Last week a group of Sound Health Physicians members ran or walked the Vancouver Half-Marathon.  Congratulations to Dayle, Kay, and Case for completing their first half-marathon!  The others in the group completed the new course in great time.  If you are familiar with Vancouver, the marathon started in Kitsilano and coursed down hill to downtown Vancouver and then through Stanley Park.  The course was a big improvement from the last year’s course, but getting to the starting line was a bit of a challenge. The trick was catching the very crowded sky train to Kitsilano at 6:00 to make the 7:00 am start time.  We all made it to see the 15,000 runners start at 6 minutes after 7:00.

My run was one of the most comfortable I can remember; I didn’t feel nervous, however, I had to stop about 6 miles into the race to use the port-a-potty.  My goal was to complete the half in under 2 hours.  In the past, I would do well for the first 8 miles and then my pace would fade to the point of a painful jog the last two miles.  I was pleased that this year I did not feel that way at all.  In fact, I maintained a 8:10-8:20 minute pace throughout the 13.1 miles and felt good at the end.

In these long runs, you tend to think about a lot of things; my thought was, “why am I doing so well?”  It dawned on me that my Friday fitness group at Lynnwood Recreation Center has been doing High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) as part of our work out.  I have learned that HIIT can help improve endurance and VO2 max numbers.  So, why do I think that HIIT helped me last Sunday?   Running up the hills did not seem to phase me as much in the past.  Additionally, I didn’t feel the winded feeling that I would usually experience after the 8 mile mark; I kept plugging away at the same pace.

My next challenge is the Lake Stevens Half-Ironman in July.  I will continue to do HIIT a couple of days per week and let you know in future postings how I am feeling.  For now, I recommend that if you want to avoid painful fatigue at the end of your long run, bike or climb give HIIT a try.
-jim