Winter has turned into quite a bear this season with temperatures dropping below -20f for weeks at a time. That’s just a little too cold for my liking. Don’t get me wrong, winter is the most beautiful time of year to run, but when long runs become mini survival expeditions the novelty wears thin.
It’s been so cold I gave in and started diversifying workouts with HIIT circuits and spinning. The change was challenging to make, but I’m stronger for it now an looking forward to a more productive running season whenever Fairbanks is released from the deep freeze. I also think the variety in workouts will help combat the stalling of my metabolism that seems to happen at the end of the running season (warm enough to permit 20mi+ runs).
Anyway, I’ll be tracking workouts here so I can reliably look back at what I’ve done. Usually I track on Endomondo which has great GPS integration, but their UI leaves a lot to be desired over long periods of time.
The inaugural workout is an intense 18-minute circuit with a 45lbs kettle bell that kept my heart up. Work intervals were 50 seconds and rest intervals were 10 seconds (50/10).