Unchanging scenery can make “dreadmill” runs the most boring kind. If you’re training to cover distance — say there’s a half-marathon on your calendar — here’s a trick to keep your brain awake.
Picture: Hector Alejandro/Flickr
If you’ve been doing a lot of runs indoors, you’ve probably discovered that quickly changing speeds and inclines can make for a killer interval workout that pushes your heart, challenges your brain and gets you out the door fast. But when your schedule calls for a weekly long run, done at a slow speed (a keystone of distance running programs, especially if you’re training for a half-marathon or marathon), a short intense workout won’t meet your goals.
Instead, Runner’s World’s “Coach Jenny” suggests keeping your effort fairly constant, but creating checkpoints to tweak something every 400m.
- At every 400m, increase the speed ever-so-slightly for a minute.
- At every 800m, turn your attention to your running form, and count your footsteps for a minute.
- At every 1.2km, increase the incline slightly — either for a brief moment just for variety, or as part of a plan to mimic your favourite race course.
- At every 1.6km, change your focus for that distance — dedicate it to a person or mentally repeat a mantra.
Read the full article at Runner’s World for more details on what to do at each checkpoint, and for extra tricks to make the run less boring.
How to Run Long on the Treadmill Without Losing Your Mind [Runner’s World]
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