Ten years ago, I completed a program to become a certified running coach. A few years ago, I completed a program to regain my certification as a running coach. I love running and the science and philosophies behind running. I sat through 30 to 40 hours of intensive, rigorous instruction in the history, study, and methodologies of running. Of all I learned, one core tenet that has stayed with me is to keep it simple.
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If you’re looking for tips for speed workouts, that tenet applies here. Keep it simple. You can go blue in the face by trying to keep up with all the fads and trends that promise to get you a PR in the 5k or qualify for Boston. And they’ll probably confuse you, stress you out, and strip you of your love of running, especially if you’re going at it alone, which many of us do. Unless you have a very qualified run coach who knows you better than you know yourself and can dial in the explosive intensity that you need and can handle to attain whatever goal or win it is that you (or your sponsor) is after, well, that ain’t 99.87% of us so I’m still going to promote and endorse just keeping it simple.
One of those simple nuggets of advice that I gleaned from a coach and mentor was simply this:
- If you want to learn to run fast, you have to practice running fast.
- If you want to learn to run far, you have to practice running far.
Profound, right? We’ll focus on #1 since you’re looking for tips on speed workouts. You have to practice running fast. In the spirit of keeping it simple and true in any run training, you have to be consistent. You’ll want to assign one day per week to focus on practicing running fast. For many people, that means “track Tuesday,” but it can be any day of the week that works best for you and your schedule. And keep it consistent where possible. Every Tuesday is the day that you’re going to work on running fast. Turning your legs over. Getting stronger. Increasing your VO2 max.
Where and how should you do these speed workouts? It doesn’t matter. Again, keep it simple. If you have access to a standard 400-meter track, that would be great. That helps you track your distance easily. But the road, sidewalk, path, or trail will work too.
You’ll want to do a bit of a warm-up to loosen the joints, get some blood flowing to your muscles, air to your lungs, and get the synovial fluids flowing. Do an easy jog for 15-20 minutes. There are also all kinds of drills you can perform, such as high knees, butt kicks, skips, karaoke (not the singing kind), but you can incorporate those later. Right now we’re just trying to get started. You’ll want to warm up a bit. Remember, we’re just warming up, not wearing ourselves out before we get started. The warm-up should be easy. Now, how far and fast should you run? Assuming you’re on a track, make your speed workout relative to the distance you’re training for. If you’re trying to PR the mile, you want to work on fast-twitch muscles and explosive speed, so more 100, 200, and 400-meter sprints. If you’re training for the 5k and 10k, probably more 400 and 800-meter intervals. If you’re training for the half or full marathon, probably more 800, 1k, and mile repeats.
I’ll use myself as an example. I train for marathons. I do 800-meter repeats. That’s it. That’s the only track workout I do. Is that right? That’s subjective, but it works for me, and I’m a fan of simple.
How do you do your speed workout? When you’re starting, it becomes a lesson in understanding your own strength, stamina, and sustainability. A good introduction to a speed workout would be to go to a track and do three (3) 400-meter repeats with a rest interval between each repeat. After your warmup jog (and drills), you’ll run 400 meters (one lap around a standard track) at a “hard” effort (hard being relative to the physical condition you’re in presently). And this is where you assess your current condition and determine what’s sustainable for you to complete your speed workout without overdoing it. You want it to be somewhat challenging, but you want to ensure you can complete your workout. If you go out full bore on your first lap, you won’t have any gas left in the tank to run your next two laps. This is where you start to learn to pace yourself and know what you have in your proverbial gas tank.
And until you start getting a grasp of and are comfortable with your own capabilities, don’t concern yourself with a set time in which you need to run 400 meters. Go by effort. You have a couple of options here: you can simply make it “comfortably hard” (give it some gas, but don’t gas yourself. Make sure you can breathe, albeit at a higher rate. You’re running fast, but you’re not trying to outrun a mountain lion who wants you as breakfast). You can also go by a known personal race effort. Go by your 5k effort (not speed!). Remember that 5k Turkey Trot you ran and how your body and breathing felt then? It was tough, but you grinded through it for 3.1 miles. Use that same effort.
Now the critical part is the rest interval. This is where you’re teaching your body to recover. You’re resting and getting ready to go back at it again. This is where you bring your heart rate down and your breathing under control. If you’re just getting started, walk after you run your lap. Take big breaths, fill your lungs, and interlock your fingers on top of your head so you can get maximum lung capacity. Don’t hunch over and put your hands on your knees. Focus on controlling your breathing and lowering your heart rate.
How long should you rest? Again, keep it simple. Somewhere between 50-100% of the time that it took you to run your lap. Let’s say it took you 4 minutes to run 400 meters. Rest for 2-4 minutes.
Then go again. Run 400 meters comfortably hard or at 5k race effort. And rest again. And you’ll do this until you complete your prescribed speed workout. In this example, you would have run three (3) 400-meter repeats with some minutes of rest between each repeat. And don’t forget the rest interval after your last run repeat! The rest interval is just as, if not more, important than the hard running part.
And then you’ll want to go on a little cool-down jog, just like you warmed up. The cool down doesn’t need to be as long as the warm-up, but you’ll want to clear out a bit of that lactic acid that has built up during your workout and keep you from getting too sore and stiff.
Don’t rush into doing speed work. Keep it simple and consistent. As you build strength, endurance, and familiarity with your capabilities and progress, gradually increase volume and intensity. For example, after a couple of weeks of doing your 400-meter repeats, add another repeat so you’re doing four (4) 400-meter repeats.
Remember that running is a long game. Improvements will come if you give it the time and patience it deserves. It might feel like forever, but believe me when I say that it won’t take long before you’ll be capable of running farther and faster.
There are countless kinds, distances, and intensities of track and speed workouts, but this is a good introduction to the simple concept of incorporating speed workouts to practice running fast.