, when you know it is nearly over you don't hold back and actually run faster for the last two.

I ran about 3.5 miles at easy pace as a warm up, then 8x400m at an average of 102 seconds or 1:42 each, the second one was a few seconds slow but all others within a 4 second bracket. Did 100m very slow jog between to recover. Easy jog for 1km to cool down afterwards.

This felt pretty good but I will need to work up to 12 pretty soon or go to 800m.

Nice intervals ap4!

great run D!

i think I'm finally back! I still have a nasty cold but I ran for the first time since Thursday (I think). Just 3 miles at 9:48 pace but I think it knocked loose some congestion so I'm happy! Now to shower and get some rest so I can go work another 12 hour day tomorrow. (And neglect my blog for Sprinkles!)