It’s wintertime and cold outside and I’ve been training indoors since November. A few weeks ago I decided I would try shadowing Fred’s workouts. Fred’s workout schedule is prescribed by Coach Jane. Coach Jane works for Carmichael Training Systems and has been managing Fred’s workouts for the past three years. I wanted to follow a training program this winter, rather than just attend the random spin class at the gym and I knew shadowing Fred’s workouts would be much more challenging. I love a challenge. There was some concern about the workouts being too intense for me. I don’t have three years of prior workouts under my belt and I was jumping right into the deep end of the pool. I figured, the worse that would happen is that I would find I couldn’t keep up with the workouts. If that were the case I’d fall off the program and go back to random spin classes. The initial workouts were difficult but not impossible. Last week we moved to Power Intervals and life became more interesting. Power intervals are (relatively) short intense efforts followed by an equal recovery period. That means pedaling practically all out for the entire interval. I try to keep my cadence around 115 for the entire interval and my heart rate is typically pinned in the upper 170’s by the end of the interval. In short, it’s torture. But hey, nobody said it training should be easy.
On Wednesday I do 5x3 power intervals. That means a total of 5 intervals, each lasting 3 minutes, with a 3 minute recovery between intervals. The first two intervals don’t go well. I feel like I’m struggling and I’m working too hard. The third interval goes a little better and I settle in and finish up the 4th and 5th interval feeling a little better. Overall it’s very difficult but not impossible. Thursday is the day of reckoning with 8x2 power intervals on the heels of Wednesday’s 5x3 workout. I start the workout with a progressive warmup and convince myself that 8x2 intervals should be easier than 5x3 intervals because each interval is an entire minute shorter. What I failed to consider is that back to back power intervals are crushing and the reason the second day has shorter intervals is because it would be impossible to repeat interval duration on the next day. My first interval doesn’t go well at all. I feel like my legs are stuck in concrete blocks. It’s a Herculean effort to complete the first 2 minute interval and I think to myself, “I’m never going to be able to do 7 more of these.” The 2nd and 3rd intervals don’t go much better. This really does feel like torture. On the 4th interval, Misery walks in, sits down next to me, and pours himself a drink. I find this very unsettling but I try to stay focused on completing the interval. Misery won’t be ignored and starts up a conversation with me.
Misery: “Nobody is forcing you to do this.”
Me: “I know.”
Misery: “You can stop anytime.”
Me: “I’m not going to stop.”
I finished the interval on fumes, feeling my pulse throbbing in my head. Not good. There is no way I’m going to be able to do 4 more of these. My two minutes of recovery end much too soon and I start my 5th interval.
Misery: “You’re not going to make it.”
Me: “F*ck you. I’m not going to quit.”
Misery: “I’ve beaten much better than you. You’ll fail too.”
Me: “We’ll see”
A minute into the interval and my heart is pounding out of my chest and although I’m panting hard, the room seems to be devoid of oxygen and I feel like I’m suffocating. It’s at this point that I think, “It’s only another minute. I can tolerate anything for a minute.” I closed my eyes, put my head down, and kept pedaling. 50 seconds…40 seconds… “This is taking forever”…30 seconds… “I think I can make it”…20 seconds…”I’m going to make it”…10 seconds…5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and done with the 5th interval. Three more to go.
Just reading this made me tired. I'll still stuck in my 4-5 times a week on the trainer in the basement.
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