One of the first tips many new runners receive is to include speed work.
While it absolutely benefits everyone from the 5K speedster to the marathoner, speed workouts should not be added until the runner has a strong injury free base of running. This is a fundamental tenant from coach Arthur Lydiard and while he might not have had the science 50 years ago to back it up, now there’s plenty to support this idea.
Plus, let’s be honest a little common sense let’s us know that when we’re pushing our muscles to gain endurance we might want to give them a moment to adapt before also pushing for speed.
It’s hard to get to LA and Chicago on the same road, my favorite metaphor for considering why we don’t always try to achieve two goals at once…different paths!
Implementing Speed Without Injury
After a strong base has been established here are 8 tips to get comfortable with adding speed to your training plan without injury.
Ease in to it
As with anything, you can not begin speedwork and just expect to rock each workout. Start out with just a few repeats of your chosen distance, once per week, and work up from there.
Most speed sessions are not done at 100%, in fact very few are and none should be done this way when starting to include speed. It’s an easy way to get injured. Have a distance or goal set in mind and each week you will find that it’s easier to work towards it rather than diving into it all at once.
Adequate Warm Up
Jumping in to any run without a warm up is just asking for an injury, but prior to speed work it’s a guarantee. Even just a short mile run will loosen the muscles and increase heart rate to ensure that your body is primed for the effort to follow.
Better yet, do an actual dynamic warm up that is going to get your glutes firing, which will create more power and better form.
Set realistic expectations
It’s going to be hard. Accept that before you ever begin and don’t judge the workout by comparing your time to anyone else’s. The goal is to increase speed over time, not turn a Jeep in to a Ferrari with one workout. The more realistic your expectations are, the easier it will be to achieve that goal.
Set distances based on goal race
1K repeats are a fantastic tool for 5K training, but can be overkill for marathon runners who need to increase endurance pace rather than a quick kick.
Steady pace
The goal is to hit each repeat at the same speed, which is not how most beginners start out. When you are trying to determine what pace to run aim for a 7-8 RPE (rate of perceived exertion) on a scale of 1-10.
Start with short sets and once you can hit the same pace for those reps, begin to add more.
Group workouts
Many runners find that doing speed sessions with a group helps them to push through the final reps or hit a faster pace by letting their competitive nature kick in. Enjoy celebrating the hard work with friends, but make sure you’re running your own pace. It’s great to ask people about where they started to remind yourself you will get faster with time.
Nervous about a group? Read this.
Frequency
During base training as noted, speed workouts should be reserved for once every few weeks. During the final peak weeks of training they may be used up to 1-2 times per week.
Enjoy it
If you love the feeling of a hard effort, this one is a no brain. But for others like myself, the intensity of a speed workout can feel overwhelming which is when it’s time to find a new focus. Once you can mentally begin to embrace discomfort as good part of training, speed sessions become far more enjoyable.
Beginner Speed Workouts
You’ll notice none of these require heading to the track or running full out. That’s intentional! Spend at least 2-3 months becoming comfortable with adding speed before jumping in to any consistent track workouts.
With my athletes, I always recommend starting with hill workouts as the first form of any speed training. It builds additional leg strength which can help prevent injury and improve running form {while going uphill runners are forced to pick up their knees}.
Hill Sprints
Start with 5 x 10 seconds of running hard uphill at the end of a workout. Over the following weeks increase the reps to 10, then drop back to 5 and increase the total time spent running uphill.
Get more tips on how to add in hills for strength!
Fartleks
Fartleks are simply unstructured speed bursts throughout the workout. A great way to start is I’ll sprint to the next light pole or at the beginning of each new mile I’ll speed up for a minute. The best thing about these is you can simply play with them…hence the origin of the name means “speed play”.
Intervals
A great way to introduce intervals is to work in to the faster speed by doing a workout like the following: 3 minute walk, 5 minute jog, 1 minute fast pace X 3-5. As you get used to the pick ups you can decrease the walk breaks and jog breaks until your workout is 1 minute jog , 1 minute run x 5-10 reps.
Tempo
A basic tempo run includes a 15 minute warm-up, 20 minutes at a challenging {but sustainable} pace and a 15 minute cool-down. This workout alone helps your body begin using oxygen more efficiently on race day.
Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) is a way of measuring physical activity intensity level and how hard you feel like your body is working. So your pace should be roughly 30-40 seconds faster than 5K or an 7 on the RPE than what it normally would be. As you progress, you’ll work towards an 8 RPE.
Checkout the complete guide to selecting a marathon training plan to find which plans use more or less speed training.
How often do you do speed workouts?
Do you have a favorite workout?
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Madhu says
These are awesome tips…thank you for sharing! :-)