Welcome to the third of (hopefully) many Workout Wednesdays. The goal of this column is to create a set of shorter blogs targeted specifically towards providing newer runners with a tangible place to start running beyond just going out to jog a few miles. I do my speed workouts on Wednesday, which is why it made perfect sense to post these workouts in the middle of the week. I find it to be an ideal time a few days after my Monday tempo run and before my Saturday long run, but you can incorporate this into your plan wherever it makes sense. I recommend consuming some sort of nutrition before your workouts – my default is a cold glass of Chia Fresca. If you have a go-to workout that you run regularly and want to share with other readers, please reach out through our contact page to be featured in a future Workout Wednesday.
This workout is meant to be nested in your weekly long run. The idea is to get your body used to running at faster paces over a longer period, which is why this workout is spent alternating every mile between a fast pace and a recovery pace. Ensure to focus on quality throughout both the easy and hard miles. An easy way to do keep track of your pace is to remember that the slow miles are just a minute slower than your fast miles, i.e. running 7:30 for one mile and 8:30 for the next.
The Workout:
~1-mile warmup
4-7 miles (or longer) alternating between 5K pace + 45 seconds and 5K + 1:45 pace every mile
~1-mile cool down
Now that you’re finished, go down a delicious recovery drink and definitely do not forget to stretch!
Let us know how the workout went and how we can improve in the comments below. Was anything about the workout unclear? If you have a workout you want to share reach out via our contact page and don’t forget to follow the blog to get these delivered straight to your inbox.