The Plan Continues: Day 8

I am actually excited about today's workout: speed work. I ended up taking yesterday off as my plan calls for; instead of running to "make up" for taking Wednesday and Thursday of last week off. The rest probably accounts for at least some of my excitement, but honestly speed work can be fun. "Fun" in the sense that it is more interesting and challenging than plodding along on "regular run."

What I like about speed work is the variety. There are so many different combinations of intervals and speeds that you can combine to create a challenging workout. Then there's that very accomplished, satisfied feeling that comes after a tough run. And on top of all of that, speed work makes the "regular runs" easy: less plodding, more running. On last week's long run I could actually feel a difference: I felt stronger, faster and less fatigued when I was done.

My plan for today is to head to the gym and run on the treadmill (I'll start track workouts as soon as the snow melts…but that may be a while from now since we're supposed to get 6-10 inches tomorrow). I will run the following intervals:

1 mile warm up
1200m @ race pace (7:30 min/mi) or 8.0mph
1000m @ 8.1mph
800m @ 8.2 mph
600m @ 8.3 mph
400m @ 8.5 mph
200m @ 9.0 mph
1 mile cool down

Between each of these intervals I will walk/jog recover the same distance as the interval.

Speed work is not just for "people who run races," it is for anyone who wants running to feel easier. A workout like the one I've listed above is pretty easy to adapt to any pace. If you don't have a "race pace," choose a pace that is slightly faster and more challenging that the speed that you normally run at. Then increase your speed with each interval. Though it may be challenging, there will be a noticeable difference the next time you run: your regular pace will feel easy, and what is not to love about running feeling easier?