In my previous runner’s log entry I talked about stopping short on my distance training. I was quite upset with this and went back to the drawing board a.k.a the internet. I found quite a few training programs for marathons and half marathons, which I am definitely NOT up to yet. The one thing I noticed which was a commonality across the programs that I found was sprint training mixed with a variety of other types of training. Could this be the answer to my problems? Well, I don’t know, but I was determined today to put it to the test.
Nike+ iPod Sport Kit in place I set off on my run in Basic mode. I had no distance setting, but had about a 2.5 mile run in mind based on the route that I generally ran. The training programs I read about online required you to go to a track or somewhere with a known distance so you could measure times over that known distance. Well, I figured I’d just do the poor mans sprint training and just “do it” as Nike would say. So I started of at a moderate jog for a bit to warm up then took off on a sprint for as long as my lungs would hold out. Then I’d slow back down, walk quickly for a short distance, back up to a slow jog then sprint again when I could. For a first time out I figured this would be good enough and I was right. It was very… VERY revealing.
Results. Wow, I found something I need to work on. I can’t sprint worth dookie! I was sprinting about 12 inches and before I started sucking wind like a Dyson. (Notice I didn’t say Hover? Dyson just thinks things should be done properly. That was said with a British accent BTW) Anyway, my performance was really pitiful to say the least. Below is my Nike+ graph of the run. It doesn’t really give you much information, but you can see how absolutely sad it is.
Well, I don’t have a definite plan yet, but I’m sure I’ll be including at least one day of sprint training a week. It’ll probably be similar to today for a while. I don’t think I need to get extremely technical or exact with it yet. Hopefully I’ll be able to see some improvements. We shall see!