The Workout of the Week (or as we like to call it, the WoW) is an ongoing feature from pro athlete Lauren Fleshman. If you missed the last few workouts or want to check in on upcoming ones, bookmark The Weekly Workout page.
What it is:
6 mile run with 8 x 1 minute pickups, unstructured.
After 15 minutes of easy running, pick 8 moments on the fly during the run to do a 1 minute pickup. Give yourself at least 2 minutes of normal running pace between each pickup. You can run that pickup at any pace you’d like, so long as it’s, you know, faster than the rest of the run. You can make it as hard or as chill as you’d like.
Amazing variation I highly recommend:
Do this with friends, like the #Kumbaya. During the 15 minute warmup, establish the order in which you will take turns leading. Then, anytime after 15 minutes of warmup the first person takes off without warning and everyone has to follow along the best they can! The leader is in charge of saying when the minute is up, and looping back to regroup everyone, then #2 takes over the lead for normal run pace until they decide they want to surprise everyone and take off, so stay alert!
General rules:
– Go ahead and carry on a conversation on the easy parts. Adds to the element of surprise.
– Don’t go any longer than 5 minutes between pickups.
– Don’t tell anyone when you’re going to start the pickup, just go! The challenge is in everyone else learning to respond quickly and change gears.
– Do your best to catch up and keep up if you’re in the pack.
– Never run longer than 1 minute unless you don’t value friendship.
This workout makes an average run way more fun, and is sure to bring out some hidden talents among your running friends, if not in speed, then in post workout banter.
Tag or name your workout #TheZipper and let us know how it went.
Photos from Amos Morgan