All-Star Track Workout

This morning, as we hiked the Lahaina/Pali Trail in Maui (more updates coming your way soon, I promise!), I thought to myself, “Hey, after we get home, we still have practically the entire summer to enjoy!” Naturally, I love summer as much as the next person: warm weather, dining al fresco, longer days, more time to relax with my favorite people. But every year I’m also reminded how much I love outdoor workouts.

Lately, Terry and I have made sure to squeeze in three- or four-mile walks around our neighborhood whenever we can, soaking up the extended hours of light, and I’ve headed out for a few runs in the sun as well. Recently, I felt inspired to scoot over to the track at UCLA to challenge myself with something a little different.

Last Thursday, I drove over (while the campus is only about two miles from us, I wanted the majority of my workout to be done on the track, not in the run or walk over there) and parked near Sunset and Veteran (free parking near campus! Miracle!). The walk from there to the stadium took a few minutes—a perfect warm up. At eight in the morning, the sun already felt warm and made me glad I had brought along a giant water bottle. Spoiler alert: I would finish the entire 32 ounces before I made it back to my car.

It surprised me to see so many other people out on the track as well, especially for a Thursday. It wasn’t crowded, but it felt inspiring to see plenty of folks getting in their workouts. Being around other people when I work out certainly motivates me to push a little harder. This one fact about myself would make me someday consider joining a gym again—but that’s another topic.

So here’s my workout for that day (please note--this workout was completely inspired by Lindsay, but her version was WAY too intense for me, because let's just be honest here...I'm not doing 50 burpees in a row!):

Some notes:

I actually ended up moving the last 100 m sprint to the very end (after the stairs).

For the stairs, I rotated through three methods of getting up the steps: running every step, running every other step, or walking every other step. All felt equally difficult.

Make it harder: Increase the reps/distances on the exercises or repeat the whole thing.

Lighten it up: In place of each of the sprints, jog or walk the track once (400 m); for the stairs, walk each one or consider going up one set and down the other (only climbing half the sets).

Move it indoors: Jump on a stair master for the stairs, increasing the intensity for 30- to 60-second spurts.

I really loved challenging myself at the track, and of course being back at one of my favorite places didn’t hurt. Since I don’t have a stair master at my apartment’s little gym, I rarely get to do stairs, so it felt great to push my legs and booty! After a stretch and some pictures, I walked back to my car to cool down and called it a day. I can’t wait to try this workout again this summer!

We head back to LA tomorrow night on a red eye, so I anticipate the next blog post will be Sunday night/Monday morning. I hope you’re spending the long weekend somewhere fabulous and with your favorite people!

Do you find that working out around other people motivates you? If not, what does?