The holiday season can be an obstacle for many runners. Not only are you busy with holiday events and preparation, but the outdoor conditions are often cold, windy, snowy, and/or icy. All things considered, you want to be able to run, but you are short on time and may not even want to spend an hour or so outdoors. This month’s Run It round-up brings you the simple solution: fun and effective 30 minute workouts for runners.
A 30 minute run still provides all the physiological and psychological benefits of a run, without wearing down your body during a stressful time of year or keeping you outside so long that your extremities go numb from the cold. If you are base building, a 30 minute run maintains your fitness while providing a mental and physical from the wear and tear of training.
Embrace the 30-minute run. Distance runners can possess a mentality that longer is better. However, a short run is always better than no run at all – and with the right mindset and a plan, you can turn 30 minutes into an effective running workout.
My 30-minute workout is a fartlek, meaning the intervals are based on time and effort versus distance and pace. Especially if you are battling winter conditions (or, alternatively, running in the heat and humidity of summer), the focus is on running faster for the hard intervals, rather than hitting an exact pace or even race effort. Maybe it’s half marathon pace or 5K pace – focus on your effort and how you feel for that day.
In total, you have 10 minutes of hard running. Even in a 30 minute run, you need to include a proper warm up and cool down before running hard.
Carly’s 30 minute kettlebell workout:
Nellie’s 30 Minute Workout for Runners:
Catch up on past months of the Run It series:
Equipment Based Workouts for Runners
What Runners Eat
5 Best Half Marathon and Marathon Workouts
Mental Workouts for Runners
Rave Runs
Surviving Summer Running
Summer Hydration Tips for Runners
Treating Common Running Injuries
Best (and Worst) Racing Advice
Staying Sane on the Treadmill
Favorite Winter Running Gear
Linking up with Coaches’ Corner and Wild Workout Wednesday!
When you are short on time, what type of workout do you do?
Receive Weekly Running Tips & Motivation
Subscribe for my weekly newsletter and receive a free download of injury prevention exercises for runners.
I love doing fartlek runs, especially when Im not training for anything. Its nice to focus on time/effort and not pace or distance. 30 minutes is definitely enough time to get in a decent workout!
Fartlek’s are my fav for cranking out a quality workout when short on time. And this time of year there’s no time!
ohhhh maybe I will do that first workout in this post today! you know I enjoy the 30 minute workouts!
This is such a great list of ideas!! I’m going to save them for sure! One of my 2018 goals is to step up my strength training and speed game so these will be great for both!
I love these! In the off season (and with the holidays) this is definitely the time for shorter workouts.
The first one is one of my go to’s, I love the change in time and pace. It really mixes up the whole run!!
This is a great roundup of workouts! 30 minutes seems to go fast when running but slow when I’m doing strength work, lol!
I’m always looking for quick workouts like these – pinned for later 🙂 Thanks for linking up!
This is a perfect set of exercises which I desperately need this holiday season, Laura. Can’t wait to give them a try. Thanks for the inspiring and effective workout idea. 😉
These are awesome! I especially love these workouts because even 30 minutes seem like a ton of time, (especially during the holidays!)
Great this is the perfect set of workouts, I am going to try this definitely in my holidays. Every day i use to do workouts and this will be on the best one for today.