What’s Your Favorite Speed Workout?
Wednesday night was my track workout night - we ran 3 x (400, 300, 200, 100) with about 1 1/2 minutes of rest between each interval. Those types of short interval workouts are the toughest for me, probably because I wasn’t blessed with a good supply of fast-twitch muscles or natural speed. Still, I enjoy - in a sick, twisted sort of way - doing short intervals like this, especially when I’m preparing for a shorter race.
However, when I’m preparing for a longer race, like a marathon or half marathon, I prefer doing either longer intervals of at least 1000 meters or longer each, or tempo runs. Both have their advantages.
In my way of thinking, longer intervals help you build speed for the times you need to be able to surge, like at the end of a race or when there’s someone just a little bit ahead of you that you want to get past. Tempo runs, on the other hand, seem to contribute to better endurance and an overall faster pace.
What is your favorite type of speedwork and why?
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July 5th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Not that I’m ever going to race again ; )
But when I do train, I like 4×800 with 1 min rests. I really see results!
July 5th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
@Kara - that’s a pretty tough workout - 1 minute rest between 800s is not a lot. No wonder you see good results with that.
July 5th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
I haven’t done speedwork since high school and now that I’m training for my first marathon, I need to do it once a week. You can see my training log here:
http://whoisrunnergirl.com/?page_id=12
Every Tuesday is a new flavor of speed. Let me know which one you like!
July 6th, 2008 at 6:59 am
@Runner Girl - Your plan has some good long tempo runs in there - they’re sure to be beneficial to your training. Have fun preparing for - and running in - the Chicago Marathon. I’ve run it twice and it’s a great race.
July 7th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Love interval days actually!
All of Coach Al’s workouts have an element of speed in them. The focus of the whole marathon plan is speed in 3-4 days per week. It’s been a blast training for it since we never have the same workout.
July 8th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
I’m more of a fartlek/strides type of gal. I add long fartleks to at least one run a week, or I’ll finish a tough run with several uphill strides. Most of my runs are hilly so I’ll occasionally really push it up a long hill, or I’ll end a run with several hill repeats.
July 14th, 2008 at 10:21 am
@Rachel - intervals are really effective. It’s good that you’re mixing up your speedwork - makes it more entertaining.
@Felice - I like fartleks too - I try to work in some fartleks into a base pace run at least once a week.
July 15th, 2008 at 7:22 am
I’ll be adding speed workouts to my regime in a month or so, probably when I get back from Mississippi in late August. Want to build up a bit more of a base before then, and don’t feel speed is really an issue right now (certainly not lately). Also not having access to a track is a real problem; I guess I’ll have to pace against time, as opposed to distance. Any tips on that would be welcome.
July 15th, 2008 at 7:33 am
Hi Sheamus,
Tempo runs and fartleks are a great speed workouts that don’t necessarily require a track.
For a good tempo workout, warm up by running easy for 10 minutes or so, pick up the pace for 20 minutes or so to what feels like the right pace for the distance you’re training for (e.g. 10K pace), then run easy for 10 minutes or so to recover. Increase the length of the middle, tempo portion of your run as your fitness increases.
For fartleks, just do your normal, easy run, but throw in some 60 sec to 2 minute pickups every so often - for example, running faster between landmarks like telephone polls. Since these are shorter segments, they can be faster than your tempo pace. Start with 4 or so, then increase the number of pickups you run as your fitness increases.
Have fun out there!
August 12th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!