The workout is really easy to follow. After a five minute warm up, you run hard for four minutes which is followed by an easier four minute recovery period. This is repeated four times before the final cool down. Kara chimes in every now and then with certain words of wisdom; she certainly does her best to keep you motivated.

I was surprised to cover just over nine miles in the hour (actually 9.3 in 1:06:00), especially in the heat. Looking back at my log that’s probably the longest run I’ve had since the Frederick Marathon in early May. How embarrassing is that?!

Splits and run details as follows: 7:34 6:52 6:41 6:33 6:31 8:04 6:44 7:04 7:34

Back at the house after a quick drink of water, it was time to do Week 1/Day 2 of the hundred push ups plan. Read all about it here!

It was a bit chilly tonight (88°F), so I decided to run another Kara Goucher NIKE+ Workout. Last time I did the workout I covered 5.5 miles in just under 40 minutes. Tonight, I went a little further (5.65 miles) and averaged 6 minutes 50 seconds per mile.

Quite an uneventful workout to be honest, although I must admit I’m feeling quite good about my running at the moment. Long may it continue!

Splits: 7:17 6:46 6:36 6:31 6:30

If you’re not familiar with the Kara Goucher Endurance Boost Workout, read more about it at Blaine Moore’s excellent Run to Win web site.

The Hives have been around quite a while and I already own their Tyrannosaurus Hives CD from a few years ago. I’d heard of their latest CD, but hadn’t got around to buying/downloading it. This would be the perfect opportunity to check out their new material.

Production duo, Expensive People, craft a completely new running adventure by pulling elements from The Hives’ 2007 hit The Black and White Album. Nike boastfully touts the 45 minute workout as “the ultimate runner’s companion” and I must say they could be spot on with their comments. The mix is a masterful one and I had a thoroughly enjoyable, but challenging, afternoon workout thanks to the iconic Swedish rock band.

So with iPod Shuffle at the ready, I set off in the 80+° heat and hoped the music would keep me going. The 45 minutes began with a steady warm-up (roughly 4 or 5 minutes if I remember correctly) before allowing me to find my stride and get into a good rhythm. The songs were fantastic and really put me in a good mood and I’m sure people in their cars wondered why I had a silly grin on my face as I trotted along to classics like “Tick Tick Boom”, “Try It Again” and “Won’t Be Long”. All to soon, however, the tempo dropped and the workout came to a close with a restorative cool-down. If it wasn’t so hot and I wasn’t so thirsty, I’m positive I would have done it all again!

I’m sure The Black and White Album isn’t for everyone. It’s a distinctly European sound and I’m sure people will comment on my musical taste, but it certainly got me running and I can’t wait to do the workout again. Actually, I loved the music so much, one of the first things I did after my post-run stretch and shower was log on to iTunes and purchase the album. Should keep me happy at work tomorrow….

Just for the record, I covered 6.28 miles in the 45 minutes and my splits were as follows:

7:43 7:18 7:07 7:00 6:53 6:51

As you can see I ran each mile slightly quicker than the previous one, despite not even glancing at my Garmin 305 during the workout. Now all I need to do is recover in time for Saturday’s Women’s Distance Festival 5k at Fort Story in Virginia Beach – a celebration of women’s running with a rare women-only 5K. The men-only 5k follows the completion of the women’s race at around 6:30pm. Last year I was coming back off a foot injury and ran a very disappointing race – 19:19 if I remember correctly. It was hot and humid and I just got slower and slower as the race developed. This year will be better, but I’ll have to wait 48 hours before I find out how much.

Details of tonight’s workout inspired by The Hives:

Naturally I picked the hottest day of the year so far to attempt the workout and I must admit it was challenging towards the end to keep the pace going. I guess my body will take a little while longer to adapt to the 90+° weather we’re experiencing at the moment.

A couple of months ago I wrote a brief review of the NIKE+ workout which you can read at Blaine Moore’s excellent Run to Win web site. Today was the third or fourth time I’ve followed Kara Goucher’s workout and it seems to get a little more enjoyable each time I run it. The music is varied and Kara keeps chiming in at relevant points to keep me focused and motivated.

Basically the workout consists of a 5 minute warm up, followed by 4 x 4 minute hard efforts, each with a 4 minute recovery period. To finish off you run another 5 minutes to cool down. I covered 5.5 miles in just under 40 minutes. which equates to an average 7:00 per mile pace.

Splits: 7:22 6:58 6:35 7:11 6:49

Full details below:

With a 5k race to run in the morning (or is it a 5k run to race?), I decided not to run the 4 minute intervals at top speed, and just picked up my pace and concentrated on my running form instead.

I actually enjoyed the workout more this time around than the first time I tried it, and was surprised that I’m not bored with the music yet. Maybe I’ll try the Lance Armstrong Run Longer workout next?

After the 40 minutes was up, I ran an extended cool down back to the house and ended up with almost 7 and a half miles on my Garmin GPS.
Temperature was a very pleasant 73°F and the wind a blustery 18mph:

Solid run and more of a workout than I first planned. I’m expecting a sluggish 5k in the morning – don’t expect any Personal Records!

Workout-wise, I tried something different tonight. A couple of days ago I answered an email from Blaine Moore (of the excellent Run to Win blog), who was looking for a couple of runners to try one of the new NIKE+ Workout mixes – all he asked in exchange was a review of the audio workout. I fired up a quick reply and later that day was informed I was one of the lucky winners! Must be my lucky week…

I downloaded the 40 minute workout via the supplied link (if you’re interested, you can stream the track over at Nike’s web site), and loaded it onto my iPod Shuffle. I was keen to check out the workout, so played it at work today to see what it was all about.

The 40 minute speed/endurance workout is made up of a 5 minute warm up, followed by 4 x 4 minute intervals with an equal recovery time. To complete the workout you get to cool down for 5 minutes. Some of the music I was familiar with, whilst other tracks were completely new to me. Overall the workout seemed like it would be quite varied and interesting.

I usually only run with headphones a couple of times a month – never on a quality workout (tempo, track, fartlek etc.), never on a long run and definitely never during a race – but I’m not averse to training with music from time to time.

I won’t spoil my review (you’ll have to visit Blaine’s site in a couple of days to read that), but will say that I thoroughly enjoyed the workout and surprised myself at how much ground I covered in the 40 minutes (almost 6 miles). The music was varied and Kara Goucher kept chiming in at relevant points to keep me focused and motivated.

The first mile was mainly a slow warm up, but the following four miles were all completed around 6 minutes 30 seconds per mile, which is quicker than my marathon pace on the weekend. Naturally part of the these miles were at tempo pace and other parts at recovery pace, but I’m definitely happy with the average.

Full details below: