should this make me tired? *** UPDATE ***

I did intervals for the first time today.  I got the plan from a trainer that works with athletes.

5 min warm up at 5.5
1 minute @ 8.0 followed by 1 minute @ 5.5 - 3 times
45 seconds @ 9.0 followed by 1 minute @ 5.5 - 3 times
30 seconds @ 10.0 followed by 1 minute @ 5.5 - 3 times
5 minute cool down

When I was done I felt like I had done NOTHING.  I ended up running another 2 miles at 7.2 (my regular speed). 
So when you guys do intervals do you feel completely wiped out afterwards?

I definitely am going to change it for wednesday and make the sprints longer and the first and second set of sprints at a faster pace.

Honestly the answer is the same across the board: if you don't feel like you did anything when you exercised, you didn't do anything ya know? Time to get yourself into gear

If you've got a track at your disposal, try sprinting on the track.  I never found I could sprint on a treadmill, I mean I could run fast but not sprint.  Real full-out sprints might make the difference if you've got some straight, flat ground to do them on.  (I've got an indoor track... I'm very, very lucky.)

Yeah, if you don't feel tired when you're done... well, congratulations, you're fitter than you thought.  :)  Unfortunately, you just have to work harder.  You could try replacing the 1 min. intervals with more of the 30 second ones.  I find that short, super-fast bursts burn me out quicker.

You don't need to sprint longer you need to sprint faster.  This may be hard to do on the treadmill.  Is 10.0 as high as it goes?

I think 10.0 is as high as it goes, although I'm not entirely sure.

I think tomorrow I'll do all my sprints at 9.0 and 10.0.

Its not that I'm fitter than I think, I know I'm fit.  Its that most of the HIIT workouts I see on the web are way less intense than this and people are always talking about how great HIIT workouts are for you, so I thought maybe I was doing something wrong or that it didn't really make you feel as exhausted.

Anyway, I knew that I would have to adjust the workout for my fitness level, but I wanted to get some feedback before I decided how to change it.

oh, and also, when I was doing the sprints at 10 I was getting winded, so I don't think that I'll need to go higher than that.

If you usually run at 7.2, why would you do your intervals at a lower speed?

because EVERY SINGLE plan that I looked up had the recovery as 5.0 or lower... since most people run WAAAAAY faster than that I assumed that meant the recovery periods had to be slow.

And honestly, even though I wrote I did 5.5 for the recovery periods, I actually ran at about 6.0 most times because I find it incredibly difficult to "run" at a pace of 5.0 or 5.5... that's jogging and my body hates jogging/anything slow.

Actually, I read your post incorrectly... I thought you did your intervals at 5.5, not resting periods! My bad.

Since 10.0 is as high as it goes you might want to try Tabata intervals.  After your 5 minute warm up do 20 sec. at 10.0 and 10 sec. at 5.5 repeat 8 times for a total of 4 minutes and then do your 5 minute cool down.

FWIW, with HIIT you should be tanked at the end of the interval phase but don't expect to still feel tired after your cool down.

Original Post by trhawley:

 

FWIW, with HIIT you should be tanked at the end of the interval phase but don't expect to still feel tired after your cool down.

 wait... really... so then I don't feel that the workout was AS useless as I originally thought.  I was nowhere near as worn out as i am after steady rate cardio, but I was at least a little tired at the end of the intervals.

Ok guys, I'm adjusting my routine with all the help I've gotten.  I'll report back about it tomorrow or Wednesday - next time I do it.  Not sure if my hip (recovering from a stress fracture) will be up to it... I can never plan my workouts ahead anymore, I just have to take it day by day and see how i feel each morning... which, I might add, is quite frustrating - I'm a total planner

So today I upped the intensity as follows

5 min warm up at 5.5
1 minute @ 8.7 followed by 1 minute @ 6.0 - 3 times
1 minute @ 9.3 followed by 1 minute @ 6.0 - 3 times
30 seconds @ 10.0 followed by 1 minute @ 6.0 - 3 times
10 minute cool down

I felt much more winded than I did on Monday.  I still didn't feel as worn out as I do when I run at a steady pace for 45-60 minutes though.  I'm thinking of eliminating the 8.7 sprint and doing the 9.3 sprints six times and 10.0 three times.

You should be completely winded at the end of each sprint and totally spent when you start your cool down.