This week was the beginning of training sessions that no longer said "run/walk." Now it's just a run for 20 minutes.
I was trying to figure out how I would do it. During the 35 minute run/walks I was able to go 4 MPH+ for maybe 13 minutes at the most. I decided I would not go any slower than 3.5 MPH and probably alternate between that and 4.
To backtrack a bit, last weekend I was looking at the treadmill during the light of day and noticed that it seemed to be on an incline. I messed around with the settings but wasn't sure if I really changed anything.
Then on Monday I took a deep breath and hopped on for my 20 minute run. I started at 3.5 for the first minute, then bumped it up to 4. "This seems way easier" I thought to myself. I soon realized I had been training for six weeks on an incline! No wonder the run in Calavera Park seemed so much easier.
I later discovered I had the incline on 7 as opposed to 1.5 now. The good news is the 20 minute runs on flat ground made this the easiest week yet when I was anticipating the opposite. Yes!
I had chalked up the easier outdoor runs to treadmills being more difficult. I think they still are and prefer running in the great outdoors for reasons I will explore in depth in a future post, but the difference isn't as great as I thought.
By the end of this week I was running at a 4.5 MPH clip for ten of the twenty minutes and 5 MPH for another three minutes, so I'm still pushing myself.
Next up-25 minute runs. No problem!
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