Sprints, Yeah Baby!

I thought I would get in some High Intensity Training ahead of the flight today. Doing sprints first thing in the morning isn't exactly a pleasure, but I didn't really have a choice given the midday flight.

Warm-up along the canal:

Sprints up Primrose Hill, the hill was clearly mocking me:

The reward:

My paleo/ primal guru Mark Sisson advocates sprints every 7 to 10 days as a way to build stamina and strength, while others recommend doing it a lot more often for significant health benefits. However, I would personally mix it up between running, cycling, swimming etc if doing it more than once a week, as HIT running will involve significant impact on joints and muscles. Been there, overdone that, and it was painful.

I used to use business travel as an excuse not to exercise. Given that my choice of exercise usually involved jogging, it was easy to opt out for safety reasons. Now that I am more focused on "more bang for the buck" training, I have little excuse as long as there is a tiny gym or a short stretch of grass... Or a beach! Snorkeling will have to do this afternoon, though. :-)