My First Summer Workout Back and Why Discipline Beats Intensity

This summer running workout was the first real test of my offseason. A lot of people keep asking me what the best workout to do over the summer is, and the truth is there is no single best workout. The effect of hundreds of solid, strong workouts vastly outweighs the occasional amazing run. A good summer is built on consistency and discipline. No one day makes you a significantly better runner in the fall or even the following spring. Small gains add up a lot better than one crazy workout every couple of weeks, which usually ends up leading to injury anyway. So to answer the question, the best summer running workout is the one you show up for consistently. Discipline beats intensity every time.

My First Summer Running Workout: An Eight-Mile Progression Run

This video capped off my fourth week of summer training, and it brought my first real workout of the offseason. I had an eight-mile progression run on the schedule. I had spent my first few weeks of summer training building my base back up, so by this point I was ready for something more structured. Coach told me to keep it really controlled, following a progression run approach, so I planned on starting around seven-minute pace and dropping about ten seconds every mile, working down to just below six-minute pace. I had not dropped below 6:30 at all yet that summer, so I was curious to see how it would feel. My shoe choice for the day was the Saucony Tempus, which I like for anything a touch faster than easy but nothing on the track. The progression was not perfectly steady, but it was a progression nonetheless, and I finished all eight miles feeling solid.

Shadowing physical therapists and building my resume

Outside of running, I spent part of the summer doing an apprenticeship with physical therapists in Kansas City. I had two different clinics I was going to on different days of the week, shadowing PTs and learning more about the practice. It was about building my resume for PT school applications and understanding what goes into treating athletes at a deeper level. After spending a couple hours at the clinic that day, we went out to watch the KC Metro Mile, a local mile race that has been gaining traction. Watching guys of all age groups race made me really want to get back out there and compete again.

Friday easy run and a lifting session

Friday morning brought a seven-mile easy run with six strides. Those low sevens and high sixes were getting really comfortable and smooth. It was one of those days where I felt like I could run forever, which is always a good sign when you are building a base. After the run, I went to lift. I will be honest, I did not have a written-out plan yet. I knew I wanted to hit quads, hamstrings, glutes, and some mobility work, but I was winging it. I promised myself and my viewers that the very next video would include a full lifting plan for the entire summer.

My summer shoe rotation for every type of run

Someone asked about my summer shoe rotation, so I walked through everything I was working with. For easy runs, I was switching between the Nike Invincible 3s, which are my favorite shoes of all time, and the ASICS Gel-Nimbus 26s. I swapped those out every other easy run to avoid running in the exact same pattern every day, which helps keep the feet healthy. For anything a touch faster than easy pace, like the progression run or a long run, I was rocking the Saucony Tempus. They have no plate, but they just feel faster to me. For faster track or tempo sessions, I had the Nike Streakflys from the school. Spike-wise, I had my Nike Dragonflies and Zoom Victories. I wore Zoom Victories for basically my whole career until my last race of the season when I switched to the Dragonflies for the first time.

The weekend long run and hitting 51 miles

For the weekend long run, the sheet said to keep it relaxed, so I tried to hover around 6:40s to low 6:50s. Since I was already upping my volume, there was no reason to up intensity at the same time. That would just be a recipe for disaster. We drove about 25 minutes south to some empty roads in rural Kansas for the run. About 45 minutes in, I took a gel, which I had been carrying for any run over ten miles. That wrapped up my fourth week of training, and I hit 51 miles, the most I had ever run in a single week. The intensity was not all there yet, but the volume was real and the consistency was building. The foundation for the fall was being laid one disciplined week at a time.

If you are heading into a summer of training, remember that the flashy workouts are not what build a season. It is the boring, consistent, disciplined weeks stacked on top of each other that make you a better runner when it matters most.