On Thursday a friend of mine suggested that I give the HI-TEC INFINITY CHALLENGE a go, so I signed up for the 2km treadmill ran. I didn't sign up because I'm a great 2km runner, or because I love running on the treadmill, no I wanted to win an entry to race the Otter Trail...
2km isn't really running (when you are training for a marathon) so I ran 11.5km in the morning and then at lunch time Dawn and I climbed into the car and headed out to Century City. In search of Calan Walk's Cape Union Mart. Oh my hat I don't do people or shopping centers. Never mind we got there in one piece and I was ready to hope on the machine and set a time. The fastest time was set by one of my athletes, Will, he had run 6:58. Now that is ok for 2km but not really that fast, so I decided that the top spot was mine!!!
Ian keyed in my detail and hit the go button. No warmup and the clock start with the machine on 0km/h. I turned it up to 18km/h and the speed climbed.
I couldn't leave it at 18km/h as I was scared I would fall of the back.
The treadmill was set on a simple little program and every couple of 100m it would climb 1%. By the time it hit 7% at about 1.4km I was shattered (still running at about 16km/h). Unlike real hills when you reach the top you start going down hill, no here the gradient just dropped to 4%, 3%, 2% and 1%.My throat was burning as the treadmill leveled out, and I had nothing left for a "sprint" to the finish:
I hung in there and finished with a time of 7:16 to place me 4th for the day, which I think isn't to bad for an old man who last ran on a treadmill 10 years ago.Now role on Sunday and I had planned to meet Bruce (from team HI-TEC, who I am to pair up with for African-X next month) and Jayde. Bruce is from up country and hasn't run much on Vlakkenberg, so I had planned a little run for us.
Looks simple enough till I show you the profile...
1100m climb over 25.5km.We took the run easy and even stopped for a swim in the dam:
Bruce
Jayde
I should really have taken pictures rould the over side of that mountain showing the climb and the sea in the background. It was a perfect day with hardly a breath of wind and the temp up close to 30!!!After 2h52min we were back at the cars and ready for the rest of the day.
In closing I just want to say 3 hours on the mountain was easier than 7min on the treadmill.
One of my favorite workouts is 12% incline intervals on the treadmill, but I don't hold them for more then 1-2 minutes and at a much slower pace (7-7.3 mph). I don't have too many hills near me and if I try to do speed intervals on the treadmill I am afraid that I will fall off. This workout fits both my needs of hill training and speed workout when the weather outside is not nice :)
ReplyDeleteI love running on my treadmill, but the incline is definitely different than running outside. You did great. Your run outside looks great, especially the stop at the lake.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're OFF the treadmill! I hate that thing. I always feel like I'm going to trip and fall! The HILL run with a swim looked AWESOME!!
ReplyDeleteI would definitely fly off the back of that treadmill! Nice job
ReplyDeleteI. Loved. This!!!!
ReplyDeleteAwesome!!
And your last sentence. has. made. My. Day. ;)
A 7% incline is nuts at that pace!!
You. Rocked. It!
@ EMZ 24 hours on a treadmill I still cann't get my head around that, after those 7min I felt funny standing on the floor, I though it was going to move... what are you going to feel like after 24hours?
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I have to agree with you on the treadmill assessment.
ReplyDeleteThat mountain workout sounds AMAZING!!! You are so blessed! Beautiful area!
Hooohooo! Love pics! The treadmill assessment looks super fun! :) You look like a speed-demon!
ReplyDeleteFINALLY! My comment posted! I've been trying to post forever and it hasn't been working until today. :)
ReplyDelete