Short on Time? Need a Quick and Effective Run Workout?

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Are you jam packed for the day but need to get that run workout in? You know that workout, the one that’s not the long run and not the tempo run?? It’s that tweener workout and you’re stressing what to do in a short amount of time to get the most effective results!??


Don't STRESS OUT!

Before I started focusing on specific workouts with a goal in mind, I ran to run, I biked to bike and I swam to swim. I didn’t really have a goal, just wanted to get the miles in. That, my friend, is junk miles.

Recovery run you say? 3 easy miles? You’d be better served taking the day off and hitting a harder specific workout another day. Get your volume days and tempo days in, but be smart with that “other day”.

I give you, the sprint workout! It solves that issue of “I woke up late, only have 30 minutes to run, won’t get me enough miles, I don’t want to be in a hurry, I have to take the kid to daycare, I have a 8am meeting at work so I can’t be late” problem.







I’ve found a lot of sites with similar workouts. Through my own evolution of the sprint workout, this is the usual I end up doing.

All you need is your running gear, garmin or regular watch, open road – track – or treadmill.

Its goes like this:
- 10 minute warmup in zone 1 – breathing a little heavy but you could hold a conversation with no problem.
- 1 minute zone 2 (60-75%) – hard to talk while running.
- 1 minute rest – walk fast or light jog.
- 1 minute zone 3 (75-85%) – can’t really talk much.
- 1 minute rest – walk fast or light jog.
- 6 to 8 sets of the following: Run all out for 30 seconds, rest for 1 and ½ minutes – walk fast or light jog.
- 5 minute cool down jog.

You will get roughly 30 minutes (depending on how many sets you do) of total time. This is speed building which helps your body adapt to higher levels of effort without causing injury or damage.

Most places I have found these types of sprint workouts suggest only doing this 1 to 2 times a week and waiting 2 to 3 days in between to avoid over exertion. I swear by this workout that if done in conjunction with tempo runs and longs runs, will allow you to add some speed at the end of that race run. My past two events (GOD'S COUNTRY DUATHLON AND ROCK THE PARKWAY) have proven to me that I can force that last bit of speed for the last mile. It hurts but I can sustain it to finish strong. This is a significant difference from last year. I had no problem keeping my goal pace early on to 2/3rds through, but I faded at the ends of my races until this season.


TIP O THE END O THE POST

My favorite running shoe is the asics GEL 1100, 1110, 1120, 1130, 1140, 1150…. Which are hard to come by these days. It’s a tweener shoe for stability and neutral position feet for runners. It doesn’t give me blisters from being too rigid and it supports like it should and isn’t too soft. Asics may not be for you but after going through the other typical brands, Asics is my running shoe of choice. Examples below:

ASICS GEL 1130
ASICS Gel 1130 - Mens - Black/Onyx/Kiwi