Thursday, May 14, 2009

14/05 - Treadmilll Challenge

Having done a treadmill session in the work gym on Tuesday I thought, at about 20minutes in, that having a 30minute treadmill challenge would be an interesting one for the Shurdington Tri Club. So the challenge was set and is pretty simple, a treadmill, zero incline, 30minutes and how far can you go…the only requirement is a photo to prove your distance!
 
On Tuesday I managed 4.23miles but, like I said, I only considered the challenge at 20minutes in. Today I went for it, set myself out to start with a 5minutes easy pace (about 7.5mph) then gradually increased the pace in line with a rough schedule based on 5minute time slots and distance markers. What actually happens is I increase the speed ahead of schedule if I feel good – a psychological trick I guess.
 
At just over 20minutes I was at 3miles I then increased the pace to 10mph then quickly to 10.3mph. I did about a minute at that pace then went to 10.5mph. That felt too difficult (I probably never left enough time at 10.3mph) so I dropped back down. At 25mins up to 10.5mph, at 26mins 11mph then at 28mins 12mph. Finally completed, soaking wet at 4.67miles. Heart rate data was interesting – my avg. was 152 with the max. at 174 (courtesy of my Suunto T4). 
 
Psychologically i tried not to look at the clock as time seems so slow! I had the Quadrathon (@quadrathon) podcast on my iPod and tried to just relax and almost zone out. It kind of worked. When you start out 30minutes seems a long time but it really isn't!
 
The other guys are trying this tonight so there will be more updates to the website. I will try this again next week with the aim being to get to 5miles in 30minutes. Maybe, maybe not!!??