For the injured runner, workout options are limited. Depending upon the nature of your injury, you may not be able to bear any weight on your leg or foot, thus eliminating typical cross-training workouts such as the elliptical or bike. The best option then are swimming workouts for injured runners, which provide the opportunity to develop endurance and maintain fitness while unable to run. Swimming offers everything an injured runner needs: a taxing workout that maintains cardiovascular and ...
Workouts for Runners
Fun Running Workouts to Celebrate Your Birthday
As a coach, I believe that training should be enjoyable. After all, almost all of us kept running - versus another form of cardio exercise - because we found joy in some aspect of it. Yet many of us recreational and amateur runners tend to be highly disciplined and we sometimes lose sight of having fun even in our hard workouts. The birthday workout can serve as a yearly reminder that running - including running hard - is something we do for fun. Whether you are training for a goal race or ...
Short Interval Fartlek Run
In my previous post, I discussed how marathoners and half marathoners alike can benefit from speed training. Today, I’m sharing a type of workout that long distance runners can use to develop speed - a short interval fartlek. This particular workout has been a tried-and-true favorite for me both as a coach and a runner. This short interval fartlek run increases your VO2max and running economy - essentially, it trains you to run fast. Short intervals are particularly beneficial because ...
Race Week Workouts to Prepare for a Strong Race
As counterintuitive as they sound, race week workouts can be the secret to having a good race. While you certainly want to taper and rest in the days leading up to a race, a race week workout can boost your confidence, optimize your performance, and leave your legs feeling sharp and fresh for race week. But what exactly does a race week workout look like? Should you do fast 400m repeats on the track regardless of distance? How do you strike the balance between doing enough and not doing too ...
Mile Repeats: Three Variations to Help You Run Faster
Mile repeats are a simple enough workout: you run hard for one mile, recover for a bit, and repeat a few more times. The beauty of mile repeats, much like the long run, is in their simplicity: they are effective, easy to execute, and adaptable based on your ability and goals. Mile repeats offer significant physiological benefits to runners across all distances, from the 5K to the marathon. Mile repeats increase capillary and mitochondrial density, which in turn helps more oxygen get to your ...