Mark Threlfall: In a recent video, we looked at how to get the most out of a 30-minutes
swim. That got me thinking, "Can we apply that same methodology to running?" Well, today
we're looking at how to get the most out of a 30-minute run, but can we make that work
for us? Is it enough time? Is that enough to make us fitter, faster, and a more efficient
runner? Well, the answer to all of those is yes, and today, we're going to look at how.
[music] Now, many of you may be restricted to 30 minutes
in time for a run due to other commitments, be that work, family, or anything else, but
that doesn't mean the end of improvement for you on your running. A 30-minute run can be
a very valuable addition to your week. Today, I am going to be running through some 30-minute
run session examples for you, but first off, I actually want to run through some golden
rules to make you get the most out of those 30 minutes.
[music] Now, I have definitely done this, it's very
easy to fall into the habit of worrying that because you only have 30 minutes to do a run,
you end up running hard for the entire run. Not every run should be or needs to be hard.
If you want to really improve and get faster as a runner, then you want to have a nice
mix to your week of running and training. That means a mix of nice easy runs, as well
as those harder interval runs. For those easy runs, that means just heading out of the door
and take things super easy and just enjoying running and not being tempted to increase
your pace throughout the run. Then for those quality harder runs, we can
get a little bit worried that it is only 30 minutes, how can we possibly get any benefit
from that, but trust me 30 minutes is plenty of time to really get a good training benefit.
[music] Following on from that, and I know this is
quite obvious, but you just need to accept that these runs are going to be short. Now,
if you're a metrics kind of person, and at the end of each week, you'd like to look at
your total distance or time that you cover when running, why not try and shift that mindset
to looking at, how many runs you cover per week, and actually, quite often, there's far
more benefit to frequency and consistency if you're running rather than volume, and
duration. [music]
There's actually some big benefits to the shorter runs. Because they're shorter, it's
easier for you to maintain a good form and a good posture throughout. If you'd like,
you could start off these runs with a couple of drills just to reinforce that good technique,
and hopefully, take that forward into the run. I actually quite like the little and
often mantra for this because as I mentioned, because it's shorter, it's easier to maintain
that good form, that good quality, whether that's in your technique, or actually in the
intensity in some intervals. Then because it's shorter, it's easier for you then to
repeat it maybe the next day or a couple of days later.
[music] That leads me nicely on to intervals. Now,
if you are really pushed for time, you do only have 30 minutes, so it's probably unlikely
you're going to be heading to a track or anything like that. Instead of working by distance,
it's probably best to work by time. That's probably a good thing actually because then
you have a clear indication of time spent and effort, and hopefully, reduces that temptation
of cutting any recoveries short. Now, despite being a shorter of time, it's still very important
to do a warm-up and a warm down. Perhaps you could spend five minutes running to a location,
then do your intervals out. If that location is further away, then maybe you want to start
the intervals on the way to that location. Just make sure you get that five minutes in
before to warm your body up, five minutes after just to bring that heart rate gradually
down and get rid of any waste products . That leaves a nice 20 minutes section in the middle
for a good workout. With that in mind, let's give you a couple of workouts that you can
take forward and use yourself. [music]
We'll start with a simple speed workout, warm-up with five minutes easy running, play around
with speeding up and slowing down, extending a stride and finishing with a couple of strides,
perhaps. The main set, for lots of two minutes at around a five-kilometer race pace with
one-minute recovery jog between, then into six lots of one minute, two to three seconds
below your five-kilometer race pace with 30 seconds recovery jog between then cooling
down with four minutes easy jogging or even walking. Well, there we go, that is exactly
30 minutes there. If you find that you're not warm enough after just five minutes warm-up,
then feel free to extend it out a little bit, Perhaps take an interval or two off the main
set. Either way, you're getting a very good quality
workout there in a very short space of time. I imagine you're going to be looking forward
to getting to that cool down, but now let's move on to a progressive run. Warm-up with
four minutes easy running, including some strides. Then we're going to carry straight
on into the main set. Sart running around 25 seconds a kilometer slower than your 10K
race pace. Then we're going to reduce your pace by five seconds per kilometer every three
minutes. Three minutes times 7, 21 minutes in total for this main set. The last two intervals
or the last two three minutes will be at race pace and slightly below race pace. Then cooling
down for five minutes as run or walk. [music]
Now obviously all of this can be tweaked depending on your current fitness, time available, or
even the race distance that you're targeting. Finally, though, just remember, not all of
your runs need to have some quality or focus to them or need to be fast, it's just important
just to head out the door and enjoy a nice easy 30-minute run. Also serves well to just
freshen your legs up ready for your next hard workout. Well, there we go. I hope you have
enjoyed today's video. If so make sure you give this video a like. Don't forget to give
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just down below. [00:06:09] [END OF AUDIO]