I normally like to start my day (after I eat, obviously) with Pure Barre, in the early morning quiet of my living room, before anyone can bother me.
Sometimes I pop the Pure Barre DVD in after I run but since I don’t run until my son leaves for school, I do not always have the time to first complete the routine because I need to get moving with my day.
Not to mention, the later I do Pure Barre, the more likely my phone is to ring/beep/bing and that’s just, well, super annoying.
Yesterday morning I woke up with a craving for a speedy run so I skipped the early morning Pure Barre in favor of keeping my legs fresh.
Pure Barre is so non-impact that sometimes I forget that doing the exercises in the early morning before I run may add some fatigue to my legs which can affect my pace without me totally being conscious of it.
When my first mile came in at 8:11, I knew I was in for a good time.
While Saturday’s long run was pretty awesome, yesterday run was probably the best I have had outside in terms of speed since probably the 10k I ran in November.
I kept to an average pace of 8:10 with the last mile averaging 8:02.
The best part about my pace was that I felt comfortable and capable of staying consistent.
When I run on the treadmill, I certainly hit my 8:00 min/miles and get busy in the 7:00’s but outside, my mind tends to wander off which leads to paces all over the place.
I did so much running this winter on the treadmill though that I like to think all of my speed work on there will naturally carry over for me this spring when running outdoors.
I created the below speed play workout for myself recently when I was running on the treadmill.
At the time, I only wanted to be outside but I found that engaging myself in going faster and then slower, having to control my speed by pressing the buttons up and down and following along with my distance helped me to get into my groove, forget about the outdoors and actually enjoy the fast-paced nature of the run!
Now listen, we all run at difference paces so I want you to find your starting pace and proceed to go up .5 and then down .4.
Each time that you bump yourself up .5 and then back down and then up again, you are slowly increasing your speed throughout the mile.
My workout looked something like this:
Warm up speed 6.5 – 6.8
.20 – .30 -> 7.3
.30 – .40 -> 6.9
.40 – .50 -> 7.4
.50 – .60 -> 7.0
.60 – .70 -> 7.5
.70 – .80 -> 7.1
.80 – .90 -> 7.6
.90 – 1.0 – > 7.2
Sometimes I like to break the pattern and sprint towards the end of each mile. This is just a guide; feel free to play around with it, go faster or slower, according to how you feel!
As always, do what YOU are comfortable with — it should be challenging, yes, but not to the point where you don’t feel well. If something doesn’t feel right, pay attention to your body and slow it down (it is okay to walk!) or, really, just stop!
Looking for more treadmill running posts?
Beat The Boredom Treadmill Running Series
Mental Thought Process For Treadmill Running – breaking down the mile
Peak In The Life Of A Treadmill Long Run – positive thinking
Treadmill Workout with Progressions
Top 10 Favorite Running Songs- Playlist
[bctt tweet=”Beat The Treadmill Boredom With This Speed Play Workout! #running #speedwork #treadmill #beattheboredom #purebarre”]
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Does your mind wander off when you run outside and does it affect your pace?
How was your run yesterday?
Do you shut your phone/ignore your phone when you work out? I do not shut it just in case my son needs me but for the rest of the world, I do not answer unless I am out for an easy run.
The Cookie ChRUNicles 
