Review: Mile High Run Club
This morning I attended The Distance, a 60-minute class at Mile High Run Club (I went to the Upper East Side location). I had originally discovered Mile High Run Club's NoHo location when taking a walk near work and was interested in learning more and/or checking it out... but why would I pay for a treadmill running class when I could run outside for free? But between polar vertex and the fact that I have free ClassPass for a month (27 credits). I was planning on running for about an hour today, so when I saw a 7am hour-long class on the Upper East Side, it seemed like the perfect use of 12 credits.
I left the house earlier than I needed to (I was worried about how long I might have to wait for the bus), so I got to Mile High Run Club early, but I figured that was good because it would give me a chance to get the lay of the land. I got there and gave my name to the woman at the desk, and she told me my treadmill number and quickly told me where everything was (downstairs).
I got downstairs and since the previous class still hadn't ended, the place was kind of abandoned. I tried to orient myself (the quick overview didn't help, but the signs did) and then went to change (I was wearing capris and my Bronx 10 Mile shirt as my bottom layer, so it was mostly shedding layers and changing my shoes). I found a locker, figured out how to use it (there were instructions), grabbed my water bottle, and when the room was ready, I went in and found my treadmill. And the woman on the treadmill next to me was wearing the same Bronx 10 Mile shirt that I was wearing. So that was a funny coincidence.
Most people seemed to know what was going on, and people started stretching or warming up. I didn't really know what to do, but I turned on my treadmill and tried to get myself set up. I saw the list of suggested paces that they had, and was a little offended that their "Jogging" paces were closer to my paces than the "Racer" paces. So that was a rough start. I actually wasn't understanding the pace list properly, but even once I figured out how to interpret the list, I was still a little offended that the slower paces were for "joggers" and couldn't be racers. But that's just me being sensitive. Whatever.
Anyway ... Coach Conor introduced himself and gave us an overview of what we would be doing - a 10 minute warm up (level 1), some 6-minute intervals at level 2 and various level 3 paces (level 3 was divided into three parts - low (HM pace), middle (10K pace), high (5K pace)) with recovery between intervals, and "level 4" (all-out) sprints at the end. I started a little before class with a few seconds of walking before going up to what would be the equivalent of my EC pace. I stayed there for the warm up, and then for the first interval, I went up to 0.5 less than what they had listed as level 1 for runners. So, closer to the racer than the jogger, but still not quite there. I sometimes walked and sometimes ran the recovery (usually started walking then transitioned to running as we got closer to the next interval). I played around with the right paces for each level a lot. My high level 3 was the people next to me's level 2 ... but that's not what the class was about, so I didn't mind at all.
(Side note: If I had known we would be using this kind of pacing, I would have calculated the treadmill equivalent of my paces from Coach)
There were also some "hills." I wasn't sure how my knee would react to that, but I was mostly fine. And we did all of the hills at level 2 pace, which was nice.
I also wasn't sure what I was going to do in terms of the sprints. I wasn't sure how high I could take the treadmill. But for the last few seconds, I had the treadmill at 7.5. Coach Conor was very encouraging and really motivated me to keep pushing and I never would have imagined pushing my sprints as far as I did. So that was really cool.
There was music playing the whole time, and while I wish it was something I could have sang along with, I still liked it. I also liked the dark lighting. I also liked that it was really runner-centric, with race-related paces and lots of talk about upcoming races.
I didn't like the fact that my treadmill was right in front of the mirror, so I spent the whole time looking at myself. Not a fan. Also wasn't thrilled with there not being any effort to welcome me as a first timer (in my barre3 class they always ask if there are new people and talk to them about injuries or modifications, and there was none of that here).
Overall, it was fun, but not really for me. I'm not a tempo and hills on the treadmill person. I also think doing it at the end of a long running week made it harder. But while it won't be a regular thing for me, I could see myself going for a shorter class during an easy week or if I'm not on a plan and want some tempo. I can't see this particular class fitting into my training plan on a regular basis.
tl;dr - It was fun, but not really my jam. I might do it again if I was between plans and looking for a tempo run, but really, how often does that happen?
(Well, I'm thinking about going back on February 28th for Britney Spears vs. Boy Bands)
Also ... I still have 15 ClassPass credits left. What should I use them for?
