Sure I just ran the Colorado Tough Mudder last weekend and yes, the course was over 12 miles long. So I do run. But I don’t love it. But running can play a central role to regaining, or maintaining your health. Check out this guest post from Ross.
Running is a sport that involves more than just putting on pair of shoes and going for a jog around the park. If you really want to improve your fitness, stay clear of injury and reach your potential then incorporate these three workouts into your weekly routine.
#1 Hill Reps
Hill running improves your coordination, leg strength and running efficiency as well as expanding your aerobic capacity. Basically if all you did was hill running then you would be a fine runner! Struggling up those hills translates into a more efficient running style when on the flat and your newfound strength will have you flying along when it comes to race day.
To hill train properly all you really need is a hill and a stop watch. Hill training takes may forms but one of the favorite workouts is to pick a hill of about a 30% incline and run up it at maximum for about a minute. Have a jog recovery back to the beginning and then repeat 10 times.
#2 Track Workouts
Running on an athletics track is a great way to improve your speed. Running shorter intervals improves your pace and aerobic capacity as well as meaning you can run for longer at a faster speed on race day.
A favorite track workout is to run two laps of a track at about 80% of your maximum speed. Have a rest lap and then repeat the whole thing 5 – 10 times. You will be shattered but also surprised how fast you can actually run!
#3 Intervals
You can incorporate intervals into your normal running route as all this involves is increasing your pact for about 60 seconds before reverting back to your normal pace.
If you struggle to maintain focus when running this kind of session then a good trick is to map out your intervals using landmarks as markers for starting and stopping your sprinting. So for example you could start your sprint at one lamppost and then pick another lamppost in the distance to stop at. This way you aren’t clock watching.
The trick is not to slow down any more than your normal pace when you recover as this will teach you how to surge during a race and give you that much needed speed and endurance that your current running is probably not training you for.
So there you have it, three top training sessions guaranteed to improve your running form, speed and fitness.
About the Author: Ross is a London-based club traithlete who writes for Run The Line, a running and triathon blog. For more running tips see the runtheline gps watch and running blog or consult a website such as RunnersWorld.
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