4:30 Marathon Treadmill Workout

Happy Wednesday! This week is flying by both socially and work wise. As I mentioned, every single night is jam packed with another fun event as I try to savor every last minute with friends in the city! It’s a bit overwhelming to have plans every single night between now and July 11th but at the same time I feel very blessed!

Last night Jen and I sweat our way through a VERY tough Uplift Strength class with Liz Barnet before having dinner at the new to me Hu Kitchen.

Per Jen’s recommendation I went with one of their bowls filled with a mix of quinoa, raw vegetable medley and the tasty roast vegetable mash. I topped it off with their incredible roasted wile mushroom medley, almonds, shallots, and a little dash of salt & pepper. It’s a good thing I don’t live or work closer to Hu Kitchen or I’d eat there ALL the time! If you are anywhere near Union Square I highly recommend you check it out for a healthy dinner or lunch option!

On top of that great workout that we enjoyed together, I was up at 4:15 this morning so I could meet Melissa Z for my favorite Barry’s Bootcamp class (arms and abs) with Josh Arden! As if the squats and lunge work didn’t leave my legs tired enough, this morning’s class reminded me why I love Barry’s so much. It is an efficient workout with great music and they have classes at just about every hour of the day. As a testament to that, I was in the 5am class while Bo took a 9pm class.

Of all the workouts that I’ll miss while living abroad, this it the one that will be hardest to replicate on my own. Oh well, luckily I’m sure I’ll have new fun ways to break a sweat whether running up mountains or cycling along Lake Geneva!

But, what I really want to share with you guys today is an awesome treadmill workout my girl Laura prepared. After we spent an epic Saturday biking around Central Park and talking about workouts, she figured that having a handy treadmill workout would help ease my mind about training for a stretch marathon goal (4:30!!) and traveling. Less than a day later she shared this great workout with me which I was able to use last week in Geneva since I was bound to the hotel gym for each of my workouts. It is a workout that changes the speeds or incline constantly so getting bored isn’t an option. I must also say that at first glance it looks easy but by the end I was cursing it just like 400 repeats!

This is designed to help me hit my 4:30 marathon goal by prepping me for both hills and making the 10:18 pace feel easy. Maybe Laura is secretly getting me ready to run the Saleve again with Renaud when I arrive in Geneva next month! Either way, it’s only 20 minutes long and is a combo of hills and speed, based on the 4/3 rest principle. Note that no efforts last more than one minute, and if you don’t feel like you’re going to die in the final 30 second sprint, you should take the pace faster.

So far I’ve done this workout two times and love that it reminds me of Barry’s Bootcamp treadmill workouts that helped me run a half marathon PR back in April and literally changed the shape of my legs. If you really want a challenge or want to make sure you log at least 4 miles, try doubling the workout!

If you want to read more about this workout and the rational that went into creating it, head over to Laura’s blog!

This kitten has the right idea and I’m about to go do the same thing!