Hi Dave,

Last year I trained for my first full Ironman. Since then, I’ve been totally burned out; I don’t even want to run. I don’t want to get out of shape, so what can I do to make training more fun?

Thanks!

Leah

Hi Leah,

At some point, most athletes experience some type of burnout and I would recommend that you start inserting “purposeful” running games into your sessions to help make them fun again.  The workouts below will help make the sessions fly by and — most importantly — you’ll have fun and get faster.

Grab a training partner, if possible, on one or two of the sessions. No headphones, no GPS, and no HR monitor… Just go out and have fun!

Three Fun Workouts to Renew Your Love of Running

  1. On a longer day, try a some sub-threshold segments within the run. For example, warm up for 15’ then pick up the pace with a series of intervals, like  6 x 4’, at a faster pace. Run easily for 2’ between each segment.  During these intervals, allow your breathing rate to climb into a moderately hard range. Run conservatively for the first 3 intervals, then allow yourself to come up to your 10km pace on the final 3 segments.
  1. Insert  8 x 25”, and allow 90” recovery after each.  Run these with gusto!  Again, start with an easy warm up and cool down.
  1. On a hilly course, work the climbs! Then, throughout the remainder of the run, take it nice and easy.

To help overcome burnout, it’s most important to mix up your routine. These three simple workouts will help you find more fun in your training. As you can see, they’re all about variable pace and effort, and largely depend on perceived exertion and “feel”.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.
Dave