3 Run Workouts That Boost My Mojo

When the calendar flipped to May, I thought, “I am not in the shape I thought I’d be in now.”

Back in January, I had intended to work up to peak volume and fitness by mid-May—using ultras in March and April to bolster training—to get in top shape for the 155-mile Mauna to Mauna Ultra self-supported stage race in Hawaii, which of course got canceled. Our household’s illness from the virus in March, and the stress of the financial hit to my husband’s business, made training an afterthought and, at best, a stress-reliever.

Random recent photo of my dog (next to my son) illustrating how I felt from mid March through early April. I wanted to lie on the couch and hide under pillows.

With all the spring ultra races canceled, I adjusted my goal to simply get back in decent 50K shape. Consequently, during April, I got my rear in gear to return to a regular routine, anchoring my training week with some form of speedwork Tuesdays, a medium-length run with hill work Thursdays, and a longer run Saturdays. Mixing in easy runs on other days, I’m running six times a week. I also do strength conditioning three times a week (one or two of these sessions are HIIT classes I take via Zoom, offered by our local gym). My long runs are now in the 3 – 4 hour range, with weekly mileage total hitting the mid-40s to 50.

Absent spring races, several things sparked a desire to train with structure and rigor again: the craving for normalcy and routine, the need to feel strong and relatively speedy again (emphasis on “relatively,” since anything sub-9-min pace feels fast in the thin air at 9K’ altitude), and the lovely spring weather.

Also, I continue to be inspired by my coaching clients; every time I write their weekly training plans, I ask myself, “Could I do this, and would I want to?” Over the past two months, I have renewed my efforts to make their workouts more creative to enhance the joy, or at least the interest, in the process of training (because let’s face it, training sometimes feels like a grind, and the joy comes only after a workout is completed).

I thought I’d share three favorite unusual run workouts that I wrote for clients and ended up doing and enjoying myself. I hope they’ll help you feel energized and motivated if you feel stuck in a rut with your training. (And if you’re interested in coaching, check out my page & contact me; I have spots available.)

The Boot Camp Hill Run

A hill workout with plyometrics mixed in, intended to develop strength, cardio and agility.

Choose a route of approximately 5 to 8 miles (depending on your fitness level and time available) that features a mix of challenging but runnable rolling hills. Ideally the route is bookended with a stretch of mostly flat, gentle terrain for warmup/cooldown. You can adapt this workout to a treadmill by keeping the “flat” portions at 1% and then, after the first mile, elevating the incline to 4 – 5% for a half mile of slow uphill running, followed by a half mile at 0 to -2%, to simulate hills.

Do dynamic stretches (see my book pp. 87 – 91 for description of a 5-minute dynamic stretching routine, featuring 8 exercises: ankle circles, toe taps, leg swings front to back, leg swings side to side, hurdler leg rotation, walking lunges, toe sweeps, “monster walk”). Then do Jay Johnson’s lunge matrix to warm up your lower-body muscles and to promote balance and good symmetrical form.

Run nice & easy for approx the first mile. Then, every time you reach the base of a hill, work the uphill with extra effort, elevating your breathing past the point of being able to talk in full sentences. Your perceived effort on the uphills should be in the “sustainably hard” threshold zone. Use the downhills to catch your breath and aim for relaxed, smooth-flow downhill running (don’t “hammer” the downhills!).

Now here’s the fun part: Every time you finish a mile, pause your watch and do an exercise on the following list. (If your route is less than 8 miles, then combine some of these exercises after each mile so you get all seven done mid-run.)

1. a set box jumps with reps to fatigue (try 15 to start); find a low wall, jump up and land with bent knees; step back or jump back down
2. a minute of alternating bodyweight squats & jump squats
3. 30 sec of skipping, with the bent knee rising up to hip level and arms swinging high to sky, followed by 30 sec of grapevines
4. 30 sec of jumping jacks followed by 30 sec of simulated jump rope
5. a set of one-legged squats, slow & controlled focusing on balance; do reps to fatigue (try 15 ea side)
6. Find a bench or low wall and do a minute of step-ups, alternating each side; the non-standing leg’s bent knee should come up to hip level, and arms should pump as if you’re running
7. Find a spot on the ground where you don’t mind putting down your hands, and end with a set of burpees! Try at least 12.

Bonus: If you spot any set of stairs mid-run, then run up and down them at least 2 minutes. Try doing a set of stairs where you step on each step on the upstairs, for quick-footed turnover, then a set where you skip a step on the upstairs for a more powerful bounding movement.

The Pick-Your-Poison Speed Session

An interval session intended to tap into your internal motivation and to fine-tune your sense of pacing.

For runners who are accustomed to regular speedwork, I recommend 20 minutes total of fast intervals. Less experienced runners can do 12 to 15 minutes total intervals; runners with a higher training volume can go for 25 to 30 minutes. But 20 minutes is a good target for a solid session.

