I got an email from Runner’s World in my inbox this morning. Usually I don’t read the emails because I read the magazine and I don’t want to read an article that could be in a magazine I haven’t received yet. Today’s email caught my eye though. It was an article called the World’s Simplest Workout and it was about a study published in the Journal of applied physiology. You can find the whole article here.
People who did this workout for just seven weeks improved their 5k times by an impressive 4%. That would make me really happy! So here’s the workout.

Warm up
Jog for thirty seconds
Run normal training pace for 20 seconds
Sprint for ten seconds
Repeat four times
Jog two minutes
Repeat the 30-20-10 two or three more times
Cool down

This is speed work done by feel much like a Fartlek it is just timed. 30-20-10

The people in the study ran this workout three times a week, but they did no other running. I would think doing it once or twice a week would still be beneficial.

I ran at South Park this morning with Will. It is a beautiful day! I ran a nice 5 miles and although it took forever to warm up, I felt great at the end.

Look how annoyed he looks. I took too long getting him to the playground.

I’ll try the 30-20-10 when I’m not pushing Will.