I went to bed last night at 8:30. 8-frickin’-30. This morning, I overslept my run and woke up feeling dizzy, nauseous and more exhausted than normal. No, I’m not pregnant (sheesh!), but I don’t know what’s wrong. Thus, forgive me if there are any blatant spelling and grammar errors in this morning’s post – my head isn’t screwed on straight today.
The Equinox in SF is in an old bank!
A couple of weeks ago, Joanna from the SF marathon invited me to try out a “Shreadmill” class at Equinox in the city. A free, new class at a chic gym in SF? Count me in! Plus, anything with a name like “Shreadmill” has to be good!
The gym had reserved a set of treadmills for the class and when you arrived, you were greeted with a nifty little pace chart to fill in. As you can see, it consists of the following fields to complete:
- Distance Pace (DP): The pace per mile that you run your long runs
- Goal Pace (GP): 30 sec. faster than your distance pace
- Interval Pace (IP): 30 sec. faster than your goal pace
- 5k Pace (5p): 30 sec. faster than your interval pace
This sheet was super helpful throughout the workout as the instructor would constantly be calling out the pace changes.
The workout consisted of four sets of ladders (my times may be off as I was just listening to her instructions, but you can get the point):
Working your way up the ladder:
45 sec. – 1 min. at DP
45 sec. – 1 min. at GP
45 sec. – 1 min. at IP
45 sec. – 1 min. at 5P
45 sec. – 1 min. at two bumps up from your 5P
Working your way down the ladder:
45 sec. – 1 min. at 5P
45 sec. – 1 min. at IP
45 sec. – 1 min. at GP
45 sec. – 1 min. at DP
Repeat this ladder four or five times.
The workout was fantastic because as you continue to do these ladders, getting back down to your IP was a breath of fresh air and you realize that so much of running is mental. If you started a workout at 6:40 pace you would be exasperated, but instead, running at 6:40 became a welcome treat. Plus, the instructor was going around and helping correct form and provide encouragement, which was great for me! I never knew that I was a mid-foot striker on my left foot, but a heel-striker on my right foot. Thus, throughout the workout I was able to work on form as well. Added bonus, during the last ladder the instructor motivated us to really push it and I saw a 5:xx pace there for a moment. That moment definitely made my day.
Overall, the class was great and I would highly recommend trying this workout on your own treadmill than reporting back on how it went. What type of interval work do you do on a treadmill?
Thanks again for the invite, Joanna, and happy running!
—————
Day 63: 5 miles at the Shreadmill class
Day 64: TBD
That class sounds amazing! I would love to do something like that!
That class sounds awesome! I am not at all a fan of treadmills, but if I must run on one intervals are the way to go.
That class sounds AMAZING!! I HAVE to look out for something like that in the future!! And DAMN girl you are a SPEED DEMON!!
Will Be trying this asap!!!!! Thanks for sharing!
that’s an awesome class. i pretty much hate the treadmill but the one thing it’s good for is doing kick ass intervals.
Sounds like a great class!! I’ve never heard of it before!
that class sounds amazing! i went to a similar class in college but was totally lazy about it. awesome.
OMG that sounds awesomely painful! I should try that some time on the treadmill! I don’t think we have those classes around here. I should suggest that to my gym!
Ooooh, I always LOVED laters in swim practice, they were really painful but AMAZING! I never thought about doing that type of work out on a treadmill, thanks for the concept, I will definitely have to try this!
ugh sounds like your body is fighting something. rest up and feel back to normal ASAP!
that workout sounds b.a. and lots of fun.
That class sounds amazing- I wish I belonged (aka could afford…) Equinox because I always hear about the amazing classes they offer! The only way I can endure the treadmill is doing an interval workout, and I’m always looking for ways to switch those up, too.
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That sounds AWESOME!!! I can’t wait to try that!! Thank you for sharing!!!!!!
That workout does sound fun! You are insanely fast, running 5:xx pace for a moment? That would be faster than 10 mph on the treadmill! That is basically an all out sprint for me, haha
On the treadmill one of my favorite workouts is this one (I did it yesterday):
I set speed at 7.5 mph (or whatever speed seems decently comfortable)
then you run 1 minute intervals at the following inclines:
% – 1-2-1-3-1-4-1-5-1-6-1-7-1-8-1-9-1-10
The workout ends up taking about 30 minutes or so, and it is both fun and challenging
I’ve only made it past 10% once or twice, generally I’m gasping for air on the 10% interval and just trying to survive, haha
That Equinox is dreeaaammy. Sometimes I stop in just to smell the amazing lavender/eucalyptus/ whatever it is, and then get sad about my crowded smelly neighborhood gym.
Sounds like a pretty killer workout, way to step it up!
That sounds like the COOLEST class ever! I want to go check this out now…
This sounds like an awesome workout, i’ll definitely need to try it. I tend to not do a lot of speed training since i count frisbee games at that. But I’m starting to like the treadmill, and I think something like this would be an awesome way to mix it up!
this is such a great workout!! i love all the different paces!
This class sounds intense!! What a good workout! I’ve never taken a treadmill class but I bet that being in a group with an instructor helps motivate you so much more than if you were by yourself.
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Excellent. Thanks for sharing. This winter has left me running a majority of my runs on my treadmill and have been running out of ideas. Thanks for this!
whoa that sounds intense. but it’s so true – speed work makes slower-but-not-quite-easy-pace feel easy!
hope you can shake the dizziness. not fun!
I don’t know that I would ever describe a 6:40 pace as a “welcome treat”… Sounds like a fun class anyway!
this sounds like such a great workout and the part i love best is that the GYM hosted it. my gym never does anything like it – they serve cake instead. i’ve used interval workouts in shape magazine – typically its the only type of workout i can do on a treadmill.
That class sounds awesome! I think there is something similar where I am from. Maybe I’ll check it out!
Damn girl! It is only March and you reached your 5k goal! Congrats!