How my mile challenge compared to the first challenge

We did the mile challenge just 4 weeks ago, so any improvement would be a good improvement. The first time we took it, we were missing a team member to the flu, so we didn't get a team score, but three of us did the test, so we could compare our runs.

Now, I don't like to run and I don't like treadmills, but that's the test, so that's what we did. It was just a flat run, not with incline, etc. It was just to see our fastest time.

The first time I took the test, I ran for half a mile, walked fast for a quarter mile and then ran the last quarter mile. My running pace was a bit too fast. I think I had it set for 5.8 miles per hour and then walked at 4.5 and then ran at 5.6 at the end.

This time, I was shooting for under 11 minutes. I set the timer for 5.6 miles an hour and I was able to keep that pace. At .95 of a mile, I amped it up to 5.9 to eek out a bit faster time, but it would be an unsustainable pace if I had to keep going much more than that. I did a quick heart rate check just as I finished and it was 174. That might be my highest recorded ever, but I'm sure it went higher when we did the squat test on Monday (of which I'm not sore from, btw).

The pace of 5.6 was perfect. I felt challenged, but it was doable. I have no idea how long I could sustain it, but it was sustainable for that mile I needed to do. So, I got my mile in at 10:49.

Everyone in my team improved their time. One gal shaved 4 minutes off her time! From 20 minutes down to 16! Look at just one month of moderate effort can do for your ability level in fitness?

I know that pace is still incredibly slow, but it's better than what I've done before and that's a huge improvement! In 4 weeks I shaved 36 seconds off my time. Granted, that was probably mostly from pacing myself better so that I didn't need to stop and walk a bit, but better is better!

Now we are trying to decide if we want to do more sessions with our personal trainer once a week. I think it would be good for all of us and we all want to do it. I just need to talk it over with the budget man. The same budget man who works for the federal government and we don't know what is going to happen with all the budget cut mess. Furloughs... (lay offs) and for how long? Ugh... I know he's stressing out about it too as he hasn't been sleeping well.