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One Mile Running Challenge

One Mile Running Challenge

One Mile Running Challenge

Ever heard of the One Mile Running Challenge?  No?  Let me explain how I came about this.  Now I’m a huge fan of running 5km. Main reason is generally it takes no more than 30 minutes so kind of fits into daily life; well mine at least. Plus being able to get 3 runs in a week ticks a box when it comes to my commitment to staying fit.

So what next?

It got to the point where running a 5km became somewhat boring, I’d trained for 5k races. Having become fairly proficient at running a 5km I did what a lot of runners do when needing a new challenge I decided to start upping my distance. Also there seemed to be an abundance of longer distance races I could train for it I’d wanted to commit to training for such an event. So I pushed myself and my fitness by running 10km then when this became less of a challenge I went for 15km. Great you might think? To some extent probably but it also had a negative effect on my running and motivation.

Firstly all of a sudden I was having to commit up to 90 minutes per run. That was not always possible and the guilt inevitably kicked in if I didn’t or missed a gym session in order to accommodate a longer run.
I became a ‘shuffler’; apparently this happens a lot with runners that up their distances. I didn’t seem to have the spring in my running stride that I had developed when running 5km.
Overall my pace began to slow and my performance began to plateau. I might have been tired after a longer run I was never that exhausted that my heart felt like it was going to burst through my chest and my legs felt like jelly; it appeared that my body had adapted to this new distance.
Running further became somewhat boring plus I had to put more thought into route planning.
My motivation began to fade and the prospect of a run lost its appeal; even focusing on the post-run buzz was not much of a motivator anymore.

 

 A new running challenge was required

Trawling through websites for inspiration I happened upon the idea of setting the goal of running one mile. There are many bloggers and running enthusiasts that advocated that this was a great distance to building up speed and quality of running. So I thought I would give it a go! With this new running goal I cut out the 10k & 15k runs dropped to one 5km a week and concentrated on running only a mile a couple of times a week as fast as I could! Ok so running longer distances is a challenge in itself testing endurance, stamina and sheer willpower to stick in there but running a mile can push you just as much but in different ways as I’ve found out since incorporating it into my training.

Taking the One Mile Running Challenge can help increase your motivation and improve #running speed! Click To Tweet

Benefits of the One Mile Running Challenge

This was a new challenge for me and so increased motivation, setting a personal best based on a mile meant I had to look at training slightly differently and had to look at incorporating speed work into my running schedule.

It only takes a fraction of the time so easy to fit into a training schedule. Also if you are unable to commit to a 5km or a trip to the gym this is a great option if you still want to squeeze some exercise into a busy day.

High quality; shorter length of time but higher effort levels required. Like a HIIT workout I’m able to put in maximum effort in a short amount if time.

Running a mile at full effort meant that I ran faster; running faster increases your metabolic rate which ultimate means more calories and fat are burned.

Helped with my overall fitness in other areas of my training and doesn’t have the negative impact on my body that a 10km might have.

Helps with overall quality of my running; am still able to maintain a good stride and running form.

Able to incorporate it into a visit to the gym easily; if it’s miserable outside I simply hope onto a treadmill and that’s my cardio sorted!

There are countless health benefits including improving bone density and muscle tone, strengthening your heart and respiratory system, helping to improve muscular endurance and helping to maintain your weight.

Healthy Weight

If you are struggling with the one mile challenge or wanting to build up speed then think about doing this using intervals. Try breaking down the mile into 8 sets of sprints or 4 sets of ¼ mile (approx. 400m) and aim to run at slightly less that your normal sprint speed. Doing this will ultimately increase your overall speed. Before actually the run a mile, warm up properly perhaps perform some light stretches, a fast paced sprint will help to get your heart rate up before the mile run. When training, try not to run on 2 consecutive days have a rest or cross-train. Cross-training is any exercise other than running such as cycling, walking, swimming; ideally something you enjoy doing. By doing this you will avoid muscle fatigue and lower the risk of injury.

