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Want to try a little Speedwork?
Now that you have gotten yourself running, are you deciding it is time to try to get a little faster? You need to keep a few things in mind. First off, speedwork done improperly or overdone is a great way to get yourself injured. Achilles tendonitis, shin splints, runner's knee, IT band problems can all be a result of doing too much speedwork too soon or without warming up and cooling down. If you aren't completely warmed up, your muscles won't like the accelerations at the beginning of each interval. Fartlek Yes, you read that right, and no the censors are not going to shut me down for it. Fartlek is a Swedish term for "Speed Play." It is simply a form of speedwork where you switch between running hard and jogging several times during a workout. Fartleks are very informal, and can easily be customized according to how you feel or the race distance you are training for. Aim for a total run duration of 40 - 50 minutes. Begin with a 10-15 minute warm up before you do any hard running. Once you are feeling loose and your breathing has settled in, pick some object (like a light pole) as a starting point and another object 200 to 400meters farther along the road (the maroon SUV) and run hard from one to the other. Then you back off and jog until your breathing is under control. Now pick another starting and ending point and go again. Save time for a 10-15 minute cool down after your last interval. Sometimes a coach will make a fartlek a little more formal by picking a distance or a time for each interval in the fartlek, but the coach usually has a specific training goal in mind for the team. A good book on training was written by Jack Daniels: Daniels' Running Formula. In his book, a suggestion he makes for a fartlek style workout is to run hard for 10 steps with the right foot (20 total footfalls), and then jog for 10. The next interval is 20 steps, jog for 20, keep increasing by 10 steps until you reach 100 steps. Fartleks can be fun when running with a group. Everyone gets to take turns picking the starting and ending points, and then you jog around to regroup during the recovery section. A couple of other articles on fartleks: Future additions to this page: Tempo Runs Intervals |
This guide is a compilation of ideas from
experienced runners as well as from industry experts.
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