Let’s be real for a minute: sometimes, running is boring. Don’t get me wrong. I love it, and it can bring me some much-needed mental space. Sometimes it’s the only thing I can do to reduce anxiety or really think through a problem. I come up with most blog post ideas WHILE RUNNING, which means I occasionally stop to put the ideas down in an ever-growing google doc appropriately titled “blog ideas.” I look like I’m stopping to text while running. Whatever. I’m writing a post soon about not caring about people’s judgments while exercising anymore. It’s on the list.

However. Sometimes finishing a run feels like a major accomplishment just because I wake up not wanting to do it. This occurs for a number of reasons. Maybe I’m tired. Maybe I’m stressed about something not related to running. Maybe I can’t get into it because it’s still 30 degrees out even though it’s supposedly spring now. (Good god I hope we’re done with that garbage weather.) And it’s been difficult to do the same thing and run in the same place every day recently. I try to go different routes and am lucky to have lots of running paths in and around my neighborhood, but lately, it all looks the same. Whatever the reason, these are the days I change it up. 

Note – I am not currently training for anything. When I’m following a training plan, there is usually enough of a variation that it keeps things interesting. Plus it’s leading toward something, so each workout feels necessary. What I’m talking about here is times like these, when I’m running to stay in shape, and the same 3- and 4-mile loops are starting to get a little old.

Change is good. As I state in the title of this post, interval workouts are your friend. They keep things fresh, and really, they’re the best way to improve upon speed. Let me be clear that I am not a physiologist. I am an athlete and rowing coach, and while I don’t know the exact physiological change that occurs in the body, I do know that one can’t get faster or better without variation. And one can’t get better in life without change. 

I really like intervals because they break up the workout into manageable chunks. A workout I did the other day was basically 4 x 1-mile repeats. This might sound hard, but the way I did it wasn’t. I ran about a half-mile warm up pretty slowly. Then I ran a mile faster than I would if I was going to run 4 miles straight. Then I stopped and stretched for 2 or 3 minutes. Then I did that 3 more times, and then I ran a half-mile cool down really slowly again. This same template can be used for other distances, obviously. Do a warm up, then do a half a mile, rest and stretch, then do that a few more times. Then cool down. 

Some other thoughts before you tackle this: have a plan before you start. In a workout like this, it’s easy to just stop after an interval unless you’re committed to doing several. I usually do an out-and-back or a loop so I get myself far enough away from my house that it would be dumb to walk after one or two intervals, just because it would take sooo long to walk home. Also, don’t worry about being judged, as I mentioned above. Maybe someone might jog by you while you’re stretching between intervals. It doesn’t matter. Be confident that you’re doing a good workout, and if they’re going to judge you for stretching, they need something better to think about. If you’re really worried about it, make a shirt that says “Interval Day” or something. 

If you want to improve, you need to get outside your comfort zone, which means you need to change things up. If things are getting stale in your workouts, that’s also a sign you need a change. This can be hard, but generally, hard things are the only things really worth doing. You can do hard things.