Turning 6 Minute Runs into 6-Milers

Another of my interests outside of what I've touched upon in this blog (being shopping, food, and fun) is health and fitness. It's something I kind of fell into when I started running track and cross country way back in 1996. Fitness- and nutrition-mindedness just naturally followed and, thankfully, stuck with me. Although, those who catch me eating Nutella and frosting straight from the jars by the spoonful might beg to differ. (C'mon, it's FUNFETTI!) Nevertheless, I've decided to include some limited anecdotes on what I've found works and what doesn't for me after years of trial and error.

On running:

I've become something of a gym rat while living in California. After years of running dirt and gravel trails that snake along the local bodies of water and mountainsides of my little corner of the Pacific Northwest, I'm just not accustomed to pounding the pavement with traffic whizzing by, having to pause or stop altogether at streetlights, and getting beeped and whistled at by passersby. Oh, and there was that time I was chased by a bum. It was early a.m. when I spotted him toting his garbage bags full of aluminum, glasses, and plastics. He spotted me and started chasing me down while singing/screaming 'C'mon Baby Light My Fire,' containers clanking and everything as they bounced along the sidewalk. Funny now, terrifying at the time.

As a consequence, today I barely make it as runner on the treadmill. That is, in terms of mileage. I just can't motivate myself to run more than 6 minutes. No more, sometimes less. Recently, however, I got cabin fever and ventured outside to hit the pavement. Much to my delight I found that I could run what I thought was 3 miles quite easily. In fact, I decided to do it the next day and the day following. After a few days of running this loop I decided to track the distance. It turns out that my little 3 mile fun run was actually closer to... a 10K! Or 6.2 miles, which translates into an awesome pace. I immediately looked into some local half marathons to enter. SJ Rock N' Roll or Big Sur?

To think, all those years I spent distance training up to 8 miles per workout in order to be competitive and I could've been running just 6 minutes! As it turns out, there is recent research with results that embrace this "Less is more" concept. (A friend from back in WA shared this with me after asking how my running was.) Although, Runner's World advocates cutting back on workouts while I just cut out the miles. Anyways, here it is broken down for you: the workout I've been following that unwittingly enabled me to run 6 miles easy after only running 6 minutes per day. Though, part of me thinks it has something to do with my distance-running past and muscle memory. This workout has also kept me at a consistent 113-116 lbs for over the past year, even with my self-indulgent eating habits! (To visit in a later post.)

On working out:
I do some combination of the following 6 days per week, not necessarily in this order and I usually vary the intensity and weight depending on how motivated I am on a particular day.

• 4 minute warmup - this morning on the treadmill at a 4.4 mph walking pace and 7.0 incline.
• As soon as the timer hits 3:50 minutes, I bring the incline down to 5 and amp up the speed to 9.0 mph for a full minute before returning to 4.4 mph to walk for a minute. This walk-run pattern continues as I consistently increase the speed each time I run. This is until I'm full-on sprinting at 10 mph (damn treadmills at my gym won't go any faster) by the end of my treadmill workout which ends when the timer hits 15 minutes. Yes, folks, I've got my running down to a total of 6 minutes.
• Next I hop on the elliptical trainer and set the resistance at 13 or 14 for the next 10 minutes. Mind you, I'm not just floating daintily up and down. It's a thigh-burning, heart-pumping 10 minute sweatfest.
• Finally, I pick myself an upright bike and spin for 10 minutes. (Another thigh-burning, heart-pumping 10 minute sweatfest.)
• In order to keep my workouts around 45 minutes, I take the remaining 10 to do some stretching (toe touches and various yoga poses) and a combination of squats (45 lbs on each side), shoulder presses (15's in each hand), and bent-over rows with a 55 lb bar, 10 - 15 reps x 3 sets each.

Some days I'll substitute the leg press (2 45's and a 10 on each side) for squats or bench press (10s on each side of the bar) for shoulder presses. Other days I'll skip weights or running altogether.

That's it!

Although, recently I've become addicted to an exercise I call "rolling" (though I'm sure it has a more technical name) and it's become part of my fitness repertoire. My rolling is a series of movements on a foam roller I picked up at Sports Basement in Sunnyvale for $40. (Awesome active gear and casual wear, by the way! They also give -10% discount on purchases if you belong to Club One.) I enjoy rolling in the evenings while watching TV or on a Saturday morning when I'm not pressed for time. I also do it as an alternative to the gym altogether. Along with massaging and stretching, it strengthens by working my core and arms. Actually just searched YouTube for "foam rolling exercises," and there are quite a few demos out there.

This coupled with the gym routine helps to keep me balanced and sane when my full-time job holds me captive to a desk chair for a good 9 hours straight 5 days a week. Hope some of you can benefit from it, too!