A few months back, I participated in a challenge run by Jill Coleman (aka: JillFit). One of the workouts was a running sandwich, of sorts. And, as much as I prefer steady-state treadmill running (confession: because it’s easier!), I really loved the short sprint pushes that the workout had me doing. Fast forward a few months and I found myself back at the gym, planning my workout. I had wanted to run 3-4 miles, but my hip & foot have been bothering me so I’ve been trying to limit my running.

Enter: another running sandwich workout! Capping each part of the run to 1/4 miles avoided any pain and it was the perfect bout of high intensity cardio to add to my workout. The way it works is you run 1/4 mile to start. Try and make it challenging – it shouldn’t be an easy jog. You’re only going for 1/4 mile so you should push yourself. Once you hit 1/4 mile, you jump off and go into your first mini circuit where you’ll complete 3 rounds of the 3 exercises. Then, you jump back on the treadmill, and I encourage you to increase your speed a bit. In fact, your goal should be to complete your 1/4 mile run in less time each time you do it. I think I started around 1:55-2 minutes and worked my way down to 1:40.

I think the exercises should be fairly straight forward, but if you have any questions, let me know. I really enjoyed this workout as it was fun knowing I only had to push myself on the treadmill for 1/4 mile (aka: 1 lap around the track). I also think it’s great because it’s doable for ALL levels. Running is too much? Try power walking! Or walking on an incline! Or a slow jog. You can do whatever you need to do 🙂

Questions for you: Do you prefer sprinting or steady state running/cardio?