20-Minute Running Intervals

Summer is finally officially here and with it comes a flurry of activities. The days are longer. The weather is nicer. It is important to spend this time outside and/or with friends.

Sometimes between the dinners, happy hours, picnics, fests, and other social activities it gets difficult to squeeze in a proper workout. It’s hard to fit everything in. But we need to try. Dinners, happy hours, picnics, fests, and other social activities are not calorie-free and usually involve some extra indulgences. Plus, I don’t know about you, but working out always makes me feel healthier, happier, and more energized.

Let’s make sure we find a little bit of time for exercise, so that we can have a lot of time for fun, so that we keep our lives exciting and in balance.

20 minutes. That’s all we need.

A warm up, a couple sets of jog+run+sprint, and a cool down. Quick and effective – that is the magic of intervals. It is a difficult workout, but it is so efficient.

I really appreciate efficiency.

For my warm up I usually start at 3.5 mph and increase it by .5 mph every minute. This helps to wake my legs up a bit and slowly bring up my heart rate.

Play around with the jog, run, and sprint speeds a little bit if you are unsure of what your paces are. The jog should be a slow run to help your body and heart rate recover a little bit after the sprint. The run should be slightly on the higher end of your typical running pace. The sprint should be an all-out effort. I typically do 5.5 mph for the jog, 7.0 mph for the run, and 9.0 for the sprint.

Try to push yourself a little bit with the paces. The last sprint should be the same pace (if not faster) as the first. This will be a difficult workout, but it only lasts 20 minutes. You can do it.

I prefer doing intervals and speed work on the treadmill because I am terrible at gauging my pace and don’t want to be staring at my GPS watch to keep track of timing. Plus, sometimes it’s good to have some treadmill workouts on hand for when there are lightning storms or when it is way too hot to run outside (especially sprinting). Safety first, people. However, this workout could definitely be done outside if you are in the mood for some fresh air and extra Vitamin D.

So 20 minutes. That’s all and your workout is done. You could wake up 20 minutes earlier to do it before work, squeeze it in during your lunch hour, or fit it in between work and whatever fun evening activity you have planned.

Sometimes it is possible to do it all.

Happy, happy summer!