Mix things up

Last night I did one of the most fun things I've done involving running outside of the marathon relay in May. I joined a track workout group that meets every Tuesday in my town. It is a free group I stumbled on and there are legit coaches that run the group. I have never done a track workout so I was walking in totally blind. They were throwing out words like "pace", "strides", "tempo runs" and "stride it out"...I was just absorbing and trying not to look like a complete idiot out there. Anyways. The point of this entry is that I left the track workout not only sweating and thinking I had a lot of work to do, but feeling empowered and totally wowed at the amount of useful information I was given in the span of an hour.

One thing that was pointed out to me was my form. They said I had good form except for how my feet hit the ground. Apparently I'm a heel striker. She said, your heel hits first and hard with every step. Yep...I had always thought your heel was supposed to hit first and this is precisely why I love track workout group. I had no idea! She advised me to think about landing on the ball of my foot with each step which will cause me to land more correctly and not strike my heel so much, and this will also cause me to land with my foot under me instead of out in front. Apparently the key to going faster is to get good at quick leg turnover, not length of stride. She said I need to think about shorter faster steps, versus long ones. Alas! The wealth of knowledge just came pouring in. It made me really excited to get out and run.

So, here was the workout I did last night...it was pretty minimal since it was my first track workout.
4x200: Basically you run at about 85% (semi-sprint) for 200 meters than slow down to a jog for a 200m recovery and repeat this 4 times. The other girl doing 200's did 8 sets but we figured 4 was a good start to get the feel of things. Don't forget about warming up and cooling down though!

The important lesson in this is that it adds variety to your training. If you usually run trails, go and do a road run, hit the track once a week or do hill sprints. If you do the same run day in and day out, you stop challenging your body and it learns how to do the same workout with little effort therefore you a) don't improve speed, endurance, etc and b) don't burn as many calories. Although it feels good to cruise through your typical 3 mile run, if that's all your are doing, don't expect to improve your time or be able to go hit a 7 miler on the weekend. Here are some good things to mix up your regular running schedule with:

• Trail running (if you are a road runner) or vice versa if you are a trail runner, do road running
• Hill sprints - find some good hills, maybe a block long, warm up first and then sprint to the top of the hill and walk to cool down for a block, then do another hill sprint and so on
• Hiking - this is like doing a good leg workout at the gym and keeps things interesting
• Strength training - as discussed in a previous post, strength training is key to any training program so don't leave this out!
• Cycling - go out and hop on the bike. Whether you want to do a serious ride of 20-30 miles, or a hard core mountain bike session, or just cruise around for an hour, it's all good to mix things up while still working some of your running muscles
• Running in sand - this is a GREAT workout (if you are lucky enough to live near a beach) and you get the added benefit of being able to jump in the ocean after sweating it out
  
• Kick boxing, spinning class, cardio blast, etc. - there are usually a myriad of gym classes that will help your running. Don't be afraid to get in there and try something new every once in a while
• Cross training - hit the elliptical machine, the stair climber or even the treadmill put on a heavy incline for a nice inclined walk.
  

The main thing to consider when thinking of alternative workouts, if you want them to specifically work in favor of running, make sure the motion and/or muscles are similar with running. Doing the row machine although fun, and still a great workout to mix things up, will not necessarily improve your running specifically. But if it keeps you motivated, go for it! Heck, even cutting a rug on the dance floor on a Friday night can't hurt.