Going short in a long world…

Going short in a long world…

Posted In: Fitness | Running divider 1 Comment »

What’s with our obsession of going long all the time? Is a marathon really better than a 5k?

I know a marathon is on the bucket list of most runners but why keep running marathons just to finish them?

One of the things that has me pondering this morning is my yoga practice. I used to try to catch  90 minute classes at a local studio. The problem is that I only made one every week or two. I felt awesome afterwards but they weren’t easy to fit into a busy schedule.

Now I usually only do 20-30 minutes at a time but I can fit them in anytime since I do the bulk of my yoga in my den and my instructor is M./Mlle YouTube. I find the smaller chunks of yoga are more beneficial since they are almost every second day and I don’t build up as much tension in the body.

One of the things about exercise is that it should be fairly frequent if you want to get the true benefits. That’s why I try to simply fit fun activities in my schedule, whether it been hockey, a run or some time at the driving range. It’s also not always easy to find a time for a 3-hour excursions but most of us can fit 15 or 30 minutes in our days.

Now ask yourself: What’s harder, completing a 5-hour marathon or finishing a fast 5k? Even with a body type like mine that’s geared towards shorter distances, I would say going all out for 20 minutes or so is tougher on the body and the brain than just heading out for a leisurely run for a few hours.

The craze of HIIT (high intensity interval training) is showing you can incredibly sweaty in as little as 10 minutes. And the research shows it can be just as beneficial, and with less likelihood of injuries as well.

Just a thought if you want to spice up your workouts. Let me know how it goes!

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