I have been consistently running for two years. During that time, I have averaged 3 - 5 runs a week. I tend to do a few shorter runs each week and one "long" run each weekend. I try to do some hill work on occasion, but hills really aggravate my ankle/tendon issue that I have because I'm an over pronator. So, I don't do hills every week. I try to vary my running workouts so that I build up my endurance and pace and have a nice variety of workouts. However, during the past two years, I have NEVER included intervals in my running routine. I always plan to, but I never seem to get around to it...until now.
A couple of weeks ago, I joined one of my running buddies at the local high school track one beautiful morning and we ran sprints around the track. I LOVED it. It was really tough, but I felt great after and really felt like I got a different workout than I do when I run a consistent pace. We switched between 400's and 800's with short rests in between. I was surprised at how fast I was able to run the 400's. The 800's were a different story. I found myself slowing down significantly on the second lap around the track. So, it looks like I have some work to do. We are planning to meet every Friday morning at the track to do intervals, and I'm really excited to see how much progress I can make. My goal is to be able to run a complete 800 without slowing down by the end of the summer.
We ran this morning, and we stuck to 400's.
I was really impressed with my time/pace. I was consistently under 7 minute miles the entire time, which is unbelievable to me since my average running pace is between 8:40 and 9:25 (depending on the distance of the run). It was so much fun to be able to run that fast, even if it was for a brief period of time. I can definitely see how intervals will help me improve my pace and build up my endurance. I just wish I had started two years ago :)
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