It is extremely helpful to set yourself these goals for your own personal achievements, as each running challenge helps you focus on a different aspect of running.
These challenges help you focus on time, speed, different routes, stamina, and most importantly, self-confidence.
By completing these challenges at your own pace, you will become much more confident in your running abilities and surprise yourself at how powerful you are.
Here are some running challenges for you to try at your own pace and vary up your usual running routine. Happy running!
Run 5K At Your Personal Best
Running 5K for the first time is an amazing achievement, especially if you are new to running. 5K runs are a great way to focus on improving your speed and running style as they are a short distance to practice on.
A good technique in interval running is to use lamp posts as your intervals as long as they all look a similar distance apart.
For you to increase your overall running speed, you need to practice running faster during training so that you can perform faster in races, and interval training is a really good way to vary your speed training.
Tempo running is another popular exercise that people use to try and improve their speed when running. Tempo running is conducted at a speed that lies between jogging and sprinting, as it isn’t as slow as a jog but isn’t as fast as a sprint.
Tempo running should be challenging, but it shouldn’t leave you uncomfortable or struggling during the run.
Hill running challenges your core, legs, and arms and it is very effective in speed training. Hill running is best achieved during short bursts of hill running with a recovery jog in between.
Recovery times are just as important as running as you want your body to develop during the runs, not become tired too quickly.
Marathon In A Month
The marathon in a month challenge is the perfect training if you want to someday complete a marathon, and it gives your body a practice run on what sort of distance it will have to run.
With the marathon in a month challenge, you can split the distance over as many runs as you want.
The distance of the marathon is 26.2 miles, so if you are a more advanced runner, you may be able to complete this in a shorter amount of runs, but for beginner runners, this would equate to 8 5K runs throughout the month.
You can then work on completing the marathon miles in less time.
Run Trails
If you’re tired of running around your block, neighborhood, or staring at the same walls on a treadmill, then running on trails is the perfect thing for you to do to change up your running routine.
Running on nature trails is a wonderful way to feel closer to nature, and being around peaceful scenery will make the run really enjoyable and special. It is especially important to plan a route for your run, even if it’s an area you know well.
This will help you not get too exhausted and complete the run. If you are unfamiliar with the area, make sure that you plan so you won’t get lost and avoid going off the route.
It is wise to carry a phone or run with a friend to make sure you are as safe as possible when running, and to take a backpack with water and energy-boosting snacks.
It is important to listen to your body, and if you are finding the trail run too difficult, you can always walk the rest to get a feel before trying to run the route again.
As the trails are in nature, there are a lot of obstacles on the ground. Make sure to be vigilant in case of logs, holes, stones, or anything that you could trip over and hurt yourself on.
Red January
Red January is an initiative to get people out and exercising daily in order to help their mental health. It is a really great way to raise money for charity and to be a part of an online community.
Red January sees people participating in any physical activity, whether it be running, cycling, or swimming, and it helps you get exercise every day.
It is up to you how many miles you choose to run, but it is important to set a goal to work towards. You can set a goal at the beginning of the month and see yourself achieve personal goals while raising money for a great cause.
Red January has an amazing online community, so if you were searching for a supportive community to be a part of, Red January is a great place to look towards.
You can get involved in fundraising and enjoy getting active every day along with thousands of others.
Hi, my name is Matt Williams and I have been competing in races all over the world for almost a decade. My love for running began when I was a child, always alongside my parents as they trained for their own triathlons.
I now chase the race all over the world, mixing my two passions - sightseeing and racing. I have been through 10 countries and countless cities, and I’m only getting started.
If you want to experience the high of finishing your first race, please enjoy my website full of advice and personal experience. Who knows - maybe I’ll see you on the track one day!
