Thing #11 Both Times Magazine Workout

I don’t write much in here about running. I have been running since the mid-nineties, and it is genuinely one of my favorite things in the world to do. You know how comedians always joke about never seeing runners smiling, and why would someone want to do something like that? Ha ha and all, but when was the last time you, or someone you’ve seen, pushed themselves hard in *any* activity while smiling? It isn’t like Jessie, the lady in accounting, has a grin on the whole time while she works on her the budget report, or Dan the woodworker is all smiley while he focuses on fitting the dovetail joints together just right. I’m just saying, just because I’m not smiling doesn’t mean I’m not happy, content, or satisfied. Even so, on easy runs on the summer when it’s warm and sunny around the lake I often do have a smile on. I just love running.

But I’ve run a lot, so I don’t write about it here too much. Until now! This weekend I used a treadmill to do workouts suggested to me by Fitness magazine. On Saturday I spent about 35 minutes doing an acceleration run, meaning I started at a moderate level and every five minutes I upped the speed. On Sunday I did ladder intervals, meaning I ran pretty hard for five, rested for two, harder for four, rested for two, even harder for three, rested for two, etc. I faithfully did whatever the magazine told me to do.

It was great! I worked way, way harder than I would have without the suggested routines, and they were useful training runs for the upcoming running season as well as solid indoor workouts. They also kept the interest factor higher than running at my own discretion does. And while it felt a little weird to consult a piece of paper while I was running, overall the jackass factor was pretty low.

I will definitely do magazine workouts again. And not just running! Stationary bike, jumping rope, or strength workouts, too. There are a lot of good options other than just slapping on my headphones and running at a moderate pace for thirty or forty minutes. That gets really old, really quick.