Review iPhone Fitness App: lolo Treadmill Trainer – Day 9-12

This is the seventh in a series documenting my experience with the iPhone fitness app, lolo BeatBurn Treadmill/Outdoor Trainer.

Documenting every single day was too difficult with all the things I am trying to accomplish right now. (More on that in another post.) Also, I suspect reading through every workout is boring, so I condensed the last few days into one post full of success and misery.

First, the success. While there were three days between Day 8 and Day 9, there were only one to two days between each of these four workouts. I also got through every workout without reducing the intensity. That is about the end of my success.

On to the misery!

Day 9 and 10 had a decent increase in speed and incline, but I handled them. I did have to break into a jog on Day 9, since it was a more speed intensive workout, and I just couldn’t keep up at a walk. There was a one-minute interval at 4.0 mph with 5% incline and a one-minute interval at 4.7 mph with 0% incline! My shins ached quite a bit from Day 9. That wasn’t as bad on Day 10, which had a bit less speed but still had the same tough one-minute intervals as Day 9. I did not have to jog to keep up on Day 10, so it was a better day. Both days had me huffing and puffing quite a bit, but I was proud of myself for powering through these workouts.

Then came Day 11 and 12.

Day 11 had even more speed. I covered 2.78 miles in this workout, the most I ever did on the program. The good news during this grueling workout was 4.0 mph at 0% incline was starting to feel less taxing. The bad news was everything else.  Also, my stomach wasn’t feeling so good during this workout. My shin and calf hurt until about halfway through the workout, and I think it only quit hurting because I had to take a couple of breaks to let my stomach settle down. The breaks likely also allowed me to get through the workout without any jogging and let me catch my breath. Surprisingly, the fastest interval was only 4.4 mph compared to the 4.7 mph of the previous two workouts, but overall, the speed was consistently higher.

Day 12 continued the misery. Ten of the eighteen intervals were at 4.0 mph or higher. Once again the intervals at 4.0 mph with 0% incline were easier, but they were not the break I needed between the other intervals. Even the “breaks”, as Brittany called them, below 4.0 mph were at inclines of 5-6%.

I didn’t stop this workout with any tummy troubles, but I did have to jog through parts of the two-minute intervals at 4.3 mph. It’s hard to fathom that jogging would be a way for me to take it easy during a workout, but it was. It might be because my shins were bothering me quite a bit with only the middle third of the workout providing any relief from the aching. Jogging actually helped ease the shin pain, but it increased my breathing and sweating. I was having to choose between aching legs and aching lungs.

I got through all of these tough workouts, but I am left with the question of how a true beginner would manage this. The increase in difficulty seemed too quick and sudden. Or is that just because I slacked so much through some of the previous days? I don’t believe that is the case. As it stands, I doubt my ability to continue without reducing the intensity during the workout, which is something I really didn’t want to do.

My plan is to repeat Day 12 and see how it goes the second time. I suspect it will be just as hard. The program has progressed faster than my fitness level.