Wednesday: Outdoor Run or Treadmill Class
On Wednesdays, I'll do one of my outdoor runs, ranging from three to five miles, depending on where I am in my training schedule, or take an indoor treadmill class. I have been loving Precision Run lately, which is a class offered by Equinox. Although I usually take it at my local Equinox, I have also taken it a few times at the stand-alone Precision Run studio in New York City's Flatiron neighbourhood.
Precision Run is a 50-minute indoor treadmill class of intervals, including inclines and sprints. It's based on your personal record (PR), which is the max you can hold a sprint for a minute. Throughout the class, you build up to your PR and eventually reach it for that one-minute sprint. The stand-alone studio uses smart treadmills where it will help you figure out your PR (or you can manually add it) and saves it for when you need to hit the PR button. It also has a saved recovery button (which you can adjust) to automatically get to your recovery pace during intervals (and there are plenty of recovery breaks throughout).
Although this class uses interval-based training rather than a steady-state, long-distance run, I have noticed that it has helped my endurance during my training. "This specific type of interval training is actually excellent for half-marathon training because any type of HIIT training is going to help you build stamina [and] build your physical fitness," explained Precision Run Coach and ACE-certified group fitness instructor Andrew Slane.
My typical long run route around Central Park has some hills, but when I'm doing my shorter runs or running on the treadmill, I don't typically incorporate inclines. And as for the course I'm running in Vegas, I have no idea what the terrain will be like. Andrew said the inclines in Precision Run can help you prepare for the race.
"In terms of hills and sprints, when you're in the middle of a marathon, unless you know the course that you're running on, the terrain might be tricky to you," he said. "So learning how to conquer those and learning how your body feels in the actual class on inclines and in classes . . . you can start to access the skills that you're learning in class while you're running the race. So you're not tuckering out in the middle of the race."
Andrew said this class can be supplemented as some of your run days or as one of your cross-training days. I've been using it as a substitution for my running days and feel totally prepared for my long runs and on track with my training schedule. In each Precision Run class, I usually clock in about 3.5 miles. Bonus: each class ends with some core work since a strong core is vital for running.