Monday, March 23, 2009

Suggestions for creative speed work

Recent weakness:speed. I dread any type of track work out or tempo. I prefer a non-watch, long run with an arduous climb. But, any activity needs balance in the training and since I have signed up for some shorter relays - speed will have to be inserted into my weekly accumulation of miles.

Please leave suggestions. eg - what do you do to incorporate speed?

For example: I have read articles where some runners will run 5ks regularly for speed... Or, should I run faster down (or up) the hills?

3 comments:

Kyler! said...

If you like climbing try hill repeats. I wouldn't go more that 400m. I usually do 6x400s or 10x400 depending on what I'm training for. After each interval jog down the hill. No more than 90secs recovery. The steeper the better, not only will ya build speed but it'll definitely help your endurance and lung capacity. Pacing I would go off your most recent 5k pace maybe slightly slower since you are on an incline.

Anonymous said...

I'm a big fan of fartleks -- as long as it's not on the track, I'm good. I usually try a "longer" bout of speed with a "shorter" rest. My favorite is 3 minutes (5k pace), 2 minutes jog; 2 minutes (5k pace); 1 minute jog; 1 minute (just plain fast), 1 minute jog...repeat. It's amazing how fast 3, 4, even 5 miles can go like this.

Sara said...

Thanks for the feedback. I will definitely try these out and modify my weekly "routine"

THANKS