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How to swap a workout you hate for one that you love

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It’s no secret that I’m a lover of easy runs. There’s no time pressure. I can walk a bit if I want. I can take a photo. I can pop into Facebook and have a chat for a bit if I want. It’s a pressure free run. Even more than easy runs, I love long runs. That’s what I live for. Although the long training runs for a marathon certainly take it out of me, I look forward to it all week. And when I’m done, I often feel like I could go for a bit longer, because I just love long distance.

There are other runs that I do because they benefit my long running but I’m not necessarily keen. I accept that they are a necessary evil.

Like Intervals. And Tempo.

It’s also probably the case that I like those two types of runs even less because where I live is quite hilly and there is nothing overly enjoyable about running intervals uphill.

But what I have found is that if you get a bit creative you can find a running workout with the same benefit that you don’t hate with the fire of a thousand suns.

Tempo

Plenty of people love their tempo runs, but for me I find them a bit of a struggle because there’s no real relief point. It’s just maintaining the same reasonably hard pace for whatever the distance is and mentally I find them to be a bit of a struggle. But I have found a couple of things that help me with this:

Fartlek – Fartlek can give you the same benefits of Tempo without actually doing Tempo. Now traditionally Fartlek is an unstructured mix of speed, steady and easy running but some of us are just too structured for that kind of thing. So here are the main two Fartlek-inspired runs that I do.

5:2 – 6 repats of 5:00 hard running by 2:00 steady running
Pyramid – 3:00, 4:00, 6:00, 8:00, 6:00, 4:00, 3:00 hard running with 1:00 of recovery running in between.

Intervals

Also not my favourite. Particularly long intervals. Long intervals are hard to pace for, especially once you throw hills into the mix. My solution to this has been a couple of things

Run to heart rate – instead of picking a pace and saying this is the pace I have to do, I do it to heart rate zone so that the effort is consistent, even if I can’t manage a consistent pace up and down hills.

Shorter intervals – Sure I could kill myself on long intervals, but long intervals aren’t going to help me if I don’t do them. So I mix it up with plenty of shorter intervals. At the moment my favourite is the 400m progression run. Which is 5 x 400m sprint, 400m, steady, 400m fast, 400m recovery. Now that is fun!

The moral of the story? There’s usually a way to make what you do not like to do, fun!

Winter. 5 Things To Get You Out The Door

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1. If you want to get out the door, don’t look out the window

Don’t do it. You are just going to look at it and wallow in how freaking cold it looks compared to your nice warm bed. Do not look out the window.

2. Look at the weather to determine what clothes to wear, not whether you are going  out at all.

That weather app of yours isn’t there for you to justify not going. It’s telling you if you need long sleeves or not.

3. Plan what you are going to do the day before, don’t leave the choice up until the morning

It’s a fact that the more decisions your brain has to make, the more overwhelmed it gets and the more indecisive it becomes. So plan what kind of run you are going to do, where you are going to run, what you are going to wear and take away all of those decisions from the morning so all you have to do is run. Easy!

4. Remind yourself that it isn’t hard.

Running isn’t hard. Running in winter isn’t hard. Running in rain isn’t hard. It’s water. You are water proof. It might get cold, but so what? Some things in life are hard but this isn’t one of them.

5. Think about Summer

Really. Think about that. Sweltering heat. Horrifying humidity of grossness. Every step feels like you are running through a swamp of dank, hot air. Let that image just swirl around in your brain a bit. I prefer Winter, and I’m pretty sure you do too.

8 Myths about Runners

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1. You are healthy in all areas of your life

Incorrect. I am a human garbage can. Running enables my close personal relationship with catbs and pie and carbs

2. If you walk it doesn’t count

It counts if you are moving forward. It counts if you stop and have a rest. If you do the distance it counts, if you do half of the distance it counts. Everything counts.

3. It’s hard

Yeah not really. I mean it feels hard sometimes. But it isn’t really. Grief is hard. Depression is hard. Running isn’t hard.

