Here’s our third and final “can’t get on the track” workout to do on your own or with a friend. Again, find a flat surface with good footing for this workout. Remember to warm up well with lunges and leg swings, plus at least 10–15 minutes of jogging and a 1-minute pickup followed by 1 minute of jogging to get the heart rate and leg turnover up. Cool down with another 10 minutes easy. Bonus points for doing the strength and mobility exercises afterward.
Fartlek workouts are hard to do indoors, but they’re a fun way to run fast without overdoing it. For each repetition, look ahead to a telephone pole, mailbox, tree, or any other object you can fixate on that will take 30-60 seconds to reach. Then gradually pick up the pace and run to that spot, working your way up to I pace (5K race pace) by the end. The goal is to enjoy running fast for an easily doable distance. Then come back to a steady-state pace—slower than M (marathon) pace, but not jogging. Run that pace for 30–60 seconds, or until your breathing has stabilized and you feel ready for the next pickup. Repeat for 30 minutes, or until the pickups no longer feel fun. Don’t go over 45 minutes.
If you have a few minutes, report back on where you did this workout and how it went!
And if anyone wants to organize a particular pace-group workout time/place, feel free to post here, too.
We’ll be back on the track on December 30.
Resources
- Warmup: Jay Johnson’s Lunge Matrix and Leg Swings, then 10 minutes of jogging
- Cooldown: 10 minutes of jogging, then Jay Johnson’s Strength and Mobility
- Pace Calculator: Jack Daniels’ VDOT Running Calculator