Wednesday night and it was pouring so I decided to run on the treadmill. I like running in the rain, but I knew I had to do an Insanity workout after my run, so I didn’t want to do it soaked.

I tried a hill climb run and found it pretty hard. I started with the incline at 3% then increased it by 1% for every mile I ran.

Here’s what I did:

1 mile: 7.8mph, 3% incline, Ave HR: 151 (80%)
1 mile: 7.5mph, 4% incline, Ave HR: 166 (88%)
0.5 mile recovery: 4.0mph, 4% incline, Ave HR: 130 (69%)
1 mile: 7.1mph, 5% incline, Ave HR: 164 (87%)
0.5 mile recovery: 4mph, 5% incline,  139 (74%)
1 mile: 6.8mph, 6% incline, Ave HR: 169 (89%) (maxing out at 178 or 94%)

And let me tell you, it was tough!  I realised on the second mile that if I was going to increase the incline I’d need to drop the speed. And by 2 miles in I was working and sweating hard. I took a couple of walk breaks to recover too so that I could keep going for 5 miles.

By the end of it I was dripping with sweat and my heart rate was away up at 178 / 94%. A good workout, but tough.  I think if I was running outside I would have kept jogging a little on the recovery periods, but on the treadmill I was quite happy to walk! (especially as it was uphill all the way – Elevation gain: 1950ft! – almost 600m!)

Run: 5M treadmill hills, 47:17, Pace: 9:27, 6.4 mph, Calories: 500
Ave HR: 155 (82%) Max HR: 178 (84%)

After the run it was Insanity Day 14: Plyometric Cardio Circuits. I really wasn’t in the mood for it after the hard treadmill workout and it’s safe to say I struggled through it. It was tougher than the last time, but I did it all and I’m glad I did.  Perhaps I’ll reduce the time or intensity that I do the cardio before Insanity next time.

Nearly a quarter of the way through insanity!!

Insanity Day 14: Plyometric Cardio Circuits.
Ave HR: 125 (66%) Max HR: 147 (77%) Calories: 370