Speed work in disguise...

My dad, who has been a runner and cyclist for as long as I can remember, has always preached to me the infamous quote, "Hills are speed work in disguise."  It wasn't until I became more serious about running, and wanted to improve my pace, that I became a true believer in that statement.

My original plan for my training this morning was to run hills and stairs at the reservoir but after realizing that it probably wasn't the safest place for a girl to go by herself while it was still dark outside, I decided to do my training at home.  So, I improvised.

*5 minute warmup on treadmill with a brisk walk, almost to the point of running.  During the warmup I focus on increasing my hip flexion and step length to engage my hip flexors and hamstring more in order to help warm them up.
*Hamstring stretches- you can do whatever HS stretches you choose but I always do at least three of each stretch and hold for at least 20 seconds.  Since I tore one of my hamstrings before, I don't play around when it comes to sprints.  I always, always, always do lots of HS stretches after a light warmup and prior to running sprints.
*Incline sprints- I ran 200 meter sprints x 6 on the treadmill at incline level 8 (Levels range 1-12)  Personally, I hate trying to do incline sprints on a treadmill, but I don't have any hills surrounding where I live.  Otherwise, I would have definitely been running hills outside instead.
*High knee stair climbs- 2 flight of stairs x 10 focusing on bringing knees up towards chest and swinging arms for momentum.  If you live in an apartment complex, running stairs is one of the easiest things you have access to. I use the stairs at my building and run all the way up to the top floor and run back down. I count that as one and do ten total.
*Cool down: light jog for about five minutes 

Due to work issues, I was pressed for time with my training today but another good exercise to add is jump squats going up the stairs.  That gets the butt, thighs, and hamstrings definitely working! I have my weekly session with my trainer tomorrow evening so luckily I get to sleep in a little later tomorrow morning and that makes me one happy person :)

I hope everyone is doing well with their training this week and remember, you only regret the workouts you don't do.

Happy training everyone!!