30 Minute Time Saver Workouts

By Rick Morris

Time is always precious, but there are times when it seems even more precious than others. We always have those days when the ticking of the clock reminds us of all the things we have on our plate today. When you have one of those time challenged days it may seem difficult to get in your daily workout. While sufficient training time is a problem for almost every runner, most of us can eke out at least 30 minutes for our daily run. Here are some time saving 30 minute workouts to help you avoid that ticking clock.

30 Minutes Plain and Simple

This one is a no brainer that you surely didn't need me to tell you about, but sometimes we just can't see the forest for the trees and overlook the most obvious and simple workouts. This 30 minute time saver is just what it says - plain and simple. Nothing fancy here. Just head out your door and run for 30 minutes at whatever pace you feel like running. Of course, higher intensity paces will do more to improve or maintain your overall fitness, but the important thing is to get in your 30 minutes no matter what the pace.

5 x 3 Minute Repeats

This is a favorite for all distances and goals. Not easy, but short and effective. Warm up with 3 minutes of easy jogging and drills. Then run for 27 minutes alternating between 3 minutes at around 2K pace or a bit faster than 5K pace and 3 minutes at your easy endurance pace. Then hit the showers because you are probably exhausted.

Marathon Mayhem

This is a great 30 minute time saver workout for the marathon but is effective for all race distances. This one is also short , sweet and simple. Just head out the door or hit the treadmill and run for 30 minutes alternating between 4 minutes at marathon pace and 1 minute at 5K pace. This one is harder than it sounds.

One Minute Monsters

A favorite workout among running coaches and a dreaded workout for distance athletes are these one minute monsters. This is another one of those deceptive workouts that sound fairly easy but are actually quite brutal. Warm up with 3 minutes of easy jogging and drills. Now run for 27 minutes alternating between 1 minute at around mile pace or close to your fastest maintainable velocity and 1 minute at an easy pace. Then try to drag yourself home and climb into the shower.

30 Minute Fartlek

Here is fun workout that can be easy or hard. It depends upon you. This one is really simple. Just run for 30 minutes at various paces. There is no structure to this workout. The only rule is to change your pace frequently. Go by feel and change pace at will. Have fun with this one.

Running Planet

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