My tips for taking the One Mile Running Challenge

  • Start with recording your time of your first mile; sounds obvious but you need some form of baseline to start from.
  • Set yourself a time to aim for but be realistic; you can always revise this target. Focus on breaking a personal record but set it at a time that’s attainable for you and ignore what others say. I initially aimed for a 9 minute mile but I got to the stage of achieving well below that so reset my target time to an 8 minute mile.
  • Don’t let a bad running experience demotivate you, reflect on what didn’t go to plan but if nothing obvious just move on!
  • Warm-up properly; make sure you include stretches pre-run and 5 minute cool down to prevent injuries.
  • Adopt a good running posture; look ahead, arms pumping, run tall.
  • Drink lots of water.  bottle of water
  • If you go to the gym incorporate free weights into your routine and concentrate on core work, glutes, ham-strings and quads. Doing this will make you a stronger more powerful runner. I intend to blog about this at a later stage.
  • Don’t run everyday, if you want to workout try to do other forms of exercise.
  • If you can invest in good running trainers; I also wear mine at the gym so they have a dual purpose for me.
  • Still commit to running a 5km on a regular basis; you will find that if you keep the mile training up you will notice improvements in your general running speed.
  • Get a playlist together; I find upbeat music helps me set a good pace as I tend to subconsciously running to the beat.
  • Run to maximum exertion. It’s a short amount to time so run it to the max, like a HIIT workout it will burn fat and raise your metabolism.
  • If you are struggling to run a mile break it up into more manageable intervals.       There are plenty of training schedules on the internet you can use with Pinterest being a great source.

Yesterday, I managed to smash my 8 minute barrier. That gave me a huge buzz! My next target will probably to make sure I can run this time consistently before aiming for sub 8 minutes.

One Mile Challenge Time
This is my one mile challenge time, now under 8 minutes! Feeling happy and motivated!

Good luck!

I’d love to hear how you get on with this challenge or if you have set yourself other running challenges.

My tips for the Beginner Runner

Beginner Runner

My tips for the Beginner Runner

A couple of people I know have recently got into running, it’s randomly been brought up in conversation (always in the pub) and we’ve always got onto the subject of my own running experiences. This got me thinking about what worked for me and what kept me motivated when I was a beginner runner.

The following list of tips was going to be a top 10 of running tips for the beginner but I found it hard to short-list. These tips are what I found (in reflection) to work for me. I might add I’ve missed out the one about acid reflux and bananas as that’s just me! But if you’re the same Rennie is the answer (apologies there was no real need to share that nugget). Enjoy!

Are you a beginner runner? A little planning, preparation will you help give you a positive, running experience Click To Tweet

Read more

Rebooting my Fitness; getting motivated and overcoming barriers

After having 3 children and a busy life in general getting in shape again seemed impossible. I had many barriers to overcome, but I did it! This is how I got back into running which led to me getting back into fitness and rediscovering a healthy active lifestyle. http://www.busyfitmama.com/rebooting-my-fitness-getting-motivated-and-overcoming-barriers/

Rebooting my Fitness

I’m a runner, regular gym goer and probably the fittest I have ever been despite having had 3 children and now being in my mid forties.  However, my fitness levels were never always like this as I lacked motivation and thought there were too many barriers stopping me from leading a healthy active lifestyle.  This all changed two years ago when I met up with my friend Pip in the park.

Rewind 2 Years

We were enjoying or rather rejoicing the fact it was the last week of the Summer Holidays.  It was one of those play dates when you let your kids run riot and don’t pay any attention to who they are terrorising and/or annoying while you sit putting the world to rights.  It’s like white noise after a while; don’t you just love parents who do that?  Believe me, filtering it out is a highly evolved coping mechanism of mine.

fitness

Sat in the sunshine, I was having the usual moan about life being manic, being overweight, feeling unfit, not having the time or money to do anything about it or more importantly not having the motivation.  Always the same cycle of events.  Hectic day at work, hectic post school run routine trying to feed the kids, help them with homework, prepare supper, sort the kids for the next day, reading of bedtime stories, getting the kids to bed ……..  Suddenly it would be about 9pm (ish) and there I am flopping in front of the TV, looking particularly glamorous in joggers and stained sweatshirt watching whatever happens to be on.  Might I add normally about this time one of my kids would be likely to yell, “Mum!  I haven’t done my Maths Homework and its due in tomorrow” or “Mum!!! I’ve ripped by school trousers!”  You get the picture? Sound familiar?

Anyway, back to conversation with my friend, Pip.  Instead of joining in with the usual moan (admit it we all love a Pity Party) she mentioned that she’d started running and now ran 5km 2 or 3 times a week.  She went on to say she was contemplating taking part in an organised 5km running event and was just looking for one to enter.  No! Surely not? Like me she claimed to be the busiest parent in the world!

Wow!

That stopped me in my tracks.  Pip was in the same boat as me; 3 children, a husband that travelled a lot and generally was always home late ( if home at all), plus holding down a job herself. Interested in this revelation, I wanted to know more. Read more

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