I Have Officially Run Fartleks!

And I officially do not like them.

Perhaps it has to do with the fact that in my head I was going to run 3 miles, but we ran 5.  Or perhaps it is because I had no idea what was going to happen.

It all started innocently enough, with an after-work run planned.  I would be joining Ann Marie, Nikki and Heidi on their "regular route".  I asked about the mileage on this route.

I was a little skeptical.

We decided we would just start out with 2 miles out and see how we felt, then go further if things were good.  About 5 minutes in, Ann Marie said:

Well, I did say I was going to do them this year, so...ok!

The plan was that we would each take a turn deciding the distance for our sprint.  Great.  Unfortunately for me, it turned out there was more to the plan.

I quickly did a little mental math.

I requested the smaller amount.

They took pity on me and agreed just two turns.  That was settled, and it was go time!

Y'all, I ran as fast as my little legs would take me.  And watched the three of them get smaller as they raced away.  This happened every. Single. Time. Finally, it was my turn to find a landmark.  We were heading into a curve, so I gave what I thought to be approximately the same distance as everyone else.

It was not.  I have horrible depth perception (it's my astigmatism).

As we ticked off each sprint, my recovery minutes became more interesting.

Once the sprints were done, we had gone 2.5 miles and it was time to turn around.  So much for 3 miles.  By that time I was feeling side-stitch-y and a little pukey.  When we finally finished our run, I hopped hobbled back to my car with sore Achilles and sore knees.   I started rethinking my judgment on running with 20-somethings (who are training for a race); 2 of whom were college runners, and one of whom is just crazy in shape.

Truth be told, I'll probably do fartleks again soon, but maybe start on a smaller scale.

A MOMENT TO SAY THANK YOU TO:
EDIT: (I had somehow linked to the person from whom Carrie got the award, so here is her site--acceptance fail!) Carrie Hanson from Tempo Life Coaching for the Versatile Blogger Award!  Carrie has been a great supporter for months and even bought my CALENDAR!  Thanks Carrie; you rock!


Everyone who has voted for me on the Fitness Magazine Fitterati contest!  I have no illusions of winning, but I appreciate you taking the time to head over there!  If you would still like to vote (or vote again), you can click on this box :)

By Best Inspirational Blog

Questions:

To runners:  What's your favourite technical workout? (tempo/hill repeats/fartleks...)

To everyone:  Ever feel like you're in over your head, but go for it anyway?

                       Every throw your back out while stretching it? (No? Just me?)

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