A Different Kind of Speed Work
Speed work! What do those two words convey to the mind of a runner? We see ourselves out on the track, running three or four one-mile repeats at our 10K race pace, six or eight 800- meter repeats at our 5K race pace, or numerous 400-meter repeats at our mile race pace. In each instance, we have almost a love-hate relationship because the workouts are very tough and we are running on the absolute edge—that is, we are running at or above our anaerobic threshold. But we know that if we complete these workouts we will get faster and be able to race faster. Plus, for those who go to organized workouts with the club, our reward is to eat pizza and have a beer or two afterward.
It's hard to do these workouts year round. In fact, there are diminishing returns if we do them for too long a period of time. We get stale. We stop reaping benefits. And we get bored. These workouts are very intimidating to new runners, and are also very difficult to do if you are returning from a layoff of more than a few weeks.
Try Aerobic Workouts
Fortunately, there is a different kind of speed work that will provide a training effect that not only complements these track workouts but also helps a runner prepare for them. Moreover, they can be a lot of fun!
This kind of workout is aerobic as opposed to the anaerobic workouts described above. They are "fartlek" in nature. (Fartlek is a Swedish term meaning speed play.) Because these workouts are aerobic you will not develop lactic acid in your legs, so your recovery will be faster since your body will not have undergone major stress. The added benefit is that these workouts will strengthen your ligaments and joints to prepare your body for anaerobic threshold training. For new runners, the aerobic workouts are sufficiently taxing to acquaint them with the feeling of working hard and introduce them to the sensations they will feel once they try anaerobic threshold training. For veteran marathoners, these are also very good workouts in the mileage build-up stage of training when if they tried to do anaerobic threshold training the risk of injury would increase dramatically.
Here are a couple of my favorite aerobic workouts:
The 15-45.
After warming up for at least a mile, you run 15 seconds at a 10K race pace effort (do not sprint) and then jog at a conversational pace for 45 seconds, then run hard for 15 seconds, jog for 45, etc. until you cover two to three miles. A variation of this workout, called "ins and outs," is done on the track where you run the straight portion of the track hard and jog the curves. The 15-45 workout can be done in the morning or even in the dark when you cannot see your watch by counting 22 left-foot strikes for the hard portion and 68 for the jog portion (most runners have 90 left-foot strikes in a minute).
The 70-80.
This workout requires a heart monitor and is called a heart-rate fartlek. You set the lower limit of your monitor to 70% using the Karvonen formula, and the upper limit at 80%. After warming up for a mile, slowly pick up the effort until your watch starts beeping, meaning that you've hit 80%, then begin jogging until the monitor starts beeping again, meaning you've dropped below 70%. Pick up the pace again until the monitor beeps at 80%, jog back to 70%, and continue going up and down for two to three miles. You can get a double bonus if you do the 70-80 workout on rolling hills, thus turning the workout into a hilly heart-rate fartlek where you strengthen your quadriceps on the uphill portions.
These workouts should be limited to once or twice per week. I hope you enjoy them.
Coach West is a licensed coach, affiliated with MCRRC, and available to coach motivated adult runners. A portion of his coaching fees for MCRRC members is returned to MCRRC. For further information about personal coaching opportunities, contact Coach West at kirtwest@comcast.net.
