Boston had another snow day yesterday so that meant I took my marathon training indoors on the treadmill. I rarely run on the treadmill on my own because I find it extremely boring. Intervals spice things up and are more effective at burning fat and increasing your cardiovascular strength. Since we have another 6 weeks of winter at least, here are 5 running workouts you can do in 30 minutes or less to beat boredom while getting in a killer workout. Click this picture below to watch my newest YouTube video explaining the workouts.
Depending on your ability, check the suggested speeds below for the 5 workouts.
Beginner/Walker – “I hate running but I’ll do it.”
- Warm Up/Recovery Pace – 3.5-4.5 mph
- Easy Jog – 5 mph
- Fast Jog/Tempo – 6 mph
- Challenging Pace/Sprint – 7 mph
Runner – “I like to run but I’m not incredibly fast.” – this is me!
- Warm Up/Recovery Pace – 5-5.5 mph
- Easy Jog – 6-6.5
- Fast Jog/Tempo – 7-7.5 mph
- Challenging Pace/Sprint – 8.5+
Fast Runner – “I love to f*cking run and I can probably beat you.”
- Warm Up/Recovery Pace – 6-6.5 mph
- Easy Jog – 7-7.5 mph
- Fast Jog/Tempo – 8-8.5 mph
- Challenging/Sprint – 9.5+
The above workout is a simple 3:1 interval. More advanced runners can reduce the recovery to 2 or even 1 minutes. Your challenging pace should be close to your all out sprint. Advanced runners should recover at their easy jog, beginners with their recovery pace.
This workout is best to do outside or using dynamic mode on a Woodway treadmill. Dynamic mode is when you take away the motor on a treadmill from powering the belt. You control the speed kind of like a mouse on a wheel.To get your Woodway into dynamic mode, press the green button on. Next, press the “+” button ONCE so that a track is displayed on the screen but speed still says 0.0. Then hold down the speed buttons that look like a “+” and “-” on the right arm of your treadmill for about 5-10 seconds or until the treadmill says dynamic mode. DO NOT TOUCH THE SPEED AGAIN until it is time to recover with a 2 minute jog. To get out of dynamic mode, you just press the “+” button on the speed once you have come to a complete stop.
This workout I do when I do not have an interval timer or just want a kick in the butt. I used to do this all the time before I had a GPS watch. I would just make a playlist with songs that were about 3-4 minutes each. I would run fast for one song and then recover for the next, repeat until I was wiped out! Advanced should recover with their recovery pace or easy jog.
This workout is one of my old favorites I got out of Shape or Self magazine when I was a young 20 something. I used to do it all the time at the gym because there was a line to get on the treadmill and each one had a sign that said, “Only 30 minutes!” This workout was perfect for those days!
If you are running any races this spring, this workout is great to get your speed up!
Do you have a favorite running interval workout?
Leave it below. Also – have you tried dynamic mode yet? I promise it will kick your butt in a good way.
