Holy 12% Incline Batman

CFE Workout:  All sports do: 20:10 x 8 rounds, 20 seconds on 10 seconds off, all out efforts!  Use a treadmill, set at 12% grade at 0-30 sec slower pace per mile than best 5k pace. Do not reduce the speed!

Tabata Sprints.   On a 12% Incline.   I have trouble WALKING on a 12% incline and now CFE would like me to sprint on a 12%.   It wasn't visions of sugar plums, dancing in my head -- it was every episode of America's Funniest Video when the person superman's off the back of the treadmill, while scoring a 10 on the face plant.  Yeah, for me, it's one of those things I can visualized the entire ordeal.   Including broken teeth...

But, I was determined to give it a real shot.  So, last night, I calculated my pace*, mentally thinking "really, that doesn't sound that fast for a 20 second burst."

Early this morning, we headed to the gym.  I know we could have done this work out at home, but the belt on our treadmill isn't long enough to hold James's full stride, so it's really hard for him to run on our treadmill.  We did a quick warm-up.  Stretched a bit and then pushed the incline button to 12%.

The first three were tough.  I thought "I'm in serious trouble."  Four and five were really tough, I thought I was going to die.  Six through Eight were a blur.  I finished them, did a quick cool down and headed home.

Post Workout Thoughts:  
 *  I miscalculated my pace.  I did 30 seconds FASTER than my best 5K time.  So, that was almost a 1 mph swing in pace.   I didn't figure this out until after I got to work this morning.  Whoops!

*  I really like the quick workout.  I'm not sure how this translates to endurance/aerobic capacity, but it was the hardest run workout I've done in some time.   My lungs were on fire.

*  I can already tell some benefits from Crossfit (Strength).  My legs felt strong this morning.  Stronger than I can remember in quite some time.  I felt like a runner this morning, even if it was just for 160 seconds.

*  What sounds like it wouldn't be a difficult pace is a whole different ballgame at 12% incline.  It will definitely challenge you to push hard.

I would recommend incorporating Tabata Sprints into your workout.  I'm guessing it's like hill repeats on steroids.  (I've never actually run hill repeats, so...)