Happy Workout Wednesday! I’ve mentioned my general dislike for the treadmill before – running on the treadmill makes the workout pass much more slowly, and is usually less enjoyable than running outside. One thing that does make me enjoy the treadmill is inserting speed intervals throughout the workout, so I am constantly challenged and the time passes more quickly. I’ve given you one treadmill workout that lasts 45 minutes, and today I’ll share another one that only takes 30 minutes!
I like working out in the morning because it sets a positive tone for my day and gives me the opportunity to focus on my health right from the start. Monday morning, though, I just couldn’t roll myself out of bed early enough to get in my run before heading off to the airport. I felt a little disappointed in myself, and my energy was lagging throughout the day, so I asked my team if I could take a quick evening break to hit the hotel gym. I wanted something that would make me feel energized, prevent me from quitting out of boredom, and get a good sweat going … all in a short amount of time. 
The workout turned out great! The short bursts of speed were a great way to stay focused. It was challenging while it lasted, but not too hard that I felt drained afterwards, and I felt like I got in a good workout despite running less than my usual time and distance. I try to use 0.5% – 1% incline on the treadmill, which more closely mimics outdoor conditions (due to complicating factors like elevation changes and wind resistance) – for this workout, I used 0.5%.
You can customize this workout based on your personal speed. If you want to stick to 30 minutes, but need to slow down the speeds a little bit, you may reduce the number of intervals (or, keep 6 speed intervals and go beyond 30 minutes). If you want to speed up a little bit, you may get more intervals accomplished within 30 minutes! Personally, I used 6.0mph (10:00/ mile) for my warm-up, 8.6mph (6:58/ mile) for my speed intervals, and 6.6 (9:05/ mile) for my recovery intervals. This got me to 3.5 miles in just under 30 minutes, then I slowly jogged to reach 30 minutes, bringing me to 3.6 miles total. Enjoy your workout, and let me know what you think!
And two links for you, since this is a very short post:
- 10 more boredom-busting treadmill workouts from Self Magazine
- The 10 “types” of people you see in the gym <– such a funny read! I’ve been #3, #5, #6, and #10 before, but NEVER #4!
Last thing – a quick apology to my other blogger friends, as I’ve been a terrible reader and commenter over the last week or so. Catch up starts today!
So tell me in the comments … what’s the best way to beat boredom during a treadmill (or other indoor) workout? What “type” of gym-goer do you recognize most often?
For me the best way to beat boredom is to watch TV. And even then it doesn’t really work. I hate the treadmill. Honestly, I’d rather run in the freezing cold than run on the treadmill, haha. BUT if I were doing speed work and changing it up, maybe things would be more interesting!
I’m with you, Amy! I’ll take the freezing cold any day … at least then you can bundle up, and the scenery still changes! Try speedwork sometime if you ever “have to” run on the treadmill … it’s definitely better than just plugging away step after step at the same pace! Hope you had a great weekend!
People look at me like I am CRAZY because I am on the elliptical for 101 minutes… But I bring LOADS of magazines, that always makes the time go by 🙂 No boredom here!
Wow! How often do you do 101 minutes on the elliptical? I like reading magazines on the elliptical when I take a day off of running but still want to move my legs – it makes the time pass SO quickly! What are your favorite magazines?
I do it EVERY DAY!!! I am ridiculous, I know! LOL! But it wakes me up!
My favorite magazine for sure is Oxygen!! That magazine rocks my socks off and when it “went under” I was so SAD! But now it’s BACK 🙂 My other favorite I think is Health Magazine. For awhile it was terrible, but it got a revamp that I am far more into. I also like Muscle & Fitness HERS and there are a few others. I am like a kid in a candy store when I go to the magazine store! LOL
I love Health Magazine, too – of course there’s some sensational stuff in there but I learn a lot from some of the articles! I’ll have to check out Oxygen – thanks for the suggestion!
I really just can’t do the treadmill … at all! I am lucky that I don’t have to – I can just head outside. I know I am fortunate that (a) I love being outside year-round (even sub-zero), (b) I am a guy and (c) my area is safe enough so long as I wear a head-lamp.
I really do hate when I can’t get myself going in the morning – whether I actually end up skipping a workout and have to redo my schedule as a result, or if I am dawdly and do less than planned, it really impacts the day. This Monday I couldn’t get up, but did end up doing a bit of work and having time to head out for a great early afternoon run! Woohoo, changed my day totally!
I totally hear you, Michael!! I run outside 99% of the time, no matter what the weather – even if it’s rough out there, I’d rather brave the elements than stare at a wall the whole time! Strangely, even when I lived in Boston and Chicago, I loved running in the cold weather, even if it meant I had to wear YakTrax or other means to prevent slipping on the ice! However, in this case it was well past dark, and I’m in a city that I’m unfamiliar with, right by a highway … so I put safety first, even though I really didn’t want to :). When I do go for the treadmill, this type of workout is the only way I get by! I TOTALLY hear you on the way you feel when you do vs. don’t get in a workout … Monday must have been a tough day for us all to wake up, huh? Glad you fit in your workout, too!
I definitely need to get some YakTrax – before this past year I never ran the distance & pace that really needed them. There were only a couple of times where I couldn’t run due to icing, but others where it was definitely slick.
I have always been lucky with locations … well, maybe that isn’t so true as much as I have been fortunate with travel locations in recent years and young and stupid when I had crappy locations! I was doing a joint project with some folks at UPenn ages ago and was running at 5:30AM around the city and definitely hit some bad areas … even at that time of day!
Funny enough the worst place I’ve been at in recent years was a town in southwestern PA … definite depressed post-industrial area where the equipment vendor was located … people were really just not that nice and I felt on edge fairly often. Glad THAT project is done! 🙂
Oh boy, I’m glad that project is done, too, Michael! It’s so nice to be able to run where you feel comfortable (even if part of it is the “young and stupid” thing ;)).
I was so happy to see that you were able to get a workout in amidst all your work 🙂 please never feel like you need to apologize for blog reading! Life 100% comes first. I was planning to get in a treadmill run tomorrow but my knee does not like that idea. Ugh!
Thank you so much for understanding! It’s funny that I feel like I’m letting people down when I don’t get to check in with their blogs for a while :). We are a silly breed, huh? SO sorry your knee is still upset with you … hang in there!! I’m so happy you’re getting more into yoga and spinning – two things I wish I’d make more time for, for sure!
Love this workout Megan! Quick and effective! I am one of those odd people that enjoys treadmill running BUT sometimes you need something to make it go by faster even when you do enjoy it!
Thanks, Sara! Man, you and Davida and your love for treadmill running – it kills me! I admire your determination and focus to get through the long runs you do on the treadmill!
I miss my treadmill interval runs 🙁 To be honest I actually preferred running on the treadmill to outside unless it’s the perfect fall weather which lasts for about the month of September here! Maybe one day!
So nice your team gave you a break. I think if I ever asked to leave to workout my lab would look at me like I had 4 heads. But they also eat all of my leftovers from baking class so I really shouldn’t complain!
Aww, I’m sorry :(. I know how much it totally stinks to be sidelined, but you’re rocking the whole “listen to your body” thing, and I’m proud of that for you! Yes, SO nice of my team – made such a big difference. Although, to be fair – they already think I have 4 heads … we spend 16 hours per day staring at each other across one big table, so you get to know ALL of people’s quirks and interests, and I’m not so good at hiding mine :).