Most of the time when I run on the treadmill I watch movies. But on Sunday morning my movie ended early in the workout (While You Were Sleeping - an old favorite). I’d only been running for 2 miles but I didn’t feel like watching any of the movies in the house. So I grabbed the iPod, which rarely gets used anymore, and ran by music.
The first two minutes of every song I ran at a hard pace (7.0 for me). It should be hard but maintainable – you don’t want to be blowing up at the end of the two minutes. After that I ran one minute at a moderate pace (6.5 for me). Then I finished out whatever was left in the song (anywhere from 15 seconds to a minute) at an easy pace (6.0 for me). I repeated this with each song. Then when I had ten minutes left in the workout I decided to bust a move. I did one minute hard (7.0), one minute harder (7.2), one minute moderate (6.5), and repeated. The final minute I increased again and finished at 8.0.
I ended up covering 7 miles in 1:07:22, which was big considering I haven’t run in – wait for it – a month. Seriously, the last time I really went for a run was Christmas Day. Then we were traveling, then I needed a running break, then I was stranded in PA. I needed a hard workout with a lot of sweat to make me crave running again and it totally did the trick. It was also good to break it up with music rather than a video.
What’s a great workout you did recently? Or a great song to work out to?
January 29, 2013 at 7:15 am
Sounds like a great workout! I too just added music to a ski and I was surprised by the positive results!
January 29, 2013 at 9:39 am
You are a rock star! If I took a month off from running I seriously doubt I could come back and bust out 7 miles, with speed intervals to boot. I’m in week 4 of an 8 week on-line boot camp program that I absolutely love. IT’s kicking my tail but the experience has been so rewarding. I will likely write about it on my blog sometime in the next month. I’m also training for an end of February half, and that is going well too. I love, love, love intervals! Like you, I find the changing speeds very motivating.
January 29, 2013 at 9:40 am
I can’t wait to hear about the boot camp!
January 29, 2013 at 2:57 pm
My favorite song to listen to while doing a speed workout or tempo run is a remix version of Lights by Ellie Golding. It’s just one of those songs where I find myself running at a very fast pace and I didn’t even realize it until the end of the song. I also like to listen to Let’s Go by Calvin Harris if I need a pick me up during a run. Both of those songs really get me moving.
February 1, 2013 at 10:36 am
Seriously impressive that’s what you busted out after a month. I stole this workout – the song part – today, and it was tough. I dreaded every new song but I made it through (save for water breaks) seven songs.