Week 11: "I only want to do 45 minutes on the treadmill." "Um, ok"

Ahhh, the tempo workout. I suppose it could be too early in the season to do a tempo workout, but I've been dying to introduce this one to Elle. By the time I discovered this one it was too late to incorporate it into her Boston Marathon training plan last year. I raised the stakes, er um, the grade actually, to challenge the HR a bit.

THE WORKOUT:
w/u - 10:00 as easy jog at 1% grade increasing the speed for every minute up until the 5:00 mark, followed by 3 x :30 speed-ups (8mph for us) with :30 recovery.
main - 2 x 15:00 at 3% grade at goal race pace (7mph or 8:34/mile for us) with a 5:00 jog recovery.
c/d - We generally do not do a cool down with treadmill workouts. We prefer to step off the machine, clean it and begin stretching.

Webb: I love this workout. It is hard, but not too hard. And it is sneaky one too. The first set is a mind game. You know you can do it, you just don't want to be on the TM (treadmill). Meanwhile, your HR meanders up. By the time you have your focus and are in the game to train, it is recovery time. Now you are warmed up and thinking you are going to smash it. But oh no. We will call it the Cardiac Drift set. Your once all-too happy HR is a little pissed and you are just now finding out about it. The final 2 minutes though, you know you have well enough to finish strong.
Elle: All of this is true. I was cruising along for the warm up, which I particularly like, and even the first set. But by the second set, I was ready to be done, and it's not like it's that long a workout. But that's how things go when you get back on the 'mill after a 2-3 month hiatus (we'll call it the off-off-season).

Webb: You come off the treadmill a sweaty mess but you don't feel the crush until an hour or so later. You've had your post-workout nutrition, your shower and there you are trying to decide what you want to watch on TV when you realize what you really want is to sleep for 39 hours.
Elle: Again, this is exactly what happened. I felt good off the TM, ready for our strength set. Got home, started to make some dinner, but pretty soon, I only had enough energy to take a shower and fall into bed.

Webb: My advice: Bring good music and drink plenty of water.
Elle: A good, getting-back-into-shape TM workout. And it's more fun if you can watch your partner suffer along side you.