Interval Running - The Asafa Powell Mix.

In my previous article on Interval Training, I mentioned the special music mixes created by Nike, using famous sports personalities. My favorite is Alberto Salazar, who is really passionate about his running and this passion is  easy to hear in the audio as he urges you to speed up or slow down till you complete the 45-minute interval sessions.

I had recently downloaded the Asafa Powell mix. This is a short 30-minute session with 4 intervals that decrease in time, but increase in tempo.

I decided to give this session a try by downloading the audio file from iTunes and then uploading the audio file on my iPhone 3GS.

I fired up the Nike+ application on the iPhone and started the 30-minute run. The 30-minute session is broken down into the following segments:

Activity	Time	Notes
Warm up Jogging	5 minutes	-
Run	4 minutes	Run at 65% of your maximum speed
Jog	4 minutes	Let your heartbeat slowly recover
Run	3 minutes	Run at 75% of your maximum speed
Jog	3 minutes	Let your heartbeat slowly recover
Run	2 minutes	Run at 85% of your maximum speed
Jog	2 minutes	Let your heartbeat slowly recover
Run	1 minutes	Run at 95% of your maximum speed
Cool down Jogging	5 minutes	-

The interesting thing about this workout is how the intensity of each workout gradually intensifies till you are running full-out sprint in the last 1 minute.

Since this is a short run, I decided to do the jog at a running pace, and really push myself during the 4 intervals.

I am pretty impressed with my results of this run. It is my personal best for 30-minutes, and I also managed to complete the 5K at a personal best of 23 minutes and 17 seconds.

I could have done a bit better but the treadmill started giving me problems in the last 2 intervals - where I felt it going a bit wobbly when I tried to crank up the speed to 15kph. I decided to play it safe and reduced the speed to 14.5kph.

I will focus on this training for a few weeks to see how it goes. The great thing about it is that the workout is fast and quick - and I am free to do other things; like splashing in the pool with my kids.