A Need for Speed: Injecting Interval Work-Outs in Your Weekly Routine
There are many great benefits to adding speed training to your weekly running routine; it is a great way to challenge your body in new ways and to improve overall fitness. The majority of your training should be aerobic based, but injecting some speed can add some “zing” to your work-outs. Why? Primarily because you’re working your body in a different way but also because speed workouts can be fun! Of course, speed work also should improve your race times (regardless of distance). Before adding interval training you need to build a good aerobic base and some strength as the demands placed on the body through speed training can lead to injury if you’re not careful. Assuming that you have been running regularly and have done some strength training (either cross training or hill repeats) there are different approaches to speed work. I have outlined two types of speed training below. Speed work should only be done once per week.
Fartlek Training:
Funniness of the word aside, fartleks are probably the easiest type of speed work to add to your routine. After a good warm-up (10-15 minutes of running) simply begin adding some surges of speed where you are pushing the pace to a point where it is a bit uncomfortable. You can plan the length of your fartlek by time (stopwatch) or by landmarks (i.e., pick a park bench in the distance and pick up pace until you reach it). The number of fartleks you do is up to you (but should start with only a few if you are new to speed work) and the length and pace should be determined by the type of race that you are planning to run (i.e., a 5km racer will benefit more from shorter and faster intervals, a marathoner will benefit more from longer and more moderate intervals). Each week you can add one or two more fartleks to the workout. One word of caution—if possible avoid doing fartlek training on concrete. A soft path or grass is gentler on the body. Follow the intervals with 10-15 minutes of warm down running and a good stretch.
Track Intervals:
While the track may conjure up horrible images of former high school phys-ed teachers, it is a great place to improve your speed! The surface will also be kinder to your joints than concrete. There are a number of different approaches to track work and again it is dependent upon the length of racing that you will be doing. So, you will want to do some specific research (see websites below) for guidance as per your particular circumstances but as a general guideline track work consists of a 10-15 minute warm-up, some strides and other drills on the in-field and then the crux of the workout. Finish with a good warm-down run and stretch. The intervals (whatever length) are done at a pace that is slightly uncomfortable (most information says intervals should be done at slightly faster than race pace). Each interval is followed by a certain period of recovery and then repeated. Common track workouts include: 400, 800 or 1500 meter repeats (a hard interval followed by equal recovery). One kilometer (2.5 laps of the track) repeats also have great benefits for all race distances. As you get stronger you would decrease the amount of recovery between repeats. For example, an eight week build leading up to a one or two week taper (again depending on the length of race you are doing) of one kilometer repeats may look something like this:
| Week | Interval |
|---|---|
| 1 | 3 x 1 km with 90 second rest |
| 2 | 4 x 1 km with 90 second rest |
| 3 | 5 x 1 km with 90 second rest |
| 4 | 5 or 6 x 400 m repeat with 1 to 2 minute rest |
| 5 | 4 x 1 km with 60 second rest |
| 6 | 5 x 1 km with 60 second rest |
| 7 | 6 x 1 km with 60 second rest |
| 8 | 5 or 6 x 400 m repeat with 1 to 2 minute rest |
Hopefully this has provided you with some information that will be of use in your own training plans this spring. Also check out the following websites for great information:
Copyright 2006 - 2008 Ottawa Frontrunners. E-mail ofr@ottawafrontrunners.org.
Site maintained by Michael Cooper.