By Deborah Dunham for Blisstree.com
This week on Pimp My Health, we’re going to pimp your running. Now that fall is officially here, that means running season is too. Whether you’re looking to complete your first 5K or set a personal record in an upcoming marathon, it helps to add some speedwork once a week to your training. As a matter of fact, one of the biggest mistakes runners make is running at the same speed all the time. In order to get faster, you have to run faster. Here are two simple workouts you can incorporate into your weekly training program:
Workout #1:
Go to your local track and warm-up with an easy one or two mile run, then:
Run 1600 meters (4 laps) at an 80 percent effort
Jog 1 lap for recovery
Run 1200 meters (3 laps) at an 80 percent effort
Jog 1 lap for recovery
Run 800 meters (2 laps) at an 85 percent effort
Jog 1 lap for recovery
Run 400 meters (1 lap) at a 90 percent effort
Jog one lap for recovery
Run 200 meters (1/2 lap) at a 95 percent effort
Jog one lap for recovery
Finish with a cool-down walk and stretching
Workout #2:
Go to your local track and warm-up with an easy one or two mile run, then:
Run 200 meters (1/2 lap) at an 80 percent pace
Jog 1/4 lap
Run 400 meters (1 lap) at an 80 percent effort
Jog 1/2 lap
Run 600 meters (1.5 laps) at an 85 percent effort
Jog 3/4 lap
Run 800 meters (2 laps) at an 85 percent effort
Jog 1 lap
Run 600 meters (1.5 laps) at a 90 percent effort
Jog 3/4 lap
Run 400 meters (1 lap) at 90 percent effort
Jog 1/2 lap
Run 200 meters (1/2 lap) at 95 percent effort
Jog 1/4 lap
Finish with a cool-down walk and stretching
Note: If you are a beginner runner, you should not be doing any speedwork until you have built up a solid running base for at least four or six months. Likewise, if you have any injuries, you should not do speedwork.
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