I’m keeping this post short and sweet, like a one mile run! Speaking of one mile runs, this week’s Wednesday WOD has a few wonderful one mile runs for you to enjoy. Don’t sprint the first mile all out, you’ll run out of gas for V-crunches, kettle bell swings and remaining miles. Instead, aim for an 80% effort and see if you can hold the pace, even as you become fatigued from the accumulated output. I suggest running around the track and completing the exercises in the grass, but you could also lay a mat out by the treadmill. Inspired by the Under Armour Women’s What’s Beautiful Campaign, I designed this WOD to help me achieve my goal of competing in (and rocking) the Austin FitTest Challenge event that is coming up in a few weeks. I hope it helps you reach your goals too! Whoohoo, this is going to be fun!

On Mile Run: Think about keeping your cadence around 180 – 200 steps per minute for optimal performance. Stand tall, leaning slightly at the hip and concentrate on ‘pulling” your leg up, not “pushing” off from the ground. Below, Valerie shows the right angle for using”falling” in running and allowing gravity help you move efficiently.

100 V-Crunches: Lie on ground and start in hollow body position. With legs straight and together, bring them up and towards your torso. While raising your legs, reach for the toes with your hands. Finish in a pike position with your hands and feet meeting at hip level, then return to hollow body position. Check out a video if you need more visual. If you can’t complete these crunches all at once, break them up into sets of 10, 15, or 20.

100 Kettle Bell Swings: When completing the swings, focus on keeping shoulder blades pinched; don’t round back on descent. Also, keep weight on the back of your heels, don’t fall forward onto toes. And, the power behind the move comes from driving the hips forcefully, coming to a full hip extension at the top of the swing. If you can’t complete 100 at one time, break them up into 4 sets of 25 or 2 sets of 50.