Yesterday was another cardio day. Inspired by my recent marathon registration, I decided to tackle an interval cardio session on the treadmill. In the past when I trained for races, I never did the interval/cross training that was suggested. I simply ran “normal” runs at marathon pace. Basically I was being lazy. Your body adapts to the exercises you’re doing….if you do bicep curls every day with 10 lb. weights…your body will adapt and it will no longer be challenging. The same goes for running. Running at the same pace every day becomes “easy.” When you throw in hills or speed work, you can definitely feel the difference.
The last time I trained for a marathon, I basically did everything wrong. I didn’t do speed work or cross training and barely ever stretched. I’m assuming this is why my knees and hips began hurting afterwards. This time around, I’m doing it all the right way. That means taking the time to stretch, foam roll, and do the cross training, etc.
With that in mind, yesterday was not the “same old run” on the Katy Trail. I found a great, challenging cardio layout on Peanut Butter Finger’s website ( I believe she found it in Shape magazine). Here’s what it looked like:
This was pretty rough towards the end. “Running” at a 4.9 speed on a 14 incline….man I was feelin’ it at this point. I’m sure the person next to me saw my bright red face and was scared I was going to pass out while the treadmill was moving….not a pretty sight.
But I made it through! It’s so easy to get stuck doing the same cardio-whether it’s running, cycling, or swimming. Mixing it up shocks your body and you’ll definitely notice it while exercising. Something as simple as adding an incline while running makes a big difference.
For you treadmill runner’s out there (or for those of you who can’t run outside right now because of weather) this is a great workout to keep in mind!
[…] that long… ). I decided to run a little, but incorporate some inclines. I did the same running routine that I did a couple weeks ago from Shape […]