Colleen Quigley’s swimming workouts for runners

Swimming is excellent cross-training for runners. It helps you stay in shape while you’re injured and is a great low-impact workout. Swimming is also a great substitution for running during the summer when the heat and humidity make running harder than usual (or even dangerous, in some extreme cases). Now that public outdoor pools across the country are opening up, it’s the perfect opportunity to take a page out of American Olympic steeplechaser Colleen Quigley’s book and swap your running shorts for a bathing suit. Check out these three workouts she shared on her website.

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RELATED: Swimming: excellent cross-training for runners

You’ll notice the rest for most of these workouts is either very short, or non-existent, which is intentional. If you’re new to swim workouts, pace yourself and do your best, and take more rest if you need it.

Workout one

Warmup: 400m easy swim

Workout: 8 x 100m holding the same stroke count and time for all eight reps. Take as much time as you need to keep the pace and stroke count the same.
8 x 50m, holding a faster pace than you did in the 100s.

Cooldown: 200m easy swim

Workout two

Warmup: 200m easy swim

Workout: 100m, getting gradually faster throughout the interval.
50m fast swim
300m, where every 50m starts out at a moderate pace and gets faster
6 x 50m with 10 seconds rest
200m, where every 50m goes from moderate to fast
4 x 50m with 10 seconds rest
100m where every 50m you go from moderate to fast
2 x 50m with 10 seconds rest

Cooldown: 150m easy

Workout three

Warmup: 400m easy

Workout: 4 x 100m, gradually getting faster each rep.
4 x 50m, gradually getting faster each rep.
2 x (50m fast/5 sec. rest/150m moderate/10 sec. rest/2 x 50m fast/10 sec. rest/2 x 100m moderate/10 sec. rest/50m easy)

Cooldown: 100m easy swim

For more workouts from the steeplechase superstar, check out her website.

RELATED: A new runner’s guide to cross-training