Spring is right around the corner and so is my favorite season of all: race season. I've been training for a hilly 10 mile race next month and to keep my body guessing and to prevent injuries I've been mixing up my runs and workouts each week. I have scheduled three runs a week with cross training and weight workouts mixed in. This really helps with recovery time and it makes it so I don't over train. My runs consist of one shorter speed interval run, one shorter hill focused run and one long run (on Saturday or Sunday) that increases by a mile each week.
So far I have been feeling great and will hopefully stay injury free come race day. I make sure to stretch properly before and after every run and always foam roll my muscles to keep the recovery time low. Last week I did this progressive 5k run on my speed interval day and I loved it. Usually I dread running on the treadmill but this kept me guessing and entertained for the 30 minutes it took to complete.
Make sure to start with at least a 5 minute warm up at level 4.5 (a brisk walk or light jog) to get started. The next 2 minutes increase to level 7 followed by a 30 second recovery at level 5. Then 1 minute at a level 8 followed by a 30 second recovery at level 5. Finish it off with 30 seconds of Level 9 (or whatever level to achieve a full out sprint) followed by a 30 second recovery. Get ready to repeat this process all over again 3 more times followed by a 5 minute cool down.
The 30 second recovery time between each interval doesn't seem like a lot of time, but you'd be surprised on what a difference it makes.
If you try this out you'll have to let us know what you thought! Do you have any speed treadmill workouts you love? Leave them in the comments!
What a perfect time to run into this post! My husband and I are finally getting a treadmill so this workout would be or go to routine.
ReplyDeleteSide note, do you have any experiences with livestrong? http://www.whatisrightforme.com/treadmill/ says livestrong would be my ideal treadmill but I would like to know what your experiences with them.
Any way, we'll keep you updated when we try your workout. As of right now, we don't have a set workout. Its usually...
- walk for 2 minutes
- jog for 2 minutes
- spring for 30 seconds
- jog for 1 minute
and repeat for a total of 15-20 minutes.
Hi Tina!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you found our blog :)
I have not checked out the Livestrong treadmills yet. I bet they are good though based on the other products in their line that I've tried. I usually hop on the treadmill at work or in our clubhouse fitness center. I'm not picky when it comes to the brand :)
That sounds like a really good plan you guys have been doing! Let us know how it goes when you try the one from the post out.
Best of luck with all of your running!