I also recommend doing this run on a mostly flat, uninterrupted path such as a bike path, since you will be doing timed intervals rather than measured laps around a track, and a path with some variations better simulates road and trail racing. But, you can also do this workout on a track or a treadmill if you prefer.

Start with dynamic stretching as advised in the workout above, then run at least a mile easy for warmup. After your warmup mile, throw in a set of 4 x 30 second strides (surging toward sprint) with 30 sec recovery after each, to get your legs and lungs primed for the speedy intervals to come.

The goal is to run a total of 20 minutes “fast,” with the speed depending on the length of the intervals. Here’s the catch: YOU decide the mix of intervals. Ask yourself, “How do I feel like running hard today? What combo of intervals feels most motivating and exciting?” It can be any combo that adds up to 20 minutes, such as 10 x 2 min, 4 x 5 min, 2 x 10 min, or (my personal favorite) a ladder such as 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 min.

The shorter the interval, the closer to max effort you push. You should run a pace that’s sustainable for the whole duration of the interval, so that you don’t “redline” and blow up mid-interval; but, it should be hard enough that your breathing elevates to the point where your ability to talk is limited to a short phrase, and you feel relieved and ready to be done by the time the interval is over.

Your recovery time between intervals should be 2 to 3 minutes (unless it’s a very short interval, in which case 1 minute recovery should suffice). Let yourself take enough time slowly jogging between intervals to let your heart rate lower to the point where you can talk again, and you feel stoked and perhaps even impatient to start the next interval.

This exercise fine-tunes your intuitive sense of pacing, because rather than trying to hit a specific number for a precise distance at a track (e.g. 800 meters in 3:15), you are running by feel and aiming for as close to max effort as you can sustain for the duration of the interval—a skill that helps you race hard, pushing your limits without surging too much too early. Of course, you can use a heart rate monitor to aim for around 95% of your maximum heart rate, but heart rate monitors are flawed (especially the wrist-based kind), and I believe it’s more beneficial to develop a feel for perceived effort rather than always looking at your watch and trying to hit a heart rate number.

After the interval set, run easily for the remainder of the run. Your overall distance will depend on your speed, the length of recovery between intervals, and the distance of your warmup and cooldown, but generally speaking, around 7 miles overall is a good target for this workout’s whole distance.

The New-to-Me Easy Run

An easy run to cultivate mindfulness, patience and an exploratory mindset.

This run is inspired by the “every single street” project started by Rickey Gates, who ran every single street in San Francisco. It also reminds me of when my dad used to drive me to junior high on his way to his office, and instead of being rushed to get there, we’d take extra time and try to find a slightly different route across our hometown of Ojai. “Let’s go find some cul-de-sacs!” he’d say with his bellowing laugh—neither of us really wanting to get to work or school—and he’d drive us down remote side streets, or he’d follow my directions to turn on a whim, and we might have to make a U-turn at a dead end. Those meandering drives, exploring every single street in Ojai with my dad, often were the best part of my otherwise tortured middle-school day.

I often assign clients “easy hour” runs on easy days, with mileage usually in the 5.5 to 7 range depending on their speed. The aim is for a pace that feels relaxed, with breathing low enough that you can sing “Happy Birthday” out loud as you run. These lower-intensity easy-hour runs below aerobic threshold are valuable for many reasons, helping you recover from and adapt to the stress of faster runs while also helping you develop the tortoise pace you’ll need for ultras.  But they can be boring … unless, you challenge yourself to run like a tourist, finding and soaking in new sites.

This is the challenge: Go out your front door and run a route that’s at least slightly different from any run you’ve ever done before, for an hour. Which side streets or detours have you never explored? Find them.

A benefit to running someplace new-to-you is it probably feels like it takes longer, because it’s unfamiliar, and therefore it behooves you to cultivate patience and relax into the run for the duration of the hour. This is great mental practice for trail races that often will be on a route that’s unfamiliar to you.

Don’t worry about the miles ahead, just focus on the mile you’re in! Look around and notice details. If you were running with a visually impaired person, could you describe the route well enough to guide him or her? Get a narrative going in your head describing the route in detail as if talking to another person. This is a useful tactic to help you get through rough patches in races, because it focuses your mind on the present rather than ruminating about past miles or feeling anxiety about the miles still to come.

Also try the following exercise in the midst of your easy run to refocus on your breathing: Notice the pattern of your breath in rhythm to your foot strikes. Many runners take two steps inhaling, two steps exhaling. Now try to slow and deepen your breathing so you take an extra step as you inhale. Tuning into this pattern of breath with your footsteps, and relaxing with it, is another way to work through and let go of negative self-sabotaging thoughts mid-run.

I hope these runs motivate you to hit the trail and run with more energy and enthusiasm this spring and summer, amidst the unprecedented, challenging circumstances.

As my first coach used to say, “Any day you can run is a good day.”

A pic my daughter took last week on a hike/run we took together.