10-20-30 Training Run

For today's run, I elected to give the 10/20/30 training concept a try.  I first read about this a week or so ago.  It's supposed to help improve, not only your running times, but also decrease blood pressure and cholesterol.  The concept is this:

A short warm-up, I did roughly 0.5 miles
Repeat the following intervals 5 times, then take a 2 minute rest.
10 seconds of near maximal speed
20 seconds of moderate speed
30 seconds of low speed.

You are to repeat these sets 3-4 times, I made it three.

Let me say this straight out, this thing will kick your ass.  Don't think it won't!

That 10 second burst of speed will drain your energy, then the moderate 20 seconds is tough to hold on to, and the 30 seconds of slow is not really enough to recover your breath before repeating it again, and again, and again, and yet, one more time.  By the last of the 5 intervals, you'll be dying.  Then guess what?  You only get two minutes to recover before doing them all over again! 

Like I said above, I made it through 3 sets. I wasn't killing over dead at the end, like I would be after a timed mile, but I did not want to push it for my first time.  Afterwards, I had a slow 0.5 mile jog back to my office. 

Will I do this again?  Probably.  I'm interested in the blood pressure/cholesterol benefits, although I'm skeptical of the research.  Either way, it was a good workout today!