Interval run

Yesterday I attempted an interval run. I still would like to work on my speed, and interval runs feel like a good way to do it. But it feels like I failed.

The plan was a mile+ of warmup, running down to the river side where the Springwater Corridor Trail is. The trail is marked off in half-mile increments, is paved and relatively flat, making it perfect for measured running.

Once on the trail, I decided I'd alternate slow, jog-walk half-miles with fast half-miles. I've decided that anything faster than 9:00 miles is "fast".

Last time I did this run, I did three slow and three fast segments. This time, I decided to try four of each. I tried to set my expectations accordingly.

The weather was warm, around 67° F when I left the house, and humid. And even though I had gotten up very early and had a slice of toast with peanut butter and jam to break my fast, I'd then slept in later than I had wanted to and didn't leave the house until 10:30 or so. All of this, I'm sure, contributed to my struggle.

My warmup was exactly 15 minutes, including a stop for water. Then I started out with a slow segment (so that I'd finish with a fast one). First fast interval was 4:26 - barely fast, by my own subjective measure. Then jog-walk for a half-mile, and I'm already sweaty.

Second hard half-mile was done in 4:04 - now that's more like it! That meant that my average for the two half-miles was exactly an 8:30/mile pace.

More walking than jogging, then my third fast attempt, which I did in 4:13 - basically splitting the difference between the two.

Waaaaay more walking than jogging, and I attempted my last fast half-mile. I actually stopped to walk for 20-30 seconds (I think), but then tried to push myself to cross the finish line fast. Sadly, I had messed up and not reset my countdown timer, so I have no idea how fast that last attempt was.

I ate some Shot Bloks and drank some water, and then mostly walked back home, with some jogging up the hill on Umatilla. The whole outing was over an hour and twenty minutes. Next time I'll have to keep better track of my time, and push myself harder on the "slower" segments.