How to Make Familiar Running Routes Fresh

Even longtime friends need to mix things up occasionally. And so it is with your favorite running routes. To keep your standard 5-miler from turning stale, spice it up with some of these tips.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Running gear
• Area map
• Curiosity
• Sense of adventure

1. Run hill repeats in the middle of your route.
2. Run the course backwards. That is, counterclockwise vs. clockwise (not facing backwards—although that would qualify as mixing it up!)
3. Run your neighborhood, weaving back and forth through every single street.
4. Play local tourist and run from hotspot to hotspot.
5. Have someone drive you out somewhere, drop you off and let you run home. (This requires some scouting work so you don’t get lost or stuck too far away.)
6. Build in windsprints along your usual route: every 5 minutes, pick up the pace for 2 minutes. Or forget the watch and use occasional landmarks as motivation.
7. Run up the stairs at the local stadium that you usually just run right by.
8. Run to the highest, lowest, greenest or oldest point in the city.