Running is fun, beneficial, and exhilarating.
There is no other feeling like the one you get after you finish a workout. You’re proud of yourself, your mood is high, and you feel motivated to take on the entire world.
But while beneficial, running can also get tedious at times. Running in the same way can lead to minor aches and ruin the training experience.
To that end, we’ve put together four running tips to improve your workouts and make them more fun. Let’s dive in.
- Change Up The Speed
Who says you only have to run at a specific speed? Running is a great activity precisely because of the flexibility it provides. You can jog, run, do intervals, and even sprint if you’re advanced. Mix it up, try new approaches, break up the monotony. You’ll have a ton of fun doing so.
For example, if all you do is jog, do 30-second intervals once. Run at around 70 percent of your maximum for half a minute, then take a minute to rest. Repeat that combination around ten times, and you’re done.
- Try Different Environments
Running in different environments is a great way to make workouts more engaging, work on various characteristics, and train your lower body. For example, you can run on a treadmill one day, hit the track a couple of days later, and do some hill runs near the end of the week.
Varying up your training can also be beneficial for reducing the risk of overuse injuries because each environment changes your running technique, even if slightly. For example, running up and down hills causes a specific type of stress, where flat treadmill or track running is different.
- Take It Easy
We’ve grown to believe that the only way to make fitness progress is to train harder with each upcoming workout. If we’ve achieved a specific goal on Monday, we should beat it on Wednesday and beat your mid-week performance on Friday.
Sure, progression matters, but we can’t improve linearly - the human body doesn’t work that way. Giving your body time to recover is one of the most important things you can do to make long-term progress with running.
A good way to go about it is to listen to your body and adjust the difficulty. For example, if you feel particularly good, work extra hard. But if you hit the track, feeling sore and tired, downregulate, and have an active recovery session instead.
Alternatively, follow a schedule where you start the week off moderately, push hard by mid-week, then drop the intensity near the end of the week.
Monday - moderately intense workout
Wednesday - intense session
Friday - active recovery
- Set Monthly Goals
Having goals is incredibly valuable because they clear things up and point us in the right direction. Being consistent with your workouts is important. But knowing what you want to achieve is also beneficial.
Setting monthly goals gives you something specific to work toward. For example, a monthly goal could be to shave 30 seconds off your mile time. Alternatively, you can set a goal to run half a mile further.
So long as you track your progress and keep your goals specific, you will be much more involved and have a ton of fun in the process.