November 18, 2009

Liven up your daily run - Part 2

Hey everybody.  I hope you enjoyed your workout today.  Here are 7 more ideas for livening up your regular run

1. The Tempo Run.  First warm up, then for a set amount of time run at a hard but controlled pace. Afterwards cool down.  So, if you can run all day at 3.4 mph and 4.5 mph about as fast as you can sustain, you might warm up for 5 minutes, run 20 minutes at 3.8 mph then cool down for 5 minutes.  This would be an intense half-hour run, perfect for a day when you are working against the clock.  If you are a beginner runner you might need to go do "research" on a treadmill or at the track first.  You need to know how fast you can run, and you need to be able to identify your running speed.



2. Cruise Intervals. A famous running workout popularized by Jack Daniels, a famous running coach.  Run 3-8 minute intervals at your  10k (6 mile) pace with recovery intervals between half a minute and 3 minutes.

3. HIIT. HIIT is short for High-Intensity Interval Training, and it is great for a fast, hard, fat burning run.  Blast out a series of maximum intensity sprints alternated with gentle jogging intervals (warm up first!).  Your total workout should last about 25 minutes including warm-up and cool down.  It sounds easy, but the intensity makes HIIT put burn in your buns.

4. Yasso 800s. Go to the track, and after warming up do 10 times 800m.   However long it takes you to pound out the 800m, recover over an equal time gently jogging.  This workout is called the Yasso 800 because Bart Yasso says that whatever your average time for the 800m is should be your marathon time.  So if you average 3 minutes 45 seconds per 800m burst you should be able to do a marathon in 3 hours 45 minutes....If you put in the miles on your long runs and hill runs and tempo runs and interval runs....

5. Mile repeats. This workout is just how it sounds.  Run a mile strong but steady, recover by jogging gently for 2 minutes.  Repeat, and again.  If a mile is daunting you could adapt to other distances — 1000m, 800m, 400m, etc.

6. Mystical Zen run. This is where you change things up.  Do not measure distance.  Do not bring a watch.  Do not plan, not even the route.  Just lace up your shoes and go.  Pay attention to what your body is telling you.  Pay attention to what your are feeling.

7. Soft Footing Run. If you have an even sandy beach, run on the beach. If you don't, find other soft footing like grass or a wood chip trail.  A good rule of thumb is that you shouldn't be able to hear your foot falls.  Like hills, soft footing will challenge your muscles making them work harder to give you your usual push-off.

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