Today’s Workout – Speed Work

Total Mileage: 6.02 miles

Total Time: 00:53:11

Average Pace: 9:19 min/pace

Breakdown of today’s workout was:
0.5 mile warm up (around the track)
8 x 400’s at a 7:05 pace
400 jog in between each
1.5 mile cool down

Tonight’s workout was tough more so because we are getting near the end of the week than anything else.  I’ve had a lot of stress on me as I have mentioned the last several days and while it is still there my workouts really help to alleviate some of that.

Tonight I wanted to talk about something that is SO important to a good workout – warming up.  I typically only really do a true warm up when I am doing speed workouts. Even though these are ALWAYS important I tend to really need to do them after a long day at work because my legs are not quite as ready to go as they are in the mornings.

I start all of my speed workouts with at least a half mile warm up.

My husband actually taught me a trick that has really helped get my legs ready.  

I use the indoor track at my gym for this, but you can also use the treadmill or even do it outside.  

I start out by running the first 3 laps (total of 5 for a half mile) at a slow pace. You are just jogging you should not be breathing hard or even feel like you are doing much work at all. The key is just get your legs moving and warmed up.

On the final 2 laps (probably around .30 if you are using a treadmill or running outside) I throw in 2 quick sprints that last only about 5-10 seconds.  The reason for this is it gets your legs used to moving quicker. It helps to warm up the fast twitch muscles in your legs and gets them ready for some great speed work!

I have tried to do warm ups just by running slow and steady, but this seems to be so much more effective in getting my legs into the workout.

Always remember to end your workout with a cool down as well.  This is typically longer than my warm up and most of the time after good speed work it feels like a breeze!

Just for the record, this is what I really look like after my workouts. The smiling pictures are all for show 🙂

Do you always warm up and cool down before your workouts?