Spring is the best time to get back to running. It’s easy to find road races and willing training partners. Long days and cool conditions make running a breeze…at least until the rain starts. When spring rains and muddy days threaten your spring race training, stay on track with pre-planned indoor workouts. As a bonus, throw in a little body weight strength training, or core and flexibility work. Here are the most important ways to stay engaged on rainy days.
Enlist Social Support So you and your running partner are both stuck at home? While you could plan a workout together that includes circuits and strength training, maybe you just need to check in. ViaFit will help to hold you both accountable when it instantly logs your training run. You can even use ViaFit to include both your indoor and outdoor training, making it possible to train with partners when you can’t meet for a run.
Go Hard at Home While treadmills can’t provide a true substitution for outdoor distance training, they are great for drilling cadence, intensity, and specific terrain. If your running program includes regular interval sessions, treadmills make completing these simple. You can program your own custom workout using the timer, speed, and incline settings. You can also use one of the many pre-programmed workouts provided. Overslept and pressed for time? Try Sprint 8 for an interval program of just 20 minutes. It’s got the research to support improvements in body composition and fitness levels that will let you set new PR’s next month.
Plan a Complementary Workout: Does your training plan include rest and active recovery? Use rainy days to build endurance through a low impact elliptical or cycling workout. Most running workouts can also be completed on an elliptical or cycle. While you don’t want to do that for all of your training, it is a welcome break if you’ve been doing a lot of pounding. Mix your active recovery up with some core and yoga to help you improve your running form and head off training injuries. Circuit strength training is also a terrific way to mix up your home cardio workouts. Add in bodyweight squats, push-ups, planks, and lunges for strength training that will improve your running form and efficiency. Or just give our Beach Body program a try!
Keep your Distance Days Flexible It’s easy to continue to train for a 5 or 10K using a treadmill. Training for longer distances requires greater flexibility. Schedule your long runs for early on a Saturday or whichever day of the week gives you the most freedom. If the weather keeps you at home that morning schedule your workout for the next morning or evening. Remember, distance running outdoors is an important part of preparing for your event. If the weather keeps you from completing your long run, consider putting it off until later in the training week. Substitute a strength or core workout, or a tough interval run, which tend to go better indoors.
Design Distractions: A good playlist and natural light make treadmill workouts fly by. Most treadmill consoles are integrated with MP-3 inputs. If you have the option of positioning your treadmill in front of a window, you also get the mood-boosting benefits of natural light exposure. Virtual Active technology, such as the Passport system, integrates with many treadmills. This system can be used on your television or some machine consoles to provide a beautiful outdoor landscape. The pace and terrain can be customized to your workout as you visit locations ranging from Vancouver to New Zealand.
Rainy days are the perfect excuse to shake up your training plan and add variety to your workouts. Keep your go-to workouts handy so gloomy weather doesn’t kill your motivation. And remember to build in rewards for sticking to those workouts. Here’s why rewarding yourself is so important!
About the writer: Joli Guenther is a certified personal trainer, yoga instructor and clinical social worker practicing in and around Madison, Wisconsin. Learn more about Joli.