"Fartlek Ladders" is just a fancy term for Speed Intervals. It goes like this: 1 Minute sprinting, 1 minute jogging/walking, 1 minute sprinting, 1 minute jogging/walking. You can do it on a treadmill, or you can set a watch to beep at 1 minute intervals.
I awoke to some pretty steady rain and mild-to-cold temperatures this morning. Yep, I'm back in Saint John. Actually, this weather reminds me of Vancouver! In the winter. With no desire to get soaked by fluids other than my sweat today, I decide to hop on a bus Uptown. That's right, they call Uptown Downtown here. I hit up the Canada Games Aquatic Centre for a change of scenery. I assume they have treadmills here.
My assumption correct, I sign up for a treadmill and take a minute to stretch - I have the advantage of not being in a rush today. I start off at my marathon pace - 9 Miles Per Hour - no messing around today. I need to kick my own ass for all the missed runs over the past few weeks. If I had a coach, he'd undoubtedly be displeased. With a good, fast pace like this, I watch the miles tick away. 20 Minutes, 3 Miles (5K), 20 Minutes, 3 Miles, 20 minutes, 3 Miles. An hour in, and I'm starting to make 3 wishes to the invisible Gym Genie. 1) I wish I had a water bottle 2) I wish I ate a better lunch 3) I wish I had my MP3 player. Treadmills is boring, yo! I need to shake things up a bit here.
At the hour mark, I've got a couple of choices. I could continue at race pace and push to see how far my legs hold out (I'm hoping 26 Miles!) or I could get creative. I must have been getting dizzy from the Air Conditioning, because I decided to deliver a punishing blow to my legs - the dreaded Fartlek Ladders.
Normally, I'd be doing these on a track, or better yet on the Stanley Park Seawall in Vancouver, with a borrowed watch or customized MP3 with a beep every 60 seconds. On solid ground, I control the tempo and how hard my sprints are. On a treadmill, all I can do is max out the machine at 10 MPH for my sprints, and jam my finger onto the "Slow" button to bring it down to 6.5 MPH for my recovery. I picked out 20 minutes for my time for some reason, and away we go!
The problem with a treadmill is that everything is artificial; the speed, the incline, even the running. Still, the rain keeps falling outside, and I'm only soaked to the skin in my own precipitation, or perspiration actually. Eau De Nathan. They should bottle it and market is as female repellent. Actually, I think I recognize the young lady working the Personal Trainer Desk from high school. I wouldn't say I know her, and I imagine she probably gets a dozen knuckleheads a week approaching her with the ol' "Don't I know you from somewhere?" routine. I better leave well enough alone and get back to the running. I'm terrible with names anyway.
Sprinting feels really good! I missed it! Cranking the treadmill up to 10, I feel right at home, and I wish it went up to 11 (that's 1 faster, Mr Tufnel). After 10 minutes, I'm still feeling good, but the recovery minute is flying by faster and faster. I slow down my next recovery lap to 5MPH, which is barely a job, then back up to 10, down to 4, up to 10, down to 3, 10 and done! This happens every time, but you know what, recovery is exactly that, recovery!
After a little cooldown walk, I used a weird-looking ab machine and stretched everything out. A little trip to the sauna and hot tub, and now we're cooking! Literally! My stomach feels a little queazy, but I think that's just its emptiness. With my ass-kicking workout complete, it's time for lunch!
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