4. There is a running body type

Not if you have ever been to a running festival there isn’t. Anyone can run, and it attracts all kinds. That’s what makes it so awesome.

5. There is a best running shoe

In magical unicorn land, sure. There is one magical shoe that is perfect for everyone. Unfortunately on earth we have to experiment with what works best for us as individuals.

6. Running is cheaper than therapy

Not the way I do it, it’s not. I mean it could be, I guess. For someone who is not me.

7. Every run should be a good one

Every now and then you will have an inexplicably bad run. There’s often no rhyme or reason. It will just happen and it will be bad. The good news is that they rarely happen twice in a row.

8. Runners are crazy

Ok, that one might be true.

Do you want to be great? Then start having fun.

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I think it’s natural for slow runners to have a preoccupation with being fast. In the beginning you can notice that gap between yourself and others. And it’s that distance that you notice. It seems to stand out, screaming at you: this is why you aren’t a ‘real’ runner, or this is why you aren’t naturally gifted, or this is why you are less. And that difference can extend if people who you started running with, eclipse your efforts.

After awhile though, it’s not the difference that you notice. It’s what you have in common. Yes, even with that 10k speedster who can run 10km in 40 minutes. You have a lot in common with them. And sometimes, they see it more than you do. In the beginning at least. They don’t see how you are slow. They see your passion for running, which they share.

If like me you started running when you were carrying some extra weight, then progress can seem slow too. But of course it is. It seems amazing that I could take 30 minutes of a half marathon time in nine months but when you think about the fact that I no longer have to carry 30 extra kilos 21.1 kilometres it’s not that surprising.

People new to running might often say. I’ll never be fast. As if fast is some kind of measure of a runner’s greatness. You will be fast if you decide to be. But, I think the measure of a runners greatness is not speed. And some of the average times of road runners might surprise you.

To me, greatness is measured in getting out of bed to run when you really don’t want to. It’s in being willing to better yourself. It’s the person who stops running to support someone else. For me the greatness is in the shared experience of our sport. And ultimately if I think I was encouraging people to try running, as I tend to do being a bit runligious, I wouldn’t advocate that people try running so they can be really fast. Try running so you can experience the amazing capabilities of the human spirit on a daily basis. Try running so you can start the day in the fresh air. Try running so you can find your tribe. Try running so you can have fun. Fun is what will attract people to a sport, and it’s what will keep people engaged with a sport. And that’s why I’m all about fun.

Fun can be slow. Fun can be fast. Choose your fun.

Don’t love hills? Here’s a workout that you might like

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Almost everyone starts off with a pathological fear of hills. Which is totally normal. In the beginning running is hard enough without actually having to run up hills as well. But there are few things that will do as much for your speed, endurance and strength as hills will. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Where I live it’s all hills. No matter where you go. Probably the flattest 10km run I could do around here would still be around 130m of elevation. And I’ve really learned to love them and not just because I don’t have a choice!

The thing is going downhill is really, really, really fun. It’s almost as much fun as you can have as far as running is concerned. What you notice if you ever have a heart rate monitor too is that going downhill, even if you are sprinting, your body is recovering and your heart rate will drop accordingly. And although there are so many things to be gained from running uphill there are significant benefits to downhill as well. And one of those things in particular is that you are showing your body what it feels like to go really fast, probably faster than you would be capable on the flat. And your body will remember that and replicate that. Which is pretty cool!

Most people are pretty familiar with hill repeats and a lot of it involves sprinting up hill which can be a bit intimidating at first because it feels a bit like dying. And while I still think you should do that, here is a workout that can introduce you to the fun off hills.

You can either find a hilly course, or just use one hill to go up and down that’s completely up to you and it depends on where you live and what’s available. But the trick is to pick a course – can be 5k or 8k or 10k – whatever you are comfortable with and take it really easy up the hill – walk occasionally if you need to, but just aim for a nice consistent easy pace up the hill and then bolt down it as fast as you can.

Yep! It’s that easy. You might find that you even start to love those hills a bit too.