Workout Wednesday: 3 Mile Run

I've been trying to run about 1-2 times per week lately, just to ease myself back into things.  On the weekends, I usually have no problems heading outside and doing a long(ish, for me) run.  But it's the weekdays when I'm stuck at the gym that are killer.  Usually I just end up doing a bunch of sprints for 10-15 minutes and then moving onto various strength exercises or switching to the bike or elliptical, which is a good workout, but isn't really helping me build up much endurance.  

I'm usually ok with running a mile straight on the treadmill before boredom sets in, but a mile's not all that great of a workout for me.  My solution?  Break up a longer run by hopping off of the treadmill every mile and doing a quick blast of strength training.  My move of choice recently?  The burpee - it's versatile, relatively quick, and provides some full body strength training while keeping my heart rate up for an active break. 

I love that this gives you a full body strength and cardio workout, and that the strength exercises require no equipment, so you can do this with a treadmill run or if you're running outside - just be sure to find an area where it's somewhat softer and not super rocky to do the burpees.

If you wanted to make this a longer run, you could always repeat it for a total of 6 miles and 66 burpees.  Or, add in another mile and do some jumping jack burpees, or some regular burpees, or some one legged burpees, etc. 

Enjoy!