‘Tis the season for a “holiday dash” workout

We are well into the holiday season, and if you’re like many Canadian runners, you’re staring at your calendar every week wondering how you’re going to find time to bake cookies for your kid’s holiday class party, find the right gift for everyone on your list, make it to every Christmas get-together and holiday party and still find time to run. Yes, this is a busy time of year, so if you don’t have the time (or, let’s be honest, the energy) for a long run or workout, don’t sweat it. Try this quick “holiday dash” workout instead. After all, it is the off-season anyway, right?

The only goal of this workout is to get your legs moving, and hopefully decrease some stress so you can enjoy the holidays. That’s it. We’re not trying to increase your VO2 max or improve your endurance. You shouldn’t feel gassed at the end of the session (or like you’re struggling to get through it)–this is just a fun way to break up the monotony of easy runs.

4 short speedwork sessions to sneak in over the holidays

There is also no pace goal for this workout. If you feel good, try cranking up the pace a little, but otherwise, just find a comfortably quick speed for each interval. We recommend skipping the watch for this session, so you don’t get hung up on how fast you think you should be running.

The workout

Warmup: 10-15 minutes easy jogging

Workout: 4-6 x (200m tempo/200m easy jog) or 4-6 x (45-second tempo/45 seconds easy jogging)

Cooldown: 10 minutes easy jogging