Could some kind running friend....

meerkat70

Explain to me in really simple, jargon free terms, how to do speed work? I don't *get* what all those runnersworld articles are telling me to do!! And when I've tried to do what they say, I end up feeling a bit of a failure.

So basically, at the minute, I just point myself at the steepest hill I can find (not many round here as it's more rolly than hills and mountains in this bit of England), and run up it as fast as I can... I know it's not an unreasonable substitute, but I think it's probably not ideal, and that I'd feel like a real runner if I could incorporate a few different kinds of speed work.

BerryH

Warning: This is ALL personal opinion and experience, there follows a science-free zone!

A wise man once said "hills are speedwork in disguise". Don't just do it once, after a warm-up you should tear up that hill and jog down to recover a few times. We used to do six repeats in running club, then do a mid-speed run then try to repeat it quicker. Phew!

As far as other sessions are concerned, it depends on your goals - whether to add variety, get faster over a short distance, get faster over a long distance, get a PB over a hilly course or get stronger etc.

For fun and variety, you can't beat fartlek, where you just challenge yourself on your regular run. My favourite route goes along a river, so I'll go fast to the next bend (or lamp post or dog poo bin or next track on your MP3 player - you choose!) then jog to recover.

Sprints/HIIT etc. burn calories like nobody's business and are supposed to stimulate your fast-twitch muscles so you can put in that burst of speed even at the end of a long race. You might want to stop and walk to recover - I find if I do them to the limit of my ability I simply can't run afterwards. I'll do something like 30 seconds sprint, walk a minute, run a minute, repeat.

Mid-pace repeats are a killer - go at or a little faster than your target race pace for your chosen distance over 400m to a mile, recover and repeat up to four times. Ouch! My least favourite, but they are the best route to a PB.

Hope that's given you some ideas! :flowerforyou:

beccalucy

Berry looks like she's covered it to me. I use fartlek as I don't have suitable hills either and also find it more fun as you notice your progress

Aperture_Science

You can just elect to run faster. For this you need a course where you know where the mile markers are. Set your watch to bleep at your target time for each mile and ensure that you hit that goal for each mile run. To do this you need to increase very, very slightly. I've done this and set my mile markers to be 15 seconds per mile below my current pace.

I've used this technique by adding this kind of run into my schedule once a week and after a month I was routinely (on "normal" runs, not this times mile type run) running 30 seconds per mile quicker.

Another speed technique is to find someone who runs a bit quicker that you and go out for a run with them once a week.

Dragonfly1996

Hi I have done the running with a faster friend & that is pretty good. I had started to do fartlek's just before my marathon & used timed intervals or lamp posts to do different speeds. I am going to carry on with that as think it's easy to stick to. I am a slow runner to am hoping this will help speed me up a tad!!! I live in Norfolk which has no real hills to speak of & the few that are about are short ones!! Berry has pretty much covered it but suggest trying a few different ways to see what you are comfortable with. Good luck!! :flowerforyou:

CarsonRuns

It's important to have a good aerobic base before embarking on a dedicated speed work program. Without it, the speed work won't have the desired effect and could, in fact, leave you injured. I think a year of 20 to 25 miles per week average is a good base. This doesn't mean that you can't do some faster stuff in the base building phase. 20 to 30 second strides at the end of a run or a 20 minute tempo section during a run every couple weeks isn't going to kill you, but I think doing hard hill repeats and repeats on the track (200m up to 1 mile) at a hard effort without the proper base is a recipe for disaster.

Also note that an intense speed work phase of training should only last for about 6 weeks. After that, you reach a point of diminishing returns. After 6 weeks, that is when you race for a month or so while maintaining base fitness before going back to base phase again.

So, not being sure where you are exactly in terms of fitness, I can't really say what would be the best approach for you. If you don't have the base, exercise caution.

meerkat70

I really really appreciate this. This thread actually makes *sense*! Yay! :-)

Carson, I'm running just shy of 10 consecutive miles on my longer runs, a 6 mile mid run, and 2 short runs of 3 or 4 miles. So not great, but a bit beyond a straight beginner.

CarsonRuns

I really really appreciate this. This thread actually makes *sense*! Yay! :-)

Carson, I'm running just shy of 10 consecutive miles on my longer runs, a 6 mile mid run, and 2 short runs of 3 or 4 miles. So not great, but a bit beyond a straight beginner.

I calculate mid 20 miles per week, so you are right there. How long have you been at that level? With running, it is distance over time that builds the strength necessary to take on faster work.

brandyk77

It's important to have a good aerobic base before embarking on a dedicated speed work program. Without it, the speed work won't have the desired effect and could, in fact, leave you injured. I think a year of 20 to 25 miles per week average is a good base. This doesn't mean that you can't do some faster stuff in the base building phase. 20 to 30 second strides at the end of a run or a 20 minute tempo section during a run every couple weeks isn't going to kill you, but I think doing hard hill repeats and repeats on the track (200m up to 1 mile) at a hard effort without the proper base is a recipe for disaster.

agreed.

that being said, light speed work (1 min on/offs) or hill repeats (make sure the hill is runable) aren't a bad entry into quality work.

meerkat70

Not very long - just getting to a point where I want the longer and the mid distance run now. (But I do other cardio too - I cycle a lot etc, so have an ok cardio capacity.)

I wanted to start to incorporate the kind of light stuff you're talking about, just to try to ease me into it a little, really. I'm slow (about 6mph) at pretty much every distance, and I don't want to get stuck in that rut forever, I guess.

CarsonRuns

Not very long - just getting to a point where I want the longer and the mid distance run now. (But I do other cardio too - I cycle a lot etc, so have an ok cardio capacity.)

I wanted to start to incorporate the kind of light stuff you're talking about, just to try to ease me into it a little, really. I'm slow (about 6mph) at pretty much every distance, and I don't want to get stuck in that rut forever, I guess.

You won't get stuck. As you run more, you'll naturally get more efficient, and thereby faster as well.

ZombieChaser

Bumping for me Thanks for the wonderful advice evryone! (and to OP for asking the question lol)