The first day of June is National Running Day! Put your excuses aside, lace up your sneakers, and get ready to hit the road . . . or treadmill. We've rounded up some of our favorite tips, gear recs, and stretches to warm you up before your run, cool you down when you're done, and hopefully make the actual act of running that feel that much less lonely! For starters Get back to basics and review Read more

I'll admit, intervals on a treadmill are convenient. The clock is right there for timing, and you can easily adjust the pace with a push of a button. But nothing beats an outdoor workout in my book. Plus it's excuse-proof; you have to make it back to your starting point — no hopping off the treadmill and calling it quits. Similarly, running at one pace can get a little dull, even when the Read more

FitSugar reader lenore shared her warm-up for the fifth challenge of our Get Fit For 2011 giveaway. I am working on being able to run for a full hour, so I downloaded the Bridge to 10K program to my BlackBerry. This morning was the second workout in week one. On Monday I completed the workout on the treadmill, but today I decided to take my run outside.  Here is the workout: 5 minute warmup Read more

Taking the second half of your run at a faster pace is great prep for the negative split racing strategy; where you start out slowly, then push your pace at or just before the middle mark. Aside from being a racing strategy, saving your speed for the second half of the run means your body will be completely warmed up and ready to be pushed. Just because the weather is cooling doesn't mean you Read more

Love it or avoid it, running hills is simply great conditioning. After exerting yourself to climb hills, running in the flats will feel easy. Once you begin tackling hills, they will be less intimidating. Find a hill in your area, and use map my run to figure out the percentage of the grade by clicking on the "show elevation" button. Find a hill with a medium grade of about five to six percent. Read more

Playing with speed on your run is a fun and effective way to work out. When the Swedes do it they call it fartlek. How could a word that sounds so silly not be fun to put into practice? Fartlek means "speed play" and is a form of interval training, using sprints varying in length from eight seconds to two minutes. This type of training is great to do in urban areas using blocks and half blocks as Read more

Intervals are the antidote to boring treadmill workouts. Playing around with speed and timing rest periods keeps both the mind and body busy. Interval training is also one of the best ways to beat belly bulge. We've created a fun interval workout to help you get ready for the beach. After torching serious calories in 45 minutes, you'll be ready to lounge poolside. Keep reading to check our Read more

Hopefully this weekend will involve some fun in the sun, but that doesn't have to be limited to sipping a frozen cocktail on a deck chair. To get you inspired for an outdoor sweat session, we've rounded up some fun fitness routines for the beach — check off your daily workout for the day while enjoying the sun! Fit and fast: Got 12 minutes? Do this simple CrossFit circuit workout as hard as Read more