Right now I am training for a 5K and it has been quite enjoyable so far. It has been really nice to work on gaining speed and building strength rather than endurance. I am still doing some longer runs but they are not my main focus right now.
I am far more interested in training for the Rock n' Roll USA Half Marathon in March, but I wanted to take the time I had after running the Baltimore Half Marathon to try some new things. I have been going to yoga twice a week, started doing Insanity again, got back in the pool, and started biking as means of cross training.
But I also have been switching up the style of runs I do. I started doing speed work for the very first time and have been doing more tempo runs.
Sometimes, though, a little creativity can really improve the quality and enjoyment of a run. One thing that I have been doing lately is incorporating stairs into my runs. Running stairs are a great way to bring in some interval training to a run and also work on increasing strength.
My favorite stair workout to add to a run is:
2 x
sprinting, hops, and double stairs.
I have been working on adding another repeat each time I do stairs. I struggle the most with the hops. I find them very awkward and rather difficult, but I know that jumping really helps build strength and power in legs.
I find stairs to be the most beneficial and challenging thing to add to a run but I also have incorporated things such as push ups, crunches, planks, and jumping jacks. Adding these things to a run really adds some variety and can make a hard run seem like a totally different workout altogether.
What do you do to add some variety to your runs? Have you ever added stairs to your runs?
you are awesome for incorporating stairs!!! they are going to help you become such a powerful runner! wow! i should try those sometime...definitely sounds intimidating though! good for you!
ReplyDelete