In order to get stronger and faster, or to just test ourselves, sometimes we have to put ourselves through a lot of pain. A LOT. It always generates a mixed bag of feelings for me when I open up TrainingPeaks and see one of those workouts on my schedule. We all know them – they have names like “Over-Unders” and “Tempo Intervals”. We should actually start calling them by more true-to-meaning names such as “Hopping on the Pain Train” and “Blood, Sweat, and Tears.” I’m kidding, well, kind of. I do tend to dread some of these workouts for a couple of days leading up to it, but at the same time I look forward to being able to put in some really, really good work. One that I’ve recently had on my schedule a couple of times is a run including 4x5 minute tempo intervals. It’s a classic gut buster. The first interval is okay. The second one usually feels the best (relative term here) after I’ve sufficiently warmed up. I generally start seeing some faint stars toward the end of the third one, and if I’ve done my job correctly, I will fall off pace toward the end of the fourth. When I’m able to nail this workout, I feel on top of the world. When I don’t, I still give it my best shot and feel satisfied that I’ve done a lot to improve my run, both physically and mentally. Because of the benefits, I guess I dread it and look forward to it at the same time.
When it comes to open water swimming, however, I look forward to these workouts for a different reason. I actually do enjoy them. It’s nice to be out on a smooth lake in the early morning hours and just listen to my arms moving through the water. It’s oddly comforting to me, but maybe that’s because a lot of times I’m more comfortable in the water than on land. Unless there are fish I can see. Then I hate it.
Are there certain workouts you either dread or look forward to? Maybe both?
Happy training, everyone!
Amy
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