My favorite Game: The Sprint 8 interval workout

don't these girls look happy? haha.  Well, at least they're ripped!

 Have you ever dreaded running on the treadmill? Have you ever hated every minute of jogging while reading or watching television for hours? Well those days can be over with this workout! It's like an addictive game for me that I play against myself and it's called Sprint 8.  My dad read about it in a swimming magazine that detailed some of the Olympic athlete workouts.  The benefits of this and any interval training workout is that it forces you to get in shape fast and quick.  You can feel your body get faster and faster and every day, you can increase your levels or decrease the spacing between intervals until you're running faster and harder than you ever thought possible.  In German this training is called Fartlek training, which made me laugh as a teenager running on the track team.  You will feel so good about yourself when what was difficult a week ago is too easy and you keep going up and up and up.  It is so much more engaging than just jogging. I'm hooked!

This workout is..

Run for 1 minute 30 seconds at a medium slow pace.  Mine is at 6 on the treadmill
Then sprint as fast as your legs can go for 30 seconds.  I run this at 11 on the treadmill
Do this 8 times until you reach 16 minutes.  It will be the most intense 16 minute workout ever!

There are many reasons I like this workout. 
1. It's fast and I can do it while the kids eat breakfast if I'm running late
2. I always finish it because I always think, "hey, it's only 30 seconds.  Of course I can do 30 seconds!" each time I do the interval. 
3. The day after, I can feel the muscles deep in my buttox hurting.  I know no other workout that gets down that deep. 
4. I really like the feeling of sprinting and getting my body in that totally laid out position.  Feels good.

The only thing I don't like about this workout is that it takes my treadmill a while to speed up to 11 from 6 unlike doing it manually on a track or the street where you can speed up rather quickly.  This means I have to push the 11mph button at 23 seconds and not 30, so when the half minute comes around, I'm actually running at full speed. 

I've realized that sometimes when I explain things, people don't understand so here's a very clear breakdown of the workout.

0-1:30 jog
1:30-2:00 sprint
2:00-3:30 jog
3:30-4:00 sprint
and so on.  

Of course you can do this outside, but it's easier to just "let up" when you're not forced to run. There's one thing for sure.  I will not slow down.