Let’s Run the 200 Meter Sprint
Welcome back, fellow runners! (Remember, we’re all runners this month .) Fitness is a challenge this week, we’re skipping push-ups and hills and focusing on the fun part of the job: walking fast, flat, with the finish line in sight all the time.
This is my favorite running workout: 200m reps. If a high school or high school in your area has a track, it will likely be 400 meters long. This means that we will drive only half a circle. That’s all. (I mean, we’re going to repeat this a few times, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.)
If you know where the start and end lines are on the track, use them. (The finish will be at the end of the straight line, and the step start will be at the opposite corner.) But it doesn’t really matter; just choose a place.
If you don’t have a track, just find a flat road or parking lot and set a minute timer on your watch or phone.
Here’s what you do. Get on the trail and walk or jog for a few laps to warm up. ( The first 10 minutes of any run are the worst , so get them out of the way before forcing your body to do anything difficult.) Then run for only half a circle.
If you were annoyed by the fact that running slow is the key to running harder , now is your moment to prove yourself. Forget the slow one – you’re going to cover that half circle as fast as you like, damn it . You can do your best if you like. If you want to strategically approach this issue, hold back a little, dropping one or two steps below your maximum speed. I find tempo 200 amusing. Fast. You feel like you are flying.
After you cross the finish line, slowly move to a step. Take a sip from the water bottle. Then go the rest of the lap or return to the previous course until you reach the start line. At this point, you should be fairly well recovered and ready to go. (If not, just rest a little more. There is no coach to yell at you when you just run for fun.)
Try this workout and see if you like it as much as I do. If you don’t run the intervals often, just do a few of these sprints – maybe four – and stick to light runs for the rest of the week. Finish your workout with a light jog and enjoy a well-deserved rest.