My run routine has been a 1.7 mile course, of which I was running about half; walk a few hundred yards, run a couple blocks, walk a block, run a couple blocks, etc. When lifting weights and doing cardio both I’ve often taking the approach of trying to get to a certain performance level (i.e. twelve easy reps at a weight, or an “easy time” running the blocks as above) before I try a harder level.

Part of the gestalt of high-intensity training, Tabata, CrossFit, etc is not “getting comfortable” with a performance level, but rather pushing yourself as hard as you can, even if that means fewer reps or not running as far or as fast as you’d like. I talked a bit about this last time when I mentioned that I felt that I could push myself to do more sprints, instead of “giving up” after four or five. Indeed I was able to do six.

My Saturday group starts with a 3/4mi timed run, and then does sprints of various flavors. That’s shown me that I can run .7 miles continuously. I started modifying my daily run to be more continuous, and less interval-y. I did a full mile twice over the extended holiday weekend, without slowing down to walk at any point. It’s getting easier.

Pushing myself showed me that I can do it. The point I was trying to make in my previous post is that the body responds to challenge. If you’re not challenging yourself, then improvement will be slow. I’m challenging myself to run further and faster, and I’m seeing improvement! That’s awesome. It’s a great feeling to see dozens of seconds come off my times; to make it further without running out of breath. And it’s definitely motivating me to get out there again, and to try to run further and faster.

Plus, snowboarding in a month! Gotta get ready!