A New Routine

As I've gotten more used to running on the treadmill, and I don't depend on the running for all my exercise, I've modified my routine of running a bit. Also I find myself in a hurry often, trying to fit running in around baseball, karate, or snowboarding.

Warmup
- I try to always warm up. Even if it's just 1 minute, I walk that far, but typically I'm not doing a 1:30 walk, which gets me about .1mi at 4mph.

Picking Up Speed
- The second phase of my workout usually lasts a couple minutes, especially since I've knocked off 30 sec of my warmup. Here I usually go for anywhere from 1-5 minutes. I'll usually start at 5.2-5.4mph and work it up to 5.8mph, which is a good warming up pace for me. It feels a little slow, but on those days my legs are tired or I want an easier way to get started, I'll use this pace.

The Main Part
Since I don't run that far, this isn't a long part, but I try to run at 6mph+. Typically I have been working lately at 6.2mph-6.6mph, jumping up to maintain one of these paces for most of the 5-15 minutes I might run. Typically I'm moving from the 5 minute mark to the 12 minute mark at this pace.

Intervals
If I don't have a hard night coming (karate or snowboarding), I might add in a minute or two at 7-7.5mph. I'll only do a minute at the high speed, but I might do a couple repetitions of this.

Optional Slowing
Sometimes I'll reverse the "picking up speed" section, spending a minute or two at 5.8, then a minute at 5.4 to slow down before the cool down.

Cool down
It's always 1:30 of walking at 4mph here. If I'm outside, I'll walk for 2 minutes since I might go slower.

I work this routine most days on the treadmill. Outside I tend to run at a more steady pace, though I still have the warmup and cool down. Depending on how I feel or how much I have going on, I vary things, so it's not very scientific, but it does allow me to keep going. So far it's worked pretty well for me.