Stress-free speed sessions for busy holiday weeks

Holiday running can get chaotic fast, with travel, darker days and weird sleep. These workouts are short, fun and will keep a little pop in your legs without taking over your week.

Suitcase shuffle fartlek

This workout is great because it’s flexible and “no-route-needed”—perfect if you’re squeezing a run in between festive plans.

Warm up with 5-10 minutes of easy running.

Run 10–20 minutes continuously, alternating: 1 minute comfortably hard and 1 minute easy. Keep the hard minutes controlled; finish feeling like you could repeat the set if you had to.

Cool down with 5-10 minutes of very easy running.

Front-door hill sprints

These hills build strength and speed with less pounding than on the flats, and you can do them almost anywhere (even on a random street).

Warm up with 5-10 minutes of easy running.

Find a hill that takes 10–20 seconds to run up.

Run 8–12 repeats uphill at a strong effort (smooth form, not sprinting). Walk/jog back down for recovery.

Optional finisher: 4 × 20 seconds fast-but-relaxed on flat with easy jog between.

Cool down with 5-10 minutes of very easy running.

Leftover ladder

The changing intervals in this workout keep it interesting, and you can scale it up or down, depending on how you feel that day.

Warm up with 5-10 minutes of easy running.

Run: 1–2–3–4–3–2–1 minutes at “tempo-ish” effort (comfortably hard, controlled breathing).

Recover with equal time easy jog after each rep.

Short-on-time version: go up and back from 1–2–3–4–3–2 and call it done.

Cool down with 5-10 minutes of easy running.

Look at the lights with a stride sandwich

This workout is fun because it’s mostly easy running, sprinkled with some quick bursts that wake your legs up when you’re feeling flat.

Run easily for 20–40 minutes total.

In the middle, do 2 sets of 6 × 20 seconds fast/40 seconds easy.

Jog 3 minutes easy between sets. Your fast pace should feel smooth and quick, not all-out.

Make sure to take a recovery day after speed work sessions, even a short one (or keep the next run truly relaxed).