The contestant is 5'7" on Biggest Loser and they made her run 15mph 15 second sprints. 15mph was the highest I've ever seen them do it. I saw a girl who was 5'8 I think and they had her up to 13mph.

I pay attention to this because I would love to be able to do that for 15 seconds. Haha. I'm slowly working my way up.

I was thinking it was Ali they had doing this when she first returned to the ranch, and she's 5'5". I know Britney was 5'7", but didn't they also do Ali on 14?

I'm going to try it :) :0 :( so if you all don't hear from me for a few days, please tell dh to look under the treadmill for me. I'm sure I'll be able to do it for at least 5 secs, right?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: Ah, I loved that show. Yeah, the guy whose arms didn't move. I dunno, I seem to do ok just resting my hands lightly (more for balance than 'hanging on for dear life') on the handle bars. I use the ones on the side of my TM, not the one in front of me. I've tried letting go at the higher speeds and am ok for just a bit but I'm just convinced I'm gonna go flying. Little by little I'll get the confidence to completely let go.

:lol: :lol: :lol: I re-read my post -- used the same word 'rails' for two different things. Um, yup I got that you meant jumping off and on the solid sides of the TM on either side of the moving belt. I did try this once and, let's just say wasn't successful. ;) The other 'rails' I meant (for using as balance) were the handrails. :lol: Just laughing at the visual of jumping off and on the handrails of the TM. Hmmm, THAT'D be some kind of workout, huh? :D

I'm not an uncoordinated type but I swear when I'm on the TM, I drift over to the sides if I"m not paying attention. I try just focusing on something ahead but always need to give a little redirection using the handrails to keep me completely centered. I look at my feet alot too.

There is just absolutely no way I can do the jumping off onto the rails move. I am such a klutz. I tried it once from a walking speed and nearly killed myself. If I really concentrate on what I'm doing, once I push the stop button and the treadmill is slowing down to a halt, I can ride it to the end and then jump off onto the floor (a nice big surface area to aim for), but even that move is a little touch and go for me.

:lol3: oh man, don't give my trainer any ideas! That sounds like some of the stuff he thinks up for me. He is big into jumping.

I also don't know how you sprint without moving your arms; my arms are going as fast as my legs.

I started running intervals last summer, so it's been about nine months. I took all of Dec and Jan off because of a knee injury (my doctor said no running at all), but I was doing other cardio during that period (swimming, spinning, elliptical, and all the agonizing jumps and stuff my trainer makes me do). And I've been doing cardio, including a 3 to 6-mile run outdoors once a week and swimming since 2005 so I was already in pretty good shape when I started running intervals. I think my top speed when I started was around 8.5. The swimming, in particular, really improved my cardio endurance.

And it's not as impressive as it sounds. It was only the very last interval that I did at 10 mph. I figure I can do anything for a minute. The interval before that was 9.5 mph, and the interval before that was 9.0. My trainer told me the treadmills max out at 12 mph and so now it's just a game for me; I want to see if I can max the thing out. And I have to say that my hip has been hurting since the 10 mph sprint, so I think maybe I overdid it. I won't be trying it again for a couple of weeks. Also, I'm only using a 1% incline, so I'm pretty much running these intervals on a flat surface. I'm not doing any incline work like Mel suggests--that interval workout sounds killer. I hate :censored: lunges.

I'm always staring at the clock wondering if the darn thing is broken since the seconds seem to be moving so slowly (and then they seem to move so fast during my recovery period). :lol: I absolutely cannot run on the treadmill at any speed and watch the wall-mounted TVs; I don't know how people do that.

I thought so far Ali had maxed out at 12...maybe I heard wrong last episode. I wouldn't put it past Jillian to have her running 14 by the finale though! Hahah...I wonder how fast treadmills go...?

[/QUOTE] I'm going to try it :) :0 :( so if you all don't hear from me for a few days, please tell dh to look under the treadmill for me. I'm sure I'll be able to do it for at least 5 secs, right?[/QUOTE]

LOL. I'm really competitive so I keep wanting to beat the speed I did before. I got it up to 10.0 for my last interval yesterday and I was like "you can do thirty seconds...you got it!" And then it occurred to me that if I in fact COULD NOT do thirty seconds I'd be on the floor...which would suck. Haha. But five seconds you'll be FINE. I started trying to do a minute at 7.5 and then just randomly started doing sprints and it worked out. Just build up your speed gradually and you'll feel more comfortable about not killing yourself. :D

Sorry. Couldn't resist the opportunity to display my Encyclopediac Seinfeld knowledge. Molly Shannon played Sam, a co-worker in Elaine's office who walked without moving her arms. Impressive? Or sad?

LD -- impressive, no doubt! I loved that show. Judge Reinhold as the close talker, Brenda Strong as SueEllen Mishky, the braless woman, Teri Hatcher 'they're real and they're specatular'. Still watch the reruns. I often think they're all still sitting in the vault, rambling on endlessly. :lol:

TOTALLY impressive! I still watch it too - apparently either one of those things you love or hate bc my dh looks at me in despair when I lol at the shows still. But he likes Married with CHildren and Cable Guy humor, so clearly, he's just not evolved enough!!

I tried it and my tm only goes to 10. Which is fine. Seriously. I cranked out 7 for 15 seconds, went up to 8 and could only envision our posting here about hitting a wall bc mine is right up against a wall - a big no no per the instructions. Thought I was going to sail off the thing and cut it back down. Yeah, it will be awhile before I need the 10! ANd like Mel and others said, it wasn't even cardio, it was a feeling that my legs couldn't keep moving fast enough!

i got myself up to 7.5 today for 15 seconds and i thought i was dying! 15mph is a llllooooonnnggg way off!

LMAO! I know the feeling. It's the longest 15 seconds of your life too and you really really believe there's no way your legs are ever going to go any faster than they are going. It's such a different kind of running and it takes a while to get comfortable with it.