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Speed Work for Experienced Runners
by
Art Liberman, Stephen Pribut & Carlo DeVito
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- Emphasize running quality over quantity
- Some runners can handle two hard runs weekly
- A practiced runner may only improve by seconds
Although the base-building guidelines for all runners are the same, the experienced runner may find that she performs best at a level of 40–45 miles per week. Some advanced competitors even log weekly mileage at significantly higher levels.
However, lingering leg fatigue and the increased risk of injury can outweigh the gain of running additional mileage run per week. Keep in mind that more is not always better, emphasizing running quality over quantity.
Many experienced runners can handle two advanced training workouts per week. Assuming a long run on Sunday, the advanced runner could do a fartlek workout on either Tuesdays or Wednesdays followed by a hill repeat workout on either Thursdays or Fridays the first four weeks of this phase of training.
Listening to your body is the best way to determine which days your legs feel most rested and recovered for these advanced workouts.
For the first week, the fartlek workout would encompass 6 minutes of cumulative fast-paced efforts, adding 4 minutes per session for each of the next three weeks. Similarly, the hill repeats would begin with 6 charges up a 150–200 meter incline and adding 2 repeats per session for each of the next three weeks.
After completing four weeks of fartlek runs and hill repeats, you can begin more formal speed training (interval sessions) and continue these over the next eight to ten weeks. Again, assuming that your long run is Sunday, interval sessions could be performed either on Tuesdays or Wednesdays depending on what day your legs feel most rested. Your present 5K race pace determines how quickly you run these fast segments.
For the sake of this discussion, let’s say that your present race pace is 8:00 per mile. In the first week of interval training, aim to run the 400-meter repeats at 7:40 pace per mile (1:55 per lap) followed by a 200-meter recovery jog.
Repeat this sequence three more times, striving to run a consistent pace for each interval. The next week, run 800 meters at 7:50 pace per mile (3:55 for 2 laps) with a 400-meter recovery jog. Repeat this process two more times.
As your speed improves over the course of your race season, target the 400-meter repeat times to be approximately 20–25 seconds faster than your current 5K race pace. You should run the 800-meter repeats about 10–15 seconds faster than your 5K race pace.
By the end of this phase of training, top out weekly interval sessions with workouts of 10–12 400-meter repeats and 5–6 800-meter repeats. Remember that with any speed workout or race, it is very important to include at least a 1–1½ mile warm-up and a 1-mile cool-down jog followed by 10–15 minutes of stretching.
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