The How To of Speed Workouts

“All it takes is all you got.” ~ Marc Davis

If you have never incorporated speed workouts into your training program, I strongly encourage you to reconsider. Until five weeks ago, I had less than a handful of speed workouts credited to my life as a runner. In the four years I've been running, I've never really been interested in increasing my speed. I was focused on increasing my distance. It was not until I decided to begin training for a marathon that I began to work to increase my speed. It was simply a matter of time management. If I am going to be dedicating a significant amount of time to running then I need to be as efficient as possible with that time. The faster I am, the less time I spend on those long distance runs. But since I've started working on my speed, I've researched and found out how important it is for distance runners to work on their speed as well. I should have started this years ago!

What I’ve learned about speedwork in the last five weeks…

1) You won’t regret it. Just do it. Speedwork is addicting because you see results so fast. Everyone is different, but it is not uncommon to see improvements within the first two weeks. It is enormously encouraging.

2) Don’t look at your watch. I have trained on my distance runs at about a 9:30 pace for the past four years. When I started speedwork I would look down at my watch and see that I was running at an 8:20 pace and it would psych me out. I would feel myself wanting to slow down. I could only think, “I can’t keep this pace up.” So start your watch, run with a mind free of expectations, and when you’re finished, then look at the watch.

3) Don’t be discouraged. We are all coming from different starting places. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. It’s about doing your personal best. Today I ran half mile repeats at about a 7:30 pace. That’s fast for me. One of my friends just recently completed a marathon at that same pace. I can only run that pace for four half-mile repeats. She sustained it for 26.2 miles. Let yourself be inspired by the success of other people. That inspiration propels your own training forward. If you compare yourself to others, you will only become discouraged and much more likely to burn out. Be inspired, and don’t compare. It’s about doing your personal best. I may never win a race, but I will always be proud of myself at the finish line because I know I brought my personal best.

4) There are a lot of different opinions about how to maximize your speed workouts. At five weeks in, I’m hardly an expert. But I’ll share with you what’s working for me so far. Once a week I do a long run to ramp up the volume of miles I cover for the week. Then I also get in three speed workouts during the week. A lot of articles I’ve read say that you should only do one or two speed workouts weekly. Again, I’m not the expert here, but so far three speed workouts are working for me. (Just make sure you get plenty of rest. I only run every other day to give my body time to heal in between workouts.) I like to change it up a bit to keep it interesting. I may run repetitions, fartleks (laughing because Microsoft Word does not recognize that as a word), intervals, hills, a tempo, or differentials. Whichever I choose for my speed workout, I only do 3-4 miles total for the day. Any more than that and you will have diminishing returns as well as increased likelihood of injury.

This is a great article that covers some basics for maximizing your speed workouts. http://www.active.com/running/Articles/10_Tips_to_Maximize_Your_Speed_Workouts.htm

I want to hear some stories about your first speed workout!!! Or, if you’re an expert, share your thoughts. We’ll all benefit from your input.

Til next time, may you live life on the run. =)