Heimdallr Posted September 29, 2017 Share Posted September 29, 2017 If you are looking to improve your endurance or want to do interval training, try swimming. It is a full body workout, incredibly effective cardio work, and zero impact. Probably the best workout you can do. I switched from running to mainly swimming a few months ago to protect knees and it has been great. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollino14 Posted September 29, 2017 Share Posted September 29, 2017 9 hours ago, texans_uk said: Not at all. I do very similar interval training. How many sprints do you do in a session? I sprint a minute, jog a minute for at least 20 minutes. Then pending on how I feel I jog for another 5-10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishGreen Posted September 29, 2017 Share Posted September 29, 2017 Thanks for the tip guys, I will try doing more interval stuff. Think I may have to just increase the frequency though. Like I said, only once or twice a week at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAW Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 During my first Spartan Race, I got absolutely destroyed doing hills so I tailored my workouts to fix that. After seeing the results and doing research, hill intervals are the best way to improve your distance time. I do them on a treadmill so I can control the time incline. Once a week, I will do (at the pace you could run for an hour for): 10 minute warmup at .5 incline 3 minute interval (1st minute 5.0%, 2nd minute 6.0%, 3rd minute 7.0%) 2 minute recovery at .5 3 minute interval (6.0, 7.0, 8.0) 2 minute recovery at .5 3 minute interval (7.0, 8.0, 9.0) 7 minute cool down The pace is the same for the entire 30 minutes. Take about 1.5 MPH off what you would run your fastest 30 minute run at (i.e. if you are completely spent after 30 minutes at 8 MPH, do this workout at 6.5) You'll see instant results. I also do sprint intervals, but I do 1 minute sprint and 2 minute jog. To me, if you are doing 1 minute sprint 1 minute recovery you aren't sprinting as fast as you can which is the more important part or have insane cardio. Ladder workouts are also good because it is easy mentally to push yourself and increase your speed quickly. Another good workout is to run for as long as you physically can at a challenging incline. Any run is a good workout if you're pushing yourself, but to me the interval hill workout was a complete game changer physically and got my heart rate higher than any other workout. I don't run competitively, to me it is just about fitness efficiency. The faster you run, the less you have to workout or the more you can slack with your diet. Either choice is a win/win. I usually wear Asics but switched to these Brooks based on a recommendation but don't really notice a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKTexans Posted October 4, 2017 Author Share Posted October 4, 2017 Treadmills suck. Like really bad. I can't even keep 5:00/km pace on them. Doesn't help that I'm in an African gym with no air con. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LETSGOBROWNIES Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 53 minutes ago, texans_uk said: Treadmills suck. Like really bad. I can't even keep 5:00/km pace on them. Doesn't help that I'm in an African gym with no air con. First world problems in a 3rd world country eh? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKTexans Posted October 5, 2017 Author Share Posted October 5, 2017 13 hours ago, LETSGOBROWNIES said: First world problems in a 3rd world country eh? Ha something like that. I'm outta here tonight, back to the rat race. Got a 10k run on Sunday I'm sweating on as I have only run once in the past 6 days and that was my nightmare at the gym. Hopefully the lack of aircon has done wonders for my cardio! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKTexans Posted October 8, 2017 Author Share Posted October 8, 2017 Despite a lack of training this past week and with "African indigestion issues" I managed to hit 45 minutes on my 10k today. I was just short of going under, I hit 5k at 22 minutes, but between 7.5 and 9k I just couldn't sustain. Had a hell of a sprint finish though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishGreen Posted October 8, 2017 Share Posted October 8, 2017 On 10/4/2017 at 1:42 PM, texans_uk said: Treadmills suck. Like really bad. I can't even keep 5:00/km pace on them. Doesn't help that I'm in an African gym with no air con. i can't even do treadmills. i go insane just running in place for extended periods.not sure what im going to do in the winter when it gets cold as all hell here. might just bundle up and still go outside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
incognito_man Posted October 9, 2017 Share Posted October 9, 2017 Was a good runner back in the day. Haven't kept up but can still probably roll outta bed and do a 22 min 5k or so I want to start training for a Tri and work my way up to a half-ironman (maybe full someday). Have a bum knee and am not a good swimmer, so I anticipate spending a lot of time in the pool to do this. I know this isn't a swimming thread, but anyone here have any good luck with beginner swim workout series online or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishGreen Posted October 9, 2017 Share Posted October 9, 2017 19 hours ago, incognito_man said: Was a good runner back in the day. Haven't kept up but can still probably roll outta bed and do a 22 min 5k or so I want to start training for a Tri and work my way up to a half-ironman (maybe full someday). Have a bum knee and am not a good swimmer, so I anticipate spending a lot of time in the pool to do this. I know this isn't a swimming thread, but anyone here have any good luck with beginner swim workout series online or something? in for this as well. i'm actually starting to swim more for workouts and i'd like to eventually do a running + swimming event (apparently it's called an aquathon?). not really interested in the biking part at all. just not really a big fan of biking. my freestyle is pretty good, but my other strokes are pretty poor. anyways, crazy how much better i run in cooler weather. idk if this is universal, but i run sooo much better in 50s-60s (early in the morning) than 70s-80s. ripped off 5 miles this morning and could've done more. bizarre considering i usually just do 5Ks. pace wasn't incredible or anything, but still couldn't believe how great i felt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishGreen Posted November 20, 2017 Share Posted November 20, 2017 Started increasing my distance past 3-4 miles (even though I have no interest in really running further than this regularly). Has really helped my 5K time. Down to getting low 20s consistently even though I'm still not running more than a couple of times a week. My ultimate goal is still to get to around <6:30 pace for a 5K, but I still think I will have to increase frequency to get there, which I'm going to start doing! (too bad winter is just around the corner, I can't do treadmills). Starting to get addicted fellas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKTexans Posted November 21, 2017 Author Share Posted November 21, 2017 13 hours ago, IrishGreen said: Starting to get addicted fellas I just bought myself a new Garmin GPS tracker and headphones with a built in MP3. Although I haven't ran in 5 days due to a dodgy knee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywindO2 Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 I took the last few months off of running to train for a hike. I still ran but not nearly as much and skipped my "long" run day to go on long hikes instead. Wanting to get back into it, hoping to run a half in May. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKTexans Posted November 21, 2017 Author Share Posted November 21, 2017 And there goes my knee... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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