The 5 Minute Rule

Today I slept in. A much needed rest. I decided that after an hour of watching the Today Show that I should get motivated and get on the treadmill. Its about 10 degrees outside today with the windchill so even my new cold weather gear would not be enough. The treadmill can get boring and fast. Last year I trained for the Disney Princess 1/2 marathon in the winter mostly on the treadmill and came up with the "5 Minute Rule." Every 5 minutes something has to change. It breaks the workout into reasonable chunks.

I usually start out by walking 5 minutes anywhere between 2.5 - 4.0 mph. Then every 5 minutes I increase the pace until I hit my max. The key to this is setting a goal before you begin. Today my goal was 3 miles. Every 5 minutes I increased the pace until I hit 6.5 mph and then I decreased until I hit 3 miles. I came down a lot faster than it took me to get up but at 3 miles I was feeling good and the time went fast! I did 3 miles in 31 minutes which included walking. So you get some interval training as well!

I continued my workout after that with an Exercise TV program. I was really sweating and was sore from yesterday's gym workout so I decided to try another yoga program. This time I did Less is More Yoga. It took me about 25 minutes.

If you have not done yoga before this moves fast at the beginning and could be confusing. My heart rate was already up in the 130's when I began and because of the infusion of cardio, yoga and pilates in the workout it stayed at that level and even sometimes was up in the 150's. This is great for calorie burning. Overall it was a nice compliment to my run. I wish there was a little more stretching at the end because my legs were sore, but the bending and basic vinyasas were great. If you looking for a traditional yoga workout this is probably not for you, however if you just want some "bonus" stretching and fluid movement, then this is great. I added the penguin stretch at the end because its my favorite! I would definitely add it on to one of my workouts again.