I had a GREAT IDEA! today. I was going to get on the treadmill and
run 3 miles. Wow! What a concept! Oh, and I was going to do it in
45 minutes.

The key to doing this, of course, was to RUN FASTER than I usually
run. So I got on the treadmill, spent a minute walking while I got
my iPod situated, and then cranked that mother to 4.5 and started
running. I didn't time my intervals per se but I changed speeds on a
song by song basis, so figure each interval is between 3 - 5 minutes
long. So I did one interval at 4.5 and now it's time to crank it to
5.0. OK. Did that. Ran at 5.0 for one song, then took it back down
to 4.5. Ran another song at 4.5 and this voice in my head starts
SCREAMING at me ... STOP RUNNING, THIS IS BAD, THIS IS VERY, VERY
BAD. I couldn't breath, I was literally panting, and was sweating
more than ever and could feel the heat burning my bright red face.

So interval/song number four, I took it down to 4.0 and still this
voice wants me to stop. I finished the interval, then dropped it
down to 3.4 for a brisk walk for the duration of one song.

During the walk I took a head to toe inventory, and there was not a
damned thing wrong with me. The usual/normal shortness of breath had
returned vs. the oh-my-god breathing I was doing at 5.0 mph. My legs
and feet ached, but in the normal "we don't want to run" kind of way,
nothing unusual or new. The walk lasted about four minutes, and by
the end of the walk I determined that there was not a damned thing
wrong with me other than I don't have the stamina to keep my run
speed at 4.5-5.0 without dropping it down to 4.0 in the mix.

So after the four minute walk, I let go of most of my OCD issues and
decided to focus on just one goal... run a mile. No worries about
the time, about the speed, just run a freaking mile. The walk took
me to exactly 2.0 miles total distance, so I cranked it to 4.3 and
started jogging again. I eventually dropped it down to 4.0 and it
took me about 16 minutes to hit the 3.0 marker. I kept running until
I hit 3.1, which had me at 43-44 minutes total time, and walked until
I hit 45 minutes and was done.

So, the moral of this story: If I want to run faster, I need to work
at it in intervals and not just try to go fast for 30 minutes. Oh,
and when my body says something is wrong, sometimes my body is just
tricking me because I hate exercise. And maybe it's not even my body
talking to me but one of the lazy voices in my head who wants to go
home and watch General Hopsital on Tivo instead of running.

My run stats: 45 minutes, 3.16 miles, average speed 4.2 mph

My intervals:

1 min - walk 3.3 mph

23 min - run 4.5-5.0 mph

4 min - walk 3.4 mph

16 min - jog 4.0-4.3 mph

1 min - walk at 3.3 mph