Harder Than A Marathon

I'm supposed to be recovering and relaxing this week, but 3 days of inactivity got under my skin. So I decide to join my fitness enthusiast colleagues in their new weekly fitness challenge in the gym. The circuit consists of the following:

1. 800m on treadmill
2. 50 back hyperextensions
3. 50 sit-ups (not crunches)
4. 800m row
5. REPEAT 3X

With a little bit of hubris, I thought, "how hard can this be? I just completed a marathon and two weeks ago I did a thousand crunches a day. Why, I could just blast right through this!"

There's a saying that goes "pride comes before humility." Indeed.

• 1st set - 800m treadmill. No problem, I thought. 5:45 pace. 50 hyperbacks and 50 sit-ups, some struggle, but managed to go straight through. Same with the 800m row.
  
  
• 2nd set - 800m treadmill, problem. Stayed at 9.5. Out of breath. 50 hyperbacks and 50 sit-ups had to be broken down to 3 sets with rest. 800m row was about 10 seconds slower.
  
  
• 3rd set - 800m treadmill, big problem. Couldn't do more than a 7:00 pace. Hyperbacks and sits again broken down with 3 rest sets for each. 800m row was another 10 seconds slower.

34:40 later, I thought I was going to pass out. I know what that feels like because it's happened at the Honolulu Marathon. I felt like I just did a 5k at a 6:15 pace, something that's just out of reach for me.

I left the gym feeling humbled. I'm going to approach these fitness challenges with more respect. I think runners have a different kind of fitness.

Regardless, it was a good full body workout. I started the workout with tight right quads. I think the fast repeats shook out all the lactic acid.