Fit tests

Run, Row, Repeat.

I enjoy testing my physical fitness. Not always the results.

Google it, you’ll find them from every well known publication to amateur blogs (like this one) and they vary as much as flavors of blank.

Recently I’ve keyed in on two. A six minute mile and 400 meters rowing in 90 seconds.

The six minute mile has been in my sights for just over a month. My progress has not been as substantial as I’d like.

Typically I hover around 8:20/mile during training and on race days typically finish between 7:45 and 8:30 depending on the distance. Achieving the pace of 10 miles an hour was not a concern. Sustaining that pace is another story all together.

To begin I needed a benchmark, I went at. 6:58, respectable, I thought. I knew I’d need to work speed into the distance and began using intervals to widdle down my time. These workouts were far more taxing than any distance run I’ve ever done. Got only ten minutes for workout? Try this, better than 45 minutes of easy running.

To supplement the speed work I also focused heavily on full body exercises employing high intensity interval training. I also changed my diet slightly.

The progress is slow. The fastest I’ve accomplished was 6:32. Shaving 32 more seconds feels 6 months away — easy.

We’ve recently added a couple of rowing machines to our gym at work. This got me interested in attempting another fit test I’d remember reading about back in February. 500 meters in 90 seconds — I had no idea what degree of difficulty this could provide for me. In my first attempt 459 meters in 90 seconds. This attempt was today and seems achievable — although so did shaving off 30 seconds from your fastest mile time.

Does my age or genetics leave me pre-disposed to not achieving these tests? If I’d attempted these challenges in my twenties would they be significantly easier to achieve? What would they prove and to who, anyway?

I’m not a fan of posting work out stats on facebook or twitter — if (when) I achieve it few will know other than myself and that’s who I’m doing it for.

The scale has never been my yardstick and it shouldn’t be yours either. Challenging yourself and pushing past what you could achieve yesterday should be the measure of success. What tests or challenges do you use to gauge progress?

AJF