Looking to spice up your fall training with something other than pumpkin? For many athletes, the fall is off-season, which is a great time to let your body fully recover. All athletes are different in how they manage their off-season: some decide to eliminate all running for a period of time, whereas others choose to keep to a loose schedule of running when they feel like it. There’s no right or wrong answer here, but either way, I always stress to my athletes that this is a good time of year to truly listen to your body and your mind. 

If your mojo is low and you don’t feel like running, then don’t! Forcing yourself to run all year long will lead to exhaustion and burn out. Taking more time off now will likely help improve your motivation down the line when you’re ready to chase your goals and have more structure to your training.

On the other hand, many athletes enjoy the routine and structure year-round and while they still have an off-season, they still follow a schedule. Generally the workouts will be shorter and oftentimes they will be higher intensity. Since the mileage will be lower, the intensity can be higher. Off-season is a great time to work on speed, strength, and experiment with new types of training.

I’ve put together a list of a few “fun” workouts for you to experiment with. These aren’t solely “off-season workouts”, but if you try them out in the off-season, you will know if they’re workouts you’d like to incorporate into your training schedule in the future. Let me know what you think! Take a photo and tag @rhythmruncoaching on Instagram when you’re trying them out!

1. 5x1’ on/1’ off, 5’ easy, 10’ tempo, 5’ easy, 5x1’ on/1’ off

2. 4-6x90” uphill efforts/jog down for recovery, 5’ easy, 4-6x90” flat/60” recovery

3. 2/4/6/4/2’ efforts/half the effort for rest

4. 30-40’ progression run: begin at an easy pace and cutdown every kilometer by 5-10” until you’ve reached 30-40’

5. 15-20’ tempo, 5-10’ easy, 4x30” uphill efforts/jog down for recovery

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